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Open thread 7/16
- By Phillip Brownlee
- Posted July 16, 2007 at 1:05 a.m.
- Filed under Open thread
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Hello, Sports Fans.
Time now again for the WEBlog’s fastest growing news sensation: The Bush Family Evil Empire: Scandal Du Jour.
Today’s scandal comes from a new book by John Perkins, author of “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.” In this previous book, he chronicles his illegal and immoral dealings as a “free-marketeer” in CON land.
In his second book, he claims that Manuel Noriega had to be overthrown by George H. W. Bush.
Why? Because Senor Noriega, being a little smarter than the average right-wing death-dealing dictator had come up with the very CON scheme of blackmailing powerful people.
He did this by . . . well, let me let the good folks over at Progressive Historians tell it:
Meanwhile all three of our boys (Bush, Saddam, Manuel Noriega) were living it up. Bush was vice-president of America, and one of the first things he did was to put Noreiga back on the CIA payroll.
Noreiga had a string of good luck as well. It seems his boss, Omar Torrijos, died in a plane crash. How did it happen? Noreiga’s defense attorney, Frank Rubino, was quoted as saying “General Noriega has in his possession documents showing attempts to assassinate General Noriega and Mr. Torrijos by agencies of the United States.”. These documents were never allowed as evidence in trial, because the presiding judge agreed with the U.S. government’s claim that their public mention would violate the Classified Information Procedures Act. In “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man,” writer John Perkins claims that an American-provided bomb was the cause of the airplane crash.OTOH, Colonel Roberto Díaz Herrera, a former associate of Noriega, claims that Noriega planted the bomb.There were two curious coincidences involving Torrijos’ death.
a) his death came only six months after Bush because vice-president
b) his death came only three months after Ecuadorian President and reformer Jaime Roldós Aguilera died in almost exactly the same circumstances
The US confiscates thousands of boxes of Noriega government documents and refuses to hand over any of them to Panamanian investigators. “The United States is protecting robbers and thieves and obstructing justice. We are the owners of the documents. If I am to complete my work, I have to see the documents,” Panama’s chief prosecutor. [Los Angeles Times, 6/23/90]
During the preparation of his 1991 trial in Miamai, Florida, Noriega’s defense attorneys submitted a document to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida in which they specified matters they intended to use in Noriega’s defense which might involve information considered claissified by the US government. Before being released to the public, this document was heavily censored. No part of this filing is more heavily censored, however, than the section entitled “General Noriega’s Relationship with George Bush,” which has been whited out on approximately 6 of 15 pages, allegedly to protect US national security.
http://www.progressivehistorians.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1109
Okay, sooo what? George H. W. Bush helped knock off one banana republic dictator to help install his own dictator. And then his guy didn’t like having his strings pulled so hard, so they had to knock him off too. And they had to kill a couple of hundred or thousand innocent peasants (nobody knows or cares) in the process.
That’s par for the course and if that were all it were, I wouldn’t bring it up.
But wait, there’s more—
“George W. Bush’s cocaine habit and womanizing ways caused the invasion of Panama in 1989.
According to Perkins’ new book “The Secret History of the American Empire” Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega installed cameras on Contadora Island, which was a safe haven where American politicians and businessmen could schmooze with, and bribe, Latin American politicos. There were “rumors that George W. was photographed doing coke and having kinky sex during the time his father was president,” Jose, a top adviser to Brazilian president Lula da Silva, tells Perkins. “There was a theory in Latin America that Noriega had used incriminating photos of the younger Bush and his cronies to convince the older Bush, then president, to side with the Panamanian administration on key issues. In retaliation, H.W. invaded Panama and hustled Noriega off to a Miami prison. The building housing Noriega’s confidential files had been incinerated by bombs.”
That would also explain why neither the prosecution nor the defense were allowed access to government records. The records were precisely what The Bush Family Evil Empire had to protect.
This has been your BFEE: Scandal Du Jour.
This message was brought to you by Huggies. They’re so comfortable, even Senator Vitter likes to wear them when he visits his lady friends!
Huggies, if they’re good enough for a Republican Senator, they’re good enough for your baby!
Prediction:
Newt Gingrich will captrue the Republican nomination later this year. He will choose Fred Thompson as his running mate and they will defeat Hillary and Edwards. The tipping point will come after massive terrorist attacks on American cities discredit Hillary’s anti-war campaign.
One problem, Jonas.
If we endure massive terrorist attacks, wouldn’t that prove BushCo. to be the utterly inept egotistical jerks that 74 percent of the American people know them to be.
Gonna be awfully tough to blame that one on Clinton.
And btw, what ever happened to the color-coded warning system?
“ORANGE ALERT! ORANGE ALERT! BUY DUCT TAPE AND PLASTIC SHEETING NOW!”
They didn’t need it after the 2004 elections . . .
This is NOT Peter Pan… no matter HOW hard you believe, it aint gonna happen… get over it…
I hope Hillary doesnt pick Edwards as running mate… if she is nominated… He would do much better as a Secy of State after she wins the White House… She needs Obama as running Mate…
News From IraqStories Not Reported by the MSM
BAGHDAD — Coalition and Iraqi forces have killed or captured hundreds of al-Qaeda members in Iraq over the past two months, including 26 of the terror network’s “high-value” leaders and a would-be bomber, the Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman said.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Bergner said combined forces have shut down an important terrorist information artery.
==============================
CAMP AL TAQADDUM, Iraq – Marines from Company I, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, discovered 500, one hundred-pound bags of ammonium nitrate July 11.
Marines stopped two 18-wheel tractor trailers while conducting a vehicle check point north of Karmah. The ammonium nitrate, a common ingredient in improvised explosive devices, was found during a search of the vehicles.
============================
QARGHULI VILLAGE, Iraq — An Iraqi citizen who has been working with Coalition Forces during the past week led them to two caches in Qarghuli Village, Iraq, a known terrorist safe haven.
The local resident accompanied Soldiers of the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment “Polar Bears,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) out of Fort Drum, N.Y., on a dismounted patrol in the village July 12 and led them to two caches.
============================
BAYJI, Iraq – Elements of the 4th Iraqi Army Brigade detained the leader of a terrorist sniper cell in Bayji during an intelligence driven operation in Bayji July 12. The targeted individual is allegedly responsible for leading attacks against Iraqi and Coalition Forces, including attacks against the joint security site in downtown Bayji.
Two other individuals were also detained during the operation.
============================
FORWARD OPERATING BASE PROSPERITY — Over the course of the last month, Iraqi national police medics assigned to the National Police (NP) Headquarters in Baghdad have been training with the medical staff of Company C, 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division as they work toward opening their own medical clinic next month.
The partnership was formed after soldiers with the National Police Transition Team assigned to the NP Headquarters approached the leadership of “Charlie Med,” and asked for their assistance with the project.
============================
More News Not Reported by the MSM
…The Office Of Management And Budget Reported The FY2007 Budget Deficit Is Forecast To Be Lower Than Last Year And The President’s Goal To Balance The Budget Is On Track. The President’s pro-growth policies have encouraged sustained economic growth and job creation, thereby strengthening revenues and reducing the deficit.
The New Report Estimates This Year’s Deficit To Be $205 Billion Or 1.5 Percent Of GDP, A $43 Billion Decrease From Last Year. The federal deficit is declining for the third year in a row, and the President s goal to balance the budget by 2012 is achievable under the President s proposals, which would lead to a budget surplus in 2012 of $33 billion.
My bet is that we’ll actually go into surplus some time during FY 2009 (which starts Oct 1, 2008); you see, lefties, when we cut high marginal tax rates, this increases economic activity resulting in higher productivity, higher wages, higher profits and, naturally, higher revenues that we would have seen with the higher tax rates and the resultant lower amount of economic activity. There is no question about this anymore – this has been tried three times: first by President Kennedy, next by President Reagan, and finally by President Bush. It works each time it is tried – it is just about the silver bullet for creating rapid economic growth. For anyone to believe that higher marginal rates – ie, “tax the rich” – are economically beneficial is to be a person who is willfully blind to demonstrable economic truth.”
The Laundry List of the Left
What the Left WantsBy Mark Noonan at 05:07 AM
Just to make certain we have it down, here’s my list of what I understand to be the desires of the political left:
Foreign/Military Affairs
1. Withdraw from Iraq.2. Partner up with Syria and Iran for middle east peace.3. Invade Darfur, but only as UN “peacekeepers”.4. Establish full relations with Castro’s government.5. Severely reduce US military aid to Israel.6. Defer to the UN before carrying out any major military operation.7. Close Gitmo and give everyone a taxpayer funded attorney.
Economic Affairs
1. Raise taxes.2. Cut military spending.3. Increase social spending.4 Increase regulations on business.5. Raise the minimum wage, and then keep raising it to keep pace with inflation.6. Institute socialised medical care.
Social Policy.
1. Institute gay marriage.2. Federally fund abortion on demand.3. Establish rigid quotas for minorities in business and education, and keep calling it “affirmative action”.4. Forbid even the slightest expression of religion on any public property; unless the religion is non-Christian.5. Institute reparations for slavery.
Specialty issues
1. Impeach the President and Vice President.2. Try the President and Vice President for War Crimes in front of an international tribunal.3. Implement Kyoto, make belief in anthropogenic global warming mandatory in government funded research.4. Free cop killers like Mumia.
Have I missed anything? Anything in the list which is not a bedrock, leftwing desire?”
Jack Murtha and the Concept of Apology?
a·pol·o·gy /??p?l?d?i/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[uh-pol-uh-jee] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation –noun, plural -gies.1. a written or spoken expression of one’s regret, remorse, or sorrow for having insulted, failed, injured, or wronged another: He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.
Yesterday, the Haditha marines came one step closer to what will be their inevitable vindication. In the process, these Marines were held 23 hours a day in cramped cells. These Marines’ families have gone through bloody hell and hardship, not to mention countless sleepless nights worrying about their loved ones, who, largely in part because an otherwise nondescript lard ass with self-serving political aspirations saw that, despite warnings to the contrary, it was to his advantage to endear himself to the whacko-left power structure of the DNC. So the old gasbag went on to run in front of every camera he could find, loudly proclaiming that the incident was a massacre, and a “cover up” from the highest levels:
Curiously, I also called Jack Murtha’s office for an official statement yesterday. They replied they could give none, as it wouldn’t be proper since the investigation is ongoing. Does anyone remember this tidbit from Salon.com?
Asked about his sources during a midday briefing on Iraq policy in the Capitol, Murtha confidently replied, “All the information I get, it comes from the commanders, it comes from people who know what they are talking about.” Although Murtha said that he had not read any investigative reports by the military on the incident, he stressed, “It’s much worse than reported in Time magazine.”
When I confronted the staffer about this, she had the gall to state that Murtha’s statements were “taken out of context.”
Some “context.”
In short, Jack Murtha totally disregarded the Marines’ basic civil right to presumption of innocence, and in the process destroyed their lives. All for the purpose of what can be safely said to be cheap, personal political gain.
Now the question remains: Will Jack Murtha, who has stated over and over again that he steadfastly supports our troops, render an apology to those brave Marines whose lives were completely destroyed, largely due to his efforts?
Somehow, I think not.
For to Jack Murtha, it’s never been about the troops. It’s never even been about the United States.
To Jack Murtha, it’s always been about Jack Murtha.
Posted by Leo at July 12, 2007 11:33 AM
Circulation at the Top 20 NewspapersMonday April 30, 10:59 am ETBy The Associated PressAverage Weekday Circulation at the Top 20 U.S. Newspapers
Average paid weekday circulation of the nation’s 20 largest newspapers for the six-month period ending in March, as reported Monday by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. The percentage changes are from the comparable year-ago period.
1. USA Today, 2,278,022, up 0.2 percent
2. The Wall Street Journal, 2,062,312, up 0.6 percent
3. The New York Times, 1,120,420, down 1.9 percent
4. Los Angeles Times, 815,723, down 4.2 percent
5. New York Post, 724,748, up 7.6 percent
6. New York Daily News, 718,174, up 1.4 percent
7. The Washington Post, 699,130, down 3.5 percent
8. Chicago Tribune, 566,827, down 2.1 percent
9. Houston Chronicle, 503,114, down 2 percent
10. The Arizona Republic, 433,731, down 1.1 percent
11. Dallas Morning News, 411,919, down 14.3 percent
12. Newsday, Long Island, 398,231, down 6.9 percent
13. San Francisco Chronicle, 386,564, down 2.9 percent
14. The Boston Globe, 382,503, down 3.7 percent
15. The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., 372,629, down 6.1 percent
16. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 357,399, down 2.1 percent
17. The Philadelphia Inquirer, 352,593, up 0.6 percent
18. Star Tribune of Minneapolis-St. Paul, 345,252, down 4.9 percent
19. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, 344,704, up 0.5 percent
20. Detroit Free Press, 329,989, down 4.7 percent
The Dallas Morning News is reporting for the first time since being censured in 2004 for misstating circulation figures. The Chicago Sun-Times has not yet resumed reporting.
Source: Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Dog Removed from Washington State Voter RollsDrew McKissick BlogConservativeoutpost.com
This doesn’t exactly give you a lot of confidence in voter registration systems….much less ballot security.
Dog Removed from Washington State Voter Rolls – An Australian shepherd-terrier mix registered as a protest by his owner was finally removed from the Washington state voter registration list on Tuesday, after three elections. [Fox News]
Kind of opens your eyes to how many dead people and/or illegal aliens are on our voter rolls in this country. But each time anyone makes a move to increase voter security/confidence measures, (such as having to have a VALID government photo-id), Democrats and the usual liberal suspects squawk and the lawsuits fly. You don’t suppose they’ve got anything vested in keeping things the way they are, do you?”
This article is from the May/June 2005 issue of Dollars & Sense magazine.
The president completed a tour to spread fear over the financial solvency of the Social Security system and promote his multi trillion tax dollar plan to allow workers to divert nearly a third of the 12.4% Social Security payroll tax into private investment accounts. Wall Street will rake in the dough in a monster way.
At a stump speech in West Virginia in early April, Bush pointed to a filing cabinet stuffed with paper representing government IOUs and said, “A lot of people in America think there is a trust–that we take your money in payroll taxes and then we hold it for you and then when you retire, we give it back to you. But that’s not the way it works. There is no trust ‘fund’–just IOUs.…” On April 28, Bush proposed indexing high-income workers’ benefits to inflation, a move he described as “progressive.” If these and other administration statements about Social Security leave you scratching your head, you’re not alone.
With all the fear-mongering falsehoods flying around, it can be difficult to separate fact from fiction. Below, Doug Orr helps D&S readers do just this, with clear, at times surprising, answers to many common Social Security-related questions. Congress is expected to vote on Social Security “reform” in June. –Eds.
Has the president actually lied to the public about Social Security?
Yes. President Bush has repeatedly said that those who put their money in private accounts are “guaranteed” a better return than they’ll receive from the current Social Security system. But every sale of stock on the stock market includes the disclaimer: “the return on this investment is not guaranteed and may be negative”–for good reason. During the 20th century, there were several periods lasting more than 10 years where the return on stocks was negative.
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2005/0505orr.html
This BUSHCO group cannot stop a crash if it is in fact about to be. Social Security checks will come in handy as ENRON and Savings and Loan victims discovered.
Kansas, you overlooked the part that it was the Democratic controlled house that passed all but two of the spending bill for 2007 because the 109th “Do nothing” congress didn’t do them.
It was a Democratic budget the Office Of Management And Budget is reporting on.
“For anyone to believe that higher marginal rates – ie, “tax the rich” – are economically beneficial is to be a person who is willfully blind to demonstrable economic truth.”
I think Clinton proved that wrong.
Thanks Kansas, I was needing a little comic relief! But you left out about the left: Eat small children, rape your wife and steal your Cattle! Oh how about normalize relations with Bin Laden and appease Nazi Germany too! Oh wait a minute….How about the Left wants to give control of several U.S. Ports to a country that has actively supported terrorist groups with safe haven and money!
Better yet, the Left wants to start a war with a country that is not a active threat to the United States for the reason of watering down the Constitution and degrading the rights of the American people! So they can spy on their Political enemies and control any Americans that would oppose they attempt at total rule over the country!
Oh I am sorry about the last two, they have already been done by that Bastard wing of the Republican party. You know the Bush Administration and the Neo-Cons. But hey why not blame the Left for giving them the idea?
But what is not the threat of a terrorist attack and the shaddow of Bin Laden enough scare tactics for the extreme right wing SOBs that stoled the party away from not just the Republicans but the good of the United States?
Look up “Amoral” in the Dictionary. You will find a sub definition about someone that puts the interest of their political leanings above the good of their country. One that plays stupid games while their country is falling apart and admires Nero for his abilities with a Fiddle as he played by the fire side.
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/understanding_investing/article/100545/Stock_Performance_by_Decade
The average stock market return per decade is 10.5% ANNUALLY. That means you would more than double your money each decade, not counting additional contributions. It is a long term investment subject to ups and downs but over time is a big winner.
People are missing out on opportunity if they are not in the stock market. And the ability to put a portion of their social security contributions into the market would have been a great opportunity for younger folks.
Paris Aims to Cut Traffic With Bikes
- – - – - – - – - – - -
By ANGELA DOLAND Associated Press Writer
July 15,2007 | PARIS — The City of Light wants to be the city that bikes.
Paris City Hall launched a new bicycle service Sunday, with more than 10,600 posted at 750 stations all over the city. Users can take a bike and put it back at any station around town.
The service — called Velib’, a combination of the words “velo” (bike) and “liberte” (liberty) — is an initiative pushed by Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who has made fighting traffic and pollution his No. 1 goal.
For Parisians, the bicycle service means another public transport option, in addition to the subway, buses and trams, Delanoe said.
“In the morning, you can go to work in the tram and come home by bike; it depends on the weather, it depends on your mood and on your friends,” Delanoe said at the launch.
Business was brisk the first day. Parisian Sandrine Millet checked out her local station near the Champs-Elysees avenue and discovered only four bicycles left at a stand of 27. She hopped on one of the gray three-speeds and said it was “very comfortable.”
“It’s perfect for short rides, when you want to get somewhere fast, but don’t have the courage to walk,” she said.
Velib’ is also accessible to tourists. The service is offered in eight languages, and its machines accept foreign credit cards.
Paris is following the example of other European cities with inexpensive bicycle services, including Stockholm, Vienna, Brussels, Barcelona and Copenhagen.
Delanoe has promoted biking heavily since taking office in 2001, and the city now has 230 miles of bike lanes. Velib’ is due for expansion: By the year’s end, Paris says it will nearly double the number of Velib’ bicycles and stations.
A yearlong pass costs $39.50, while a one-day pass costs $1.36 — and a seven-day ticket goes for $6.80. But the project is designed for short rides and has a sliding price scale — so as to keep the bikes in rotation.
The first half-hour after users pick up a bike is free, but additional half-hours cost extra. Anyone who does not know the sliding scale and goes for a long joyride is in for a surprise: A one-day pass plus a 6-hour ride costs around $55.
Paris is distributing pocket copies of road safety rules to Velib’ riders — but bikers have to supply their own helmets.
It sucks that one has to be part of the stock market to make money anymore. The stock market isn’t a sure thing for anyone. And with Bush at the helm, I’m sure that a crash is in the forecast.
Is republiCON feeling a little bit overwhelmed by all the bad news from his buddies that he’s now resorted to posting endless reich wing blog articles all day long?
News you haven’t seen in the Wichita Eagle: Largest pro-life crowds gather since 1991 Summer of Mercy to pray for criminal charges to put Tiller out of business and not a word in the paper. 500 on Saturday, 570 on Sunday. More expected today._________Praise and Worship Service Focuses on Repentance for Sin of AbortionJuly 15th, 2007Wichita Awakening draws 570 to park for music and prayer
Wichita, KS – As the sun sank of over the Kansas prairie, the grassy glade at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas Rivers came to life with energetic praise and worship music and prayer that focused on repentance for the sin of abortion.
A group of 570 mostly young people gathered Sunday evening at the Wichita Awakening to accept the challenge from Norma McCorvey, the former “Roe” of Roe v. Wade, that those born after the 1973 Supreme Court decision should partner with her generation to see an end to abortion.
About three hundred of the young people were from The Cause, which is conducting “God’s Summer of Love” across America to pray for repentance from the sins and excesses of the previous generation on the 40th anniversary of the 1967 “Summer of Love.”
Rev. Pat Mahoney shared that he believes that God is ministering to him that we are in a time of breakthrough that will soon see an end to abortion.
Notorious abortionist George R. Tiller was recently charged with 19 criminal counts of committing illegal late-term abortions. However, he is still operating his infamous abortion mill and Operation Rescue says there is reason to believe that he is committing late-term abortions for trivial reasons in further violation of the law.
Monday, the Cause will spend the day at Tiller’s late-term abortion mill, beginning at 8:30 AM. They will be back to the Mid-American Indian Center for a final Praise and Worship concert to end the Wichita Awakening, which is scheduled to run from 7 PM to midnight.
Operation Rescue is hosting the event.
http:operationrescue.org has a photo gallery of the event.
You’re all whackjobs.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=46697
Here’s RepubliKansas’ source.
I’ll let the reader decide if the military is a believable source or not.
I know how the pro-lifers can stop abortion.
They should get both Houses of Congress and the Presidency controlled by conservative Republicans that are pro-life.
Then they could just change the law and make abortion illegal again.
Hey . . . wait a minute.
They HAD both houses of Congress and the Presidency from 2001 to 2007.
How’d that go for you all?
They even had both Houses of Congress, the Presidency, _AND_ the Supreme Court, for a while there.
Water: A Battle Between the Bottle and the Faucet
NYT: A Battle Between the Bottle and the FaucetBy BILL MARSHPublished: July 15, 2007
New York ads offer tap water as an appealing choice over commercial beverages.
THOSE eight daily glasses of water you’re supposed to drink for good health? They will cost you $0.00135 — about 49 cents a year — if you take it from a New York City tap.
Or, city officials suggest, you could spend 2,900 times as much, roughly $1,400 yearly, by drinking bottled water. For the extra money, they say, you get the added responsibility for piling on to the nation’s waste heap and encouraging more of the industrial emissions that are heating up the planet.
But trends in American thirst quenching favor the 2,900-fold premium, as the overflowing trash cans of Central Park attest. In fact, bottled water is growing at the expense of every other beverage category except sports drinks. It has overtaken coffee and milk, and it is closing in on beer. Tap, if trends continue, would be next.
Now New York City officials — like the mayors of Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and San Francisco — are campaigning to get people to reverse course and open their faucets instead of their wallets. The city Health Department, mindful of high obesity rates, says water is more healthful than many other, sugar-filled drinks. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection touts its low environmental impact. Both note that it’s practically free (leaving aside those New Yorkers for whom paying extra is a lifestyle choice).
New York’s water is the envy of municipalities everywhere. It is one of just five major American systems whose water is so good it needs little or no filtration, saving energy and chemicals. (The others are Boston, Portland, Ore., San Francisco and Seattle.)…
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/weekinreview/15marsh….
Outlander is the past master of the selective quote.
Here’s what he didn’t post:
“As you can see, the variations in total return from one decade to the next were substantial. During the worst decade (1928-38), one of only two with a negative return, stocks provided an average annual return of -0.9%. During the best decade (1948-58), the average annual return was +20.1%. Nine decades witnessed returns of less than +5% and 16 of more than +15%. The majority, 33 decades, were in a middle range of +5% to +15%. If you had put your money to work at the beginning of any particular decade, there would have been roughly a 50-50 chance that your return would have been better than the +10.5% decade norm and a 50-50 chance that it would have been worse.”
Also, this average return is for ALL stocks in the S & P 500. Most people aren’t invested in all stocks.
A lot of people lost everything when Enron went bust. And don’t blame it on them. Enron was forcing its employees to buy and hold its stock while top management sold off and lied about it . . .
I spent all day yesterday at McConnell’s Open House. Years back, they used to have “water buffalo,” military drinking water tanks, scattered around the airfield. The water was free for the taking.
Now? You must _pay_ $3 for a bottle of water. I think this is outrageous. It was well over 90 yesterday, and even hotter for those people standing on the ramps and taxiways. I saw the ambulance haul people off at least twice. I’m going to assume it was for heat-related illness or injury.
Via Christi was at least giving away bottled water, but only at the entrance to the airfield. Once inside, it was a very, very long walk back to the entrances.
And given that we spend slightly more than 50 percent of all income taxes on the MILITARY (because Social Security and Medicare are taxed separately), you’d think they could at least provide the people who pay their bills some drinking water.
But no, the nickle and diming must go on . . .
Contrary to Capn’s assertion most people in the stock market are in via mutual funds, which provide diversification of risk.
There are index mutual funds that track the S and P 500. They were an option in the proposed SS privatization plan.Bond funds also were available in the proposed SS privatization plan, and are less volatile, though less lucrative.
Good column about Wichita-area attractions:
Wichita not too small for big dreams, funThe sudden closing and bankruptcy filing of Wild West World struck some as conclusive evidence that the Wichita area is just too small for big attractions, events and dreams.
Nonsense.
Not only is this a fine place to live. It’s also a fine place to find something fun to do.
more …
http://www.kansas.com/611/story/122381.html
Though like Snape in that I believe he really does struggle with the good and evil within himself, and this makes him an interesting villian, Outlander is right on the SS privatization that Bush proposed. [Sorry about the critique there] … in truth, Bush was talking about allowing people to invest privately 4% of their Social Security benefits. Even if one lost ALL of that, it does not seem to me that people would really be that bad off.
Bush, interestingly, has been swift-boated, as much as he has swift-boated others. My source on this and the above:
Jackson, B. & Jamieson, K.H. (2007). _Unspun: Finding facts in a world of disinformation_. Random House: New York.
Dems Trounce GOP In Campaign CashThe presidential campaign finance filings for the 2nd quarter are in, and one thing is abundantly clear: the Democrats are, as a whole, vastly outraising their GOP counterparts. Under the headline “Democrats Continue To Beat Republicans At The Donor Box,” the New York Times reports the “eight Democrats running for president raised more than $80 million from April 1 to June 30, while the 10 Republicans raised less than $50 million.”http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_070716.htmI just love it when they use words like “Trounce” when we’re talking about the GOP. Will republicans be able to depend on their Big-Business owners to bail them out?
It’s going to be damned expensive to steal an election this cycle.
“Contrary to Capn’s assertion most people in the stock market are in via mutual funds . . . ”
Wrong again, outlander.
I never said that. What I said is that most holders of stocks don’t own all the stocks in the S & P 500 which is what is measured.
Also, there are broker’s fees. There are taxes, unless you’re in a 401k, a 403b or an IRA.
The downside risk is very real. Most of us who own stock portfolios dreaded looking at our funds totals from about 2001 to 2003 because the Dow had dropped about 40 percent during that period.
The NASDAQ still isn’t anywhere close to its high of 5000. Barely above half of what it was.
If you put your head in the oven and your feet in the freezer, your AVERAGE temperature is perfect.
That’s the trouble with averages . . .
Steven–
This is a very complicated topic and is easily manipulated by selective statistics.
Here’s a couple of good articles:
http://spokesmanreview.com/local/story.asp?ID=52783
http://www.afscme.org/publications/7909.cfm
http://www.retiredamericans.org/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/1457/pid/324
Democracy for America-Wichita got a rebuttal printed in The Eagle a few years ago that refuted Bob Dole’s idiotic shilling for the Bush plan.
This is the same Bob Dole who engineered increased taxes in the 80’s for Social Security to “insure its long-term solvancy.”
I’ll see if I can find it for you.
Thank you Capn. The first link required signing up – for thouse wanting to look at these.
I think one could make the argument that Bush’s 4% plan represented the camel getting its nose in the tent. According to the source I cite above, overwhelmingly, both Republicans and Democrats believe that conservative Republicans dislike social security and want to destroy it. Hence, the public perception that Bush’s desire to allow a rather small amount of money being diverted to private accounts, was a bad thing. The move struck a pre-existing unfavorable belief the public holds of conservative Repubs. The opponents of the plan successfully exploited that pre-existing perception.
I see a vague attempt at blaming social security problems on the current president. Or at least, calling him a liar for attempting to find a solution to a growing problem – which democrats are actually afraid to address.
The dollars and sense weblink is to one of the most perverted articles ever written. It is however perfect koolaid consumption for those living in denial.
Try using some facts from our own Social Security Administration in their annual report:
the Trustees announced:•The projected point at which tax revenues will fall below program costs comes in 2017 — the same as the estimate in last year’s report.•The projected point at which the Trust Funds will be exhausted comes in 2041 — one year later than the projection in last year’s report.•The projected actuarial deficit over the 75-year long-range period is 1.95 percent of taxable payroll — .06 percentage point smaller than in last year’s report.•Over the 75-year period, the Trust Funds would require additional revenue equivalent to $4.7 trillion in today’s dollars to pay all scheduled benefits. This unfunded obligation is about $100 billion higher than the amount estimated last year.
•It cost of $5.3 billion to administer the program in 2006.
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/trustee07-pr.htm
As an example, the dollars and sense source scoffs at the worthless IOU’s by pointing out that wealthy people have bought them. The point missing is to use these IOU’s – the government would have to buy them back. And just where will that money come from?
But don’t take my word for it, consider the word on liberal Sixty Minutes, by David Walker is a prudent man and a highly respected public official. As comptroller general of the United States he runs he Government Accountability Office, the GAO, which audits the government’s books and serves as the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. He has more than 3,000 employees, a budget of a half a billion dollars, and a message he considers urgent.
WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE AND AT LEAST BUSH WAS WISE ENOUGH TO BRING IT UP – BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE:
“I’m going to show you some numbers…they’re all big and they’re all bad,” he says.
So bad, that Walker has given up on elected officials and taken his message directly to taxpayers and opinion makers, hoping to shape the debate in the next presidential election.
“You know the American people, I tell you, they are absolutely starved for two things: the truth, and leadership,” Walker says.
He calls it a fiscal wake up tour, and he is telling civic groups, university forums and newspaper editorial boards that the U.S. has spent, promised, and borrowed itself into such a deep hole it will be unable to climb out if it doesn’t act now. As Walker sees it, the survival of the republic is at stake.
“What’s going on right now is we’re spending more money than we make…we’re charging it to credit card…and expecting our grandchildren to pay for it. And that’s absolutely outrageous,” he told the editorial board of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
You have heard this before, from Ross Perot 15 years ago. You might have even thought the problem had been solved, when President Clinton announced, “Tonight, I come before you to announce that the federal deficit … will be simply zero.”
“Well, those days are gone. We’ve gone from surpluses to huge deficits and our long range situation is much worse,” Walker says.
“President Bush would argue that the economy is in pretty good shape, unemployment is down, the deficit is actually less than expected,” Kroft remarks.
“The fact is, is that we don’t face an immediate crisis. And, so people say, ‘What’s the problem?’ The answer is, we suffer from a fiscal cancer. It is growing within us. And if we do not treat it, it could have catastrophic consequences for our country,” Walker replies.
The cancer, Walker says, are massive entitlement programs we can no longer afford, exacerbated by a demographic glitch that began more than 60 years ago, a dramatic spike in the fertility rate called the “baby boom.”
Beginning next year, and for 20 years thereafter, 78 million Americans will become pensioners and medical dependents of the U.S. taxpayer.
“The first baby boomer will reach 62 and be eligible for early retirement of Social Security January 1, 2008. They’ll be eligible for Medicare just three years later. And when those boomers start retiring in mass, then that will be a tsunami of spending that could swamp our ship of state if we don’t get serious,” Walker explains.
To illustrate their impact, he uses a power point presentation to show what would happen in 30 years if the U.S. maintains its current course and fulfills all of the promises politicians have made to the public on things like Social Security and Medicare.
What would happen in 2040 if nothing changes?
“If nothing changes, the federal government’s not gonna be able to do much more than pay interest on the mounting debt and some entitlement benefits. It won’t have money left for anything else – national defense, homeland security, education, you name it,” Walker warns.
Walker says you could eliminate all waste and fraud and the entire Pentagon budget and the long-range financial problem still wouldn’t go away, in what’s shaping up as an actuarial nightmare.
Part of the problem, Walker acknowledges, is that there won’t be enough wage earners to support the benefits of the baby boomers. “But the real problem, Steve, is health care costs. Our health care problem is much more significant than Social Security,” he says.
Asked what he means by that, Walker tells Kroft, “By that I mean that the Medicare problem is five times greater than the Social Security problem.”
The problem with Medicare, Walker says, is people keep living longer, and medical costs keep rising at twice the rate of inflation. But instead of dealing with the problem, he says, the president and the Congress made things much worse in Dec. 2003, when they expanded the Medicare program to include prescription drug coverage.
“The prescription drug bill was probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s,” Walker argues.
Asked why, Walker says, “Well, because we promise way more than we can afford to keep. Eight trillion dollars added to what was already a 15 to $20 trillion under-funding. We’re not being realistic. We can’t afford the promises we’ve already made, much less to be able, piling on top of ‘em.”
With one stroke of the pen, Walker says, the federal government increased existing Medicare obligations nearly 40 percent over the next 75 years.
“We’d have to have eight trillion dollars today, invested in treasury rates, to deliver on that promise,” Walker explains.
Asked how much we actually have, Walker says, “Zip.”
So where’s that money going to come from?
“Well it’s gonna come from additional taxes, or it’s gonna come from restructuring these promises, or it’s gonna come from cutting other spending,” Walker says.
He is not suggesting that the nation do away with Medicare or prescription drug benefits. He does believe the current health care system is way too expensive, and overrated.
“On cost we’re number one in the world. We spend 50 percent more of our economy on health care than any nation on earth,” he says.
“We have the largest uninsured population of any major industrialized nation. We have above average infant mortality, below average life expectancy, and much higher than average medical error rates for an industrialized nation,” Walker points out.
Walker says we have promised almost unlimited healthcare to senior citizens who never see the bills, and the government already is borrowing money to pay them. He says the system is unsustainable.
“It’s the number one fiscal challenge for the federal government, it’s the number one fiscal challenge for state governments and it’s the number one competitive challenge for American business. We’re gonna have to dramatically and fundamentally reform our health care system in installments over the next 20 years,” Walker tells Kroft.
And if we don’t?
“And if we don’t, it could bankrupt America,” Walker argues.
You’re probably expecting to hear from someone who disagrees with the comptroller general’s numbers, projections, and analysis. But hardly anyone does. He is accompanied on the wake-up tour by economists from the conservative Heritage Foundation, the left-leaning Brookings Institution, and the non-partisan Concord Coalition. The only dissenters seem to be a small minority of economists who believe either that the U.S. can grow its way out of the problem, or that Walker is over-stating it.
“The Wall Street Journal for example calls you ‘Chicken Little,’ running around saying that the ’sky is falling, the sky is falling,’” Kroft remarks.
“Unfortunately they don’t get it. I don’t know anybody who has done their homework, has researched history, and who’s good at math who would tell you that we can grow our way out of this problem,” Walker replies.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke validated much of Walker’s take on the situation at congressional hearings this year, and so did ranking Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee. Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota is the chairman.
Sen. Conrad thinks David Walker is “providing an enormous public service.”
Asked if he agrees with Walker’s figures and his projections, Sen. Conrad says, “I do. You know, I mean we could always question the precise nature of this projection or that projection. But, that misses the point. The larger story that he is telling is exactly correct.”
Conrad acknowledges that most people in Washington are aware how bad the situation is. “They know in large measure here, Republicans and Democrats, that we are on a course that doesn’t add up,” the senator tells Kroft.
“Why doesn’t somebody do something about it?” Kroft asks.
“Because it’s always easier not to. ‘Cause it’s always easier to defer, to kick the can down the road to avoid making choices. You know, you get in trouble in politics when you make choices,” Sen. Conrad says.
Asked if he thinks taxes should be raised, the senator says, “I believe first of all, we need more revenue. We need to be tough on spending. And we need to reform the entitlement programs … we need to do all of it.”
But he admits he doesn’t think there’s a consensus for raising taxes.
“Any politician who tells you that we can solve our problem without reforming Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is not telling you the truth,” Walker told an audience at the University of Denver.
Over the next year, the nation’s top accountant will be traveling to the early primary states, telling voters that we need to begin raising taxes or government revenues and put a cap on federal spending if we want to maintain our economic security and standard of living.
“If you tell them the truth, if you give them the facts, if you explain this in terms of not just numbers but values and people, they will get it and empower their elected officials to make tough choices,” Walker argues.
Asked if he knows any politicians willing to raise taxes or cut back benefits, Walker says, “I don’t know politicians that like to raise taxes. I don’t know politicians that like to cut spending, but I think what we have to recognize is this is not just about numbers. We are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren at record rates, and that is not only an issue of fiscal irresponsibility, it’s an issue of immorality.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/01/60minutes/main2528226.shtml
Don’t let political party get in the way of your investments!
As a retired government worker, who is invested in the same funds proposed for our social security, I would invite you all to look into this before baulking. The plan includes the same “funds” that your congressmen and woman are invested in. This is the same plan millions of government workers and now the military have for investing, similiar to private 401 plans.
I have been enjoying very respectable returns (along with your congressmen) for over five years. Yes, there is risk with any investing, but we are doing well, much better than the return on my Social Security investment:
During the last twelve months, the governments private mutual funds (TSP) have returned steady returns:
G Fund 4.9F Fund 6.23 C Fund 20.63S Fund 19.47I Fund 27.18
You can view the investment periods by month, year for last last ten years on line:
http://www.tsp.gov/rates/monthly-factsheet.html
They also now have more funds, which are conservative to aggressive based upon an anticipated retirement year.
Remember, if I go broke, so does my senators and house of representatives reps!
Capn,
The many-named troll’s 2:33 AM post seems to have come from Harry Dope, or similar,http://groups.google.com/group/alt.politics.liberalism/msg/ea22ee201ee7fbfb
It is sad that congress decided to raise the social security age inorder to save it. Future generations will have to work longer in order to achieve the same benefits their parents received at age 65. This results in less benefit and more taxes paid in by future retirees. One of the proposals is to RAISE THE AGE TO 70. I don’t want to work that long. Not sure blue collar workers will enjoy working manual work at that age (and be expected to keep up).
But hey, this avoids any pain to todays retirees!! No sacrifice for the next generation by our oldsters. That’s why AARP and the above sites scare you about republican proposals. It might HURT your pocket book!
But it will be okee dokee to increase withholding on your children and grand children to pay for baby boomers retirement. It’s ok to make them work LONGER and PAY MORE.
As long as it’s not me, right?
Written by a dreamer. Great article, but I think it’s too late to make it happen now.1. The solution of having personal accounts is not REGRESSIVE enough. Those who don’t work hard and earn much money won’t get as much as those who do. So Democrat/Socialist voters won’t support politicians who vote for it. The current system will pay about the same amount to a retiree who earned an avg $30,000/year over his lifetime, as it will to the man who earned an avg of $100,000/year over his lifetime.2. The personal account solution is only a PARTIAL solution. While these mandatory savings accounts will take care of those age X (40, 45, 50?) and below, increases in the existing 15.3% FICA/Medicare tax will be required to pay for existing retirees and those over age X who will retire with full SS benefits.So, given the majority Socialist/Democrat voters position on Social Security the solution will be:1. It must be a regressive program, in fact, it must become MORE REGRESSIVE!2. Poor people should get full benefits.3. The rich (those earning $50,000/year on avg) will be means tested out of All SS benefits.4. The younger generations will NOT be allowed to have personal SS accounts because they won’t be able to afford to do that AND pay 25% (vs 15.3% today) in FICA/Medicare.$5 trillion annual deficits will result in a drastically devalued dollar, which will lead to high interest rates (+20%), which will lead to no capital investment, which will lead to closing factories, which will lead to NO more US jobs, which will lead to the greatest depression since the Dark Ages. The poor people will still get their SS, but the money won’t be worth anything. They’ll still have their Medicare, but there will be no doctors working. The survivalists will support themselves on the farms until the starving people from the cities wander out to the countryside looking for and stealing any food they can find. Some battles will occur and armed survivalists will prevail until the Government interprets the 2nd Amendment to apply to Militias that are controlled by the government. Then the Government will take over all private property and guns, and great civil battles will occur, though tanks and helicopters will prevail over rifles and shotguns. The government will force the non-protected classes, ie. white males under age 65, to work on the government communal farms and of the remaining population (50% will starve or be killed in civil riots) half the people will be fed by the half who are working, and the Socialist model will prevail – since it is so successful – NOT. The country will be so weak, it will be open to revolution and Muslim and/or Communist extremists will be welcomed in as reformers to save the USA from it’s failed Christian/Capitalist/Democratic beliefs. Slavery and destruction will become the rule, and there will be no means by which the unarmed slaves can raise themselves up to fight for freedom again.Unbelievable? Think it can’t happen? How can history repeat itself?Sounds like a book.
‘Saving’ Social Security Won’t Secure RetirementWednesday, March 14, 2007
By Dick Armey
If Social Security is such a great program, why is it mandatory?
As the ‘08 election cycle begins in earnest, few see any prospects for Social Security reform. However, a deal to “fix” the problem may be closer than we think.
President Bush is eager to have a domestic policy legacy, and has signaled his willingness to strike a deal with the Democratic-controlled Congress.
For its part, the Democratic Congress has promised to “put everything on the table” to save Social Security.
Unfortunately, there is not much to put on the table, because only two options exist in the current policy paradigm: raising taxes or cutting benefits.
Neither is particularly good politics or policy.
Such solutions focus on Social Security “solvency” rather than genuine retirement security.
A quick fix will kick the can down the road and temporarily extend the solvency of the program.
Yet the fact remains that young workers will pay twice for this fix, first in higher taxes over their working lives, and second with lowered benefits at retirement — all without finding a permanent solution to the solvency problem.
Social Security is not a retirement system; it is a government program that was created in the 1930s that does not reflect America’s new economy of independence, ever-changing career paths and the challenges of a global economy.
The program certainly does not reflect today’s ownership society of 401(k)s, mutual funds, easy access to financial information and diversity in investment portfolios.
So why does this outdated program continue to exist?
A government program is the closest thing to immortality on Earth.
Bureaucrats, special interest groups, and politicians all have a strong vested interest in protecting the program and expanding its budget and reach.
In 1937, Social Security collected a combined 2 percent of an employee’s income; today, it collects over 12 percent.
It is also important to recognize that, politically, Social Security has served advocates of big government well.
Washington garners a significant amount of power from the one-size-fits-all bureaucratically administered solutions provided by the program.
Changing Social Security is a direct threat to centralized power that would dramatically reduce the size and scope of government.
Heading into this debate, the first priority of big government advocates is simply to save a program, not create a retirement program that gives individuals greater control of how they save and invest for the future.
Social Security is more than a failed government transfer program; it is also a congressional slush fund.
Since 1970, when Social Security surpluses were first treated as part of the general budget, over $1.69 trillion in surpluses has been spent on everything except retirement security, including NASA missions, AIDS programs in Africa, agriculture subsidies, earmarks such as the “bridge to nowhere,” and the war in Iraq.
As the money is spent, it is replaced in a vault in West Virginia with government IOUs that pass from one generation to another — a hot potato that will eventually land in the taxpayer’s lap when the chits are called in.
As President Clinton said in his 2000 budget, “The existence of Trust Fund balances does not by itself have any impact on the government’s ability to pay benefits.”
In 2001 Secretary of the Treasury Paul O’Neill warned Congress that “there is no variable asset in the Social Security trust fund.”
For those serious about real retirement security, personal accounts offer a promising alternative to the pain — low rates of return, shrinking benefits, and higher taxes — to be incurred for the sake of saving a government program.
Every American would enter the investment class with accounts containing real assets that they own, control, and can pass on to family.
The alternative is to rely on the mercy of politicians who control the existing retirement system.
Reform would create an entirely voluntary choice, and all promised obligations would be met.
Social Security would not be destroyed; it would simply have to compete against other investment options.
Personal accounts allow all Americans to build wealth and join the ownership society by harnessing what Albert Einstein said is the “greatest power on earth”: compound interest.
Moreover, personal accounts would fundamentally increase individual freedom and end the practice of involuntarily compelling workers to take part in a system that is inferior to other options.
Such reforms would be profitable, portable, and controlled by individuals.
Personal accounts would eventually transform Social Security’s $12 trillion unfunded liability into individually owned assets that will provide real financial security in retirement.
It would be the single largest debt reduction in world history.
President Bush came to office sincerely wanting Social Security reform, but the push for personal retirement accounts did not receive the same dedicated leadership we saw with No Child Left Behind, tax cuts, or the Iraq War.
Comprehensive reform has subsequently been pushed off the table by the war and the loss of Republican majorities in Congress.
The idea was not defeated, it was just out-politicked.
At this point, the president should resist any temptations to sign a bad bill not premised on personal retirement accounts.
Compromise means tax hikes and benefit cuts aimed at extending the Social Security program, not on strengthening individual retirement security.
The bargain is that the Democratic Congress gets to raise payroll taxes to preserve the program, while President Bush may get small personal accounts — and all the blame for raising taxes and cutting benefits.
After a nice ceremony at the White House, the ink will barely be dry before Democrats head toward cameras to blame Bush for cutting benefits and imposing the largest tax hike in history.
Any compromise focusing on solvency that forces people to pay more will disproportionately hit the middle class, entrepreneurs and small business, the backbone of our economy.
Raising payroll taxes will also have a negative effect on personal savings, furthering the divide between those able to save and those just scrapping by.
The best chance for meaningful Social Security reform may be the 2008 presidential race, in which voters can demand that candidates take retirement security seriously and not allow them to run from the issue.
If Democratic candidates simply want to preserve the program and favor tax hikes and benefit cuts, Republican candidates will have an opportunity to take the benefits of personal accounts directly to the American people.
If the solution is so clear and the problem so obvious, why has Washington failed on retirement security?
There is a different mentality in the Capitol that is antithetical to trusting people and hostile to individual freedom.
It was best summed up by Sen. Edward Kennedy.
Several years ago, in a conference committee regarding medical savings accounts, I heard him say, “We can’t give people that choice; they’ll take it!”
The time has come for politicians to let Americans have a choice: Do they want real retirement security or do they want to save a government program?
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,258763,00.html
The idea of personal savings accounts is brilliant, but it really, really scares the heck out of our elected representatives.
As the system presently works, we pay income taxes. Additionally, FICA is withheld from our pay – and with our employers additional withholding, 15 PERCENT OF OUR PAY GOES TO SOCIAL SECURITY.
The government takes it ALL and puts it in one basket and spends it all on pet projects, and special interests, earmarks, and even needed government funding.Even if there is a surplus, they spend that as well (there really is no surplus. Since 1970 they have spent every dime of surplus.)
They pass an IOU after spending it all to the social security administration. It is worth nothing!
Personal Savings Accounts TAKES THE MONEY OUT OF ALL OUR GREEDY POLITICIANS HANDS!!!! You get an account with your name on it and YOU get to decide which government fund to invest it in (sorta like the person above mentioned for federal employees).
BUT OUR POLITICIANS LOOSE THE ABILITY TO SPEND IT.
And, ladies and gentlemen, that is the real reason the koolaide is spiked to make you THINK this is an evil idea.
Please people, use your COMMON SENSE. Would you rather keep and control YOUR money, or give it to a politician to SPEND?
It is really that simple.
Please, please do something. I cannot afford to pay for all 77 million boomers retirement.
(Not the complete solution to Social Insecurity, but can be part of a big solution.)
How dare you even TALK about reforming social security. Well ya know its worked well cents good ole FDR days? If’n it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Dats what I says. Just ask me and I’ll tell ya. It works just fine, and me and mom only got a few more of those happy golden years. Don’t let the evil republicans take it away from me. Heck’n I jez got the preescription drug benefit. So I ain’t taken much of it yet. But I earned it. I started payin in back in 40. So I earned every cotton pickin’ cent of it!
Wow! Nothing brings out the “free-market fundamentalists” like the prospect of junking Social Security.
The most popular and successful big-gov’t program ever created–every time it DOESN’T miss a paycheck and DOESN’T cause old people to beg in the streets like the good old days is a silent and continuing testament that GOVERNMENT CAN ACTUALLY DO GOOD.
Social Security reduced poverty among the elderly by 40 percent. Without SS today, guess how many old folks would live in poverty?
That’s right: 40 percent, same as before.
We tried private plans. That’s what we had BEFORE Social Security.
It’s a great program that has worked magnificently for 70 years.
Don’t let Bush f*** it up like he’s f***ed up everything else.
In the interest of equal time….You all are big fairness doctrine people I would imagine?
Troops See Progress, Grow Weary of Negative Reports on WarBy Fred W. Baker IIIAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 16, 2007 – Troops on the ground in Iraq are not as much tired of the war as they are of those who are not in the fight saying that no progress has been made, a top commander in the region said today.The troops there see progress every day, said British Army Lt. Gen. Graeme Lamb, deputy commander of Multinational Force Iraq and senior British representative in Iraq, speaking to Pentagon reporters via satellite.
“They see the water going to people who didn’t have it before. They see electricity coming on line. They see stability to the networks. They see all the stuff that no one really portrays,” Lamb said. “While it’s so clear to them that we’re making progress, it’s not reflected by those who are not in the fight, but [who] are sitting back and making judgment.”
Overall, Lamb called the day-to-day work there by coalition forces “hard pounding,” and said that extraordinary things are being accomplished by ordinary people.
“You should be enormously proud of what I see your Marines, your Air Force, your Navy, your Army and the civilians who are in the fight out here, as to what they do, and gladly,” Lamb said.
The British general has served in Iraq since August 2006. This is his second tour to the region. He said, that in the first month of the surge there has been “good progress, steady momentum, hard fighting, [and coalition forces] going places where they haven’t been before. I see — unequivocally — that this surge is making a difference.”
Lamb compared the complexities of the mission there to playing three-dimensional chess in a dark room – while being shot at.
But, he said, Iraqi forces are making ground in their training and several units own their own battlespace. This is key as coalition forces begin clearing and holding new sections of the capital city.
Only a few years ago, after coalition soldiers would leave cleared areas, insurgents would return and again take control. Under the new strategy, coalition forces now hold sections of the city allowing for local governments to be formed, construction of key infrastructure, training of security forces and the rebuilding of the economy and workforce.
Now, when coalition forces leave, Lamb said, the “vacuum” is not filled with insurgents, but a trained security force and a growing economy.
He said it is a concerted effort on the parts of coalition forces, the local community, Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government. “The sum of the parts is so much greater than where we were before, and the difference should not be underestimated,” Lamb said.
Already, several Iraqi units are holding their own north in Diyala and Salahuddin and south in Babil and Basra.
Still, most units require U.S. help with logistics, command and control and intelligence, he said.
Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi government are busy weeding out those who are aligned with the insurgency and sectarian violence, especially within the police force, he said. U.S. forces are arresting, and turning over to the Iraqis, any of their security force who are guilty of using their positions to promote sectarian violence, Lamb said.
“We’ll take the individuals, arrest them and put them through the Iraqi criminal justice system,” he said.
Already, 11,000 members of the police force have been removed and 4,000 are in the criminal justice system under review.
“I’ve seen over my time here people … looking to improve and deliver a force that is Iraqi rather than sectarian,” he said.
Two pro-lifers were arrested Sunday morning at abortionist quack George Tiller’s apostate Reformation Lutheran “Church” in east Wichita. The men, ages 19 and 28, were accused of disrupting the service, and said they were members of Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust.Ordained minister Rev. Henry Shaver was accused of reading scripture (Isaiah 1) during the service, citing the bloody hands of sinners. He was forcibly carried out. Rev. Shaver’s associate, Joey Cox, refused the offer of communion bread, saying it represented the bodies of babies killed by abortionist Tiller, not the body of Christ. He was also removed. Rev. Shaver and Mr. Cox were later arrested at a gas station, for rude and indecent behavior in a “church” service, spending 7 hours in jail.- – -
You can hear the testimony of the victims as to what actually goes on in George Tiller’s criminal abortion mill, and other mills, by playing the “Silent No More Awareness Campaign” broadcasts of July 7 and 14, at “Life on the Line” radio pagehttp://lifeontheline.com/audio/index.htm
Liberal meltdown in 3, 2……..
See, I told you. Whackjobs.
“In the interest of equal time….You all are big fairness doctrine people I would imagine?
Troops See Progress, Grow Weary of Negative Reports on WarBy Fred W. Baker IIIAmerican Forces Press Service…”Posted by: myboyzdad | July 16, 2007 at 04:19 PM
YES! Let’s give “equal time” to sources besides the AMERICAN FORCES Press Service.
Like Ben’s link on the ‘Progress in Iraq has had its price’ thread,
(emphasis added)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6901567.stm“Last week’s Iraqi interim report highlighted among other issues a lack of progress in training Iraqi security forces.
The number of Iraqi battalions ready and able to fight on their own has HALVED in recent months, despite INCREASED efforts by the US to train them.”
Parkay – How would YOUR church react if I barged in and took over the service? Might I get arrested?
Parkay – How would YOUR church react if I barged in and took over the service? Might I get arrested?
Posted by: Ben | July 16, 2007 at 05:13 PM
My Church would hand you a hymnal and seat you up front. :D
Even if I persisted on preaching as I see fit?
Even if I persisted on preaching as I see fit?
Posted by: Ben | July 16, 2007 at 05:47 PM
Well, the love offering collected for your sermon might be a bit light if you didn’t deliver a good sermon. :)
Talk about American ingenuity and entrepenuership. All should appreciate the humor in this:
http://www.hillarynutcracker.com/
Editors / Kelly take note:
I received the following email from the County Democratic Party. (my reply follows also) Although I worked for them as poll watcher in the last election I am not a Democrat — an Independent all my voting life, so I have been on their mailing list ever since (until now).
Dear Fellow Democrat:The August 7 election to determine whether we will have a casino in Sedgwick or Sumner counties is fast approaching.The Sedgwick County Democratic Party will not be endorsing either side in this question.We have, however, been approached by a group of individuals who support gaming. They wanted to know if we knew of people who would be willing to volunteer in their quest. After some discussion, we have decided to let all of you know about this opportunity.If you would like to volunteer to help pass the questions on the August 7 election, just respond to this e-mail with your name and phone number and we will pass them on to the group. August 7 is only 23 days away; if you want to help, don?t delay.
My reply:
What the SCDP is doing by aiding one side in this election, is in essence making an endorsement.
Because of this ahhhh doublespeak, please remove me from the SCDP email and postal mailing lists.
For me it isn’t a matter of supporting a casino or not, it’s a matter of integrity and ethics. You can’t have it both ways stating the SCDP will not make an endorsement, and then advocate for volunteers to supposrt it.
It sounds like something a Republican would do. Please no more emails — no more letters in my mail box from the SCDP.
http://www.yesyeswinwin.com
I’ll sign you up for the Pachyderm Club then Joe. :)
Joe
I want to make sure you know that my issue is not with the Casino and its supporters.
I have a problem with the Democratic Party speaking out of both sides of their mouths.
It would have been so much easier for them to say we support the casino — call Joe if you want to help ….
Troy Newman, the mouth behind Operation Rescue, goes to Heartland Community Church at Woodlawn and Kellogg. Does this mean that I can go into Troy’s church, interrupt their communion, and start advocating women’s rights and fair treatment of gay and lesbian Kansans?
Place your bets, folks, on how long it would take for me to be arrested for criminal trespass.
Oh, and speaking of Heartland Community Church, this is the same church where Todd Tiahrt’s campaign treasurer used his connection to City Councilwoman Sue Schlapp, mother to Tiahrt’s former chief of staff, to purchase that property from Wichita for 20% of its appraised value. That would make a great topic for a sermon as well ;)
Myboyzdad–
Your source talked about those people who “sit in judgment but are not in the fight.”
Excuse me?
Since when did being an American citizen in a participatory democracy mean that I don’t get to have a say in what stupid f*** s*** my government gets us into.
Not only that, my government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” spends my money to kill innocent Iraqis, and that tends to really piss me off.
If you want Americans to just shut up when they see injustice by their own gov’t, you picked the wrong place to live, pal.
It has a good beat, easy to dance to, and the singer is hot Dick (as in American Bandstand – Clark), I give it a 9.
Hot for Hillary Video:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/07/hot-for-hillary.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sudw4ghVe8
CapnAmerica,
You rock.
Good point, Tom.
A little cluster of unborn cells is worth fighting for. An adult practising an alternative lifestyle is not.
When science can determine if a fetus will be born gay, do you think the radical fundies will support abortion?
Nah. They’ll just pray the gay away . . .
Ken! Good chuckle from that Hillarynutcracker. I gotta pass it on. :)
“Troy Newman, the mouth behind Operation Rescue, goes to Heartland Community Church at Woodlawn and Kellogg. Does this mean that I can go into Troy’s church, interrupt their communion, and start advocating women’s rights and fair treatment of gay and lesbian Kansans?” Posted by: Tom | July 16, 2007 at 06:33 PM
I would strongly encourage you Tom. :D
Hillary and Obama team, my gawd the country is doomed.
My Church would hand you a hymnal and seat you up front. :D
Posted by: Kansas
Oh yeah right – would I be seated next to the pervert hiding behind his sanctimonius face? No thanks, I’ll take my chances with the known heathens – they are a better class of people.
If Rev. Shaver or Mr. Cox came into my highly Liturgical Celebration of Holy Communion, such as what would have been occurring at Reformation Lutheran, and disrupted that Worship Service in the manner described, They would have been shown the door… just as they should have been…. Worship is open TO the public… But it is not open to be INTERRUPTED BY the public… by ANY public…
I can only hope they would have some other punishment than 7 hours in lock-up!!
It takes special authorization to participate in the Holy Eucharist in any Lutheran Church… And to blaspheme the Body of Christ in the Liturgy in such a manner only shows disdain for the Holy Eucharist, and for Christ… And this done in the name of What?? Religious Freedom??
Hey Tom, if you tried that at Heartland Community, you best wear a bullet proof vest… I hear they got lots of CC folks there… LOL
Oh yeah right – would I be seated next to the pervert hiding behind his sanctimonius face? No thanks, I’ll take my chances with the known heathens – they are a better class of people.
Posted by: red | July 16, 2007 at 06:59 PM
Unless your Ben Huie red, that post wasn’t intended for you.
Known heathens? Ask Chas about a church for that, he can probably refer you to one.
Wow! Nothing brings out the socialist like the prospect of junking Social Security.The most fraud laden and abused big-gov’t program ever created–every month it sends checks to dead people, heroin addicts, illegal immigrants (900,000 at last count). In 1970 the social security fund was basically disolved but kept it’s image in name alone. At that time congress decided to add the revenue gained to the general fund, so they could fully fund pork (todays earmarks), social engineering projects, military aid to other countries. It has become the biggest farce in American history. Prime example of what why a government should not get involved in the social fabric of a nation. Both parties are equally at fault for abuse of the system and redirecting every surplus since 1970.in light of the funding crisis projected by the Social Security Administration’s 2007 Trustee Report. Released earlier today, the report predicts that Social Security costs will outstrip tax revenue coming into the “trust fund” by 2017. But, of course, the “trust fund” is not a fund in any meaningful sense of the word. Absent reform, by 2017, the government will be facing either a politically untenable benefit cut or, more likely, a huge tax increase.Liberals this election season are avoiding the TRUTH of the insolvent FICA System. Like the movies about the presidents girlfriend, they make more money and votes by blasting the other party, than working with facts. Facts they will continue to deny until it is too late, and the system does finally go broke. What’s ya gonna do? Tax our children to death? The facts and future of social security can be verified at their website:http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/trustee07-pr.htm
OMG! EVERYBODY PANIC!
Social Security is going bust in 2017!
wait . . . seems like I heard that before . . . where was it . . . now I remember:
Bush, as a congressional candidate in Texas 27 years ago, said that Social Security would be bankrupt by 1988 if it wasn’t privatized.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/03/dems.ss/index.html
1988 came and went.
And guess what? Social Security is the only government program that ISN’T BANKRUPT.
All the other gov’t programs are using “deficit spending” to fund themselves.
All of them EXCEPT Social Security which actually generates a surplus.
And the answer is: They increased our contribution and our employers contribution to Social Security. They also increased with a COLA the income limits for withholding. To top it off with a nice layer of frosting – they raised the retirement age.
The numbers can be disputed, but should not be ignored. It is not difficult math to do. There will be less revenue coming than expenditures going out to new baby boomers by 2017.
Like I said, is your solution to raise taxes again? Or just raise the retirment age again? Pretty soon you will have to die before you can collect.
Ignore the truth with your head in the sand. To quote a democrat: Because it’s always easier not to. ‘Cause it’s always easier to defer, to kick the can down the road to avoid making choices. You know, you get in trouble in politics when you make choices,” Sen. Conrad says.
For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…
By Grace are you saved, through faith; and that not of your own doing, for it is a gift of God!
New Testament
Pssst — Kansas — We are ALL sinners!! Isnt that just great!!
If you are against abortion, then dont have one… Beyond that, it is the law of the land… Live with it!!
“By Grace are you saved, through faith; and that not of your own doing, for it is a gift of God!”
If I understand correctly, this is the very reason why Martin Luther started the reformation – though he never meant to start the reformation.
He may not have meant to start it, but it happened, when people discovered all over again, how much meaning there is in knowing that NONE of us can do it ourselves… but rather we stand in the Grace and Love of God!!
In the forgiveness is the healing!!
Steven, he didnt intend to start a “reformation” — however, he did have a list of grievances… called the 95 Theses… which he posted on the Church Door (16th century blog) of Wittenberg, Germany… October 31, 1519
Allah is great!
Finish it — And Muhmmad is his Prophet!!
correction: Muhammad
Imagine there’s no heaven..it isn’t hard to do, nothing to kill or die for…and no religion, too.I guess I’m dreaming again.
Tell me Chas…do you molest kids?
Dumb question Mary… but NO…
I like “Imagine” too… one of my favorite songs!!
Ummmm IF you are actually Mary… hmmmmmm
It’s me…just don’t understand how you can condone abortion and consider yourself a Christian. I’ve never figured that one out.
Never mind…Hitler was a Christian, Dennis Rader is a Christian, George Bush is a Christian…I guess hyprocrisy is just part of the ideology?
Never mind…Hitler was a Christian, Dennis Rader is a Christian, George Bush is a Christian…I guess hypocrisy is just part of the ideology?
Damn that double post!!!
I didnt say I like abortion… but I strongly believe it is a matter for a woman to choose, within her private circle of friends, family, and circumstances… NOT something to be decided by loud mouthed protestors, and religious zealots… The Law seems to agree with that…
Because I am Pro Choice, does NOT mean, and I repeat, does NOT mean, I am pro abortion!!
See, I have NO RIGHT to push off my particular belief system on to anybody else… THAT’S whats wrong here… I dont have to LIKE gambling, but it’s not my place to use religious persecution to stop it…
Has the world become SO bi-polar, that people cant understand that simple little thing??? I dont have to like, or condone something, and it can still be the LAW… and as such, people should have their Choice…
There appears to be some confusion on carry the title of Christian and living your life as a Christian.
They are not the same thing.
I understand. Just like if you don’t believe in killing Jews..then by all means don’t work in a concentration camp…and don’t go shoving your belief system down those Nazi throats!!Didn’t your God say “Thou shalt not kill”? How do you justify abortion…it’s more than a choice, it’s also a child. Does one person have the right to deny the life of someone else?
See, YOU believe it’s a child… I happen to think that it is a fetus… And the choice of carrying that child to term, is NOT my choice to make… It is the choice of the mother, and her close circle of people around her…
Please dont try to equate it with Nazi’s and Hitler, or any of that other crap I am so sick and tired of hearing… when it has NO merit in this situation
Mary,
I find a huge irony when Christians accuse each other of not being Christians, or not being Christian enough. But since when do atheists and other non-Christians get to define who is, and who isn’t, living up to their Christian principles?
It seems to be that most Christians only pay attention to the part of their God’s law that doesn’t cause inconvenience or call for self sacrifice. It’s a real ala ‘cart belief system.
You know, I might not have such a difficulty, if it wasnt for so many on the Anti Abortion side who denounce sex education, and birth control measures, and other things of that sort… Cause if you dont want abortions, then do everything possible to keep unwanted pregnancies from happening…. But, what do we have?? We have many of these same protestors, who denounce birth control other than rhythm… And they are against teaching sex education to children before they have to make decisions of a moment of passion, and hormonal outbursts…
Tom, I can’t help but point out the hypocrisy..that’s all.Chas…FYI, a fetus IS a human being.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/16/eveningnews/main3063845.shtml
You might see it that way… if thats the way you see it practiced… I just saw one of the biggest law suits settled today over the case of child molestation by PRIESTS who are in their pulpits condemning birth control, and abortion, and en vitro fertilization…. and a host of other things….
Mary, the fetus/child argument is as much philosophical as it is anything… And as you may well know, philosophical arguments have many approaches
Wichita is buying then giving the MN boys 3 buildings (total 6 million) so they can turn em into condos? How does that work? How do I get a piece of that action? .. or am I missing something —
From the Hall monmitor blog:
Real Development’s plan to turn several downtown buildings into high-dollar condos is about to get one of the last go-ahead signals it needs before developers can start building. The city council votes Tuesday whether to accept the project plan.
Under the proposal, the city would buy three downtown buildings, turn them over to Real Development and build a public parking garage with 150 monthly and hourly spaces. Altogether, that would cost $6 million in property tax money that would otherwise be split among the city, county and school district.
The rest of the article:
The structures included are the Exchange Place Building, Michigan Building, Lerner’s Building and a parking lot near Douglas and Market. The city would buy them for $2.25 million and give them to Real Development (AKA The Minnesota Guys), which would convert them into condos that would sell for an average of $200,000. Under the proposed agreement, Real Development would have to cover any costs that the TIF doesn’t generate. That is supposed to protect the city’s coffers if the project falls short.
The protestors are a very small percentage of those who are prolife…they don’t represent those of us who call a spade a spad. Abortion is the killing of a human being in order to prevent birth. It’s no more or less than that. I get so sick of the spin and rhetoric that tries to make it something other that what it is so people don’t have to feel bad or guilty about it. Believe in it if you like, but don’t make it out to be anything other than what it is.Like war, when innocent people are killed, don’t call it “collateral damage” in the attempt to de-humanize the victims. Abortion is no different than that.
I wonder if this post crosses the line of censorship? Or could be a cause to excommunicate?
Chas brought up his faith and offerred his comments here about his faith. Anything shared on a Blog is open to critique.
If Chas wanted his faith kept private, he could have kept it private.
Now that Preacher Chas is out in the open, it’s fair to question his beliefs, especially in light of the fact that he is an unemployed Preacher.
“Kansas, you take the Lord’s name in Vain, just by your existence… I am tired of your phony Crap… and I am NOT playing your game anymore… What YOU think of my beliefs, is of NO concern to ME…. YOU are not of my Faith… That means your opinion of it is worthless…. GET IT???
And when I said GD threats… I mean just that… YOUR threats are Damned by GOD!!!”
Posted by: Chas. | July 15, 2007 at 09:52 PM
It could be sort of easy to smell another WWW there Ken… I would have to see a lot more information before I could really profer an opinion…
:::sprays Troll-Be-Gone around blog:::
Well Ken it’s time to quit work. This is all part of the new socialist society we are breeding. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need. Your MN boys have a greater need for your money and those buildings than you do.
Not to diffent that the Unearned Income Credit. At tax time, UncleLenin, takes my money and yours and gives it to the lazy and those who have decided not to make anything of their lives.
Soon to be joined by the FREE HEALTHCARE TO THE MASSES!!! Lobby of the Hillary/Obama tag team.
They just reach into your front and back pockets and take all the money they need.
OK… here we go again… My status of employment has nothing to do with this… This JERK is just wanting to clog up the Blog with his CRAP again for yet another day… I am NOT, repeat NOT playing your demented game… You wouldnt last 10 minutes in Court, IF we knew your name… Most of your personal attacks are Libelous, to say the least…
If you cant take the heat about the California Catholic Priest scandal, deal with it… You have NO PROVOCATIOON for making personal attacks on this public Blog!!! GO AWAY TROLL!!!!
Excuse me, Chas, I’ve been a nurse for a long time…life begins at conception and there are few healthcare professional that will disagree with that. Ii carried and gave birth to 3 children..I can tell you for a fact that the fetus is very much alive. It it wasn’t you wouldn’t have to kill it, because it wouldn’t grow.Saying that when life begins is a philosphical issue is SUCH a cop out. Just more bullshit thinking so you won’t have to feel guilty about what you believe. Like Frmgirl would say, “Jesus wept”.
Ken,
That development is one of those Quasi-Government adventures. It was pushed by the Historic Preservation Board to preserve the uniqueness of that area around Market and Douglas.
It’s a pretty common thing to do; that is have a Realtor Management Company have the tasking to preserve and develop historic districts according to the Historic Board guidelines.
Happens in cities all over the U.S.
Chas:
I don’t think the city / government should be in the business of buying then giving buildings away to developers TIF or not. Couldn’t the MN boys get a TIF and buy the buildings themselves.
I smell a rat. Seems politics here is no different than in Chicago — I can’t help but believe that some one has been bought — I’d start with the city manager.
I have NO guilt feelings about my beliefs… I dont KNOW your beliefs, so I wont even attempt to comment on them… However, if you are concerned about hypocrisy, and religion, look at the California Catholic Priest Scandal… $600,000,000 scandal…
One would think that city financing of that kind of project would not be necessary, IF the MN guys have adequate financing…
I remember some Chicago politics from my earlier years… and yes, a rat type smell is definitely there…
BH
they are not MY MN boys
Pyscho changes 180 degress all of a sudden. Must be the pyote.
“For ALL have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…
By Grace are you saved, through faith; and that not of your own doing, for it is a gift of God!
New Testament”
Posted by: chas. | July 16, 2007 at 08:04 PM
Mary,
Women’s eggs are alive. Men’s sperm is alive. At the same level, a zygote and a blastocyst are alive. Are any of them human? Why should a just-fertilized egg be granted the status of a living, breathing human being? Why should a woman be hostage to _your_ opinion for up to 9 months, and suffer the risk inherent with every pregnancy?
Do you know some states have started passing laws that grant judges, without trial, to confine pregnant women they believe might “harm” the fetus they’re carrying? Do you realize that playing into the “it’s a human from the moment of fertilization” plays into the hands of the people who want to turn this nation into a theocratic police state, and that they’re just using pregnant women to advance that agenda?
Chas, by his own words, he proclaims libel by others.
BTW, Real Development has one of their main offices in downtown Wichita.
Kind of like Boeing is HQ’d in Seattle, they still have facilities in Wichita that are major contributors to projects and yes, they receive tax benefits from City and County for being there.
Just like I said, Chas. Christianity is a hypocritcal, ala ‘cart belief system.I’m sure those priests had their reasons and rationalizations for believing and doing what they did. I’m sure they felt like they sat at the right hand of God, also.
Is this the bible thumper blog? Can I join in? I notice quite a bit of biblical verse spotted here and there on the blog, mostly to support each of your own views and interpretation. That’s the kind of God I want to partake in, sorta make him my own.
Anyone for Easter stories?
Chas
They are not financing them (i.e a loan) they are giving them the buildings hoping that it will come back to the city in tax revenue —
Some one should investigate.
– I’ve heard of TIF’s etc, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a government buy a building, then giving it to developers. Doesn’t it normally work like this: Developers propose a project to the city, on the condition that the city give them a TIF, not a building.
Boeing is HQ’d in Chicago.
If God is Jesus and Jesus is God, when Jesus died for three days – was God dead?
Ken,
It’s business as usual here in Wichita. City Council makes sure their political pals get property at fire-sale prices, then pretend no one has done anything wrong.
Capn above cites no source for his outrageous claims of Social Security success.
And why should he? His claims are all lies!
He’s in the over 55 age group, which will be leading the Socialist class war to take money from the poor younger people, in the vain attempt to keep their Social Security “entitlements” flowing from the poor to the rich.
Problem is now that the numbers don’t add up like they did for the first 40 years of the pyramid scheme.
Younger workers will NOT be willing to pay 60%, 70%, or 80% total tax rates to keep the Social Security Pyramid Scheme going.
Capn wants to get his share. Problem is, the current recipients are gonna use it all up before anyone under 52 gets to retire.
The fair thing to do is to raise the retirement age to 80, then whatever geezers live that long, they get the prize.
Boeing is HQ’d in Chicago.Posted by: ken | July 16, 2007 at 09:11 PM
Ken,
Most of us ignore that particular troll. It rarely knows what it’s talking about, unless it’s had time to google the subject first.
O.K. Jesus died on Friday right? And then he was dead for THREE days (like Jona in the whale x 3 days). So how do you get up Sunday morning in time for Easter Eggs?
He should have risen on Monday!
Born again,
The Christian belief is that Jesus rose on the third day, not three days later.
Actually, if Jesus dies on a Friday, and was raised on a Sunday, isn’t that just 2 days when God was dead?
Max,
Captain Obvious America has not a clue about social security. He claims stats that cannot be supported and pretends there is no problem. But that is because of the tape being stuck.
PS: We ignore that troll most of the time.
Tom, an egg is an egg and a sperm is a sperm. That is all they will ever be unless the two join..that’s when human life starts. I think abortion should be legal..because I don’t want to see women die getting illegal ones. I don’t think everyone should be a parent..it’s a really hard job. There ARE worse things than abortion. The thing I can’t stand is when people deny what it is..and that’s abortion is the deliberate taking of a human life that otherwise would exist. Just be honest about it, damn it!Mankind thinks in metaphors, that way we can make our reality whatever we choose it to be, even if it’s not honest.
What is an agnostic, dyslexic, insomniac?A man who lays awake all night wondering if there really is a dog.
I think Chas. left..he must be somewhere praying for me.
Believer, believer, whales only eat plankton.
You leave out one thing ZMary… That egg and that sperm not only have to unite… they have to attach to the uterine wall… and UNTIL THEY DO… there is NO child there… Sop, you go through all of this other crap, and then say you believe in Abortion, and try to take me apart, because I ALSO believe in abortion being legal??? NOW where is your hypocrisy???
You know what I sometimes?? I think that the Church has ALWAYS been against the suppression of many births… because that is where the Church gained its primary membership… I also think that the perverts among them look at all those new babies as children who will grow up, and become their little perverted play toys… and then when they come out as being ANTI Abortion, and ANTI birth control, and ANTI sex education… That just makes mhy suspicious clock turn really fast…
Man does not live by bread alone.Man was made to eat drink and get Mary!
Mary, GREAT JOKE! This board needed to lighten up a bit!
Ok Easter questions… In strictly JEWISH figures of time calculation, Jesus was in the tomb on a part of Friday… and on Saturday, and a part of Sunday…. MAYBE… maybe ALL of Sunday… depends on how you take apart the NT Greek…
LOL I heard we were made to eat, drink, and BE Mary… umm Merry… ok, Mary….
Yes Chief, the troll is back.
And it is in constant denial about the plight of Social Security.
It’s need for Socialism is strong. It’s ability to work and earn income is weak.
It cannot live on it’s own. He is ashamed to admit his laziness, incompetence, weakness, and failure to support his own way.
So he preaches Socialism. The great gift from working people to the lazy. We let them live without working, at least for now.
Now, as to Jonah and the “whale” fist of all… NOWHERE does the Book of Jonah say “whale” It says, Big Fish…. Now, in our day, we KNOW that whales are NOT FISH… Either way, you can throw out Whale…
As for the metaphor, the three days in the belly of the Fish… where Fish is extremely CLOSE to another Hebrew word for “grave” Then you have that Jonah basically dies to “self” and then comes back as a new person…
Thus the connection to Jesus reference to Resurrection/Jonah/etc.
Actually, now that I think back on it, it was an Aramaic word for grave… not Hebrew…
That’s o.k.. Max, it appears he is a religious expert too. So that gives him something to fall back on. (like his sword)
The Capn creature is quiet now. Desparately searching for something to support it’s Socialist cause.
Searching…Searching…searching…
Oh gee… and here I thought Chief WAS the Troll…
Oh, so Capn = Chas? That makes sense.
I really value the religious education given by Chas. Such a credible and reliable source after all. He let’s you believe whatever He wants to believe.
What can be said about a dyslexic paranoid delusional??? He KNEW he was following SOMEbody!!
Who is the troll?
Have you Libs not considered the possibility that there is more than one conservative person who posts on this blog?
Your troll theories highlight the true stupidity of your irrational, and poorley educated minds.
By definition, 1/2 of America is below average, and many are on this blog constantly. You don’t have to work for a living so you have a lot of time on your hands.
It’s very scary, if indeed you Lib posters are a reflection of 1/2 of America.
Hey joker… I didnt have to Google anything… I have a sick spouse that needs a small bit of care… I know these answers without looking them up…
The Jewish DAY always begins at SUNDOWN… same as it always has..
Sick spouse and you don’t have a job?
You make the sick spouse work? Dang! You have it made man!
Refill her IV, give her the breathing treatment, ignore the kids, and get back on that PC man!
The Gospels say Jesus died at the 9th Hour… which was the equivalent of 3 p.m. OUR time…
Believe me, if someone spent 3 days in the belly of a big fish, they’d wish they were dead!
Good night guys..if everyone would eat, drink,…and be Mary..the world might be a better place.
“he did have a list of grievances… called the 95 Theses… which he posted on the Church Door (16th century blog) of Wittenberg, Germany… October 31, 1519″
Yes. I have heard this, too. Around here somewhere in my basement is a psychohistory that Erik Erikson did on Martin Luther. I’ll have to re-read it.
Many moons ago, the Menninger Foundation wanted to hire Erik Erikson (who had been analyzed by Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund). Erik’s wife said, “Darling I love you, but give me San Francisco, and NOT Topeka.” The wife won that contest.
IMHO, Erikson was the most interesting thinker from the entire psychoanalysis group.
And now another nic heard from, yet knows the entire blog history of the day… hmmmmm strange again…
This is almost as fun as the Pets page.
Alas, I must go out back and bury Muffin, then go to bed.
Good nite all!
xoxo
I would tend to agree with that Steven… I like Erikson myself… And I would certainly hope you wouldnt challenge the existence of the 95 Theses of Wittenberg…
Yo Idiot… Read upthread I just said that before… Even told you what TIME he died… But, if he rose on Sunday morning… That is only TWO nites in the tomb…
“Good night guys..if everyone would eat, drink,…and be Mary..the world might be a better place.”
Seriously: Not sure what to make of the above.
The blog has it wrong. The city is actually selling the buildings to the Minnesota guys. It’s kind of a complicated maneuver. When government owns property, they don’t have to pay taxes on it and then they allow the Minnesota guys to use it as collateral to get the financing to convert it to condos and retail space. Once developed the cash flow from the sales of the condos will be used to pay back the city’s bond used to purchase the buildings and parking garage.
In reality, Jesus most likely died on Thursday at 3 p.m. spent Thursday nite, and Friday nite in the tomb… and at SUNDOWN Saturday… which was “Early on the first day” as recorded in the Gospels… when it was dark… he is encountered by Mary, as she fails to recognize him in the darkness…
“And I would certainly hope you wouldnt challenge the existence of the 95 Theses of Wittenberg…”
I don’t. It is an accepted historical fact. Just as true as Bach’s son calling him the “infernal sewing machine.”
Actually I am out of here myself… I dont appreciate it much when a couple of mental midgets (or one troll playing psycho) decides to make fun of the Faith.. and hurl insults that he doesnt even KNOW…
Nite all for now!!
And you have some argument about the time of the beginning of the Jewish Day??
Oh, and thumper, get your smll mind around this: The Catholics didnt change it to Sunday…. The Gospels were around for Centuries before there was a Catholic Church… Oh, what poor historians here…
The Gospels clearly say that the women went to the tomb EARLY on the FIRST DAY of the week….
Which, in Jewish time, would have been Saturday, Sundown…
Hey Max you still there?I see they kept Chasm busy with religious cookery tonight.
Did any lib ever respond on social insecurity?
I’d like to hear their plan on resolving the problems starting in 2017.
That’s true Boeing HQ is in Chicago, forgot about the move there from Seattle.
Thumper I think you really need to go read the posts again… EACH one of your questions was answered… and with right answers… How DARE you s;pew your CRAP on here that I dont know what I am saying… YOU sir, are the FAKE…. nothing but a FRIGGIN FAKE!!!!
And you know what??? EVERYBODY one the whole BLOG KNOWS it!!!
So, go back to your hole…
see a vague attempt at blaming social security problems on the current president. Or at least, calling him a liar for attempting to find a solution to a growing problem – which democrats are actually afraid to address.
The dollars and sense weblink is to one of the most perverted articles ever written. It is however perfect koolaid consumption for those living in denial.
Try using some facts from our own Social Security Administration in their annual report:
the Trustees announced:•The projected point at which tax revenues will fall below program costs comes in 2017 — the same as the estimate in last year’s report.•The projected point at which the Trust Funds will be exhausted comes in 2041 — one year later than the projection in last year’s report.•The projected actuarial deficit over the 75-year long-range period is 1.95 percent of taxable payroll — .06 percentage point smaller than in last year’s report.•Over the 75-year period, the Trust Funds would require additional revenue equivalent to $4.7 trillion in today’s dollars to pay all scheduled benefits. This unfunded obligation is about $100 billion higher than the amount estimated last year.
•It cost of $5.3 billion to administer the program in 2006.
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/trustee07-pr.htm
As an example, the dollars and sense source scoffs at the worthless IOU’s by pointing out that wealthy people have bought them. The point missing is to use these IOU’s – the government would have to buy them back. And just where will that money come from?
But don’t take my word for it, consider the word on liberal Sixty Minutes, by David Walker is a prudent man and a highly respected public official. As comptroller general of the United States he runs he Government Accountability Office, the GAO, which audits the government’s books and serves as the investigative arm of the U.S. Congress. He has more than 3,000 employees, a budget of a half a billion dollars, and a message he considers urgent.
WE ARE IN BIG TROUBLE AND AT LEAST BUSH WAS WISE ENOUGH TO BRING IT UP – BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE:
“I’m going to show you some numbers…they’re all big and they’re all bad,” he says.
So bad, that Walker has given up on elected officials and taken his message directly to taxpayers and opinion makers, hoping to shape the debate in the next presidential election.
“You know the American people, I tell you, they are absolutely starved for two things: the truth, and leadership,” Walker says.
He calls it a fiscal wake up tour, and he is telling civic groups, university forums and newspaper editorial boards that the U.S. has spent, promised, and borrowed itself into such a deep hole it will be unable to climb out if it doesn’t act now. As Walker sees it, the survival of the republic is at stake.
“What’s going on right now is we’re spending more money than we make…we’re charging it to credit card…and expecting our grandchildren to pay for it. And that’s absolutely outrageous,” he told the editorial board of the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
You have heard this before, from Ross Perot 15 years ago. You might have even thought the problem had been solved, when President Clinton announced, “Tonight, I come before you to announce that the federal deficit … will be simply zero.”
“Well, those days are gone. We’ve gone from surpluses to huge deficits and our long range situation is much worse,” Walker says.
“President Bush would argue that the economy is in pretty good shape, unemployment is down, the deficit is actually less than expected,” Kroft remarks.
“The fact is, is that we don’t face an immediate crisis. And, so people say, ‘What’s the problem?’ The answer is, we suffer from a fiscal cancer. It is growing within us. And if we do not treat it, it could have catastrophic consequences for our country,” Walker replies.
The cancer, Walker says, are massive entitlement programs we can no longer afford, exacerbated by a demographic glitch that began more than 60 years ago, a dramatic spike in the fertility rate called the “baby boom.”
Beginning next year, and for 20 years thereafter, 78 million Americans will become pensioners and medical dependents of the U.S. taxpayer.
“The first baby boomer will reach 62 and be eligible for early retirement of Social Security January 1, 2008. They’ll be eligible for Medicare just three years later. And when those boomers start retiring in mass, then that will be a tsunami of spending that could swamp our ship of state if we don’t get serious,” Walker explains.
To illustrate their impact, he uses a power point presentation to show what would happen in 30 years if the U.S. maintains its current course and fulfills all of the promises politicians have made to the public on things like Social Security and Medicare.
What would happen in 2040 if nothing changes?
“If nothing changes, the federal government’s not gonna be able to do much more than pay interest on the mounting debt and some entitlement benefits. It won’t have money left for anything else – national defense, homeland security, education, you name it,” Walker warns.
Walker says you could eliminate all waste and fraud and the entire Pentagon budget and the long-range financial problem still wouldn’t go away, in what’s shaping up as an actuarial nightmare.
Part of the problem, Walker acknowledges, is that there won’t be enough wage earners to support the benefits of the baby boomers. “But the real problem, Steve, is health care costs. Our health care problem is much more significant than Social Security,” he says.
Asked what he means by that, Walker tells Kroft, “By that I mean that the Medicare problem is five times greater than the Social Security problem.”
The problem with Medicare, Walker says, is people keep living longer, and medical costs keep rising at twice the rate of inflation. But instead of dealing with the problem, he says, the president and the Congress made things much worse in Dec. 2003, when they expanded the Medicare program to include prescription drug coverage.
“The prescription drug bill was probably the most fiscally irresponsible piece of legislation since the 1960s,” Walker argues.
Asked why, Walker says, “Well, because we promise way more than we can afford to keep. Eight trillion dollars added to what was already a 15 to $20 trillion under-funding. We’re not being realistic. We can’t afford the promises we’ve already made, much less to be able, piling on top of ‘em.”
With one stroke of the pen, Walker says, the federal government increased existing Medicare obligations nearly 40 percent over the next 75 years.
“We’d have to have eight trillion dollars today, invested in treasury rates, to deliver on that promise,” Walker explains.
Asked how much we actually have, Walker says, “Zip.”
So where’s that money going to come from?
“Well it’s gonna come from additional taxes, or it’s gonna come from restructuring these promises, or it’s gonna come from cutting other spending,” Walker says.
He is not suggesting that the nation do away with Medicare or prescription drug benefits. He does believe the current health care system is way too expensive, and overrated.
“On cost we’re number one in the world. We spend 50 percent more of our economy on health care than any nation on earth,” he says.
“We have the largest uninsured population of any major industrialized nation. We have above average infant mortality, below average life expectancy, and much higher than average medical error rates for an industrialized nation,” Walker points out.
Walker says we have promised almost unlimited healthcare to senior citizens who never see the bills, and the government already is borrowing money to pay them. He says the system is unsustainable.
“It’s the number one fiscal challenge for the federal government, it’s the number one fiscal challenge for state governments and it’s the number one competitive challenge for American business. We’re gonna have to dramatically and fundamentally reform our health care system in installments over the next 20 years,” Walker tells Kroft.
And if we don’t?
“And if we don’t, it could bankrupt America,” Walker argues.
You’re probably expecting to hear from someone who disagrees with the comptroller general’s numbers, projections, and analysis. But hardly anyone does. He is accompanied on the wake-up tour by economists from the conservative Heritage Foundation, the left-leaning Brookings Institution, and the non-partisan Concord Coalition. The only dissenters seem to be a small minority of economists who believe either that the U.S. can grow its way out of the problem, or that Walker is over-stating it.
“The Wall Street Journal for example calls you ‘Chicken Little,’ running around saying that the ’sky is falling, the sky is falling,’” Kroft remarks.
“Unfortunately they don’t get it. I don’t know anybody who has done their homework, has researched history, and who’s good at math who would tell you that we can grow our way out of this problem,” Walker replies.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke validated much of Walker’s take on the situation at congressional hearings this year, and so did ranking Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee. Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota is the chairman.
Sen. Conrad thinks David Walker is “providing an enormous public service.”
Asked if he agrees with Walker’s figures and his projections, Sen. Conrad says, “I do. You know, I mean we could always question the precise nature of this projection or that projection. But, that misses the point. The larger story that he is telling is exactly correct.”
Conrad acknowledges that most people in Washington are aware how bad the situation is. “They know in large measure here, Republicans and Democrats, that we are on a course that doesn’t add up,” the senator tells Kroft.
“Why doesn’t somebody do something about it?” Kroft asks.
“Because it’s always easier not to. ‘Cause it’s always easier to defer, to kick the can down the road to avoid making choices. You know, you get in trouble in politics when you make choices,” Sen. Conrad says.
Asked if he thinks taxes should be raised, the senator says, “I believe first of all, we need more revenue. We need to be tough on spending. And we need to reform the entitlement programs … we need to do all of it.”
But he admits he doesn’t think there’s a consensus for raising taxes.
“Any politician who tells you that we can solve our problem without reforming Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is not telling you the truth,” Walker told an audience at the University of Denver.
Over the next year, the nation’s top accountant will be traveling to the early primary states, telling voters that we need to begin raising taxes or government revenues and put a cap on federal spending if we want to maintain our economic security and standard of living.
“If you tell them the truth, if you give them the facts, if you explain this in terms of not just numbers but values and people, they will get it and empower their elected officials to make tough choices,” Walker argues.
Asked if he knows any politicians willing to raise taxes or cut back benefits, Walker says, “I don’t know politicians that like to raise taxes. I don’t know politicians that like to cut spending, but I think what we have to recognize is this is not just about numbers. We are mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren at record rates, and that is not only an issue of fiscal irresponsibility, it’s an issue of immorality.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/01/60minutes/main2528226.shtml
You know, the current Social Security recipients started working in the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s and paid from 1% to 3% of their income at that time.
So the current recipients are raping in 10 times what they paid into the system!
Those 50 and under today will be lucky to get back 1/10 of what we paid into it.
Here are the Social Security tax rates by year. Remember, self-employed paid twice this rate. Also remember, Employers match the employees share so that 2x the rate shown is what was paid into the Social Security Pyramid System:
1937-49…1 11950……1.51951-53…1.51954-56…21957-58…2.251959……2.51960-61…31962……3.1251963-65…3.6251966……4.21967……4.41968……4.41969-70…4.81971-72…5.21973……5.851974-77…5.851978……6.051979-80…6.131981……6.651982-83…6.71984……71985……7.051986-87…7.151988-89…7.511990 and later 7.65
Refute these reasons, and studies,
‘Twelve Reasons Why Privatizing Social Security is a Bad Idea’http://www.socsec.org/publications.asp?pubid=503Reason #1: Today’s insurance to protect workers and their families against death and disability would be threatened.
Reason #2: Creating private accounts would make Social Security’s financing problem worse, not better.
Reason #3: Creating private accounts could dampen economic growth, which would further weaken Social Security’s future finances.
Reason #4: Privatization has been a disappointment elsewhere.
Reason #5: The odds are against individuals investing successfully.
Reason #6: What you get will depend on whether you retire when the market is up or down.
Reason #7: Wall Street would reap windfalls from your taxes.
Reason #8: Private accounts would require a new government bureaucracy.
Reason #9: Young people would be worse off.
Reason # 10: Women stand to lose the most.
Reason #11: African Americans and Latin Americans also would become more vulnerable under privatization.
Reason #12: Retirees will not be protected against inflation.”
Direct from the Cosmopolitan Democratic Socialist party talking points.
Not one source cited. Not 1 of the 12 reasons is valid.
It’s a crappy idea.
Source: Fiction and Fact from Friedemann’s Almanac.
Max I don’t think they can provide a source. Other than that tape recording playing over and over again the liberal dogma. They can no longer think!
I’m not in total agreement with personal savings accounts. Had the system evolved into that years ago, it would be far more advantageous for all Americans. Much higher rate of return that what you get on SS today. The devil is in the details on how you apply it to various age groups.
However, in all cases, I would much rather have MY MONEY in my account – than let congress spend every dime of it on general fund items (earmarks for instance) and leave nothing for retirement.
There is NO TRUST FUND. Zip. Nada. Zilch. It’s a bunch of worthless IOU’s that can only be called – by paying the holders of the notes: WITH INCOME TAX FROM OUR CHILDREN.
That is truth. What surprises me is that liberals will NOT even admit the system is going broke.
That is the scary part.
Looks like all Max can do is attack the messenger, http://www.tcf.org/about.asp
Max: “Not one source cited.”
I apologize. I didn’t realize that you were so stupid that you wouldn’t realize that the details, sources, and notes were at the link I posted,http://www.socsec.org/publications.asp?pubid=503
While the ’skeptics’ continue to spread their LIES claiming that humans are not causing global warming,
‘Warming may bring hurricanes to Mediterranean’http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1666597920070716?pageNumber=2&sp=true“LONDON (Reuters) – Global warming could trigger hurricanes, or tropical cyclones, over the Mediterranean sea, threatening one of the world’s most densely populated coastal regions, according to European scientists.”
HERE are the posts I made, BEFORE your ERROR…
The Jewish DAY always begins at SUNDOWN… same as it always has..
Posted by: chas. | July 16, 2007 at 09:37 PM
The Gospels say Jesus died at the 9th Hour… which was the equivalent of 3 p.m. OUR time…
Posted by: chas. | July 16, 2007 at 09:39 PM
NOW what YOU posted later:
You simply did not have the facts and appeared less than the genius you pretend to be.
Posted by: beliver thumper | July 16, 2007 at 10:01 PM
NOW, who doesnt have the facts, A** H***
SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) – A teen who got his parents’ permission to join the Army at 17 has been killed in the blast of an improvised explosive device in Baghdad.
Eighteen-year-old Private First Class Christopher Kube was from Macomb County’s Shelby Township, about 15 miles north of Detroit.
The Pentagon says he died Saturday.
Kube was part of a unit from Fort Carson, Colorado.
He was 1 of 2 Michigan soldiers reported killed in Iraq last week.
On Friday, 29-year-old Army Sergeant Allen Greka of Alpena, died from injuries he sustained from a land mine while on patrol.
His unit was from Fort Benning, Georgia.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Who is the troll?Have you Libs not considered the possibility that there is more than one conservative person who posts on this blog?Posted by: Troll | July 16, 2007 at 09:36 PM
There are plenty of conservatives who post on this blog. Most of them don’t play little bullshit games with nics, most of them don’t play vicious little character-assassination games, most of them don’t threaten other posters with stalking and burglary. Those activities are reserved for the true trolls. If there’s more than one of you, that says lots more about your so-called “conservatism” than about the so-called “Libs.” And what it says about _you_ isn’t very flattering.