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Vote for LesLester Townsend for 12th U.S. Congressional DistrictProspective 2010 Republican Primary Candidate |
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I am a Member Gun Owners of America Links of InterestMacomb Daily |
My views on various issues are shown by the items contained in the links listed below. LESS: (NO) RAIDING OF SOCIAL SECURITY! LESS: DEPENDENCE ON IMPORTED OIL!LESS: GOVERNMENT SPENDING!I am considering a run for Congress ( testing the waters ) as a Republican in an effort to fix the problems with Social Security. Raising taxes or cutting benefits will not solve the problem. We must stop Congress from spending the money by setting up a pension style trust fund, then we can fund the trust by transferring property owned by the Federal Government into the trust. Property such as oil drilling rights in ANWR and the continental shelves. We need the revenue from the oil and gas properties, in addition to other income producing assets currently, held by the Federal Government, to pay benefits. In a few years the contributions from payroll taxes will not be sufficient to cover benefit commitments, and additional taxpayer dollars will be necessary to continue paying benefits. We must have income producing assets in an actual Social Security Trust Fund, to avoid an increase in taxes or a cut in benefits. In a defined benefit pension plan, such as the Social Security System, there are three sources of funds for the payment of benefits. The possible sources of funds for use in paying benefits are as follow; 1. Contributions being made to fund the plan. The payroll and self employment taxes currently being paid into the system are the source of all benefit payments being made at present. We are very close to reaching the time when these contributions will not be sufficient to pay the benefits due the Social Security and Medicare recipients. 2. Earnings on invested assets.
Currently, the only assets in the so called trust funds, are special
issue government securities. These securities are nothing more than a
bookkeeping entry on the books of the Treasury Department. The interest
is being credited at the rate of interest on short term treasury bonds.
The crediting of this interest is nothing more than a bookkeeping entry
which increases the amount in the so called trust fund. Any payment of
benefits from the earnings will require additional taxes, because there
are no actual assets currently earning the money needed to pay
benefits. The taxpayers are on the hook for all payments from the
earnings on these so called assets. Borrowing to pay these benefits
will simply deferr and increase the amount of taxes needed. 3. The assets being held by the pension plan. Currently, the only assets are the special issue government securities mentioned above. Paying down these assets will require additional taxes, because these so called securities are liabilities of the U.S. Government. These assets already represent amounts which have been borrowed. We need to exchange the special issue securities for actual assets earning income which can be used to pay benefits. If this exchange is not made, we will have a massive increase in taxes. There is a way to fix the Social Security System. The way the people in this country can get this problem fixed is by electing representatives to Congress who will commit to setting up a pension style trust fund, and transferring income producing assets which can be used to pay benefits, into the trust. Exchanging the current IOUs
for assets, which can produce income to pay benefits, will both reduce
the amount of the national debt, and solve the funding problems of the
Social Security System. Another reason, we need to
have actual assets in an actual Social Security Trust Fund, is that the
recent actions by the Federal Reserve to stimulate the economy, and
Congress to bail out the major banks, will result in much higher
inflation rates and higher interest rates. The trust fund will need
actual assets such as the drilling rights in ANWR and the continental
shelves, since actual assets will increase in value and compensate for
inflation. Other properties which can be transferred to the trust fund
are the preferred stock the Treasury Dept. received in exchange for the
bailout funds. The dividends in this stock will increase from 5% to 9%
percent after 5 years. These dividends ( instead of tax dollars ) are
needed to pay benefits.
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You can help Fix Social Security. HERE'S HOW!Please follow the link and make a campaign contribution! I really do need the money to advertise and get this message out. My 2008 web site |
Paid for with regulated funds by the
committee to elect Les Townsend
P.O. Box 67, Fraser, MI 48026-0067