Limits On Spending Never Come
Nov 14, 2012 Political
Senate majority Leader Harry Reid has fired the opening salvo in the lame duck session regarding the fiscal cliff that we are rapidly approaching. His first declaration was that the election is a mandate to raise taxes on the rich. I beg to differ and counter that we basically have the same government we had prior to the election and that means the American public wants a divided and gridlocked government. If Americans did not want the gridlock that existed then it would have changed the makeup of Congress.
Reid has further declared that Social Security is solvent for the time being and that it will not be part of any budget negotiations. What Reid is saying is that he will kick the can down the road.
Social Security and Medicare are in trouble. The government has, for decades, collected huge sums of money from workers via the Social Security insurance tax. Over the years far more was collected than was needed to pay retirees because there were far more young workers. The government took that money and put it in the general budget and issued an IOU to the trust fund. We are now at a point where more is being paid out than is coming in but there is no way to compensate for that without borrowing money because the money paid in has long been spent.
AARP released a poll that it took of its members and a majority of those members 50 and older indicated they did not want Social Security and Medicare included as part of the budget negotiation process. They want their benefits that were promised.
This lines up with what I have long said. Social Security and other programs like it are designed to get people dependent on government. The people surveyed are demonstrating that they do not care about the debt or any of the country’s other money problems so long as they get their checks. They are beholden to the nanny state to survive and this axe can be held over their heads to get them to comply with what government wants and can be used to scare them into voting for certain politicians. It is a shame that the elderly, like those on welfare, are held as slaves to government. Keep doing what government wants, keep voting the way it wants, and you can have your soup.
AARP and its members can say they want to keep their benefits and Harry Reid can claim that all is well but it will not be long before the reality of insolvency sets in and Congress will run around like their heads are on fire and their asses are catching in order to raise taxes to pay for the shortfall. By that time the game will be over. Like any Ponzi scheme, there is always an end game where a lot of people get screwed. No matter what AARP members want when there is no money they will get nothing.
[note]As an aside, the death panels in Obamacare should help reduce the elderly population so that there is not as big a drain on SS and Medicare[/note]
Reid is also indicating that he is going into negotiations with the mindset that Congress will raise taxes on the rich. Reid said he feels that there is nothing wrong with asking the wealthy to pay a little more. His statement ignores the fact that the wealthy already pay most of the federal income taxes paid in this country. How much more is a fair share? How much of someone’s income is a fair amount to give? How much is fair when we know it will be wasted and that no matter how much they take it will not solve the debt problem?
The Democrat’s idea of bipartisan negotiations is that you have to agree with them and it is bipartisan. Disagree or work for something else and you are being an obstructionist.
For their part Republicans are indicating they are open to revenue increases (read increased taxes) as long as there are limits on spending. Those limits never come. Tax increases take place instantly and limits are delayed until they are deemed impractical and then never happen.
I think we should allow the Bush tax cuts to expire in their entirety. According to the Democrats they were only for the rich anyway so let them expire. As far as the other draconian measures that will cut many agencies and hurt contractors, well that is what they get for supporting Obama.
Pain is a great teacher and people need to feel that pain.
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Don’t Muck It Up
Feb 4, 2012 Political
Those were the words Obama used when he was discussing the latest jobs numbers. Obama was telling members of Congress not to muck up the wonderful job Obama is doing with the economy. The problem with all this is that Republicans are not mucking things up and the jobs numbers are once again an illusion.
The 0.2% drop from 8.5% to 8.3% is not the result of more people getting work it is the result of a continually shrinking labor pool. The Obamabots and the BLS have figured the best way to get the numbers down is to stop counting. In that light we have seen the numbers drop slightly over the past few months and those numbers have dropped because there are fewer people in the labor pool.
In order to make Obama look really good this month 1.2 MILLION more people have been knocked off the labor rolls. That is right, 1.2 MILLION people have been knocked off the rolls in one month.
Look for this trend to continue as the regime works to make it appear as if things are getting better when they are not. Keep in mind that just because these 1.2 MILLION people (who are only a small part of the total number) are no longer counted as part of the labor pool does not mean they are not people who need money and need a job. They are just people who are not counted so the numbers will look better.
The real unemployment rate is well above 10% but, as with anything involving numbers, the data can be manipulated to portray whatever is desired. Obama strung the country along for three years and now that he wants to be reelected numbers will be manipulated to make it look as if things are working.
We have 5 TRILLION dollars in new debt since this man took office. In just three years he surpassed the debt George Bush left us after eight and his policies have been complete failures. This does not even take into account the disaster we will see once Obamacare takes effect. Hell, why do you think they set it up to take place after the 2012 election?
We cannot afford four more years of Obama particularly when he will not have to worry about being reelected. He has led us down the path of ruin and if he gets four more years he will destroy us.
If we can’t get rid of him we need to ensure that the Congress is completely in the hands of the Republican party so we can do to him what Jesse Jackson wanted to do.
Yes, Barack Obama told Republicans not to muck this up. His party has failed to pass a budget in over 1000 days and Harry Reid said the Senate will not pass one this year. Another election year act of cowardice. Republicans need to tell Obama and Reid that NOTHING will be considered until a budget is passed and signed, period.
One other thing. While Obama was finger wagging about mucking things up he said:
They just need to get it done. It shouldn’t be that complicated. Now is not the time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy. Now is the time for action. Breitbart
The 2% cut Obama wants continued is the cut in Social Security that workers pay. The Social Security Ponzi scheme is in serious financial trouble and will be insolvent in a decade as politicians continue to use the money collected to expand government and drive us into bankruptcy. Cutting from the fund that is already in financial trouble is the very definition of a self inflicted wound. This will have to be addressed in the future but by then we will probably be at the point of no return with Obama demanding a 100% tax on rich people who will be defined as anyone who makes money.
We have a person with no leadership experience and a Socialist philosophy running the country into the ground.
His handlers must be proud and there is no doubt his mother and father would be proud. After all, they came from a long line of Socialists and Communists.
We need to vote this man out of office (along with the rest of the idiots in his party) or we need to have our own occupy movement, one that they definitely will not like.
Our Founders would be shooting by now…
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
Tags: budget, Democrats, lies, muck it up, Obama, phony numbers, social security
Rob Peter To Pay Paul
Nov 27, 2011 Political
Congress does not know how to manage money. That is a plain simple fact of life that simply cannot be rationalized away no matter how hard one tries (and Congress critters try). They have shown it time and again by spending more than we pay in taxes and then raising taxes to cover their inability to manage money. They continue to raise taxes and spend more until someone comes along and manages to get taxes lowered.
Then revenues increase and what happens? The Congress spends even MORE!
Social Security is another example of their inability to manage money. They extorted money from our paychecks because we are too stupid to save for our own futures. Then they supposedly put that money away to actually pay us when we retire. The problem is, Congress saw trillions of dollars sitting there gathering dust while waiting to be paid to retirees and decided to add it to the general fund and, you guessed it, spend it. The so called Social Security trust fund holds nothing more than nearly three trillion dollars in IOUs that are worthless.
Sure, they are backed by the full faith and credit of the US Government but there is little faith in our government because we borrow 40% of every dollar we spend.
We now have another example of the inability of Congress to manage money. Congress has raided the money that is supposed to pay for Obamacare. Millions of dollars have been taken from the Obamacare funds in order to pay other bills or to spend on one pet project or another.
I think Obamacare will be ruled unconstitutional but if it is not what happens when it comes time to pay for it? What happens to this magical law that is supposed to pay for itself? What happens to that cost curve?
Congress will claim there is not enough money and that taxes need to be raised or services cut or both.
All because Congress cannot properly manage money.
We need radical change in DC and we can start by replacing all those members of Congress who have been there more than one term.
Source:
Washington Times
Cave canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: lies, malfeasance, obamacare, social security, spending, taxes
Obama Shows Need To Privatize Social Security
Jul 13, 2011 Political
Social Security was supposed to be the safety net that allowed people to have a little money coming in when they retired. This is a program that was designed to assist those incapable of saving for their own futures and it has morphed into an albatross that includes all kinds of things like disability payments to people who are allegedly unable to work.
The money that is taken in each month is sent to the Treasury and the Treasury issues a worthless piece of paper indicating that the money is there if it should be needed. All Social Security has to do is ask and they can get the money they need to make payments. Nice idea except the money confiscated goes into the general fund and politicians spend it on everything under the sun. When Social Security asks for the money to make payments our country has to borrow it from another country (usually one that is not a friend) and then pay interest on the money borrowed. The process costs us a hell of a lot more than it should. If they had left the money alone there would be no problem.
This leads us to the current debt ceiling “crisis” and the statement by Barack Obama that he could not guarantee that Social Security checks will go out on August 3rd if the debt ceiling is not raised. This is a blatant lie because Social Security is required to be paid and that means other programs will be cut so that Social Security recipients get their money. Besides, there is still plenty of money coming in to service the debt and pay Social Security. Other programs will have to be cut. Look at it this way, either the Congress makes serious cuts now or they will happen automatically in August.
The whole issue shows why privatizing Social Security is an important and necessary measure. People work to put their money into the system and then government takes that money and spends it on things for which it was never intended. When trouble hits, Obama (using scare tactics) says he can’t guarantee people will get the money they paid in. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled that people have no right to receive Social Security and government can end it at any time (they would have to change the law).
The federal government had its chance and it terribly mismanaged the funds. If any private business took money for one thing and spent it on another and then could not meet the original obligation the people in charge would end up in jail. Ironically, the people in Congress who gave us the Social Security mess would be leading that charge.
It is time to privatize Social Security and allow people to put money in accounts that they own and that they have control over. It is time they owned it all and were able to pass it on to their heirs. This would have an added benefit of allowing people to retire when they felt they could rather than having to hit a government mandated age before they could draw the money. People would be better off and they would not be dependent on government (which is why politicians don’t want you in control).
I know the tired arguments about market crashes and all that. There are funds that start out with risk and get less risky as the worker gets older. There is a certain amount of risk in anything but it is unlikely that people will go completely bankrupt. The simple truth is they can be no worse off than they are right now with all the money they “contributed” squandered on wasteful government programs and Obama telling them they might not get a check in August (and for who knows how long). If they controlled their own money this would not be an issue because they would be in control of their own assets.
The government in general has mismanaged the program by wasting the money. They now have to borrow to make payroll, so to speak. Obama as much as admitted that the program would be better off if we privatized it when he admitted he can’t guarantee that people will get their checks.
It is time to move Social Security away from government control and put it back in the hands of the people who actually earn the money. It will take a while and we still have obligations to those currently drawing Social Security. We could afford to do that if we open a lot of off shore oil leases and allow American businesses to drill for oil. We will create jobs, will produce our own oil and gas and a portion of the revenue can be earmarked specifically for Social Security to pay those currently in the system (with no possibility of the money being used for anything else).
Let the younger generation start setting aside money for their own retirement and let them have a prosperous old age free of dependence on government.
You know they can’t sustain it. You know they can’t run it effectively. You know they can’t keep their hands out of the till. You know that they cannot guarantee you will receive your money. And they know it too.
So let us do the right thing, the smart thing, and push for privatizing Social Security.
We certainly cannot possibly do any worse than the government has.
And in all likeliness we will do much better.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: default, lies, Obama, privatize, social security, trust fund
Then Why Should The Rich Pay Social Security?
Dec 1, 2010 Political
Social Security is a bad program that has gotten worse over the years. It is designed to keep people enslaved to the government by taking money from them while they earn and then giving them a small retirement when they end their working careers. This deprives them of the opportunity to save and invest the money on their own, a step that would actually allow them to earn much more money and allow them to say what is done with it.
The Supreme Court has ruled that no one has a legal right to Social Security benefits. This is a bad decision but it looks like it will play out that way in the long run. Social Security is broke and there is no reasonable way to fix it. There will be no money left for those who are paying today.
A Democrat Policy Group is recommending that Social Security be fixed by denying payments to those who are wealthy when they retire. If you have the brains to put money away and save for retirement and happen to do well then you might not get the benefit that you paid into for all of your working career.
In what world is this fair?
Why should the rich pay into Social Security (or a person who is not particularly wealthy during his working career but saves a lot) only to be denied the money when they retire? What rule allows for the confiscation of a person’s money and then the redistribution of that money to others?
Why should the rich pay into Social Security? To top it off, the plan calls for higher Social Security taxes and raising the income level (the cap) on which it is collected. Why would people pay into this knowing full well that they would not get anything when they retire?
Most Democrats oppose this plan while some Republicans favor it or some variation of it. Who the hell do these people think they are?
As for me, I don’t need them to pay me Social Security. All I want is for them to send me a check for the money I have paid in (and I don’t even need any interest on it) and for them to stop taking Social Security out of my check. I will be more than happy to invest the money myself and I will live quite well in retirement. I am also sure the people who are actually rich (and even those considered rich by the government) would be happy to do the same.
I am not rich by any stretch of the imagination. I just work hard for my money and I save some of it for the future.
Others would do well to follow that example.
The members of Congress would do well to learn from that as well.
Class warfare is here and they are stoking the fire. Keep it up and things will get ugly as the rich find other things to do with their money.
Cave Canem!
Never surrender, never submit.
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Tags: benefits, Congress, lies, rich, social security, supreme court