cekim, how in the hell do you erroneously assume that I am/have stolen anything from anyone?
Any deferred compensation system either requires the employer to set aside a portion of your pay to be given later or they must take from future revenues/profits to pay you. Private employers are regulated by the government to try to minimize this risk and manage the handling of Pensions (i.e. the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp).
The trouble is twofold:
1. The government did not set aside anything - they simply expected to tax people in the future pay pension obligations.
2. The government promised far more than it can deliver.
Yes, you have a "CONTRACT" but in the private sector, your "CONTRACT" would go into the bankruptcy system when your employer ran out of money and guess how much you'd get for your "CONTRACT."
Nada... You might get something from the PBGC, but not likely 100 cents on the dollar that's for sure and the PBGC can only do so much, it is yet another government agency that has promised more than it can deliver.
What I am trying to explain to you is that your "CONTRACT" included some unspoken/unwritten words just like our "CONTRACTS." Those unwritten words are something to the effect of "unless the entity ceases to exist or is no longer solvent when the time comes to execute that contract."
I view this as a Bankruptcy proceeding, because that's what it is. The US government is insolvent and there is NO scheme under which its current obligations can be met.
As I said in my original post, I would be inclined to prioritize payments promised to those who are serving and those who served before just about everything else, but first we have to accept the reality of bankruptcy and move on from there.
By your logic, because you have a contract (in all caps), it is ok to tax any and all earnings from everyone else to satisfy your contract because "damnit, I had a contract."
That's what I mean by stealing, you are using the force and violence of government/taxation to do what a private sector employee could never do. You took a "risk" that government would be able to pay. I'm telling you they can't. You are understandably upset because you mis-priced that risk as $0 and frankly for you personally, you may never "realize" that risk, but I am certain there are millions of social security and pension recipients who will realize that risk and they will get violent when they discover what I am trying to explain to you - that it was never "zero."