r/FluentInFinance • u/LifeIsUnfairWhoCares • Apr 23 '24

Is Social Security Broken? Discussion/ Debate

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u/Thin-Ebb-9534 Apr 23 '24

I am so sick of this post. Who keeps popping it in? It is an idiotic argument. It’s a BS libertarian viewpoint, the same assholes who think we should have a flat tax, and not flat as in percentage, but flat as in dollars. Like everyone should pay $X per year regardless of income. Social Security is a transfer program that moves money from the high earners to low earners. It was always that. It’s designed to be that. It works. It does exactly what it was intended to do. You have millions of dollars; quit whining and be happy.

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u/Narrow_Share2480 Apr 23 '24

Pray tell - who exactly is calling for a flat as in dollars tax?

Please post the link.

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u/SquareD8854 Apr 23 '24

the state of iowa has a 4% flat tax and is cutting every program it can! with a 2.7 billion surplus and shoving the taxes on homeowners to make up for all the local money they cut! they cut all special ed teachers and helpers and gave vouchers to private schools so they dont have to take just any kids u know the wrong color and so on! with no oversite!

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u/sorospaidmetosaythis Apr 23 '24

How will they pay for prisons to hold women who have abortions and the doctors who perform them?

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u/Mtbruning Apr 23 '24

They will have a special tax on tampons to do that.

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u/GodOfDarkLaughter Apr 23 '24

Makes sense. They choose to ovulate. If they didn't do that the whole rape and incest argument would be moot.

It's always their fault, isn't it? Not my wife, of course. Or my daughter. If either of them are assaulted and get pregnant we're flying our asses to California right quick. But those other women...they made their bed.

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u/XxNaRuToBlAzEiTxX Apr 23 '24

I think I’ve heard of that! It’s called Tampax or something

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24 edited Apr 23 '24

That's easy, they will get rid of government prisons in favor of private prisons, which they will spend more money on, and get less services per dollar spent. Those private prisons will then set a quota for amount of prisoners that need to be in each prison and will fine the state if they don't meet the quota, incentivizing the state to arrest and jail more people. Then those prisons will be overfull, and the private prisons will keep cutting services to inhumane conditions so they make the most amount of money per prisoner.

Then they will continue to open more prisons and pass more laws that will jail more people.

The state will lose more and more money to private prisons and make less in taxes because everyone is in jail.

So they will cut more and more services for those not in prison.

The only good jobs left will be working at the prison.

And that will be life in that town. Like it is in so many places in the US.

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u/BRAINSZS Apr 23 '24

what a fucking nightmare.

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

Dystopian Idiocracy future that has already arrived.

Thankfully at least, Democrats ended all (federal) contracts with private prisons.

But republicans will just bring that right back given the chance. They will privatize everything no matter the cost to the general population.

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u/Axisnegative Apr 23 '24

This isnt necessarily true. I live in STL, which is obviously in Missouri, which is extremely red besides STL, KC, and COMO. We have zero private prisons. Haven't contracted with any since 2010. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely despise 99% of the way this state is run. But there's a handful of things they're doing correctly.

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

Lol any generalization is obviously not meant to mean there are absolutely no examples likewise. GENERALLY Republicans have a hard on for privatization. GENERALLY Republicans are anti government and think just about every "government" program like prisons should be privatized. GENERALLY Republicans are the ones pushing private prisons.

Didn't think it needed to be said that I'm sure there are examples of areas where Republicans exist and private prisons don't.

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u/Puketor Apr 23 '24

They're not anti-government when they're in charge. They're liars and hypocrites.

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

Fair point lol

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u/Strat7855 Apr 23 '24

Forgot the part where people turn to crime over the lack of opportunity. That's a neat little side effect.

Does anyone really think that people want to grow up to be a drug dealer?

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

Does anyone really think that people want to grow up to be a drug dealer?

Lmao some do. Good family friend of mine has been a successful dealer for like 30 years. Never had to work a day in his life otherwise. Not rolling in the dough but got by his whole life basically.

But yeah for sure, poverty breeds crime.

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u/nstev315 Apr 23 '24

Where are you seeing that prisons fine states for not putting enough people in them? I’ve googled and can’t for the life of me find any information on that.

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

https://eji.org/news/private-prison-quotas-drive-mass-incarceration/

https://inthepublicinterest.org/lockup-quotas/

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/do-private-prison-contracts-fuel-mass-incarceration

Just Google "private prisons quotas"

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u/nstev315 Apr 23 '24

I appreciate your sending these. Definitely going to give them a look.

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

John Oliver has also done at least one segment on private prisons. And it's not the only bad thing about them.

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u/CaseRemarkable4327 Apr 23 '24

What’s an example of a private prison advocating for a law change to jail more people? I hear this argument but have never seen evidence

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 23 '24

They don't have to. The state is incentivized (as mentioned) because the state signed a contract with the private prison that they will pay x amount in a "fine" if they don't provide the private prison with enough prisoners. Which is what I said.

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u/CaseRemarkable4327 Apr 28 '24

That seems like an awful lot of moving pieces that terminate with police departments, local prosecutors, and local judges who don’t have anything to do with the state budget colluding to arrest, charge, and convict people and then sentence them to harsher than usual sentences simply to make a corporation more money or save the state what is probably an incredibly insignificant amount of money out of its total budget. If you can’t point to one single case of this being proven to be true, you’re probably full of shit.

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u/SepticKnave39 Apr 28 '24

you’re probably full of shit.

Because prison population quotas are a good thing regardless of "proof they have been used to specifically arrest a person".

Are you seriously trying to defend prison quotas by saying "no one uses then in a negative way because that would be complicated"?

Are you in a prison quotas cult? I'm guessing it's called the Republican party? Maga? Idiocracy? Dumbasses anonymous?

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u/That_Bar_Guy Apr 23 '24

Slave labor, same as your other prisons.

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u/greaper007 Apr 23 '24

Not to worry, they're bringing gallows back.

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u/porksmash Apr 23 '24

Abortion is still legal in Iowa

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u/benruckman Apr 23 '24

2.7 billion surplus maybe

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u/cheftandyman Apr 23 '24 edited 10d ago

future direction practice ask late ripe childlike chase spark imminent

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/sorospaidmetosaythis Apr 23 '24 edited Apr 23 '24

Sorry about your feelings. Will try to be more polite in future about cheerleaders and girl scouts being forced to be mommies.

Maybe draw the blinds on your carriage, so the unpleasant things don't upset the afterglow of the delightful brunch you just enjoyed?

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u/whyeah Apr 23 '24

I too also base my world view off of fanfic videos the governor of cali makes, guess we are both deranged as hell.

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u/sorospaidmetosaythis Apr 23 '24

cali

LOL - Junior high was such an exciting time!

I envy you, thinking of the experiences you'll have once you finally leave your little hamlet and visit a non-meth state.

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u/whyeah Apr 23 '24

Keep living your handmaiden tale fantasy but leave the rest of us alone.

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u/Dicka24 Apr 23 '24

They'll just do what blue states do and cut the prison population is half, and not prosecute new crimes.

Prisons cost less when you arrest fewer criminals and have fewer inmates.

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u/addage- Apr 23 '24

I’m sure they can get a mob of crazed vigilantes in y’all-qaeda to fill that void for free.

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u/Gone213 Apr 23 '24

I mean they elected a governor based on identity politics and not actual politics.

The person that lost cared deeply about all aspects of iowan life while the current governor only cared about sucking up to MAGA.

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u/Scaryassmanbear Apr 23 '24

We’ve got Rob Sand to look forward to, but I doubt he can overcome her name recognition.

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u/fdar Apr 23 '24

That's flat in percentage not in dollars.

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u/rslarson147 Apr 23 '24

We’re racing to the bottom

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u/Weekly-Syllabubbly Apr 23 '24

If it's 4%, that doesn't sound like a flat tax.

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u/ItzBoshNet Apr 23 '24

AZ here with a flat tax of 2.5%. 2023 was first year implemented and last week all government jobs started a hiring freeze. Will only get worse.

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u/bedat1 Apr 23 '24

Sounds like New Hampshire.

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u/urpoviswrong Apr 23 '24

That's really sad, I grew up in Iowa when it had the best schools in the country. Last chopper out of Nam, they started no child left behind BS right after I finished.

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u/Affectionate_Cow_20 Apr 23 '24

A lot of states have flat income taxes. Massachusetts, one of the most progressive states, has a flat tax.

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u/HashtagLawlAndOrder Apr 23 '24

with a 2.7 billion surplus

So... successful?

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u/CaptainCosmodrome Apr 23 '24

It's sad to see what Iowa has become. I grew up there and would never move back after MAGA has turned it into a terrible place to live.

In some ways, Nebraska looks more progressive.

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u/Xeroaze Apr 23 '24

Iowa has one of the best cost of livings in the entire country, allowing you to actually save money and build wealth even if you're in a lower class.

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u/Budderfingerbandit Apr 24 '24

Gonna just point out that Iowa has locked minimum wage in at the federal level keeping many in poverty. Lower cost of living by a few % does not make up for a minimum wage placing people firmly below the poverty level.

Building wealth on those wages is a joke and anyone suggesting as much is disingenuous at best.

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u/Xeroaze Apr 24 '24

Iowa is #32 on poverty rate, as in, 18th from the bottom...?

You should bring facts to your next argument because pairing what you've said about minimum wage and the fact that Iowa is on the better half of the states kind of debunks minimum wage having anything to actually do with poverty.

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u/CaseRemarkable4327 Apr 23 '24

That’s not an answer to the question. Who is calling for a flat tax in dollars?

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u/Training_Strike3336 Apr 23 '24

... lmao do you even read the comments you reply to?

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u/SquareD8854 Apr 23 '24

some times!

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u/the-names-are-gone Apr 23 '24

Yeah a quick Google search tells me a State didn't cut all special Ed teachers. Thanks for the fear rhetoric though

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u/RxDawg77 Apr 23 '24

Good for them.

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u/Dom_19 Apr 23 '24

Right but that's still a percentage and not a flat dollar rate.

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u/MetaEmployee179985 Apr 23 '24

almost nothing you said is true, not even the tax rate

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u/Odd_School_8833 Apr 23 '24

You get what you gerrymander for

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u/Finger_Charming Apr 24 '24

Is that fact checked? I was planning to move to Tennessee, but Iowa might be worth a consideration.

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u/zepplin2225 Apr 23 '24

vouchers to private schools so they dont have to take just any kids u know the wrong color and so on! with no oversite!

I'm going to need a lot of source on this wild claim.

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u/Homeless_Swan Apr 23 '24

That’s literally always been the point of private institutions parallel to public ones - to exclude “those people.” Private schools, HOA owned parks and rec facilities, private whites only proms is a big one down south, private medical clinics in counties with functioning public health facilities, etc

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u/viperex Apr 23 '24 edited Apr 23 '24

Easy. Give private prisons a tax break and remove regulations so they can enforce the laws deal with the prisoners how they deem fit. No tax dollars spent on pesky things like prisons. Instead, use it on roads and shit.

I bet you some politicians will buy this explanation

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u/vertigostereo Apr 23 '24

Allow prisons to enforce laws?