Largest Ponzi Scam Ever Discovered!!

Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scheme may have grabbed headlines but it is small compared to the biggest Ponzi scheme of them all. There is breaking news out there about a scheme were every worker in American Pays 12.4% of their income to this “fund.” The fund is supposed to pay all workers, when they retire, a monthly figure based on what they put it. Heck if you get hurt or just know how to work the system you can actually benefit from this Ponzi scheme. Now the best part about this scam is that the first ones in are still benefitting from this but some people (like everyone under 40) will probably be putting money into this system without a chance of receiving any return on their investment!! And the federal government runs this scam!!

Did you forget the Limbaugh play book that instructs you to insert blame on Obama?

Why do you always rush to play the victim? Do they teach that at liberal democrat school? What did the original post have to do with who the president was/is? Do you dispute that SS is a pyramid scheme?

Our parents were concerned SS would run out of money before they aged into it. Did it happen? No.

The previous administration wanted to give it away to Wall Street robber barons which thankfully didn't happen. Had he, I would be more concerned.

So, no, I'm not really concerned about it as it stands in it's current state.

Given the propensity of posters who participate in political discussions here to blame Obama for their having constipation or any other fantasy or delusion they are having at the moment, I don't think it is unreasonable to see that this conversation would soon incorporate the Limbaugh play book. Need an example? Go read the thread about biofuels tax credit - started by Bush but wouldn't you know it - it's all Obama's idea and therefore must be socialistic in nature.

jpete wrote:Why do you always rush to play the victim? Do they teach that at liberal democrat school? What did the original post have to do with who the president was/is? Do you dispute that SS is a pyramid scheme?

Here here

I generally don't take political sides nor do I blame the SS mess on anyone besides a non forward thinking way of doing business. I don’t BLAME Obama for this nor do I blame Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, or Roosevelt.

I blame everyone who didn’t look into that magical crystal ball to realize that as fewer workers paid in and more workers took out that it would dry up. I also blame those that watch as perfectly good workers scam a system to collect SSI (like one 52 year old family member) when they can work but chose not to because they have a crooked doctor.

tvb wrote:Our parents were concerned SS would run out of money before they aged into it. Did it happen? No.

The previous administration wanted to give it away to Wall Street robber barons which thankfully didn't happen. Had he, I would be more concerned.

So, no, I'm not really concerned about it as it stands in it's current state.

Given the propensity of posters who participate in political discussions here to blame Obama for their having constipation or any other fantasy or delusion they are having at the moment, I don't think it is unreasonable to see that this conversation would soon incorporate the Limbaugh play book. Need an example? Go read the thread about biofuels tax credit - started by Bush but wouldn't you know it - it's all Obama's idea and therefore must be socialistic in nature.

As I stated I don’t really take a side I call them as I see them. As far as blaming Obama for everything there never seems to be a middle. The republican believe everything he does is wrong the democrats believe everything he does is great.

What do I believe?

That a lot of greedy men (and a few women) on Wall Street and Main Street and Washington sat by and watched this country finically tank. At the end of the day you can’t blame Obama (President for about 3 months) for much of anything at this point. On that same note you can’t reasonably say that because the market was up on Monday that Obama’s plan is working. A entire smorgasbord of idiots ruined this thing not just the man at the top. The same will be said about the recovery.

tvb wrote:Our parents were concerned SS would run out of money before they aged into it. Did it happen? No.

The previous administration wanted to give it away to Wall Street robber barons which thankfully didn't happen. Had he, I would be more concerned.

So, no, I'm not really concerned about it as it stands in it's current state.

Given the propensity of posters who participate in political discussions here to blame Obama for their having constipation or any other fantasy or delusion they are having at the moment, I don't think it is unreasonable to see that this conversation would soon incorporate the Limbaugh play book. Need an example? Go read the thread about biofuels tax credit - started by Bush but wouldn't you know it - it's all Obama's idea and therefore must be socialistic in nature.

Once again, your parents were right. SS is bankrupt. And once again, you dodged my question. Is SS a pyramid scheme? If it is, then the original post is correct and you are chiming in just to be contrary.

tvb wrote:The previous administration wanted to give it away to Wall Street robber barons which thankfully didn't happen. Had he, I would be more concerned.

Just so you know.
http://people-press.org/report/70/suppo ... -in-market

It's not a ponzi scheme but it is operating completely outside of it's designed parameters.

The mortal error was not adjusting it as actuarial tables for life expectancy have changed. When it was designed average life expectancy was something like 67 years. It was designed to support a retiree for fewer than 5 years. Now average life expectancy is something like 77 years.

It is unsustainable. Something needs to change.

rockwood wrote:

tvb wrote:The previous administration wanted to give it away to Wall Street robber barons which thankfully didn't happen. Had he, I would be more concerned.

Just so you know.
http://people-press.org/report/70/suppo ... -in-market

And thank goodness Clinton was dissuaded from pursuing the same foolishness that Bush wanted to do. I'm pretty sure however that Clinton's proposal never made it past a being a line in the SOTU in 1999.

ErikLaurence wrote:It's not a ponzi scheme but it is operating completely outside of it's designed parameters.

.

It is a little tongue and cheek that I call it a Ponzi Scheme but it is not very far off.

Ponzi Definition -
“A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned. The Ponzi scheme usually offers returns that other investments cannot guarantee in order to entice new investors, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going.
The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments. Usually, the scheme is interrupted by legal authorities before it collapses because a Ponzi scheme is suspected or because the promoter is selling unregistered securities. As more investors become involved, the likelihood of the scheme coming to the attention of authorities increases.”

Now Social Security is a government run program that takes money from taxpayers with the intent to repay them in the form of retirement wages and benefits when they retire. Since SSI hasn’t really changed at all and people are living longer the government is actually taking money from you and I with a promise of something they can’t repay based on current trends and funding. The system is destined to collapse just as a Ponzi Scheme would be.

billlindley wrote:\

Here here

I generally don't take political sides nor do I blame the SS mess on anyone besides a non forward thinking way of doing business. I don’t BLAME Obama for this nor do I blame Bush II, Clinton, Bush I, Reagan, Carter, Ford, Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, or Roosevelt.

I blame everyone who didn’t look into that magical crystal ball to realize that as fewer workers paid in and more workers took out that it would dry up. I also blame those that watch as perfectly good workers scam a system to collect SSI (like one 52 year old family member) when they can work but chose not to because they have a crooked doctor.

My apologies, Bill, that I mistakenly thought you had ulterior motives for your post.

The only problem with ss is that they keep takeing out of it for the general fund & useing it for supporting illeagles & every Tom, Dick & Harry that never paid into it. Just like any cash cow, they can`t stand to have a surplus.

There's a surplus !!!!!!!!!

Bill S

billlindley wrote:

ErikLaurence wrote:It's not a ponzi scheme but it is operating completely outside of it's designed parameters.

.

It is a little tongue and cheek that I call it a Ponzi Scheme but it is not very far off.

Ponzi Definition -
“A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to investors from their own money or money paid by subsequent investors rather than from any actual profit earned. The Ponzi scheme usually offers returns that other investments cannot guarantee in order to entice new investors, in the form of short-term returns that are either abnormally high or unusually consistent. The perpetuation of the returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises and pays requires an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going.
The system is destined to collapse because the earnings, if any, are less than the payments. Usually, the scheme is interrupted by legal authorities before it collapses because a Ponzi scheme is suspected or because the promoter is selling unregistered securities. As more investors become involved, the likelihood of the scheme coming to the attention of authorities increases.”

Now Social Security is a government run program that takes money from taxpayers with the intent to repay them in the form of retirement wages and benefits when they retire. Since SSI hasn’t really changed at all and people are living longer the government is actually taking money from you and I with a promise of something they can’t repay based on current trends and funding. The system is destined to collapse just as a Ponzi Scheme would be.

So the only way it becomes a ponzi scheme now is by killing it. The the early folks get paid but the late people are SOL.

If one can fix it by adjusting retirement ages or capping the length of time it continues to pay out then it goes from fraud to just a bad investment.