The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
He's a socialist...I wouldn't expect anything less...He doesn't disquise his intentions and beliefs like the most other Democrats.
How does he explain the $14 Trillion Debt? How is there a $2.3 trillion surplus in Social Security? That means a lot of people that paid in and didn't get paid out. Let's make social security voluntary.
If ya don't take medicare when ya turn 65 and decide to take it later......you pay a penalty for every month/year that you didn't. No SS cost of living increase, but an almost $20/month increase in your medicare payment as of 2011, which is expected to go up yearly. And that cost is decided by your last 2 year income tax return. And you are 'encouraged' to also take out an additional supplemental insurance policy. This will be American's punishment for forcing them to participate in a Ponzi scheme
You 'have' to verify that you have private health care if you choose to opt out of medicare. Again....a commerce clause issue?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
IT WAS A LIE PERPETRATED FROM THE BEGINNING....when they removed a portion of the responsibility of a person to have to plan for their future they removed part of the Pioneering American spirit.....that's why Mr. Buffet can kiss my A$$.....because at the same time the rhetoric those 'rich folk' use is just dumbing and slapping the rest of their fellow Americans in the face....
GET OFF MY BACK!!!!
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
It is clearly a government entitlement that is unsustainable. It obviously can not be done in the short term, but thoughts of scaling it back in the long term should be planned NOW!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
It is clearly a government entitlement that is unsustainable. It obviously can not be done in the short term, but thoughts of scaling it back in the long term should be planned NOW!!
We should never screw those who put in but the option of the younger generation to opt out in favor of investing their money as they see fit should be on the table.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
We should never screw those who put in but the option of the younger generation to opt out in favor of investing their money as they see fit should be on the table.
we should do a reverse scale payout over 5years.....everyone will then be responsible for their investment from that time forward..
then those who put in would not get screwwed....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- There's a $700 trillion elephant in the room and it's time we found out how much it really weighs on the economy.
Derivative contracts total about three-quarters of a quadrillion dollars in "notional" amounts, according to the Bank for International Settlements. These contracts are tallied in notional values because no one really can say how much they are worth.
But valuing them correctly is exactly what we should be doing because these comprise the viral disease that has infected the financial markets and the economies of the world.
Try as we might to salvage the residential real estate market, it's at best worth $23 trillion in the U.S. We're struggling to save the stock market, but that's valued at less than $15 trillion. And we hope to keep the entire U.S. economy from collapsing, yet gross domestic product stands at $14.2 trillion.
Compare any of these to the derivatives market and you can easily see that we are just closing the windows as a tsunami crashes to shore. The total value of all the stock markets in the world amounts to less than $50 trillion, according to the World Federation of Exchanges.
To be sure, the derivatives market is international. But much of the trouble we're in began with contracts "derived" from the values associated with U.S. residential real estate market. These contracts were engineered based on the various assumptions tied to those values.
Few know what derivatives are worth. I spoke with one derivatives trader who manages billions of dollars and she said she couldn't even value her portfolio because "no one knows anymore who is on the other side of the trade."
Derivatives pricing, simply put, is determined by what someone else is willing to pay for the contract. The value is based on an artificial scenario that "X" will be worth "Y" if "Z" happens. Strip away the fantasy, however, and the reality of the situation is akin to a game of musical chairs -- without any chairs.
So now the music has finally stopped.
That's why stabilizing the housing market will do little to take the sting out of the snapback we are going through on Wall Street. Once people's mortgages were sold off to secondary buyers, and then all sorts of crazy types of derivative securities were devised based on those, and those securities were in turn traded on down the line, there is now little if any relevance to the real estate values on which they were pegged.
We need to identify and determine the real value of derivatives before we give banks and institutions a pass-go with more tax dollars. Otherwise, homeowners will suffer as banks patch up the holes left in their balance sheets by the derivatives gone poof; new credit won't be extended until the raff of the old credit is put behind.
It isn't the housing market devaluation, or the sub-prime mortgage market defaults that have us in real trouble. Those are nice fakes to sway attention away from the place where greed truly flourished -- trading phony instruments to the tune of $700 trillion.
Let's figure how to get out from under that. Then maybe the capital will begin to flow again through the markets. Right now, this elephant isn't just in the room, it's sitting on us.
what do we honestly think it's worth will be in the future.....SS will be worth less than it is now.....hence USELESS
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Before social security, most elderly were living in poverty. They survived on Religious handouts, and charity of others. They eventually became the responsibility of the state... paid for by the taxpayers.
Just think if George Worst Bush had his way in 2001 when he proposed (and failed) to put all Social Security into the stock market.
Just when everyone's SS dollars would have hit the stock market... the market crashed. Which would have left... huh... I'll repeat what I posted above: Before (GWB) social security, most elderly were living in poverty. They survived on Religious handouts, and charity of others. They eventually became the responsibility of the state... paid for by the taxpayers.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
everyone pretty much becomes a state responsibility...especially when you are soiling yourself and can barely get a spoon to your mouth....that is short term.....the problem is that the MORONS who placed SS in the first place made it sound like one would be living on the hog so to speak,,,and those that followed used it as a podium puck promising the same sh!t and removing a person's inner ability to plan WAY BEYOND THE MEAGERNESS of the government to 'CARE'......SS doesn't measure up....never has and never will.....it wasn't meant as retirement supplement for the vacations traveling, vacation homes etc etc......so if all your life you planned to NOT rely on the government dole then DONT TAKE IT....AHHH, but there's a catch....the government fines you if you dont.....how F'EN stupid is that.....so now instead of paying out for 3-5years after working the government is on the line for 10-20years.....something the shortsighted leaders didn't see(they did but it doesn't sound good at election time) they prefer the "And social security will be guaranteed into your aging years for as long as you need it." JOKE JOKE JOKE.........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Before social security, most elderly were living in poverty. They survived on Religious handouts, and charity of others. They eventually became the responsibility of the state... paid for by the taxpayers.
Just think if George Worst Bush had his way in 2001 when he proposed (and failed) to put all Social Security into the stock market.
Just imagine if those that are currently on Social Security hadn't had that money stolen out of their paychecks for years, and they had the additional money to help them through, along with people having additional funds to help through personal and religious helping hands, you know, as the founders of our country originally thought would be a good idea.
I mean really, how is it that anyone survived at all prior to Social Security being enacted? See, then, the elderly, who were no longer working had less, now, it is those who actually ARE working that get less so others who have stopped working can have handouts (but not the entire amount that was taken, after all, they have to be PAID to handle the money, right)?
Both my grandparents survived the depression and were out of work and managed to raise 3 kids on one side and 5 kids on the other side. There was no welfare the families took care of themselves. They grew gardens, raised chickens, ducks, and pigeons for food and took any job they could find and never once in my life did I ever hear my grandparents or my parents say that they needed government assistance. That generation made this country great, they were all self sufficient, and none ever became a ward of the state. Keep your government handouts they come with too many strings attached.
The anti government paranoia is rampant on this board. Did I miss the sign up requirement to be an 'America Hater' and 'Anti Government Radical" when I joined this board???
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
I love America.....but it doesn't resemble the independent promoting and pioneering soul.....now it seems America has turned into either an elderly country or a caretaker with nothing else to do but empty bedpans because it feels good and the government is there to make us 'feel good'.. since when is our 'feeling good' attached to the government that was set up to desparage that kind of thinking that existed under kingdom rule in England....seems like the country just waits to get invited to the kings birthday,,,but first you must jump through these hoops for me and pay me to stand in my presence.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS