All I can say it better be here the middle class and lower class people have carried this country long enough!!!!!!

I have a question I haven't been able to find an answer for. Maybe one of you can tell me:

Where is it specified what doesn't get paid 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., if the country defaults on its debts?

In other words, why are SS, SSI, veterans etc first to go?

Why not congressional salaries?

White House staff salaries?

ALL federal salaries cut 50%?

Huh?

That's a great question......I'd love to know, too.

I can't answer that particular question but I know what I saw on the internet about the Treasury. It said "The Treasury Department never said that there is no money. The treasury has enough money to cut checks until August 10th

So whatever that means!!!

Melody

According to the link I posted a few days ago...........

"at present, the trust funds show a balance of some $2.6 trillion -- enough to pay benefits for many years."

"The $2.6 [B]trillion[/B] in the trusts funds is not cash. Rather, as the excess Social Security payroll taxes were received, the money was used to pay government bills like defense, interest payments, agricultural subsidies, etc."

"Even if the debt limit is not increased, government tax revenues are sufficient to cover our Social Security payments, and a lot more."

the bond holders get paid first, after that there is no proscribed order as to who gets paid second, third etc. There is no law or guideline that covers this since up to this time it has been unthinkable that the country would be taken this close to the brink of default over jockeying for political advantage.

Perhaps I misunderstood your statement, but the truth is that the top 10% of income earners in this country pays almost 50% of all income taxes collected.

So when we think of where our disability benefit monies come from, we should remember the aforementioned statement and the following...

Part of the money paid in income taxes goes to fund the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program. SSI is a disability program for the very low income individuals. The disability monies granted by this program are not earned through work. Instead, they are given out based upon economic need. Because this welfare program is: (1) viewed as a “handout” by some (2) funded directly by income tax and (3) effectively paid to non-workers by those currently working, SSA is generally very strict about the monetary eligibility requirements. Therefore, any income or assets you have are extremely important in determining your eligibility for this program.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is a disability program for long-time workers who have contributed OASDI/FICA taxes for a significant period of time. Therefore, the disability benefits granted by this program are earned through work. You can think of it as a disability insurance policy which the federal government forced you to buy. Because SSDI is something you effectively bought through your labor as an insurance policy, it does not matter what assets or non-earned income you receive.

Both programs are administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA), but I feel confident stating that the middle class and lower class are not the ones paying for it all.

EXPLAINING OUR UNITED STATES TAXING SYSTEM WITH BEER

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. 'Since you are all such good customers,' he said, 'I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beers by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.'

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected.
They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

So the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before and the first four continued to drink for free, but once
outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. 'I only got a dollar out of the $20,' declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, 'but he got $10!' 'Yeah, that's right, ‘exclaimed the fifth man. 'I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!'

'That's true!!' shouted the seventh man. 'Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!'

'Wait a minute,' yelled the first four men in unison. 'We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!'

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something very important....they didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes DO get the most benefit from a tax reduction. They also PAY more than the rest. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia

I just read at CNN that 28 million checks are scheduled to be sent on Aug. 3rd. Didn't the President just mention that it was 70 million(maybe that includes veterans). The article also mentioned that 27 million checks would go out later in the month. Well,whatever it is ,the numbers don't add up. I'm sure they know how much money will be on hand too send out the checks. There might be money to send out the first batch but maybe not enough for the second batch.
Secondly,no one has mentioned what happens to Medicare should they not receive their monthly payments on time .
Thirdly,they don't mention about unemployment ins. payments.

OMG I'm going to go to CNN right now.

Thanks much

Melody