TSIA: What the %*(*^%$ is a "lockbox"?
- Thread starter Bogie
- Start date
Gopher .45
New member
Exactly what *^ "lockboxes" are you talking about?
TheBluesMan
Moderator Emeritus
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Task System and Item Architecture?
Transportation Specialists Insurance Agency?
Tri-State Ice Arena?
Triple Sugar Iron Agar?
Transvaal Scuba Instructors Association?
Give a clue as to what you are talking about and perhaps we'll have an answer for you.
???Task System and Item Architecture?
Transportation Specialists Insurance Agency?
Tri-State Ice Arena?
Triple Sugar Iron Agar?
Transvaal Scuba Instructors Association?
Give a clue as to what you are talking about and perhaps we'll have an answer for you.
"Lockbox".... isn't that Algore's #1 priority? Or at least I think it's on his long list of #1 priorities. I know! Maybe he keeps his list of #1 priorities inside the "Lockbox".
Apparently the enigmatic "Lockbox" is fading from importance since Gore didn't mention it even once in the 3rd debate. -- Kernel
Apparently the enigmatic "Lockbox" is fading from importance since Gore didn't mention it even once in the 3rd debate. -- Kernel
First, have you ever heard of a politician that could keep hands off a pot of money? SocSecurity funds have been used for many purposes other than SS -"borrowed" by congress. He would put the funds in a "lockbox",ie.; not touch it (again) for any purpose but SocSecurity. (But how do you keep hands off a trillion $$$ pot?
Same for Medicare. Remember, everyone in Medicare is paying $45/mo (currently - may go up next year); whether that covers expenses or has built up a "$$ pot" I don't know, so how do you put Medicare in a "lockbox"?
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The Handgun: In a real pinch, the Great Equalizer.
Same for Medicare. Remember, everyone in Medicare is paying $45/mo (currently - may go up next year); whether that covers expenses or has built up a "$$ pot" I don't know, so how do you put Medicare in a "lockbox"?
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The Handgun: In a real pinch, the Great Equalizer.
Assuming this post is regarding Social Security, and Gore always speaking about a "lock box", it represents a fundemental difference between the two candidates.
Gore uses the concept of a "lock box" in an attempt to repudiate Bush's quite bold notion of beginning to privatize Social Security: A portion would be held in name by the individual. (Conceptually an IRA.)
The unspoken horror of leftists is once these funds are in an account in the individual's name, that's the end of government's control. No longer can these funds be used to manipilate budgets and fund nefarious adventures like LBJ did when he attempted to hide the cost of Vietnam by throwing SS into the general budget.
Both Gore's vision as well as Bush's have a "lock box" quality to them. The difference though is who holds the key. Under Gore, the key is still held by government. Under Bush, you hold the key.
Regards
Gore uses the concept of a "lock box" in an attempt to repudiate Bush's quite bold notion of beginning to privatize Social Security: A portion would be held in name by the individual. (Conceptually an IRA.)
The unspoken horror of leftists is once these funds are in an account in the individual's name, that's the end of government's control. No longer can these funds be used to manipilate budgets and fund nefarious adventures like LBJ did when he attempted to hide the cost of Vietnam by throwing SS into the general budget.
Both Gore's vision as well as Bush's have a "lock box" quality to them. The difference though is who holds the key. Under Gore, the key is still held by government. Under Bush, you hold the key.
Regards
If you're talking about Social Security a "lockbox" is a word that tests well with the public, other than that it is completely meaningless as is the word "trust fund."
Social Security is transfer program. They aren't saving anything for the future, they aren't locking anything away. Social Security is a transfer program. I'm always amazed at how many people have trouble grasping that simple truth.
Social Security is transfer program. They aren't saving anything for the future, they aren't locking anything away. Social Security is a transfer program. I'm always amazed at how many people have trouble grasping that simple truth.
Valdez is quite correct regarding the true nature of our Social Security system. Benefits are paid out of current payroll withholdings (read "TAX"). The so-called surplus that we are supposed to be running and saving for future payments is an accounting fiction. By current law, all of the "surplus" must be invested in U.S. government securities. The rationale being that if the Social Security Administration invested them in private securities, you would have a government agency owning large blocks of the private sector. In practice, this means that the gov't takes the money out of the left pocket, and puts it into the right pocket, and right into the general treasury via T-bills, T-bonds, etc.
So, the only thing that would be in Owlgore's "lockbox" is a pile of IOU's issued by Uncle Sugar. IOU's which can only be redeemed by collecting taxes from you and me. Thirty years from now (or sooner, I'm not up on the latest demographic data), when the number of retirees outnumbers the number of people "contributing" to FICA, we will have to either:
A) Raise the amount of the "contribution" taken from our paychecks to pay for Social Security, or
B) Dip into the trust fund, which will require collecting on government debt, which can only be accomplished by collecting taxes to make good on the IOU's.
Either, way, taxes will go up as the demogrpahics shift, until the situation becomes intolerable and the giant pyramid scheme called Social Security collapses. Those of my generation have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing dime one from Social Insecurity.
And those bastards have the balls to use my tax money to send me a "statement" outlining my "contributions" to date and my future "benefits", like I was investing in a 401(k)!
[rant mode off]
So, the only thing that would be in Owlgore's "lockbox" is a pile of IOU's issued by Uncle Sugar. IOU's which can only be redeemed by collecting taxes from you and me. Thirty years from now (or sooner, I'm not up on the latest demographic data), when the number of retirees outnumbers the number of people "contributing" to FICA, we will have to either:
A) Raise the amount of the "contribution" taken from our paychecks to pay for Social Security, or
B) Dip into the trust fund, which will require collecting on government debt, which can only be accomplished by collecting taxes to make good on the IOU's.
Either, way, taxes will go up as the demogrpahics shift, until the situation becomes intolerable and the giant pyramid scheme called Social Security collapses. Those of my generation have a snowball's chance in hell of seeing dime one from Social Insecurity.
And those bastards have the balls to use my tax money to send me a "statement" outlining my "contributions" to date and my future "benefits", like I was investing in a 401(k)!
[rant mode off]
