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I have to disagree there.1. Entitlements....
It seems to me that entitlements are like contracts. They must be enforced for folks who are currently receiving benefits. We've made promises, and individuals have made their contracts/commitments based on same....children in college, mortgages, car payments.
Changes should be made, but only for future recipients. And lag time for the changes should five to ten years.
There is rampant abuse within most entitlement programs. People who utterly refuse to get a job, because it is easier to sit back and let the government check roll in. Whether that 'check' is subsidized rent, help with food or utilities, etc etc. Here in Iowa, we literally have generational-welfare families that enroll their youngest 'welfare prospects' as soon as they can legally do so, and then they sit back and let everyone else pay their way.
Does this post apply to Social Security and Medicare?
These are the 'entitlements' that I was refering to.
Everyone will feel the "pain" before this economic debacle runs its course.
In FY 2010, the Empire's revenue totaled 2.4 trillion from all sources, ie; personal income tax, corporate income tax, excise taxes, customs duties, et. al.
The Big Four, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Interest on the Debt consumed 2.23 trillion of the revenue.
The math is simple.
Every item in the budget must be examined and trimmed and all "Unconstitutional" spending must cease.
Eliminate the Department of Education.
Eliminate the Department of Energy. The old AEC/ERDA to be divided between DoD and Commerce.
The Department of Agriculture to be cut by 50% in personnel and budget.
The Departments of Commerce and Labor to be combined into a Department of Industry and Labor with a 50% reduction in personnel and budget.
Eliminate the Department of Housing and Urban Developement.
Eliminate Department of Health and Human Services but keep the CDC as an Independent Agency.
Eliminate the Department of Transportation. Amtrak to "sink or swim" on its own.
Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security, the US version of the Gestapo, in its entirety.
Department of Defense: As specified in the Withdrawal Agreement, leave Iraq on schedule. Withdraw from Afghanistan as soon as logistically possible. Mothball four carrier battle groups. Scrap all F-15s and F-16s and send half the remaining AF to the Reserves. Cut one Marine Division and one Air Wing. Withdraw all Forces from Korea, Japan including Okinawa, Germany, Italy and Close most or all of our 727 Foreign Bases. Cut the Army down to 360,000.
The Department of Veterans Affairs may have whatever resources are necessary to care for our injured and disabled Vets and their Widows (Spouses) and Orphans. The Budget will NOT be balanced on the backs of those who bore the most burdens for the Nation and its People.
Raise the Age of Retirement for Social Security to 70 over the next ten years (2012). Raise the Age for Early Retirement to 67 with a one percent reduction in benefits for each month retired early with the same cut in all future COLA increases.
Institute a "phase out" of SS over the next 40 years and phase in Private Accounts.
Ditto with Medicare.
Eliminate Medicaid. This is a State issue.
No Benefits for "Illegals."
That's a start.
why phase in private accounts for SS?
If they are private accounts they can do their own account nor not. We already have 401K accounts and such. Their personal responsibility.
Ohh we need to funnel "tax" dollars to private business?
why phase in private accounts for SS?
If they are private accounts they can do their own account nor not. We already have 401K accounts and such. Their personal responsibility.
Ohh we need to funnel "tax" dollars to private business?
I agree that "retirement funding" is a personal responsibility and thought my statement would be read as such.
My error.
To distill that statement to its simplest essence, Everyone under a certain age would be responsible for funding their own retirement nest egg.
Ditto with medical insurance.
Where there is a market....... companies will compete for business
Mea culpa
why phase in private accounts for SS?
If they are private accounts they can do their own account nor not. We already have 401K accounts and such. Their personal responsibility.
Ohh we need to funnel "tax" dollars to private business?
I agree that "retirement funding" is a personal responsibility and thought my statement would be read as such.
My error.
To distill that statement to its simplest essence, Everyone under a certain age would be responsible for funding their own retirement nest egg.
Ditto with medical insurance.
Where there is a market....... companies will compete for business
Mea culpa
why phase in private accounts for SS?
If they are private accounts they can do their own account nor not. We already have 401K accounts and such. Their personal responsibility.
Ohh we need to funnel "tax" dollars to private business?
I agree that "retirement funding" is a personal responsibility and thought my statement would be read as such.
My error.
To distill that statement to its simplest essence, Everyone under a certain age would be responsible for funding their own retirement nest egg.
Ditto with medical insurance.
Where there is a market....... companies will compete for business
Mea culpa
And what about the millions of American who work their entire lives at low paying jobs and have no ability to save because their paychecks go from week to week? And those families that have big medical bills and lose everything? Not everybody makes 6 figure salaries and can prepare for retirement. Lets say you get a nest egg and a financial collapse wipes you out. Are you saying that you would have to live on the streets in your old age? These people don't count, is that what you are saying? Sounds elitist to me.
I agree that "retirement funding" is a personal responsibility and thought my statement would be read as such.
My error.
To distill that statement to its simplest essence, Everyone under a certain age would be responsible for funding their own retirement nest egg.
Ditto with medical insurance.
Where there is a market....... companies will compete for business
Mea culpa
And what about the millions of American who work their entire lives at low paying jobs and have no ability to save because their paychecks go from week to week? And those families that have big medical bills and lose everything? Not everybody makes 6 figure salaries and can prepare for retirement. Lets say you get a nest egg and a financial collapse wipes you out. Are you saying that you would have to live on the streets in your old age? These people don't count, is that what you are saying? Sounds elitist to me.
Z.....you sure do paint a bleak picture of the country, and the poor.
Let's lighten it a bit:
1. ". A new study by the Congressional Budget Office says the poor have been getting less poor. On average, CBO found that low-wage households with children had incomes after inflation that were more than one-third higher in 2005 than in 1991." The Poor Get Richer - WSJ.com
2. Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes; the average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning; by contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other cities throughout Europe (these comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor).
Also:
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Walter Williams
How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America | The Heritage Foundation
3. More than three-quarters of those working Americans whose incomes were in the bottom 20 percent in 1975 were also in the top 40 percent of income earners at some point by 1991, says Sowell.
Source: Thomas Sowell, "How Media Misuse Income Data To Match Their Preconceptions," Investor's Business Daily, January 12, 2010.
For text:
How Media Misuse Income Data To Match Their Preconceptions - Investors.com
4. Over half of the poor earning at or near the minimum wage are between the ages of 16 and 24. As Sowell wryly notes, “these individuals cannot remain from 16 to 24 years of age indefinitely, though that age category can of course continue indefinitely, providing many intellectuals with data to fit their preconceptions.” An Independent Mind by Daniel J. Mahoney, City Journal 18 June 2010
"There is no historical evidence that tax cuts spur economic growth. The highest period of growth in U.S. history (1933-1973) also saw its highest tax rates on the rich: 70 to 91 percent. During this period, the general tax rate climbed as well, but it reached a plateau in 1969, and growth slowed down five years later. Almost all rich nations have higher general taxes than the U.S., and they are growing faster as well." Tax cuts spur economic growth
The Idolatry of Ideology-Why Tax Cuts Hurt the Economy by Russ Beaton
Spending Cuts Vs. Tax Increases at the State Level, 10/30/01
Newsflash: Ronald Reagan Raised Taxes (You Idiots) | Firedoglake
The Federal Pie Chart
why phase in private accounts for SS?
If they are private accounts they can do their own account nor not. We already have 401K accounts and such. Their personal responsibility.
Ohh we need to funnel "tax" dollars to private business?
I agree that "retirement funding" is a personal responsibility and thought my statement would be read as such.
My error.
To distill that statement to its simplest essence, Everyone under a certain age would be responsible for funding their own retirement nest egg.
Ditto with medical insurance.
Where there is a market....... companies will compete for business
Mea culpa
Out of curiosity, what should the policy be if some folks don't plan, and wind up with no nest egg at retirement?
Are you familiar with the Galveston plan, that began before the government prevented localities from opting out of Social Security?
Here:
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v62n1/v62n1p47.pdf
And here:
Galveston County: A Model for Social Security Reform | Publications | National Center for Policy Analysis | NCPA
"There is no historical evidence that tax cuts spur economic growth. The highest period of growth in U.S. history (1933-1973) also saw its highest tax rates on the rich: 70 to 91 percent. During this period, the general tax rate climbed as well, but it reached a plateau in 1969, and growth slowed down five years later. Almost all rich nations have higher general taxes than the U.S., and they are growing faster as well." Tax cuts spur economic growth
The Idolatry of Ideology-Why Tax Cuts Hurt the Economy by Russ Beaton
Spending Cuts Vs. Tax Increases at the State Level, 10/30/01
Newsflash: Ronald Reagan Raised Taxes (You Idiots) | Firedoglake
The Federal Pie Chart
You have become a caricature of yourself.
Do you just read the "War Resisters League," or do you write for them as well?
And, how about a few quotes from Sojourner's?
What's next, Das Kapital: Kritik der politischen Ökonomie?
Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It’s Spent
Obama?s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It?s Spent - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com
$3.69 trillon budget proposal
1. Social Security $738 20%
2.National Defense $738
3. Income Security $567
4. Medicare $498
5.Net Interest $251
6. Health $381
7. Education $122
8. Veteran’s Benefits $122
9. Transportation $91.55
10. International Affairs $67.39
$3,575.94
Did prosperity follow the conservative policies of Coolidege?
"And the tax cuts of the Economic Recovery Act of 1981 stimulated economic growth. “As a 1982 JEC study pointed out,[1] similar across-the-board tax cuts had been implemented in the 1920s as the Mellon tax cuts, and in the 1960s as the Kennedy tax cuts. In both cases the reduction of high marginal tax rates actually increased tax payments by "the rich," also increasing their share of total individual income taxes paid.” The Reagan Tax Cuts: Lessons for Tax Reform
“As inflation came down and as more and more of the tax cuts from the 1981 Act went into effect, the economic began a strong and sustained pattern of growth.” http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml
You can't seem to get anything right.
And what about the millions of American who work their entire lives at low paying jobs and have no ability to save because their paychecks go from week to week? And those families that have big medical bills and lose everything? Not everybody makes 6 figure salaries and can prepare for retirement. Lets say you get a nest egg and a financial collapse wipes you out. Are you saying that you would have to live on the streets in your old age? These people don't count, is that what you are saying? Sounds elitist to me.
Z.....you sure do paint a bleak picture of the country, and the poor.
Let's lighten it a bit:
1. ". A new study by the Congressional Budget Office says the poor have been getting less poor. On average, CBO found that low-wage households with children had incomes after inflation that were more than one-third higher in 2005 than in 1991." The Poor Get Richer - WSJ.com
2. Forty-three percent of all poor households actually own their own homes; the average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage and a porch or patio.
Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning; by contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
Only 6 percent of poor households are overcrowded; two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
The typical poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens and other cities throughout Europe (these comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor).
Also:
Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars. Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and a more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.
Walter Williams
How Poor Are America's Poor? Examining the "Plague" of Poverty in America | The Heritage Foundation
3. More than three-quarters of those working Americans whose incomes were in the bottom 20 percent in 1975 were also in the top 40 percent of income earners at some point by 1991, says Sowell.
Source: Thomas Sowell, "How Media Misuse Income Data To Match Their Preconceptions," Investor's Business Daily, January 12, 2010.
For text:
How Media Misuse Income Data To Match Their Preconceptions - Investors.com
4. Over half of the poor earning at or near the minimum wage are between the ages of 16 and 24. As Sowell wryly notes, these individuals cannot remain from 16 to 24 years of age indefinitely, though that age category can of course continue indefinitely, providing many intellectuals with data to fit their preconceptions. An Independent Mind by Daniel J. Mahoney, City Journal 18 June 2010
How many of those 40% who own homes (was this before the housing bust?) also have a mortgage on that house? An air conditioner in 1970 cost how much? How does that relate to today? Oh, there are a lot of people who can make it and if they did not spend their money on fluff they would have a good retirement. Of course if everybody quit spending then no one would have jobs, would they? But there are people who never get ahead and it is not their fault, just the cards they were dealt. Factory and other manual labor people who barely stayed ahead of inflation through the years.
I see and talk to people everyday who are barely making ends meat and not all of them are in their teens or twenties. Some of them are retired and they are relying on pensions, pensions that are not worth what they thought they would be worth. Some worked all their life, raised a family and now they rely on social security and a pension and can barely make it. This is the real world. This Christmas the churches were packed with people getting free Christmas dinners, people who were getting canned goods and clothes to feed and clothe their families. I see people who need medical help but cannot get it because they fall through the cracks in the system.
I know there is a problem and that it needs to be fixed but it is not a simple fix. Every effect has a cause and every attempt to fix it causes other problems. A never ending problem. The best we can hope for is to have some good people work at it and I do not see any good people working to solve these problems, just a lot of people who are working aginst each other to make themselves look good.
"There is no historical evidence that tax cuts spur economic growth. The highest period of growth in U.S. history (1933-1973) also saw its highest tax rates on the rich: 70 to 91 percent. During this period, the general tax rate climbed as well, but it reached a plateau in 1969, and growth slowed down five years later. Almost all rich nations have higher general taxes than the U.S., and they are growing faster as well." Tax cuts spur economic growth
The Idolatry of Ideology-Why Tax Cuts Hurt the Economy by Russ Beaton
Spending Cuts Vs. Tax Increases at the State Level, 10/30/01
Newsflash: Ronald Reagan Raised Taxes (You Idiots) | Firedoglake
The Federal Pie Chart
You have become a caricature of yourself.
Do you just read the "War Resisters League," or do you write for them as well?
And, how about a few quotes from Sojourner's?
What's next, Das Kapital: Kritik der politischen Ökonomie?
Obamas 2011 Budget Proposal: How Its Spent
Obama?s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It?s Spent - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com
$3.69 trillon budget proposal
1. Social Security $738 20%
2.National Defense $738
3. Income Security $567
4. Medicare $498
5.Net Interest $251
6. Health $381
7. Education $122
8. Veterans Benefits $122
9. Transportation $91.55
10. International Affairs $67.39
$3,575.94
Did prosperity follow the conservative policies of Coolidege?
"And the tax cuts of the Economic Recovery Act of 1981 stimulated economic growth. As a 1982 JEC study pointed out,[1] similar across-the-board tax cuts had been implemented in the 1920s as the Mellon tax cuts, and in the 1960s as the Kennedy tax cuts. In both cases the reduction of high marginal tax rates actually increased tax payments by "the rich," also increasing their share of total individual income taxes paid. The Reagan Tax Cuts: Lessons for Tax Reform
As inflation came down and as more and more of the tax cuts from the 1981 Act went into effect, the economic began a strong and sustained pattern of growth. http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml
You can't seem to get anything right.
Item 1 pays for itself and should not even be included in the federal budget.
since it pays for itself it is better looking for the budget defecit to include it in the budget.
Check your history SS has been on and off the budget a few times.
You have become a caricature of yourself.
Do you just read the "War Resisters League," or do you write for them as well?
And, how about a few quotes from Sojourner's?
What's next, Das Kapital: Kritik der politischen Ökonomie?
Obama’s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It’s Spent
Obama?s 2011 Budget Proposal: How It?s Spent - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com
$3.69 trillon budget proposal
1. Social Security $738 20%
2.National Defense $738
3. Income Security $567
4. Medicare $498
5.Net Interest $251
6. Health $381
7. Education $122
8. Veteran’s Benefits $122
9. Transportation $91.55
10. International Affairs $67.39
$3,575.94
Did prosperity follow the conservative policies of Coolidege?
"And the tax cuts of the Economic Recovery Act of 1981 stimulated economic growth. “As a 1982 JEC study pointed out,[1] similar across-the-board tax cuts had been implemented in the 1920s as the Mellon tax cuts, and in the 1960s as the Kennedy tax cuts. In both cases the reduction of high marginal tax rates actually increased tax payments by "the rich," also increasing their share of total individual income taxes paid.” The Reagan Tax Cuts: Lessons for Tax Reform
“As inflation came down and as more and more of the tax cuts from the 1981 Act went into effect, the economic began a strong and sustained pattern of growth.” http://www.ustreas.gov/education/fact-sheets/taxes/ustax.shtml
You can't seem to get anything right.
Item 1 pays for itself and should not even be included in the federal budget.
since it pays for itself it is better looking for the budget defecit to include it in the budget.
Check your history SS has been on and off the budget a few times.
Wrong.
“Social Security will pay out more this year than it gets in payroll taxes, marking the first time since the program will be in the red since it was overhauled in 1983, according to the annual authoritative report released Thursday by the program's actuary.” Social Security in the red this year - Washington Times
It's on budget now and all the "reserves" have been spent.Item 1 pays for itself and should not even be included in the federal budget.
Check your history SS has been on and off the budget a few times.
I agree that "retirement funding" is a personal responsibility and thought my statement would be read as such.
My error.
To distill that statement to its simplest essence, Everyone under a certain age would be responsible for funding their own retirement nest egg.
Ditto with medical insurance.
Where there is a market....... companies will compete for business
Mea culpa
Out of curiosity, what should the policy be if some folks don't plan, and wind up with no nest egg at retirement?
Are you familiar with the Galveston plan, that began before the government prevented localities from opting out of Social Security?
Here:
http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v62n1/v62n1p47.pdf
And here:
Galveston County: A Model for Social Security Reform | Publications | National Center for Policy Analysis | NCPA
I read the link and it is not unlike some other Public Plans.
I have written of Chile's system at length which is very similiar to what you describe.
Many Liberals "comeback" with the same argument, what to do with those who don't plan or participate.
There are many arguments for and against forced participation but ultimately for those who fail to plan for retirement, the responsibility is squarely upon their shoulders.
Somewhere down the line...much sooner than later in all probability, the concept of "Personal Responsibility" will be forced upon the masses of sheeple who comprise the majority of the Empire's Subjects.
There are many good and actuarilly sound plans to "Reform" "Social Security" but the biggest "Unfunded Liabilities" are with Medicare, Medicaid and Drug Entitlement.
The current 800 lb gorilla in the room is the annual Interest on the Debt.
Currently interest is at abnormally low levels due to the Fed sending false signals to the Market.
That will not last.
Rates will rise and rise in a hurry with the first Muni/State Default.
Five percent of 14 Trillion is 700 Billion.
Seven percent is 980 Billion.
Ten percent is 1.4 Trillion.
The Jimmy Carter rate of 18% is 2.52 Trillion.
"We the People" may not have the time required before the "Black Swan" appears.
And what about the millions of American who work their entire lives at low paying jobs and have no ability to save because their paychecks go from week to week? And those families that have big medical bills and lose everything? Not everybody makes 6 figure salaries and can prepare for retirement. Lets say you get a nest egg and a financial collapse wipes you out. Are you saying that you would have to live on the streets in your old age? These people don't count, is that what you are saying? Sounds elitist to me.
