Ceiling Our Fate?
If the debt-ceiling drama which just transpired had occurred in 1995, I would be probably be applauding the deal just made. But this wasn’t an ordinary political tug of war. It wasn’t about what the country will look like ten or twenty years from now. It was about the near-term chances of America surviving as we know it. We’ve just lowered that likelihood.
Because of that, I find no solace in the fact that much of the left is apoplectic. The New York Times is screaming about “hostages.” The paper’s Paul Krugman is railing about President Barack Obama’s “abject surrender.” Joe Biden and Democratic Party congressmen are calling Tea Party patriots “terrorists.” Illinois stateocrat Dick Durbin frets that the deal is the death knell for Keynesian economics.
I find no encouragement in the claims of outfits like the Wall Street Journal and alleged center-right commentators that the deal is a “Tea Party Triumph” representing the biggest “cut” in spending since 1996 — and besides, “it’s the best we can do.” I remember July 27, when the Journal condescendingly referred to people who have given up their personal lives to save the country as “tea-party Hobbits,” while the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol snidely called those who objected to the House GOP’s growing timidity as “the pro-Obama right.” Yeah, these are our “friends.”
We’ve been heading for the mother of all crackups for nearly a decade.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush made a calculated decision to run up deficits then considered massive to avoid touching domestic programs and entitlements — even creating a new one in the case of prescription drugs — to buy time against leftist objections to the absolutely necessary war on terror. The Republican Congress took Bush’s posture as permission to open the earmark floodgates and totally surrendered the fiscal high ground. Largely as a result, Democrats took control of Congress. Bush’s post-9/11 decision may have temporarily saved the country from a terrorist scourge, and to be fair he was one good year away from balancing the budget when the Democrats took over. But it, along with congressional Republicans’ profligacy, also left an opening for a hardened radical posing as a fiscal moderate to siphon away enough relatively disengaged voters to take the White House.
Immediately upon taking office — even before then if you count TARP, which he enthusiastically supported as a candidate — Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress stepped up government spending to levels not seen in human history. TARP and the Democrats’ overreach gave birth to the Tea Party movement, which in November 2010 overturned Nancy Pelosi’s majority in the largest House seat party switch since the late 1930s.
John Boehner may be getting standing ovations and lots of love from his party colleagues in Washington, and he has a boatload of semi-credible defenses — undermining from the Senate’s Gang of Six and Mitch McConnell, serial media misrepresentations about the status of negotiations, and of course, Barack Obama and Harry Reid. But the fact remains that he needed to do more, and didn’t.
Boehner and Republicans erroneously accepted the premise that the Congressional Budget Office’s baseline should be a starting point when considering future spending plans. It’s not, and it became totally useless on Friday with the government’s “revisionomics” announcement that the country’s economy is still smaller than it was before the recession began. At this point, what matters is the answer to one and only one question: Are we going to spend a lot less next year than we are going to spend this year? “No” is not an acceptable answer. As far as I can tell, Boehner has never even tried to keep a core promise contained in his party’s 2010 Pledge to America, namely: “With common-sense exceptions for seniors, veterans, and our troops, we will roll back government spending to pre-stimulus, pre-bailout levels.” Instead, we’re well on our way to establishing Barack Obama’s ever-higher baseline spending levels as the norm, while perhaps even jeopardizing national security.
In the climax of Lord of the Rings, tea partier Sam’s Progressive enemy Gollum eventually saved him from his RINO friend Frodo by losing his balance as the latter two struggled for the ring of power.
Now if only fiction would become reality.
Don’t Defecate on my lawn and tell me it’s ferterlizer!
And don’t produce a compromise ladened with Phoney Cuts and tell me I won.
These were our demands:
1)We WILL NOT raise the debt ceiling one red cent!
2)We DEMAND IMMEDIATE CUTS of $1.6 Trillion!
3)We DEMAND a BALANCED BUDGET IMMEDIATELY!
4)We DEMAND $25 Trillion in spending cuts over the next 10 years!
5)All Unconstitutional programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid etc.) will be ELIMINATED IMMEDIATELY!
The Demican/Republicrat political establishment foolishly chose to ignore us. All they did was kick the can down the road…again — predictably.
Is it time for Tea Partiers to launch a jihad against the corrupt political establishment, against the criminal gangs (i.e. the Demicans and Republicrats)?
The democratic process has failed…NOW is the time for the Tea Party to wage a jihad against the traitors.
If the Tea Party doesn’t start a jihad — the country is lost.
Since you are lumping Social Security and Medicare in with the “entitlements” you want to eliminate, can I get a refund on my 46 years of taxes I paid in or are you suggesting that Patriotic zeal is somehow going to replace my retirement savings?
nickel. social security and medicair are intitlements we paid for. wellfare is not an entitlement but we pay for it so the deadbeats dopeheads and sorry assed loafers can have more time to loaf between elections. when they go back to the polls to keep the ones in office who keep promising them more free handouts. and trust me I know because I have some cousens who fit right in that category. they have raised their familys on wellfare,
Vagabond, I understand exactly what you are saying. I have lived the last thirty years up close and personal in one of America’s Progressive inner cities. Welfare is a way of life.
My point was that I am sick of the politicans in Congress who always use the cuts needed to Social Security and Medicare as their club to beat back any real cuts to their own graft and malfesance being touched in any way.
The Ryan plan is a good first step toward getting the Government out of the Health Care pricing system and as anyone who has looked at what is driving the costs in Health Care knows it is the third party payer function that totally distorts the health care market and only freer competition will act to correct the problem.
Not to be sarcastic or a smarts$$ but how do we as a nation continue to pay 60% of our budget to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and a) balance the budget, b) not bankrupt the nation, and c) not crush younger taxpayers under a punishing tax rate? I’m not responsible for the national Ponzi scheme called SSI. At 45 I’d forfeit all my SSI contributions if the government would just give me the “freedom of choice” to opt out of the system. If you have no other retirement than SSI that to me represents piss poor planning and a bad assumption that government would be there for you.
“At 45 I’d forfeit all my SSI contributions if the government would just give me the “freedom of choice” to opt out of the system. If you have no other retirement than SSI that to me represents piss poor planning and a bad assumption that government would be there for you.”
At 45 son, you haven’t paid all that much in. Call me when you put four kids through private schools and private college, pay 20 years more of taxes on all your property and pay for your own health insurance for 25 more years and tell me how much other money you have for retirement. I will then consider who has piss poor planning and who just doesn’t really know what they are talking about but doesn’t let that give them any pause.
Nickel,
Social Security is supposed to be supplemental. If you spent all that money all your life and did not plan for your future other than to collect social security, you are foolish. Your resources would have been better spent elsewhere. As for me, I’m with Eric. I’m 45 and don’t want any part of Social Security.
At 45, you have had 20% confiscated. For a 65 year-old, the remaining 80% will have been confiscated (your earning capability will be twice from 45-65 than from 25-45, inflation will double (2x), and that doesn’t even count the impact of earnings you should have received on the money (which would be another double or triple)).
How generous of you to sacrifice your (less than) 20% and the 65 year-old’s 100%!! That will allow you 20 years to recover, and the 65 year-old zero years.
Convenient for you, isn’t it?
Thank you “proreason” for saying in a much clearer way what I was trying to point out.
For our younger friends, they should know that everyone on this board over 60 has been discussing Social Security and whether or not it will be there when we retire, can we get out of it etc. since at least the mid 1970s. We all took a 6.73% haircut to our benefits in 1983 when they upped the retirement age on all of us by one year.
For anyone that bothers to look at the internals of Social Security, you will find that it is already a very strong redistribution system within the income classes.
Redistribution on steroids, I’d say, nickel.
There are 3 brackets for calculating the payment: 90%, 33% and 15%. 90% is for low earners. High earners get 15% on the dollar, after crossing the bracket threshhold.
It’s far more progressive than the income tax code. The myth that people get far more out than they put in may be true for low-earners, but certainly not for people who “contributed” close to the max. Of course, if you die young, you won’t get anything out, since the government claims it all.
Even so, I’m with you nickel. With a confiscation level for myself and my spouse that I value at over $1M, I’ll fight tooth and claw to get as much out as possible. Maybe if we both live to 150, we’ll come out even.
Redistribution on steroids, I’d say, nickel.
“There are 3 brackets for calculating the payment: 90%, 33% and 15%. 90% is for low earners. High earners get 15% on the dollar, after crossing the bracket threshhold.
It’s far more progressive than the income tax code. The myth that people get far more out than they put in may be true for low-earners, but certainly not for people who “contributed” close to the max. Of course, if you die young, you won’t get anything out, since the government claims it all.” “proreason”
Proreason this is a major point.
I did not know the exact numbers so thank you for posting them.
I came to the same conclusion when I looked at the relative pay off of having Social Security about twenty five years ago and was a little shocked to see how “lucrative” it was for very low income beneficiaries and how high income contributors would effectively get financially screwed once they had worked for anywhere from 20-35 years at the maximum income or close to it.
Effectively, if you are a high income Social Security payer and work for 45-50 years, the last ten to fifteen years of your payments are almost totally lost to you because the cost of the total 16% payments are much greater than the annual increase in your benefit!
A bit of a shock when you first realize it.
The calculation to determine the maximum benefit you can receive takes the highest 35 work years calculated as a percent that you earned as a percentage of that years maximum payment. Currently the maximum Social Security taxable income is $110,000 of income. Once you are anywhere near having those 35 years or even 25 years of high payment history, that part of your FICA tax is largely a gift to the low income beneficiaries. If more people realized this they would be much more ticked off then they already are.
Proreason, what gives you the right to volunteer me to pay a debt that I never signed on to, and indeed, never had the opportunity to vote against, seeing as it was entered into decades before I was born? I say, I don’t see my signature on that contract, so I don’t consider it a valid obligation for me to pay.
To “eric” and “jwoop” I didn’t say that Social Security was the only money I have for my retirement, “eric” assumed that. What I said was we have paid in 16% of our income for 40 plus years or more by the time we retire and no I am not interested in having someone call that a “gift” or “entitlement” from the Government. You might find it hard to believe but I still think of my property as mine, not someone elses. So you can save your concern for my planning skills and try to appreciate that maybe the world didn’t start the day you were born.
Yes, let eric and jwoop give up 33% of their income, and then come talk to us about giving up some of ours. That would be “fair”, wouldn’t it?
Of course, we worked 40 years for the part we would be giving up, and have no chance to replace it. They worked a few years for their part and have decades to replace it.
But, when someone wants what the other guy has, integrity and common decency flies out the window.
While I have some empathy for those living off SS and Medicare, it was and continues to be a ponzi scheme. You may have paid in for those many years but can you honestly say that you are not getting back more than you have paid in? Do you NOT see that they are the (SS and Medicare) the primary drivers of our debt? Earmarks while contemptible are nothing compared to what SS/MC gobble up in our economy.
How do you expect to continue living off SS and Medicare with a dying economy in large part due to this vote buying scheme of SS and Medicare? You can scream all you want about how you deserve it but at what cost to the nation? Suppose China and Japan stop buying our bills–who will cut your SS check? Why not take a cut now so you can have some later??? If you listen to “prounreasonable” he will have you going in circles, which is how he plays this game. To the other guy, if you have a $1 million in assets why are you receiving SS/Medicare? How about a means test for both of you? If you can afford private insurance you should NOT be allowed MC. Or is it greed that drives you both to say you want your SS/MC?
I want both of you to tell your children and grandchildren, that you all will be paying for my care with a debt that amounts to over @200k before you even go to work-providing we can still get someone to buy our bills-and if not then who knows what kind of taxation or economy we will have…. Enjoy.
“You may have paid in for those many years but can you honestly say that you are not getting back more than you have paid in” yes. absolutely.
“Do you NOT see that they are the (SS and Medicare) the primary drivers of our debt?”
Medicare is. SS is not since it is close to being self-sufficient and can easly be made self-sufficient by adjusting it to current demographics (i.e., increase the retirement age or perhaps just increase the MINIMUM retirement age). Many things are bigger problems than the easily correctable SS. Medicare has to be dramatically restuctured, since no program can possibly pay out unlimited amounts with severly limited inputs. Ryan’s plan will work. Others will as well. Meidicare as currently structured is laughably flawed.
“How do you expect to continue living off SS and Medicare with a dying economy in large part due to this vote buying scheme of SS and Medicare?” Who said I was? Can you read?
“You can scream all you want about how you deserve it” I don’t “deserve” it, I paid the equivalent of a million dollars into it. It’s mine, not yours.
“but at what cost to the nation?”
Reduce your own income by 20 to 100% as all seniors would have to do and then come ask us to contribute to your well being. We’ll be more receptive.
“Why not take a cut now so you can have some later???” I have never said I wouldn’t accept adjustments, but nuts like you want to solve your own problems by driving seniors into abject poverty, when the realatively minor problems with SS can be corrected with common-sense tweaks.
“If you listen to “prounreasonable” he will have you going in circles, which is how he plays this game. To the other guy, if you have a $1 million in assets” You don’t even listen do you? I said I’ve paid the equivalent of $1 million into the program.
Why do idiots who don’t even have a glimmer of understanding choose to display their ignorance on these forums?
And oh yes, there is a 99% probability that if you aren’t forced to contribute to SS, you will be flat broke when you reach 65.
“Proreason” an excellent set of posts. Thank you. The other posters on this site should read what you have said with great attention.
I have often wondered why our rapacious Big Government socialists haven’t gotten around to “means testing” Social Security and thanks to your analysis it is clear, it is because they already have. This is a great example of what the Statist Media will never tell you. Since anyone who is in the $60,000 to $110,000 income level is not only already tapped out as far as growing their SS benefits after 25 years or so of “high” income the contributions of their 6.25% to Social Security in their FICA taxes each year are effectively paid not to them or their heirs but to the people at the very low end of the income distribution. As “proreason” pointed out the benefit calculations are 90% for the low income workers($5,000 to $$11,500, 33% for the middle income workers(currently roughly $12,000 to $38,000 annually I estimate)and 15% to everyone over that. It is a massive income redistribution sceme on a giant scale.
What this means is that not only are the “high income’ yes that is most of us not the “millionaires and billionaires who since they don’t get a salary in many cases and thus don’t play in this game or are above the $110,000 cut off and are just really milk cows pure and simple when it comes to Medicare and Social Security”
And just to make this more fun, the “benefits” are taxable income above about $28,000 in annual income for the recipient, again those making on average $38,000 to $110,000 or above.
So the real reason why you hear lots of noise about “means testing of Social Security” and let real analysis, is that THEY ALREADY STOLE THAT MONEY. It is hugely means tested now and the last thing BIG BROTHER GOVERNMENT wants to do is wake up the tens of millions of workers who are already getting their wealth redistributed currently through this system.
Thanks “proreason” for pointing this out. My estimates might be slightly off on the various income levels, since I haven’t looked at this for a long time but not much.
Why don’t you demand-sorry-DEMAND! a pony and ice cream for breakfast?
Tea Party Jihadist – you are obviously not a member of or a supporter of Tea Party principles. You are obviously a leftist who is trying to smear and denigrate the Tea Party.
Tea Party principles are basic, simple commonsense principles. There is nothing extremist, violent or radical about them; there is nothing hostile or adversarial.
The principles are: low taxes (that enables investment money to develop in the private sector); limited government (govt should enable private business and not prevent it and should not morph into a massive welfare/nanny state); fiscal responsibility (that means a balanced budget, i.e., you should not be taking out loan after loan and living off borrowed money..which will never be repaid and which puts a fiscal burden on the future economy).
There is also nothing wrong with social security and welfare; indeed, any society will support those who need help – as long as its ratio of users is kept to a responsible one. It’s the expansion of users outside of those in genuine need – to those who choose not to work or scam the system – that is the problem.
These are simple, non-violent basic commonsense principles.
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” — Barry Goldwater – 1964
Well put, Tea Party Jihadi. While I personally think very negatively of Islam in its current role, I do agree with the tactics mentioned by you. When words no longer have meaning, physical deterrence is all that stands between us and the animal kingdom.
I repeat: I consider you a leftist dressing yourself up as a Tea Partier – and no Tea Partier is a jihadist – to smear the genuine Tea Partiers.
Jihadists and extremists live in a world of dogma, of utopian ideals, devoid of realism, of any understanding of historical context. Your list of ‘demands’ – ignores context, history and reality. These programs didn’t emerge out of thin air; they emerged out of the history of the social, economic and mindset of Americans. There are many people who view them as either beneficial or part of the natural economic context.
To declare YOUR view as the ONLY view allowed is the height of arrogance and totalitarian elitism. For anyone to make ‘demands’ and to threaten the people of America with terrorism (jihadism) is the height of arrogance and elitism. We live in a democracy not a dictatorship – and your ideas don’t fit into how a republic or democracy functions.
I repeat: you are a leftist – for leftism operates within dogma, utopianism, elitism and arrogance and you are attempting to denigrate the non-violent and democratic ideals of the Tea Party.
As for your quote from Goldwater – so what? I can find quotes that support my perspective. Stick to thinking rather than pasting.
are you a muslim?
if not, find a more human term to describe yourself as a ‘warrior’ of sorts..
While it’s not official, no TEA Party member wants to be associated with the original socialism/collectivism..
get a new nick..
The Tea Party members of the house should raise the issue of removing Boehner as speaker. That and a primary threat to all RINOs will put the fear of God in to the republican leadership. If the republicans are serious about the budget the new budget for fiscal 2012 that starts in October needs to have a massive elimination of departments and agencies eliminated outright and a massive clean up of programs that are duplicate and or useless. Otherwise they will lose all credibility.
Let me make some little predictions here and now!
In the 2012 budget;
NEA will still receive Federal Funds
CPB (that is NPR and PBS) will still receive Federal Funds
NEH will still receive Federal Funds
ACORN and Planned Parenthood will still receive Federal Funds
New Funds will be allocated for ObamaCare Implementation
Thus Proving the the Republicans are NOT serious!
Yes, every RINO who voted for Boehner’s newest plan has voted for fully continued funding of:
1) Taxpayer-funded abortion (via planned Parenthood and Obamacare)
2) Progressive propaganda (via the Corporation For Public Broadcasting including NPR and PBS)
3) Voter fraud and voter intimidation (via the renamed ACORN groups)
4) AFSCME (Federal workers union dues that will all go to Obama)
5) Salary-supported contributions of federal workers who realize that they MUST reelect Obama or risk losing their jobs.
6) …and so soo much more.
Have you noticed that NPR has a side branch calling itself APM, American Public Media. So, NPR may not get funding, but APM will be the new and improved media darling: fully funded.
Let’s see, inflation, if one believes the Department of Commerce, is running at something like 3% annually. So, if we are not supposed to be increasing spending with this new debt ceiling “limit”, why does it seem to allow a 16.7% increase in our debt [read spending] over the next 18 months? That is quite a bit ahead of any rate of inflation now predicted….unless, of course, you assume that Fockers are lying….and what could be more normal???
I have said from the first that there will not be enough spine in Washington to save us from this disaster. The Democrats won’t stop spending and the Republican elite like to spend as much as the Democrats do. And none of them have the guts to try to make any real changes.
The country is in for a really bumpy ride. I hope and pray that when we come to the other side, to use a mixed metaphor, that we still have a country left, and that people have learned that Leftists and elitists do not make good governors.
In the meantime, I’m hunkering down, spending as little as I can get by with, and hoping my family survives the coming turmoil. And praying a lot.
Hairy feet notwithstanding, recall it was The Hobbits who saved Middle Earth. And if we’re Hobbits, I guess that makes Obama and the Dems, Sauron and the Orcs with HS Harry Reid playing a respectable Gollum.
whom the gods would destroy they first drive mad, or, as in the case of the former USA, they first drive stupid…
i don’t know who is worse the explicitly baby-murdering, larcenous “democrats” or the hypocritical lying closet-socialist “republicans”…
a shame about America… unbelievable that patriots are doing nothing to stop the juggernaut of destruction…
I think that the patriots are slowly tightening the leash. It may be to late.
This last tragic comedy has many angry enough to act. I hope.
The socalled “patriots” are just as busy with getting the the honey out of the government honey jar! There are very few “patriots’ most of whom you don’t hear from publically and millions upon million of hypocrits such as the new Tea Party bowel movement. Do you remember the populist Communist party of the USA (formed 1919 in Chicago) before WWII, in the 30′s, they could fill America’s largest public venues of the times and swept across the nation. Then we had McCarthyism bowel movement sweep the nation putting down, they thought, the communitst bowel movement. We have those two reguritating themselves in some new packaging every so often! The majority of the nations people have historically chosen one over the other. I’ll let you draw your own conslusions.
When we come to power we will IMMEDIATELY ELIMINATE all of the unconstitutional programs. We will UNDO the welfare state. We will DESTROY ALL entitlements.
FDR and LBJ’s ticking time bombs are exploding the deficit/debt and bankrupting the nation. The birthrate has collapsed over the last 40+ years, and people are living longer than ever. The demographics just don’t support the ponzi scheme anymore. It is over. The party is over. Save for your own retirement. If you rely on the government, you will end up like the American Indians and blacks in the inner city ghettos…
Or if you prefer, we can print up the money on Helicopter Ben’s printing press…and you will get your government checks…in worthless dollars. You will be living in Weimar Germany or Zimbabwe…
Now is the time for all members of the Tea Party to launch a jihad against the traitors in our midst.
Lose the jihad language, pal. Good Tea Party people of every race, stripe, culture and religion don’t appreciate the extremist Islamic language. We have miles to go before we sleep and your extremism doesn’t match up with our values.
“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” — Barry Goldwater – 1964
And look how that turned out for him. Maybe if he had been willing to moderate in the pursuit of of power we wouldn’t have the Great Society time bombs getting ready to blow up.
The thing about being a principled loser is that you’re still a loser.
The election was stolen from him by the gangsters. Does “Daisy” ring a bell?
And now FDR and LBJ’s ticking time bombs are exploding…the debt is spiraling out of control…national bankruptcy is inevitable. We can always print up the money on Helicopter Ben’s printing press…and you will get your government checks…in worthless dollars. Think Weimar Germany or Zimbabwe…
Look where comprising has got you. Bush, Rove, Dole, McCain, Boehner, McConnell etc. You have nothing left to compromise. The left has defeated you on every level.
Due to the Immigration Act of 1965 (Ted Kennedy) and the cultural revolution of the ’60s, the old America is gone forever.
There is a widening divergence between young and old in America: The old are very white (with some black), and the young are very Hispanic (with some Asian). The principal beneficiaries of the mid-20th century entitlement programs are old whites. The fellows expected to fund them are increasingly “minorities”. 80%+ of Social Security and Medicare recipients are white; 50%+ of births in America are to “minorities”. Just wait til you see what happens…
The Tea Party is dying out. In a few years conservatives will be hopelessly outnumbered. It is time for the Tea Party to wage a jihad against all the enemies within, the traitors, the Quislings.
T-Party Ji-something…
You’re wandering into the wilderness, boy. And the further you go, the less people will follow you.
With supporter like you, the Tea Party don’t need enemies.
Cheers, Ali…
islam inspired feudalism inspired marxism..
get a new nick moron..
“Tea Party J****”: Are you threatening to do physical harm to those you oppose? Because unless you are, your “name” is entirely inappropriate, and if you are, then I don’t understand why you are being allowed to post. Whatever your opinions, your “name” shows a lack of respect for the seriousness of the issues at play both in the fight against terrorism and in the current fiscal debate. Also, quoting someone who said something vaguely similar the the principles you claim to be espousing is not a justification for your position. “Extremism” is a relative term, out of context it is meaningless; without law and order “liberty” will be as meaningless as it is to an animal in the wild. Overthrowing the grounds of liberty, which you seem to be suggesting, in defense of liberty is self-contradictory and therefore can never be justified.
This is simply what it takes for people to wake up. Now at last the Republican Party has been truly vetted and it can’t fool anybody. Time to kick the bums out; every last RINO, and replace them with some real men and women. I’m sure it been said already, but any senator voting for this duplicious sham is on record now; they’re exposed for what they really are and it doesn’t look pretty.
Here’s the thing, Husky: Republicans in Congress were licking their chops in November 2010 when the Tea Party movement delivered to them sufficient new blood to propel them back at the top of the food chain in the way of committee assignments, chairmanships, and face time on national TV. It was always their plan to use the rookies thusly, and then to quickly neuter them — most of them, as it turns out.
It will be that way again. The rot is so deep in Washington, and the number of principled Americans (to replace RINOs) who have the courage to damn the torpedoes is depressingly slim.
The electorate is going to have to come up with a different strategy.
hmmm.. what’s left.. besides his nickname.. TPJ is basically correct..
it’s not like old fogies have it in them to kick ass anymore..
and we aren’t going to have an American Pinochet put a stop to the evil for us..
just sayin..
Screw that- it’s a redistricting year. This is the easiest time to purge the rot by primarying every last RINO.
Unless I missed something in the Constitution, there is only so much that the House of Representatives can do, especially when both the Senate and the White House are controlled by the Democrats (and very liberal ones at that). Could we have gotten a better deal? Not at all, not unless you really were going to refuse to raise the debt ceiling and let the entire government come to a halt. Sure, you would be able to pay some of your debts (like the interest on our loands, social security, and maybe the military), but most everything else would have come to a stop. There is also no telling what this would have done to the stock market as well. And even if we did NOT raise the debt ceiling, there is no evidence that the Democrats would have caved. Obama LOVES to play the victim, so who knows how long the impass would have lasted. Given that we only control the House of Representatives, I’m surprised we got as much as we did.
But this is NOT a debate about 2011. This is the opening salvo of the 2012 campaign. We have set the table for a conservative to pick up the the banner of fiscal solvency. We have changed to discussion of not how much MORE we need to spend, but how much we can SAVE. I know, I know, Washington is filled with lies and smoke and mirrors that can make facts and figures do just about anything you want them to do. But the basic fact of the matter is that, unless we gain the Senate and the White House and hold the House of Representatives in 2012, there isn’t much more that we can do. So let’s stop the whining and the moaning and get to the business at hand: Winning it all in 2012.
Libertyship, I agree totally with your wise comment. It’s easy to pontificate about the debt and budget, but the US Treasury monthly reports on their website are simple and direct – the monies coming in only cover entitlements, welfare and the debt interest….Anyone can simply add the categories and see for herself/himself that unless Americans wake up, there is nothing the politicians can do, because mobs would descend aided and abetted by the old MSM if fiscal sanity really occurred in Washington.
Our problems are not our politicians, but rather our culture’s loss of the fundamental morality necessary for civilization. (See Hayek’s “The Fatal Conceit” or Coulter’s “Demonic” for historical analysis.)
“Obama LOVES to play the victim, so who knows how long the impass would have lasted.” Yes, Libertship. That was clearly obviouly displayed in Obama’s behavior early on in the debate “discussions”. But, really Obama “plays tired” all of the time, doesn’t he? Except when he is rushing off to travel or play golf-then-he’s jogging with a smile..go figure.
LibertyShip:
Here, here!
“Don’t nobody know how to play this game?” Casey was right about the ’64 (IIRC) Mets and a number of commentators have the same syndrome.
We can thank those who self-righteously sat out the 2008 election, vowing not to vote for those big-spending Republicans — because, yes, the Dems are big spenders too but at least they’re DEMS — for giving complete power to the Dems in ’08. One more R in the Senate and a filibuster could have stopped ObamaCare. McCain as president would never have even proposed socialized medicine and, as Mr. Anti-Pork, McCain would have been unlikely to have promoted — or even allowed — Porkulus. (Then again, he did seem to believe in AGW; he was far from perfect.)
Yes, if we can get enough people angry that our gains in ’10 didn’t lead to a repeal of ObamaCare and a huge reduction in federal spending, maybe we can again create an all-powerful Democrat legislative and executive monstrosity, guaranteeing that America-as-we’ve-known-it is finished. All we need to speed the transformation is the death or retirement of one conservative Supreme Court justice.
But if we can retain (or regain) our energy, we MIGHT be able to create a powerful and conservative Republican presence, a presence that might make meaningful changes (before they’re corrupted by what must be bad air in D.C.).
We need some uplifting R candidates, both for legislative seats and for the presidency. Then we need to find a way to counter the thousands of thugs that Obama & the Dems will send to the polls to vote the dead and intimidate the conservative living. Too bad we canNOT count on the Justice Department!!
Exactly, Liberty, excellent comments. This is not about 2011 but is the opening salvo of the 2012 election.
And this salvo was all about Obama trying to destroy the Tea Party by deliberately taking the nation to the economic brink, hoping, yes, for a default, so that he could blame ALL his economic failures – on them. Rather than on himself. It didn’t work.
But, Obama is mendacious, malicious and manipulative; he’ll try another tactic to put all the blame for his policies – on the GOP/TP. As charlie has noted, Obama always plays the victim.
But – these issues are now out in the open. Things like debt ceiling, deficits, overspending, unsustainable entitlements…budgets..all of this has been hidden by this administration. Now, it’s all public. Obama won’t like this publicity.
And he can’t hide the statistics – the GDP, the jobless, and even, the possible loss of the triple A rating.
But be careful; Obama is ruthless and relentless; he has only one interest: Himself.
The Full Faith and Credit of the United States is what’s killing us. Money will go where it’s safe during trying times. Capital that could be available in the market is being tied-up in treasuries (how Chinese of us/them). Putting a limit on the debt ceiling and making spending cuts would address our long-term ‘solvency’ problems. Raising the debt ceiling solves only the immediate ‘liquidity’ problem.
If there are no plans to correct the amount of debt we’ll owe in the future (cutting spending, raising revenues, etc.) this problem goes unsolved (can kicked down the road). The Dems plan to raise revenues include hitting jet owners and builders and millionaires, etc.- wrong. Because they are stupid and must play to their base, stupid works- for them. A growing, thriving economy produces more revenues than they could ever imagine by capping the wealthy or any particular industry. Because they’re democrats, they can’t understand. They emote. Well…..
Mother Nature and The Markets don’t like to be fooled. As such, a downgrading of treasuries will allow the flow of funds in directions other-than the most protected by “The Full Faith And Credit Of The United States”. And that would be a God-send to businesses everywhere. Suddenly, banks would lend to contractors who could produce an 8 percent return on projects that have languished so long. Or other enterprising entities with similar returns to investors. Gone, would be those holding out for the ‘secured’ return a government (albeit insolvent) could promise.
As I said earlier, the Full Faith and Credit of the United States can’t stink enough, but when it does (and during this administration I can’t imagine it ever getting more in the toilet or banjo ditch) money will go elsewhere. Your pocket, my pocket, and the pocket of everyone that participates in the economy. Who will suffer? Public employees, public unions, and their pension plans. Tough titties.
” Money will go where it’s safe during trying times. ”
And where would that be? China? India? the UK? or perhaps countries or business’s with 1/1000th the scale of the US and no military to protect themselves.
There isn’t going to be any big adjustment to the interest rate we pay on the national debt. There isn’t anyplace else to go for lenders with hundreds of billions of dollars they want to park in a safe place.
Take the abbreviation of my screenname. Sums it all up.
The US will be downgraded to AA – sooner than you think.
A fine example that we just moved passed the “tipping” point is the news reports this morning that “Obama” has told “the insurers” to provide “free” birth control pills.
The old chicken in every pot will give way to “free viagra in every geezer’s hand”, a free Happy Apple Slice for every kid and a mule for every black. Progress. Love it. It’s all moved to “in-a-for-me” campaign.
Of all the things Obama wants to provide “for free” to his peeps, anything “birth control” might be the best — for us.
We are all Greeks now.
yes, we succumbed to democracy (rule by mob)
Excellent commentary Mr. Blumer. I would also add that this deal will create no new jobs, nor the climate for business to create them. As Senator Rubio points out, that is what is critical to our survival. We need jobs!
A sober analysis of the “compromise” and its implications for the future of the U.S. suggests that without an immediate Constitutional restoration, national fiscal collapse is imminent. More, the United States cannot collapse without taking most of the rest of the world with it.
Buy bullets, beans, and Band-Aids, friends. The Soap Box, the Ballot Box, and the Jury Box have proved insufficient. Next will come the Cartridge Box — and frankly, I’m too old for that sort of thing.
No, the country won’t collapse before Nov 2012. You’re a bit overwrought over an event that is slightly positive in the greater scheme of things.
But keep your powder dry. 2012 is the pitch of decision.
The timing is set for the ‘ReThuglicans’ to win and be the ones to blame for the collapse.. It’s not the government that matters anymore.. The Bureaucracy and the Federal Reserve (anti-American foreign owners) will see to it that the collapse happens no matter what we do.. Our enemies just want to make sure real Constitutionalists are blamed..
Hence the ‘terrorist’ rhetoric for historical purposes..
“Buy bullets, beans, and Band-Aids..”
AND
Spam, lots of spam
For the record- the very first thing I did this morning at 4AM is write 2 letters. One to Bob Latta of District 5 which covers me in Ohio and the other to John Boehner.
In the letters I asked them if they could get the mint to print me several million dollars because I owed $500,000 in debt. Other than that I also said I hope both lose their ‘jobs?) in 2012
What a farce we have with these members of Congress.
I have asked before if we could hire the British to recreate their actions in DC as they did in 1812.
You go to war with the army you have and having Boehner leading it was better than having Pelosi.
One bright side that is being ignored is that the Tea Party seems to have cut through the old media propagandists and won the debate regarding the seriousness of debt and of government spending.
Mark this well, you proud men of action: You are nothing but the unwitting agents of the men of thought who often, in quiet self-effacement, mark out most exactly all your doings in advance.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion: Force equals the time rate of change of momentum.
If you want to change the trajectory of something with a lot of momentum (a large ship, a fast car, a bullet, the US economy) quickly you need to apply a large force. Unfortunately when dealing with large forces you have to be very careful lest you break something.
I don’t think anyone knows what would happen if we pulled 10% of our annual GDP out of the economy overnight. Especially with an economy as large and interconnected as ours. Long term it will be beneficial, but I’m willing to bet the short term would be chaotic. That chaos would give the Democrats a scapegoat for their economic failures. They would blame all the economic problems of the last 3 years on the GOP extremists. The populace would seek security and re-elect the Democrats to power.
If the country cannot make it until 2013 it is already dead. Since I’m not a fatalist I’m going to assume we can still fix it after the next elections and work to ensure we have the power necessary. That means attracting independents. That means playing nice with the Democrats. For now.
The geniuses in DC have not even come close to the rating agencies’ requirements to maintain an AAA rating per the following statement just before the weekend,
Deven Sharma, president of Standard & Poor’s, said “…a plan for deficit reduction in the range of $4 trillion over the next 10 years could allow his firm to maintain its AAA rating on debts issued by the US Treasury.”
This of course will make borrowing more expensive which will make interest payments higher, which will chew up the questionable cutbacks quicker than the wag of a Donkey’s tail.
You can’t give a boy a man’s job and we gave 535 incompetents the job of controlling a con-man in the White House who’s agenda is to bring the US to its knees and ease us into a ‘world order’.
As 2012 progresses watch Mr. Obama link himself and our future more and more to the United Nations, he thinks his fallback job after the 2012 elections is Secretary General of the UN. He apparently is unaware that a citizen of any country that is a permanent member of the Security Council is inelegible for that role.
….but maybe that is when he will reveal that he is not a citizen of the US!!!!
As one who is now never a borrower, always a lender, I’d love to see interest rates rise above 0.35%, which is only marginally better than “in the mattress.”
I remember the days of Jimmah Caatah, when one could buy a tax-exempt bond with an interest rate in the teens. Taxable instruments were even higher. No wonder my retired mom never really appreciated Ronald Reagan’s ending the rampant inflation; she wasn’t borrowing, only living off her savings and a small SS payment. The drop in interest income was far more visible than the rise in prices had been.
Mr. Blumer’s analysis is correct. I would only add that our problem is not so much the venal and dishonest political class (although most regularly measure down to that description) as it is the American people themselves, who in poll after poll make it clear that they regard government as too big and too costly, and that they do not want their benefits touched! In other words, we demand of our politicians that they rein in government without actually reining in government. For decades, they’ve obliged us by borrowing the difference between what they spend and what it costs. But since that game is about up, it is high time for Americans to face the facts honestly, and to let our leaders know that we’re prepared to do whatever it takes to resolve the problem of the national debt. 2012 will be an important election. One wonders if we the people will be up to the task before us.
I can’t get worked up either way. I think we’re past the point where it will do any good.
The last runaway ramp was years back. The brake lines have failed and we’re already soaring down the backside. At this point, we’re just along for the ride. Maybe we’ll still be ok when we reach the bottom, maybe not. A lot of that is out of our hands now.
Libertyship, 3:48 AM… good summary. You get it, strategically and otherwise.
Truth, however, can be very painful. And the truth of what’s coming down the pike will make this debt skirmish look like child’s play.
Since only in Washington DC can “slowing the rate of growth” be called a “cut”, there is a better than even chance that we will be down-graded. And if that happens, batten down the hatches for a double-dip recession and some real pain. As a consequence, Obama and the Senate both loose in 2012… and handily.
But that’s when it gets ugly. Because whoever takes over will be left with the dirty work. And it would be quite safe to say that most Americans aren’t even remotely aware of how much will be needed to cut, repealed and replaced… all within a relatively short window of opportunity. And if anyone thinks that the left will go quietly into the night, I still have a good supply of warm milk and cookies.
And that will also be the true test for the Tea Partiers in America. Because THAT will be the time for them to really get involved, suck it up and hold their ground. And if you think you’ve seen ugly… stay tuned. Cheers.
I fear you’re right ScottK. With the economy as weak as it is now, the coming debt downgrade really accelerates the downward spiral in all probability resulting in a Republican takeover in ’12. As you say, then the real fun begins. The cutting that will be compulsory at that point will be demagoged ad nauseum by the Dems and the large part of the public that is uninformed will be ripe for manipulation. If the MSM stays in the Dem camp (what serious person can say they won’t?) they’ll push the fiction that the cuts are all the Republicans’ fault. Then the frightening question is what happens in ’16 when the Dems retake power to ‘fix’ the purported Republican-caused disaster?
This crisis wasn’t about the debt ceiling or the budget or fiscal responsibility or entitlements or… All of these still have to be dealt with.
This crisis was manufactured by Obama and his Gang to destroy the Tea Party wing of the GOP. This crisis was a cynical, malicious and mendacious abuse of America by Obama…with one agenda only – destroy the Tea Party because it is harming his re-election chances.
Think.
The debt ceiling could have been dealt with a year ago, when the Democrats held all three branches of govt; they could have passed it without blinking. Why didn’t they? They were worried about even suggesting such an event existed..because of the 2010 November elections. Obama lost the House anyway…and attempted, ON THE SURFACE, to ignore that his massive losses. But it scared him.
The Obama gang could have passed the debt limit bill in the Lame Duck Nov-Dec phase. They didn’t. Why not? I’m claiming that they instead set up a deliberate manipulative strategy to destroy what Obama sees as his greatest threat to re-election – The Tea Party..and its commonsense principles.
Obama is pathological; he has only one focus and one interest. Himself. He has no love for, no commitment to, no interest in America or Americans. His focus is on Himself. And his Power. Period.
Obama ‘rules’ by misinformation, emotional manipulation, the use of apocalyptic threats (pass the stimulus or the economic will collapse; pass the health bill or doctors will cut off your limbs)…and threats.
So – I claim that the agenda was to filibuster, delay and sideline the GOP and Tea Party efforts to develop a responsible fiscal approach..and then set up an apocalyptic scenario and blame it all, all, on the GOP and Tea Party.
Notice the steps. Obama himself provided no budget. Nothing was done by him or the Senate about the looming debt ceiling. Ryan developed a budget; Obama openly mocked it! Openly insulted Ryan sitting in front of him! Hmmm. Why? Why didn’t the Dems and Obama COLLABORATE (that’s Obama’s words, heh heh) and work to develop, with Ryan..a budget. Hmmm?
Obama sidelined talk with a debt and fiscal commission; he ignored, totally, all their recommendations. It was obviously a time-delay tactic..
Then, as ‘the date’ came closer..still, nothing from Obama or the Dems. The GOP passed Cut, Cap and Balance. Shock to Obama and the Gang! Obama’s response – he HAD to stop it…so, he, from his high perch, threatened to veto it. So Harry Reid, sycophant, didn’t dare to challenge The Great Messiah, and wouldn’t even allow a debate or vote on it in Senate.
Boehner passed his bill. Same thing; Obama threatened to veto it; Reid bent down in the same way.
The date loomed…Obama began talking about ‘people won’t get their social security, won’t get their medicaid’..wont’… All untrue. All open blatant apocalyptic manipulation. And, his sycophants and followers began the rhetoric of Blame the Tea Party ,Blame the Tea Party. Biden and others: Blame the Tea Party terrorists.
But..did the Dems have a plan? Nope. Reid kept, heh, promising one, day after day after day…heh..gosh it was hard…day after delaying after delaying day. And the rhetoric against the Terrorist Tea Party…continued. Did Obama have a plan? Did the Dems have a plan?
The GOP had passed THREE budget plans…and Obama had prevented all three from even a Senate vote.
Yes, Obama wanted several things:
-First, he wanted MONEY to support him until AFTER his re-election. He got that with the debt raised until 2013. And make no mistake, we’ll now seeing Obama offering special deals to his waning identity groups who he relies on for support and who have been leaving him: blacks, hispanics, low income. He’s already offering special low loans to low incomes who might not repay…
-Then, this Commission..MIGHT raise taxes! They might…and Obama needs the money. To buy votes.
- And a balanced budget? Just talk about it. And after all, Obama, who is a pathological liar, knows all about the veracity and staying power of WORDS.
So- fiscally – nothing positive was achieved by this cynical and frankly, evil, Obama strategy…
BUT – what was stopped – was Obama’s attempt to destroy the GOP and in particular, the Tea Party (that’s the commonsense party of regular Americans)..and blame ALL, and I mean ALL his economic failures over the past three years on them.
That was the strategy. Make no mistake; that was the strategy. That was why Obama and his Gang deliberately didn’t deal with the debt last year when they could have, why they delayed and delayed and dead-ended all the GOP repeated efforts to deal with it this year..why they instead, deliberately set up an apocalyptic situation, deliberately made public threats that the most needy would be without funds..because of the Tea Party terrorists…The whole situation..was deliberate and had ONE agenda.
Destroy the Tea Party, blame ALL of Obama’s economic problems on them..so that Obama would win his re-election.
This was stopped. Given the sheer evil of this Obama administration and his pathological focus on his own power, this was a significant accomplishment. It means that the GOP and Tea Party can continue to fight this monster for the 2012 election. Don’t think it’s over; Obama is pathological.
Yes.
It was hardly a crisis at all, except that the marxists fanned it into one.
Now look at what they are doing. Little Paulie, Chaitt, all the other cynical megaphones of progressive “thinking” are publicizing the result not as a glorious continuation of the credit-card state, but as a stunning DEFEAT.
With the sole purpose of demonizing and destroying their enemy; the Tea Party, or in other words, normal middle-class Americans.
And this was only step one. There are 15 months before the most important election since 1860. There will be many more artificial crises before Nov 2012. They were willing to bring the world’s financial system and economy to the brink of disaster in 2008. They won’t take the chance of waiting until two month’s before the election this time.
Exactly – Obama failed to smash the GOP/Tea Party using this malicious and evil tactic of holding the US people hostage while he tried to get the GOP/TP to allow a default….
BUT – Obama has only one interest: Himself. His re-election. And he knows his economy is a disaster. He knows the GOP will use his economic failures as a key 2012 campaign theme. He has to slough off the blame to the Tea Party. He’s failed this time…but don’t for one nanosecond think that it’s over.
As proreason points out, they are continuing the anti-TP rhetoric, continuing to define this most commonsense focus and fiscally responsible economic perspective as ‘terrorist’. Obama will, in one minute, mount yet another attack to slough off his economic disaster to the GOP/TP. As you say, there are 15 months to go – and Obama will use that new debt ceiling money to bribe the electorate, will malign and attempt to destroy any opposition..and will mount more mendacious tactics to attack the GOP and blame his economy..on them.
BUT – he’s made an important error. The economy is now, more than it ever was, in the public eye. Obama, after all, has tried to bury the economy in WORDS. That’s pure Obama: rewrite reality by words alone. So, he’s told us that ‘the stimulus worked’; the jobs are back’..everything is great.
And then..reality moved in. The GDP is a disaster; the unemployment is a disaster, the triple A rating will probably be lost. These are all in the public eye now -and this public vision is all due to Obama’s malicious re-election tactic of trying to slough off the blame for His economy..to the TP.
So, it won’t be as easy for him to divert blame..but..he’s pathological and totalitarian – he’ll do anything and everything for Himself.
Now let’s sit back and see how the real big boys, the international markets, view all this. Those markets were not swayed by the hysteria of the debt ceiling fight, as has been mentioned it’s the total debt and now it’s continued growth that will attract attention. That’s the payoff.
The left’s sick and frantic reaction to a deal that will barely affect their beloved governments growth is all the proof Normal People need of some truly twisted minds.
Don’t for a minute believe the Republican establishment’s claim that if the Republicans retake the presidency and the Senate in 2012 that the marxist agenda will be rolled back. The ruling class will still own the MSM, Hollywood and Academia. And establishment Republicans, otherwise known as RINO’s, live in abject terror of being branded beyond the pale by the gatekeepers. There is one and only one battle that MUST be won: the Tea Party must wrest control of the Republican Party from its own establishment. Failing that we will continue to have two statist parties in Washington.
I hope Moody’s and Standard & Poor are not bought and paid for and they apply the cold water shock of a downgrade to US debt. To quote Samuel Johnson: Nothing focuses the mind like a hanging.
A hanging and a water-boarding.
Get real.
The debt ceiling “compromise” is the equivalent of getting a soldier wounded on a scouting mission. Anybody who thinks that any aspect of the drama was significant just isn’t thinking clearly.
The battle is the 2012 election.
I’m just happy that the Tea Party didn’t implode over it. The rest of the details won’t amount to a hill of beans. But if the Tea Party had fallen on its sword or marginalized itself, the real war would have been lost before it started.
Everything that happens between now and Nov 2012 has to be viewed, strategized and planned with the election in mind. Everything. Even if the Moron spends every penney of the 2.4T in the next 15 months, the country won’t fall off the cliff. But if he wins in 2012 and the marxists hold the Senate, it’s game over.
I’m all for principles, but if people’s principles get in the way of victory, than they are part of the problem, not part of the solution.
The best result from the ginned-up debt “crisis” was to get past it without dieing. That happened. Thank God.
But don’t think for a second that there won’t be 5 more ginned-up crisis before Nov 2012. That is what the Marxists’ strategy will be. Ours should be to keep reminding the country that they are the radicals, that government is the problem, and that spending is the grim reaper’s weapon of choice. And for god’s sake, please talk about saving social security and medicare, not “reforming” it. Or better yet, don’t talk about them at all.
Excellent synopsis, Tom.
I’m waiting to see how small and medium businesses respond in the next few months. Unlike corporate America, the job-creating class of small and medium business owners are not sitting on a mountain of cash, nor have they recovered fully from the effects of the recession.
For them, survival remains a month-to-month suspense story. Will they or won’t they manage to hang on until Jan 2013? That’s the question small-business America is confronting and the outcome will affect us all.
“absolutely necessary war on terror” I don’ think so, at least not the way it conducted and financed.
When “Social Security” the ponzi scheme™ was created by FDR in 1935, it was basically a new poor tax scheme under the guise of a ‘security’ net even though most people back then didn’t live long enough to even collect on Social Security.
Now people are drawing social security checks for 20+ year retirments and recieving far more than they EVER payed into the scam.
And, for you old farts who bitch about younger folks like me who know damned well that WE will NEVER benefit for social security because by the time we are YOUR age it will be BROKEN, why the F*CK do you expect us to pay into it? WHY?
Please explain.
Thank.
People who think that Social Security is a big enough problem to single out “old farts” have a serious lack of understanding of the problems facing this country.
Medicare is many times worse.
Obamacare is many times worse.
Government pensions are many times worse.
Government unions are many times worse.
The welfare state is many times worse.
Terrorism is many times worse.
Size of government is many times worse.
Basline budgetting is many times worse.
Government regulations are many times worse.
So why make a big deal about something that can be fixed very simply, something that is absolutely essential to tens of millions of people, and something that pales in comparison to other problems?
Moreover, SS solves a real problem. People won’t save for retirement. It’s proven. Maybe Delia would. 90% of humanity won’t. Every country in the world now provides some form of enforced retirement savings, including all of the democracies.
I’ll make you a deal, Delia. I’ll give you what you have had confiscated, you give me what I’ve had confiscated. Then we’ll both go government-free. Somehow, I have a feeling you won’t go for it.
your greed is showing..
face it, you lost money.. what are you going to do with it when you are dead..
Social Security should never have existed.. before the government indoctrinated people into believing the government would take care of them, families actually cared for their elders..
Screw the people who do not plan for themselves and are destitute in their old age.. Like a weed that is cut not rooted out, you support the regrowth of the entitlement cornucopia..
wake up.. It’s a social problem of core morals.. Uprooting is the only path back to the America that promised freedom of success and failure based on INDIVIDUAL decisions alone..
Forced Retirement Savings
Are you an Obamacare fan?
you should be..
My husband and I have been saving since we were married. We don’t expect Sh*T from ‘Uncle Sam” who is really just an extension of ‘YOU AND ME’.
If SS had been touted as a retirement ONLY FOR THE DESTITUTE, the bill would have never passed because people who made decent money would have rather had a choice where they PUT THEIR OWN MONEY. But, because it was touted that EVERYONE would ‘benefit’ in the end, it has become a HUGE problem.
Sorry, but, if you can live a fairly comfortable life without SS, you should NOT receive it. Period. I don’t care how much you ‘paid’ into it. My husband and I have already paid plenty into something we will never see come to fruition if GAWD forbid we would ever ‘need’ it.
Social Security is a joke. People bought into a huge LIE and now the house of cards are collapsing. But, just like Greece, the socialists run out of other people’s money for their grand schemes.
You didn’t have a ‘choice’ but, you will still benefit while I have no ‘choice’ either and I NEVER will.
YAY Government stupidity, Madoff type Ponzi schemes and unintended consequences!
My Republican Jewish neighbor just took in a couple who ended up homeless and are living in their ‘fancy’ mobile home. They are Lefties and none of their children wanted to take them in or let them park their ‘home’ on their property. This is the Leftist mentality writ large. Nobody wants to take care of their OWN any longer. Leave it up to everyone else to foot the bill.
*sad sigh*
I have to shake my head when reading the arrogant ignorance and callused comments of so many on this site and I suppose you represent so many more elsewhere.
In the 80′s and through the early 90′s a generation died that retired on what they believed were great savings and retirement incomes for the future. Lets recap a bit! They come from the era where $600 a month was king income for common labor. Imagine how proud they were to know that upon retirement they could opt to take cash for their $10,000 retirement insurance policy or draw a small pitance each quarter….to go with their social security for which most had payed into for less than 30 years at retirement. Physically their 40 was todays 60.
But something happend! Their once thought of great retirement income was lost to inflation year-by-year-by-year! They become the dregs of society in which you so arrogantly infer.
May your retirement dollars also become worth $.10 cents on the dollar and you also become the dregs of society!
Some folks are pathetic!
Take war and pestilence off the table, and the odds of Social Security surviving are 99.99%. Every country has a SS program. They aren’t going away. There won’t even be major adjustments to the US SS program, which is hardly in dire straits. The retirement age will be tweaked up and the inflation algorythms will be tweaked a tiny bit.
It’s that simple and plainly obvious to anybody who isn’t a nut.
I understand all the rants about ponzi schemes and greedy old farts. People that talk that way are liberals, who basically operate by trying to get in the other guy’s pocket. It doesn’t matter anyway, my pretties. The program ain’t going away.
btw, you will all be “greedily” collecting your checks before you know it…and be glad to do so, because 90% of you, like 90% of everybody (but not including me), will be flat broke once you reach an age when you can’t work any longer. That’s a fact too. If FICA was eliminated today, you would spend it all on stuff you don’t need, just like 90% of everybody.
THANK YOU!
We own gold, not FIAT.
Delia…go try and buy a loaf of $100 bread with your gold stash! For those who are intellectually challenged like Delia. Gold and silver are NOT forms of legal tender currency in the modern world. They are commodities products just like agriculture, energy and livestock. If and when the world gets back to the stone age of individual bartering, you Delia will not be around with all your market manipulated high priced gold. Furthermore! I know of no food nutrient value for gold and silver so, when the world gets to the place of starvation, I’m doubting anybody will want your precious gold..or silver.
May your gold buy you lots of Preparation H!
I already have a flour/yeast/water ‘stash’. I’m loaded for bear. I’ve been stocking two pantries for the last three years.
Get real they tell us.
Republicans gave Obama and the Progressives 2.4 trillion more dollars to spend on their reelection campaign because it was the best we could do. If we didn’t fight tooth and nail, it would have been 2.5 trillion dollars.
But don’t worry, Republicans are going to win the trifecta in 2012.
“But don’t worry, Republicans are going to win the trifecta in 2012.”
Yeah? So what?
Republicans did that in 2002 and 2004, and we still had to ‘wait’ to defund NEA.
Guess what? NEA is still receiving Federal Funds.
Somehow, Democrats out of power can always accomplish what Republicans in powwer cannot.
So remind me why I should get excited about Republicans getting elected again?
My new bumper Sticker;
NEVER trust a Republican!
Based on what you said, I am absolutely delighted to have you as an opponent.
Simply put, either the Tea Party saves the republic or it will not be saved. If one could stomach getting past the meaningless platitudes of Obama’s self congratulatory speech this afternoon after the Senate’s passage of the debt ceiling bill, it was clear that the drive to bankrupt the country will continue unabated. Even with economic disaster staring us in the face, the progressive Republicans who currently run the GOP are simply not capable of making more than a token effort to prevent it. They are now only an obstacle, and every effort will need be made to defeat as many of them as possible in the upcoming primary season.
Don’t need any long dissertations over what has consumed the nations of late.
2009 – Dem administration dealt with collapsed economy and jobs issues and two wars.
2010 – Dem administration dealt with the economy and jobs issues and the continuing two wars.
2011 – First 8 months Dem administration dealt with Tea Party-GOP’s revelation that the deficit and debt was hanging over the economy and jobs…advocating slash, cap and balance. End game? Nothing remotely genuine. Just more of the same political posturing for a 2012 election cycle while consuming the nation with a diversion from the core problems of the economy and jobs. Eight months wasted and divided the nation more.
Thats it!
Hey, old farts.
When the dollar is devalued, your SS checks won’t mean sh*t for Shinola.
100 dollar loaf of bread?
Anyone?
Calm down Delia.
The US currency isn’t going to be devalued either. On a list of things to worry about, that is about #100. If the currency is devalued, it will be because the marxists have won. That’s the real problem, not paper money, Social Security, or even the national debt.
I know you have good intentions and are a conservative person but you need to stop paying so much attention to the nightmares of Alex Jones.
LOL!
Otay.
((HUG IT OUT))!
Delia…
["I already have a flour/yeast/water ‘stash’."]
I was born in 1929 and where we lived, was nearly dead center of three states affected by the Dust Bowl that, for us, extended to nearly 1940. Not only was it an area decimated by the dust bowl it was also an area hit hard by the ’29 financial collapse. Many of us were busy expanding our farming and ranching operations beyond that of our families 1893, Cherokee Outlet Opening (land run) as a matter of providing for five familes. Measly and shared foods storage was our way of life in those times and where we lived there was no rural electricity an we existed in the elements of nature, if you get my gist.
Though your processed flour is degermed it is NOT insulated from becoming degraded in many envirnmetnal condidtions or from insect and other forms of contamination once exposed. Yeast, even today, is environmentally unstable. Unless you’re investing in canned water you’re only fooling yourself by following the rhetoric for waters’ shelf live. Everything that comes from nature is subject to nature regardless of processing. We’ve been in the water storage and feedstuffs business our entire lives as were our families our predecessors were, for the stewardship of our livestock…and our human consumption. Be wise and be safe! We’ve had a few decades of experience in parts of Africa where food storage by trained supervisors went horribly wrong and the consequences……
Regardless, I applaud you for maintaining an ‘emergency’ foods source supply.