‘re-reported in youarewithinthenorms.com‘
NORMAN J CLEMENT RPH., DDS, NORMAN L. CLEMENT PHARM-TECH, MALACHI F. MACKANDAL PHARMD, BELINDA BROWN-PARKER, IN THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH SOLVO ESQ., INC., SPIRIT OF REV. IN THE SPIRIT OF WALTER R. CLEMENT BS., MS, MBA. HARVEY JENKINS, MD, PH.D., IN THE SPIRIT OF C.T. VIVIAN, JELANI ZIMBABWE CLEMENT, BS., M.B.A., IN THE SPIRIT OF THE HON. PATRICE LUMUMBA, IN THE SPIRIT OF ERLIN CLEMENT SR., EVELYN J. CLEMENT, IN THE SPIRIT OF WALTER F. WRENN III., MD., JULIE KILLINGSWORTH, RENEE BLARE, RPH, DR. TERENCE SASAKI, MD LESLY POMPY MD., CHRISTOPHER RUSSO, MD., NANCY SEEFELDT, WILLIE GUINYARD BS., JOSEPH WEBSTER MD., MBA, BEVERLY C. PRINCE MD., FACS., NEIL ARNAND, MD., RICHARD KAUL, MD., IN THE SPIRIT OF LEROY BAYLOR, JAY K. JOSHI MD., MBA, AISHA GARDNER, ADRIENNE EDMUNDSON, ESTER HYATT PH.D., WALTER L. SMITH BS., IN THE SPIRIT OF BRAHM FISHER ESQ., MICHELE ALEXANDER MD., CUDJOE WILDING BS, MARTIN NJOKU, BS., RPH., IN THE SPIRIT OF DEBRA LYNN SHEPHERD, BERES E. MUSCHETT, STRATEGIC ADVISORS
An article by Richard Lawhern, Ph.D., a pain care advocate and U.S. health care writer, shares his political and economic perspectives. Lawhern begins by criticizing the persecution of doctors by “hired guns” acting as legal experts, claiming that courts and media often fail to grasp the complexities of medical cases. He then shifts to a broader discussion on American political polarization, using a controversial social media post about immigration as a starting point to emphasize the nation’s need for young immigrants to sustain the Social Security Insurance (SSI) system. He explains the impending SSI fiscal crisis around 2030, detailing potential solutions like benefit cuts or tax increases, and asserts that the supposed SSI “Trust Fund” contains no marketable assets, characterizing it as an accounting fiction. Finally, Lawhern critiques “trickle down” economics and tariffs, arguing that these policies, particularly large tax cuts for the wealthy, do not benefit the majority of working Americans who are struggling financially.
AN UNCONVENTIONAL FIX
affairs in America…
I recently posted the following in a local neighborhood newsgroup in South Carolina. My purpose there wasn’t to deliberately offend anyone. But I did hope to influence readers to think more carefully about things they believe and advocate. Thinking is hard work. A lot of us seem to refuse to do that work these days. My posting was taken down within minutes of being offered.
“Candidly, the answer is that we need young immigrants to help save our Social Security Insurance (SSI) system.”
That being said…
No matter what you think about Donald Trump, the MAGA movement, and the current US Administration, it is impossible to escape knowing that we are very strongly polarized as a Nation, and we’re not communicating with each other very well or very respectfully. My purpose this morning is to try to do a better job of communicating than we often see in public media. It is not to poke anybody in the eye with a sharp stick.
A part of our polarization revolves around illegal immigration. There are literally millions of long-time US residents who are not citizens or green card resident “aliens” invited here by employers under various visa programs. What many of us do not understand is that we DESPERATELY NEED THESE PEOPLE!
Why is that?
Candidly, the answer is that we need young immigrants to help save our Social Security Insurance (SSI) system.
Like all other developed countries, we face a near term crisis as yearly tax collections for SSI (13.5% of wages up to $176,000 per year) are exceeded by benefits paid out to our long-lived retirees. In about 2030, one or more of several things must happen:
(1) Benefits may have to be reduced
(2) SSI tax rates may have to increase to 15% and Medicare taxes may need to double
(3) The taxable wage cap for high income earners may need to be increased or eliminated
or (4) the SSI deficit may need to be made up from general income taxes — placing further pressure on Federal Budget deficits.
One thing that CANNOT happen: we can’t expect to solve this crisis by liquidating the Social Security “Trust Fund”. There is nothing left in it. Former SSI collection surpluses have been spent in government programs including
Health: Includes Medicare, Medicaid, and other health programs. Medicare is the largest component, with Medicaid following closely.
National Defense: The largest portion of discretionary spending, though it is smaller than mandatory spending on Social Security and health programs.
Net Interest: Interest payments on the national debt have been increasing in recent years and represent a significant and growing portion of the budget.
Likewise, let’s remind ourselves that the Trust Fund contains no marketable assets. It is nothing more than a transfer account, a convenient accounting fiction. SSI has NEVER EVER “owned” one thin dime.
Finally, we need to be aware that there is no possible way we can keep up with the looming crisis in SSI by simply having more children among US citizens. Prosperous countries like ours almost always have reduced birth rates. Arguably those lower birth rates once actually contributed TO our prosperity.
Our present politicos haven’t been particularly dumber than any other crop of Washington legislators when it comes to tax increases on working people. We all hate taxes …. until it comes time for us to pay our own bills. Over half of all US wage earners now live from paycheck to paycheck. Real wages have stagnated during the past 50 years, as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. These aren’t opinions. They are easily verified facts.
While I don’t wish to be unkind to MAGA partisans, it is still a fact that their hero really doesn’t seem to understand basic economics, despite his having a degree in the subject. Clearly, tariffs (as we were informed by no less a political voice than Ronald Reagan) are a tax on the nation that imposes them, not the other nations that tariffs seek to penalize. Likewise, if one is truly concerned with the National Debt, then how does a multi-trillion dollar tax cut for the top 1% of wealth holders contribute to reducing debt for the rest of us?
Somebody explain this to me in simple words. Where has my thinking gone wrong? The huge preponderance of actual economic evidence informs us that “trickle down” economics and tax policy that favors the rich simply don’t trickle down to the rest of us. Period. Full Stop.
All are welcome to comment on this posting, though doing so is not obligatory. I will continue to work on behalf of people in pain, even when some of them seem to insist on turning off their brains to economic reality.
For more on this subject, see my paper on KevinMD, America’s most widely read and cited newsletter:https://kevinmd.com/2024/12/americas-democracy-is-on-the-brink-will-leaders-act-before-its-too-late.html
Those who fail to learn from history are frequently condemned to repeat it.
Richard A. Lawhern, Ph.D.
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