End Another Social Program Other Than ACA: Social Security

Obamacare  http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/29/obamacare-website-glitches-not-only-problem

I have $100+ stolen from every paycheck by Social Security.  Plus the government steals another $100+ from my employer's paycheck which is then put into Social Security.  I couldn't imagine how much better my life would be if I had that money to spend, donate to charity, invest myself, etc but instead there's the notion that the government knows how to save and invest my money better than I do.  

Maybe the best argument against 'Social Security' is that it's coercive -- it violates property rights, and is therefore immoral. It can never be a universal proposition that we should always seize a portion of someone else's income to pay for a retirement scheme.  There are also a number of other arguments as well.  Some of these arguments may be able to be applied to the ACA as well - well who would have thought!

·         It discourages saving on the part of employees

·         It discourages employers from hiring people (the tax increases the expense of each worker hired)

·         It encourages layoffs during business downturns -- even if an employee ceases to be profitable for the company, the company still needs to pay payroll taxes

·         If birth rates in a country turn negative (or just stagnate at the replacement rate), the program becomes financially ruinous

·         The program enriches the established and elderly at the expense of the young and striving

·         Initially billed as social insurance, but it doesn't take into account differences in risk across the population (everyone gets similar levels of coverage, everyone pays a huge percentage of their income instead of a premium based on their risk profile)

·         Privileges the wealthy who earn their income for investments relative to the poor and middle class who earn through salaries/wages

·         Challenging to reform or abolish

·         Solidifies loyalty to a government (I'd better support this government, or they won't be around to give me back my SS money)

·         Program tends to decay over time (benefits start out exorbitant but devolve o a pittance over the decades)

·         Crowds out alternative forms of social insurance that actually take into account risk differences

·         Disproportionately harms populations that are unlikely to live long enough to receive significant SS benefits

·         Encourages social conflict on age lines (benefits-eaters vs. benefits-providers)

·         A country with SS has a higher labor cost structure than a country without SS (every employee in the US comes with a substantial surcharge for payroll taxes vs. an employee in another country)

·         Sets a legal precedent that usually leads to massive expansion of the state