Talk about fear mongering

[RetiredGySgt]

Obama claims GOP trying to destroy Social Security - Yahoo! News

One lie after another. Any lie will do for a Democrat, the party of fear mongering and lying.

 

[Kevin_Kennedy]

Hard to destroy a program that's already insolvent. Politicians are never going to do anything about Social Security other than use it for their own agenda until everybody paying into it finally gets screwed.

 

[peach174]

Well Dems and Repubs can't do their programs if they can't get their hands on the surplus of social security. Oh wait a minute, no more surplus, just raiding!!

 

[rightwinger]

The GOP wants to kill Grandma!

 

[Douger]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUaEtf1s23w]YouTube - Terror, Iraq, Weapons[/ame]

 

[WillowTree]

Obama claims GOP trying to destroy Social Security - Yahoo! News

One lie after another. Any lie will do for a Democrat, the party of fear mongering and lying.

Yep, there ain't no damn low that's too dam low for obie wan to go. miserable failure

 

[rdean]

YouTube - Terror, Iraq, Weapons

I remember when I saw this speech, I was all caught up in the "Bush/Republican" rhetoric of fear and lies. I never thought they would purposely damage this country worse than al Qaeda.

This speech was so far over the top, I went looking for information on Iraq. This was the speech that caused my "political awakening". Before this, I didn't know anything about Republicans/Democrats. I thought they were pretty much the same.

I found out that Iraq had been in an 8 year war with Iran, plus the butt kicking after Kuwait and that pretty much devastated it's military and lost an entire generation of young men.

Plus, the country was suffering terribly from sanctions. Plus it's only "WMD" was supplied by our allies. Plus, the main reason Bush and the Republicans gave for wanting to invade was because Iraq wouldn't allow inspectors, but they had to wait before the "strikes" to allow time for hundreds of "inspectors" to leave the country. Plus the fact that Iraq had very little industry or manufacturing and bought close to 100% of all it's weapons and machinery from outside the country, difficult because of sanctions.

After all this, I finally realized, "Fuck, we've been lied to".

Zogby poll, feb 28, 2006:

90 (that’s ninety) percent of US troops in iraq think they are there in ‘retaliation for saddams role in 9-11

Bush, talking about Iraq. The video is on Youtube for anyone to watch. It's been posted a hundred times at least:

BUSH: The terrorists attacked us and killed 3,000 of our citizens before we started the freedom agenda in the Middle East.

QUESTION: What did Iraq have to do with it?

BUSH: What did Iraq have to do with what?

QUESTION: The attack on the World Trade Center.

BUSH: Nothing. Except it’s part of — and nobody has suggested in this administration that Saddam Hussein ordered the attack. Iraq was a — Iraq — the lesson of September 11th is take threats before they fully materialize, Ken. Nobody’s ever suggested that the attacks of September the 11th were ordered by Iraq.

------------------------------------

The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq
American attitudes about a connection have changed, firming up the case for war.

.By Linda Feldmann, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor / March 14, 2003

WASHINGTON
In his prime-time press conference last week, which focused almost solely on Iraq, President Bush mentioned Sept. 11 eight times. He referred to Saddam Hussein many more times than that, often in the same breath with Sept. 11.

The numbers
Polling data show that right after Sept. 11, 2001, when Americans were asked open-ended questions about who was behind the attacks, only 3 percent mentioned Iraq or Hussein. But by January of this year, attitudes had been transformed. In a Knight Ridder poll, 44 percent of Americans reported that either "most" or "some" of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Iraqi citizens. The answer is zero. (How did Americans get this idea? Connect the dots. "Slam dunk" "Vice President Cheney "it was pretty well confirmed that Iraq had contacts with 9/11 hijackers.)

Hussein, a secularist, and bin Laden, a Muslim fundamentalist, are known to despise each other.

The impact of Bush linking 9/11 and Iraq / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

------------------------------------------------

After Iraq, do Republicans feel they can trick the American people as easily as they did then? Looking at what is going on in their party, I would say, "Yes".

 

[Greenbeard]

One lie after another. Any lie will do for a Democrat, the party of fear mongering and lying.

Your article offers 4 direct quotes from Obama:

1) Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday: "We have an obligation to keep that promise, to safeguard Social Security for our seniors, people with disabilities and all Americans — today, tomorrow and forever."

2) Some Republican leaders in Congress are "pushing to make privatizing Social Security a key part of their legislative agenda if they win a majority in Congress this fall," Obama said.

3) He contended that such privatization was "an ill-conceived idea that would add trillions of dollars to our budget deficit while tying your benefits to the whims of Wall Street traders and the ups and downs of the stock market."

4) Obama said he's "committed to working with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who wants to strengthen Social Security."

Which one(s) are you taking issue with?

 

[Toro]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

 

[rdean]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

 

[Toro]

One lie after another. Any lie will do for a Democrat, the party of fear mongering and lying.

Your article offers 4 direct quotes from Obama:

1) Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday: "We have an obligation to keep that promise, to safeguard Social Security for our seniors, people with disabilities and all Americans — today, tomorrow and forever."

Fair enough. So what are they doing about it? How are they safeguarding SS? By doing nothing? It seems that the Democrats policy is to close their eyes, plug their ears and ignore it. Its a ticking time bomb and the Dems want to pretend it isn't an issue. It is going to be a big issue in the future.

3) He contended that such privatization was "an ill-conceived idea that would add trillions of dollars to our budget deficit while tying your benefits to the whims of Wall Street traders and the ups and downs of the stock market."

There are many things wrong with this statement. First, SS already is an off-balance sheet obligation of the US government. Its just not recorded on the balance sheet. The fact that it isn't on the balance sheet doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Its a misleading statement.

Second, I'm an investor and trader by profession, and I have no love for Wall Street and sometimes I despise it, but the stock market is the greatest vehicle for wealth generation for most Americans. Over long periods of time, it has generated the greatest returns of any asset class. It has gained more than bank deposits, real estate, bonds, gold, etc.

Typically, government bonds have earned a real return of 2% over time. If an individual starts working at 20 and retires at 65, $1000 invested at age 20 becomes $2436 at age 65 investing in "safe" government bonds. Stocks have generated 6% real return over time. $1000 at age 20 becomes $13,763 investing in stocks by age 65. SS would wipe out much if not most of its future liabilities if it started investing in stocks.

Yes, there are definitely times when you don't want to be in stocks, and this is probably one of them, but over a typical lifespan, people do much better investing in stocks than government bonds. Demonizing the stock market does an enormous disservice to the financial stability of this country because the stock market is one way of getting out of this mess.

And BTW, the SS trust is filled only with non-marketable government "obligations," i.e. essentially IOUs. The government credits the trust with the liabilities, then takes that money and spends it. The reason why Obama says the budget deficit would increase was because if it were a real pension fund, the government would have to tap the bond market and borrow directly from savers, then put the money into a real account to invest. This is what should be done - other countries such as Canada and Norway do this - but its intellectually dishonest to say it will increase our budget deficit since all it is doing is making the system more transparent.

4) Obama said he's "committed to working with anyone, Democrat or Republican, who wants to strengthen Social Security."

Which one(s) are you taking issue with?

Well, he's not really if he's outright dismissing Paul Ryan's plan, is he?

 

[Gunny]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

Shut up fool ,,, until you get a clue you fuckwit.

 

[Toro]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

rdean

This has what to do with the solvency of social security?

 

[rdean]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

Shut up fool ,,, until you get a clue you fuckwit.

 

[bodecea]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

Shut up fool ,,, until you get a clue you fuckwit.

What kind of response to the issue is this?

 

[Toro]

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

Shut up fool ,,, until you get a clue you fuckwit.

What kind of response to the issue is this?

That's gunny's diplomatic way of saying what rdean wrote is irrelevant.

 

[rdean]

The Democrats are dead wrong on this. Social security is broken already. It has to be fixed. The longer we put it off, the worse we're going to be in the end.

SS has to become either a real pension system or something along the lines of a 401k. The math doesn't work for the current system.

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

rdean

This has what to do with the solvency of social security?

The Real Cost Of Offshoring
U.S. data show that moving jobs overseas hasn't hurt the economy. Here's why those stats are wrong

Whenever critics of globalization complain about the loss of American jobs to low-cost countries such as China and India, supporters point to the powerful performance of the U.S. economy. And with good reason. Despite the latest slow quarter, official statistics show that America's economic output has grown at a solid 3.3% annual rate since 2003, a period when imports from low-cost countries have soared. Similarly, domestic manufacturing output has expanded at a decent pace. On the face of it, offshoring doesn't seem to be having much of an effect at all.

But new evidence suggests that shifting production overseas has inflicted worse damage on the U.S. economy than the numbers show. BusinessWeek has learned of a gaping flaw in the way statistics treat offshoring, with serious economic and political implications. Top government statisticians now acknowledge that the problem exists, and say it could prove to be significant.

-----------------------------------------

Manufacturing currently makes up less than 12% of the US Economy.

As long as the economy was based on high paying manufacturing jobs and people were pouring money into SS, there really never was an issue.

With the country getting older, the damage coming from undermining education, moving jobs overseas, those people who have paid into that system now expect to get their money back in the form of retirement income. But the money just isn't there.

The right has let their ideology completely take over their "agenda". They pour money into corporations they believe will "take care of them" in the form of tax breaks, subsidies and deregulation. They have been chipping away at the educational foundation of the country calling the educated "elitist", "liberal" and delegitimizing the value of getting an education until we are now 12th in the world in getting degrees.

Everything Republicans have done, on the surface, looks "designed" to ruin SS, as well as the rest of the country.

I would be shocked if Republicans actually presented a "reasonable" plan for "anything".

 

[rdean]

The problem with Republicans is they are more than willing to make it easier for corporations to move American jobs overseas. We've seen that, very recently in fact. It was called, "The Bush Years".

Instead of "growing" the system here, they only think about how to divide "less" among the American middle class. Where are their ideas for "growing" the American economy.

They are against education. They are against investing in America. What are they for?

More "gravel roads"?

Rural Mich. counties turn failing roads to gravel | roads, mich, counties - Top Stories - WWMT NEWSCHANNEL 3

More than 20 of the state's 83 counties have reverted deteriorating paved roads to gravel in the last few years, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. The counties are struggling with their budgets because tax revenues have declined in the lingering recession.

Shut up fool ,,, until you get a clue you fuckwit.

I love this picture. So does Gunny.

 

[Greenbeard]

Fair enough. So what are they doing about it? How are they safeguarding SS? By doing nothing? It seems that the Democrats policy is to close their eyes, plug their ears and ignore it. Its a ticking time bomb and the Dems want to pretend it isn't an issue. It is going to be a big issue in the future.

Social Security is not a ticking time bomb. Between now and 2085, its cost as a share of GDP will rise about 1.2%. That's why when you look at long-term budget projections from a place like the CBO, they look like this:

Social Security essentially levels off, it's not growing at some out-of-control rate. Rising health care costs are the real ticking time bomb in the U.S., not Social Security.

Given that the problem here is fairly marginal, there are some fairly easy fixes. We can either find some way to cut benefits (e.g. by raising the retirement age, reducing the cost of living adjustments, change the formula for calculating benefits from working years, etc) or raise revenues (e.g. uncap the payroll tax, raise it by 1-2% without uncapping it, etc.) or some combination thereof.

This isn't a crisis, it's just a problem in which doing the necessary tweaking is politically tough. Which is why historically (i.e. in the early 1980s and, perhaps, today) some commission has been convened to make the unpopular suggestion that was then implemented.

 

[Mad Scientist]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100814/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_social_security_1One lie after another. Any lie will do for a Democrat, the party of fear mongering and lying.

We need a Uniter not a Divider.