Best answer of GOP debate: Newt Gingrich on Social Security Ponzi scheme: "why should young people have to live in a system where politicians have the power for the rest of their life to threaten to take away their social security"

Don't get me wrong, Gingrich is toast. No chance. But this was the best response of the night on a tough issue. Romney is wrong. Social security IS a Ponzi scheme. Perry should have stuck to his guns in his book that social security belongs with the states and not the federal government (I wrote specifically to that effect last August: What we need right now - the "Entitlement Sustainability and Constitutionality Act"). Huntsman is toast. Paul is partly right. But Gingrich hit a home run at the 9:30 mark of this video when he said of scaring seniors with social security "Obama scares seniors every day" and "why should young people have to live in a system where politicians have the power for the rest of their life to threaten to take away their social security." DARNED STRAIGHT! The video:

Santorum got in a good crack in there too. Related to social security: Labor Dept. Data: Only 1.75 Full-Time Private Sector Workers Per Social Security Recipient

There were only 1.75 full-time private-sector workers in the United States last year for each person receiving benefits from Social Security, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Social Security board of trustees.

That means that for each husband and wife who worked full-time in the private sector last year there was a Social Security recipient somewhere in the country taking benefits from the federal government.

Most state and local workers are part of the Social Security system and pay Social Security taxes; and, since 1984, all federal workers have been part of the system and pay Social Security taxes. However, unlike private sector workers who pay Social Security taxes with private-sector dollars, government workers pay their payroll taxes out of wages government pays them with tax dollars or with money that was borrowed by government and taxpayers must eventually repay.

In its latest annual report, the Social Security board of trustees reported that the federal government’s total revenue from Social Security taxes in 2010—$544.8 billion—was not enough to cover Social Security’s total benefit payments—$577.4 billion.

The board of trustees also reported that there were 156.725 million “covered workers” in the United States who paid some Social Security taxes during 2010. But these 156.725 million “covered workers” included all workers—including government workers—who were “paid at some time during the year for employment” on which Social Security taxes were due. People who worked full-time for 52 weeks during the year were included with people who worked only part-time for a month.

How is that not a Ponzi scheme again? Plus this: Rush Limbaugh Reads The History Of Social Security Being Called A Ponzi Scheme 

Bernie Madoff went to a federal pound-you-in-the-ass prison for far less than what liberals are being hailed for doing.

Just so you all know where we're at in this day and age: Pic of the Day: The Only Chart You Need To See To Understand Why The US Is Screwed, for the first time in our history just entitlement spending by itself is greater than all federal tax revenues combined:

UPDATE: From National Review via memeorandum: Romney: Social Security Is Like a Criminal Fraud

Mitt Romney’s demagoguing of Rick Perry for calling Social Security a Ponzi scheme is just mind-boggling. Let’s put aside for a moment Stanley’s invaluable column on the home-page today, demonstrating that, for nearly half a century, reputable commentators across the ideological spectrum have referred to Social Security as a Ponzi scheme due to the undeniable fact that its structure is — and has always been — unsustainable. The fact is that, just last year, Romney himself compared social security to a fraudulent criminal enterprise.

As John McCormack recounts at TWS:

[I]n his book “No Apology: The Case For American Greatness”, which was published just last year, Romney compared those managing Social Security to criminals, saying:



“Let’s look at what would happen if someone in the private sector did a similar thing. Suppose two grandparents created a trust fund, appointed a bank as trustee, and instructed the bank to invest the proceeds of the trust fund so as to provide for their grandchildren’s education. Suppose further that the bank used the proceeds for its own purposes, so that when the grandchildren turned eighteen, there was no money for them to go to college. What would happen to the bankers responsible for misusing the money? They would go to jail. But what has happened to the people responsible for the looming bankruptcy of Social Security? They keep returning to Congress every two years.” [Emphasis in McCormack's post.]

UPDATE #2: More Newt on fire: Newt Hammers GE, Obama

In one fell swoop, Newt Gingrich blisters President Obama and his favorite corporation, General Electric.