Trying To Square The Circle

Three serious problems negatively affecting the US economy are eerily related. Consider the following:

1. Social Security Trust Fund
2. Roe vs. Wade
3. Illegal Immigration

Social Security Trust Fund

The things you need to know are: 1. Social Security is not secure; 2. Trust in the System is rapidly waning; 3. There is no trust fund. Current checks to payees are provided by current payers into the System. If the former falter, the latter suffer. Labeled the "the third rail of politics" . . . the one you daren't touch lest you get burned and forfeit any chance to be elected . . . is the threat that Social Security is going broke and a fix must be found. Unfortunately too many Americans are too dependent on that government check every month, and the suspicion that politicians may interrupt delivery in full is anathema to retirees. As currently structured the System is destined to fail because there will not be enough contributors to satisfy the claims of recipients. Since the end of WWII and up until the launch of Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society Program", the ratio of payers to payees declined from over 40:1 to 4:1. Today, with more payees living longer and the number of payers being steadily reduced by the broad range of welfare programs that keep people out of the workforce, the ratio is less than 3:1 . . . and headed toward 1:1 in a little more than a decade. When that point in time arrives, if you have a job you can legitimately declare you have a full time employee on your personal payroll . . . even if you don't know the name of that person and couldn't pick him or her out of a lineup. I am mindful of the story about the USDA federal employee found weeping at his desk because his farmer died and his cushy government job was in jeopardy. Some retiree will be praying for your longevity and hoping you don't succumb to the lure of unemployment benefits or permanent disability.

Roe v Wade

Another bone of contention is the huge number of babies aborted in the US each year. During the span of 42 years since Roe v Wade became the law in 1973 almost 58 million babies have failed to enter this world. Had the foregoing not been the case about half of those babies would have entered the work force and be contributing to the Social Security System. And more would be on the way. See where we are going with this logic? The looming fatal condition of Social Security could have been avoided if respect for life and common sense had prevailed.

Illegal Immigration

An overwhelming percentage of the population deems illegal immigration to be an economic problem. The interlopers are a drain on government resources and do not contribute to the Social Security System to the same extent as legal workers. Now let me get this straight. We murdered millions of potential US citizens who would have kept the Social Security System solvent and imported millions of illegal immigrants that contribute to the bankruptcy of the Social Security System. What kind of madness fostered this thinking? Tying all of the above together it becomes apparent that politicians and politically appointed judges drew both guns, fired at both feet, and crippled the economy. It's more than an eerie triple whammy . . . it is downright scary.

Bob Christie——Bio and Archives

Bob was born in Toronto and began his financial career as a trader on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He relocated to California and became SVP and CFO of a $multi-billion diversified financial entity. He served on the board of many companies in Canada and US. An avid yachtsman, he owns a twin diesel ocean going vessel once featured in Architectural Digest magazine. He maintains a hockey web site. “slapshotreport.com” and currently resides in Sausalito, California.