Paulie
Diamond Member
- May 19, 2007
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Do you really think there is no way out of this? Seriously why doesn't the average American citizen know the dire circumstances involved with all of the US governments unfunded liabilities? This shouldn't be a political issue(even though it is). These unfunded liabilities are something that WILL bring down the US if there is nothing done.
The average American citizen knows only what the TV teaches them.
We started really going downhill when every household obtained a TV. We got fat, lazy, complacent, apathetic, you name it.
Besides that, there is the entitlement syndrome thing. Many people feel that it is our duty as citizens through our tax dollars, to take care of others.
It's strange, man. Becuase I'm a fiscal conservative, and I disagree with welfare handouts almost 100%. But there are some things I just don't mind my tax dollars going to. Like food stamps for a single woman with a child, and is going to college, for instance. But there needs to be strict standards that are closely monitored.
SS, Medicare, Medicaid...I don't know. Maybe they made a lot more sense when they were first thought of, but in hindsight, it's hard for me to understand how some people still support them. But most people don't even have the first clue about the fiscal reality of them.
At this point, how do you turn back? Cut off the elderly from care and income? Raise the age of retirement?
I'm still a strong proponent of cutting a lot of money from the military budget. We're killing ourselves spending money overseas fighting cavemen and trying to maintain alliances. It's ridiculous, and the founders are assuredly rolling in their graves over it.
We can cut a lot from the defense budget and it wouldn't have such an immediate negative impact as cutting Medicare or SS, or welfare, etc. would.
You've agreed with me in the past on the defense budget issue, too. I mean, come on man...almost 200 countries...REALLY???
Good post, yes I do agree that military cuts need to take place. For god's sake we have enough nukes to destroy the planet a thousand times, do we really need our military spread out in every nook and cranny in the world? I believe we need to phase out the entitlement programs over short time span and tell people to fend for themselves. Obviously we can't let a 70 year old woman starve to death that's the reason the phase out needs to account for age. I believe welfare in this country needs to lead to a way out of poverty. Whenever a welfare recipient is afforded opportunities that lead them from poverty, they should have to repay at least a portion of what they took from the system.
The biggest thing is that people need to start saving. We are told that we need to SPEND to keep the economy going, so we don't save for our own retirement. We spend every last dollar, expecting it to come back to us in our next paycheck that we might never get. This last year showed us how stupid we were about that.
We rely on SS, and a 401k if we're lucky enough to have one. But even most of those that have managable 401k's don't have the slightest clue how to move their money around, so they're still at the peril of the economy.
People need to educate themselves on finance early on in their lives, and learn how to save properly. Learn the markets. I taught myself in my free time, and I'll NEVER be beaten by the economy again. I might miss the timing aspet a bit, that's kind of tough to be perfect on, but if I had a 401k during this past collapse, I would NOT have lost money. I'd have known EXACTLY where to move it.
And I do believe that we put enough of our money into taxes that it shouldn't be so horrible to sometimes get a little handout. Consider it payback for all the ridiculous ways our money has been spent. I don't agree with MOST of what my tax dollars go to. So the least they can do is give me a little back in food stamps if I happened to need it...you know?
The whole thing is so complex, and there's no debate that could cure it. People are simply not educated enough in this country handle this, and we think the politicians are. They know we're not, and they're raping us of everything we're worth.
The smartest thing we could ever do is vote out every damn one of them and start fresh with brand new names that don't have the establishment backing them. It's not like it could get any worse than it already is.