Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, is proposing that states be allowed to opt out of Social Security for all the citizens of their state. He likens Social Security to the federal government dictating "the size of tube socks that you’re gonna wear down in Texas."
Update: Perry maintains that some public employees in Texas opted out of Social Security years ago and are doing just fine. Actually, maybe not. The Texas Attorney General thinks there are real problems.
Update: Perry maintains that some public employees in Texas opted out of Social Security years ago and are doing just fine. Actually, maybe not. The Texas Attorney General thinks there are real problems.
I think we should just let Texas rejoin Mexico. Honestly, what good has come out of Texas? Between 8 years of Dubya and now this nonsense from Rick Perry, I'm seriously frightened at the lack of intelligent thoughts and words coming from the state full of big hats and snake boots.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, Anon 1, but that's probably the last thing either Texas wants or Mexico needs. You stole it, you keep it.
ReplyDeleteWell, then can we let them be their own independent country, at least? They have their own flag already and I bet most of them think Texas is a country.
ReplyDeleteOpt out and do what-starve in the streets when we get too old or disabled to work for minimum wage??
ReplyDeletePerry won't even say what he has in mind, so I don't think he's serious. He mentions some counties that were allowed to opt out for their employees almost 30 years ago, when (I think) federal gov't employees weren't in SS - they had there own retirement system. He says that these plans are in good shape - but of course, I would say that SS is also, and there are plenty of retirement plans (states and company) that are not. So employees of 3 counties opted out and they're OK - what does that prove?
ReplyDeleteAin't gonna happen - gaining social security coverage is like the Hotel California. Once you check in to that Section 218 agreement, you can never check out again no matter how badly you might want to.
ReplyDeleteOf course, everyone probably knows that it was those hordes of hardworking Texas schoolteachers (that mostly work in positions not covered under Social Security) who managed to get the GPO (government pension offset) "last day exemption" stricken from the books and replaced with a much more strict policy.
They did it by conspiring with the employing school districts in such large numbers to cheat the Social Security system and gain benefits they weren't due that SSA actually had to change official policy to deal with them and shut them down. As far as I am concerned, they should have prosecuted the lot of them, but it would have been a very difficult case to prove given the fact that the school districts willingly went along with the fraud.
Mr. Perry ought not to throw rocks in glass houses.
Shoot, Perry could care less. He's a politician first, foremost and forever. No substance there, folks, just posturing.
ReplyDelete