The Best Thing That Could Happen

Warning: This post will have language that some readers may find offensive. Read at your own risk!

I am sure that during this season of silly slogans and lying a/holes you have heard the buzz from the Right about the possibility of a raise in the retirement age to help offset the problems that some think the Social Security system has built into it. The deficit is out of control, or so we are told daily by Repubs and their paid mouthpieces….and the only way to avoid a Greece like meltdown is for the American people to work longer and harder….this my friend is a piece of shit!

France is trying this and the result is anything but mild……this from a piece in wsws.org written by Alex Lantier…..

Workers and students are protesting Sarkozy’s planned two-year increase in the retirement age, with a corresponding increase in the pay-in period, contained in a pension “reform” bill passed by lawmakers despite overwhelming popular opposition. Polls show 71 percent of the population support strike activity against the cuts.

The expansion of the strikes and protests, far from being spearheaded by the unions, is being carried out overwhelmingly at the initiative of the workers themselves. In the face of this rising confrontation, prominent union officials are indicating that, once the bill is passed by the Senate, they will scale back or seek to end the strikes and protests. (shows whose side the unions are really on)

At least the French are not rolling over and playing dead for the government….okay this action may be extreme but at least they are doing something to show the pricks in office that they will not stand for the continuing fucking of the working people.

The US is serving the special interests…….special interests and big business get favor after favor and are treated like the Golden Child, while the middle class gets zilch! And then the Tea Party, the movement of the people (not now!….where is their outrage over the mistreatment of the middle class? Easy answer…it is controlled by big business and special interests…regardless of what the paid spokespeople say…you know those like Beck and Palin and Limbaugh and FOX News…….if you work hard then be prepared for the fucking coming and it will hurt!

Have you bothered to notice that most conservs blame the working class for all the problems that the country is having….it is SS fault…it is the unemployment benefits….it is the roads….it is Medicare….it is…well you get the point…..ALWAYS it is those who actually work that are the drag on the economy….nothing about the dick suckers on Wall Street that have done NOTHING but destroy the industrial base in this country….but yet they are somehow held up as the creme de la creme of America…..it you smell something offensive…it is the massive pile of horseshit they are force feeding to the American people…..how does it taste, douche bag?

Americans need to grow nuts and do something similar. Instead of waiting every couple of years and voting for the carbon copy asshole with some cute slogans and NO real plans……

Why should the American worker get fucked constantly while the pricks in the corporation get massive bonuses and the government holds their hands and assist their failing companies? Why should Americans put there retirement on hold while those dickheads on Wall Street have to give up NOTHING to save the country from financial ruin?

Why not make the retirement age 85 or 90 that way the poor bastards can work until they drop dead…and the government gets to keep all the cash to help bail out the scum bags on Wall Street?

The French workers are pushing the envelope a bit, but at least they will go down fighting for their right to retire on their terms and will not let the government continuously fuck the working class out of their right to retire and enjoy what is left of their lives……

If the American people are stupid enough, and it appears they are, to elect these motherfuckers, then they deserve everything they get and all their bitching will just help me laugh a little louder………..go ahead….piss away your chance at a real good retirement…one that you can actually enjoy…..go ahead sit on your collective fat asses and lose all that you have worked for at the hands of the buttfuckers you elect…….if you want to call me a socialist or a communist then by all means shoot your wad….I have been called worse by much better people……

By all means……vote your anger! Vote for the crop of mental midgets that have the media all a twitter……..vote for the goddamn boneheads that would not know good government if it bit them in the ass……By all means….vote your anger! And sit back and watch how pissed up you can make this country…..by all means….vote your damn anger!

Let’s hear it for Martin Mull……..”It’s hard to decide if TV makes morons out of everyone, or if it mirrors Americans who really are morons to begin with.” (could explain the popularity of Jackass, Dancing with the stars and all other reality TV and the Tea Party)

Afterword: If you were offended, then tough shit….you were warned!

It’s Those Damn Boomers!

Daily Agitator

The US economy is in sad shape (unless you are one of the Wall St. gamblers that is protected by the US government) and the debate on spending and the deficit rages on and on and on…….you and I have heard all the excuses and those to blame…..some I believe, some you do……but there comes a time when the affixing of blame on a part of society is just plain STUPID!

I know…what are you going on about, Professor? Glad you asked!

In the past my posts on social security has gotten amazing response (wish all my posts were as fortunate) and I am waiting to see if this one generates as much debate and exchange as the others…I look forward to hearing what my readers have to say….so dive in! (BTW, check it out…the Social Security Fund has a $2.0+ trillion surplus secured by the US government)

I apologize to my conservative readers, I in NO way are one of those hating Lefties, but some of the stances of the GOP has a bit of an elitist air to it……

It appears that us “boomers” (yes, I am an old fart) are the problem with the ever expanding deficit…..since we are at or approaching retirement…our leisure will drain the SS fund and our Medicare will do the same….but who’s fault is that?

Surely you cannot blame the person that has worked hard their whole life for wanting to enjoy their final years? So, the best answer is to make these people work longer or die sooner…..why? Why should these people be made to suffer for something that is NOT their fault or their doing?

Let see….the best answers we have for the lessening of the deficit is make working stiffs work longer and possibly harder and to give tax cuts to the wealthy….is that about it? That is the best you can do for American working families? We are in a serious conflict, my friends!

To Cut The Deficit In Half!

College of Political Knowledge

Federal Budget Deficit 2010

And the beat goes on….the beat is the rhetoric of the Federal budget deficit and who is good and who is bad…..so far the Repubs say they are good and the Dems are bad…..they have their ideas and most of them involve the livelihood of working stiffs….why is that? Why is the sacrifice of the working people the only answer that the Repubs seem to have?

Let us be honest……the deficit war cries are nothing but political posturing….after all …it is an election year. So thanks to the election we have just a wealth of BS rolling off the lips of pundits and politicians alike…..one of my favs is that the deficit can be cut in half by 2020…and the GOP plan is such….thanx to the mind of Rep. Paul Ryan….But the figure that they use assumes that nothing will change in the economic sector….that all variables will remain as they are today or whenever they make these types of statements……….the truth is that it is a LIE……the sector is in constant flux!

— Leaves in place the current Social Security and Medicare system for people 55 and over.

— For those currently under 55, it would reform Medicare with vouchers that seniors would use to buy private insurance. The vouchers would grow more slowly than the projected increase in medical costs, but Ryan argues that competition would keep plans affordable. The age for Medicare eligibility would increase over time from 65 to 69. (this helps NO one but insurance companies and their affiliates)

— Future Social Security benefits would be reduced for many workers now 54 or younger. They would also have the option of putting into investment accounts some money they would pay in Social Security taxes. (this could set up making the people that retire with SS as the second class citizens by forcing them further into poverty)

— Gradually raises the retirement age to 70. (here a great plan! Force working people to work until them die…would save on resources)

— Eliminates taxes on interest, capital gains and dividends. (Who in the Hell does this help? Not the people that have low wage jobs their whole life)

— Replaces taxes on corporations with a consumption tax on what businesses buy. (In otherwords if they buy nothing in a year then they have to pay NO tax…can humans get this deal?)

— Would freeze increases on most spending by the government but would exempt such programs as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as defense spending. (With SS, Medicare and defense exempt….what is real left to cut?)

There you have their plan, the GOP that is….a what a good deal it would be for most Americans who depend on SS for their retirement (that is sarcasm in case you missed it)…..

But the GOP wants to cut the deficit in half….but that would still be a trillion dollars or more left behind and what if there is another national disaster? Do we ignore the suffering of Americans just to keep the fat cats in their cigars and martinis?

Also keep in mind that the Debt and the Deficit are not necessarily the same thing…………..

The National Debt is the total amount of money owed by the government; the federal budget deficit is the yearly amount by which spending exceeds revenue. Add up all the deficits (and subtract those few budget surpluses we’ve had) for the past 200+ years and you’ll get the current National Debt.

Politicians love to crow “The deficit is down! The deficit is down!” like it’s a great accomplishment. Don’t be fooled. Reducing the deficit just means we’re adding less to the Debt this year than we did last year. Big deal — we’re still adding to the Debt.

So go ahead a cut the the deficit in half, if you can…but remember the DEBT REMAINS!

This is typical supply side rhetoric….you can cut the deficit but what about the national debt? No, Irene they are NOT the same thing!

It’s Those Damn Give-a-ways!

Daily Agitator

That would be what we call “entitlements” some see them as the government giving away the treasury to those who do nothing more than sponge off the government. Entitlements like unemployment, welfare, Medicare, Social Security, et al……you know those things that are the bitch that is killing the economy and the country….well that is what some would have you believe.

The two biggest “entitlements” are Social Security and Medicare….but I have a problem with the conservative argument against entitlement programs….first, I will agree that some of the programs are give aways….I could argue that these programs are the price the state has to pay for the privilege of ruling over the people…..but that would be yet another post that few will read and even fewer would understand……

Sorry…I digress…..

I am weary of the flap trap of conservs that keep calling SS and Medicare as entitlements….that term denotes something that is given to the people…..and given denotes something for nothing…..which is total bullsh*t!

Social Security and Medicare are NOT entitlements…they are however contributions into a pool for later action….and yes it will go broke in a couple years….not because people are getting stuff free but rather because the pricks in Washington have been robbing the pool blind to fund all sorts of garbage like wars and other such notable programs…in other words…it is NOT the people that are killing the system but rather the assh*les that run our lovely country…the same a/holes that YOU vote for every 2 or 4 or 6 years.

Since these programs were signed into law…the Repubs have been trying to find a way to eliminate them…they could not vote them out of existence so the siphoned funds away from them until they were insolvent, which will make it easier to find ways to eliminate them.

Wait a godd*mn minute! The pundits that say we need to make hard choices, that it will hurt and that Americans will have to give up something…..great! , As long as the a/holes making 6 figures do their part in this f*ck job then I say good…but we know that they will NOT be touched by any of these so-called austerity programs…it will fall on the shoulders of people that already live with austerity programs…..I am so tired of the so-called “experts” telling hard working Americans that they are gonna be f*cked….and they do not with a smile…..

So SS and Medicare are NOT some weird little entitlement program….they are obligations the country/government have to the people they play like a cheap flute. Basically, these cowards are looking for ways to NOT honor the obligations they have to the people.

Keep voting for these guys and you will be a party to the scam these politicians are playing on the country….and by all means…keep listening to the wealthy telling you that YOU have to make the sacrifice…they smile all the way to the bank. Think about the guys and gals in Washington that live in exclusive neighborhoods, that should comfort you while you dine on rice and cat food…..

Should Social Security Pay For War?

From the VOMITORIUM

All of Washington is looking for ways to cut the budget spending in one way or the other…all in the name of the budget deficit…..there has been plan after plan……coming from both sides of the aisle….some have been pretty good and then there are the ones like the proposal coming from the Repub Minority leader of the House of Representatives, John Boehner……

Democrats are slamming House Minority Leader John Boehner for reportedly saying the Social Security retirement age should be raised to pay for the war in Afghanistan — though Boehner’s office vehemently denies he made that connection.

The comment came during an interview Monday with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Boehner said the retirement age should be raised to 70 for those at least 20 years away from retirement and suggested wealthy taxpayers should not be receiving benefits at all. (I do not agree with the retirement thing…if you pay into the fund then you get you check).

“The House Republican Leader John Boehner and his GOP colleagues want to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 and cut benefits in order to pay for George Bush’s war and their failed policies of the past,” House Democratic Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., said in a written statement.

A ridiculous idea! It is FORCING Americans to pay for a war without end, especially those people who have worked hard their entire lives and deserve to retire and enjoy what is left of their lives. I mean working people are the ones the die in war….and now you want the retirees to “do their part”……I tell you what dickheads, when you DO your part, then we will think about it some more”.

This is the best idea they can come up with? Make working people pay for the war and let those profiting from the war skate on payment. This is where your conservs are at in Washington….DO NOT let them screw you out of what you have worked and paid for for all those years.

Social Security Has Its Problems

Inkwell Institute

Federal Budget Deficit Series #6

Before someone says….Duh!….and I know they will……I like stating the obvious in case some are not paying attention……I am aware that this subject has been bitched about in Washington for a generation or more…..I know all about the problems that “Boomers” are causing for the system…..and I know that some form of reform is needed…..before I talk about the reform let us look at the growing problem (yet again)…..

As reported in the AP article:

Social Security is financed by payroll taxes — employers and employees must each pay a 6.2 percent tax on workers’ earnings up to $106,800. Retirees can start getting early, reduced benefits at age 62. They get full benefits if they wait until they turn 66. Those born after 1960 will have to wait until they turn 67.

Social Security’s financial problems have been looming for years as the nation’s 78 million baby boomers approached retirement age. The oldest are already there. As that huge group of people starts collecting benefits — and stops paying payroll taxes — Social Security’s trust funds will shrink, running out of money by 2037, according to the latest projection from the trustees who oversee the program.

The recession is making things worse, at least in the short term. Tax receipts are down from the loss of more than 8 million jobs, and applications for early retirement benefits have spiked from older workers who were laid off and forced to retire.

The national debt — the amount of money the government owes its creditors — is about $12.5 trillion, or nearly $42,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. About $8 trillion has been borrowed in public debt markets, much of it from foreign creditors. The rest came from various government trust funds, including retirement funds for civil servants and the military. About $2.5 trillion is owed to Social Security.

For decades the Congress has been skimming funds from SS and using it to save the budget from such drains as war, etc…..not ONE of the a/holes mentions that when they start their crap about it going broke.,…yes it is going broke and it is the fault of the Congress….I wish they would stop blowing smoke of the citizens asses and admit that they are the reason the fund is in sad shape….not the Boomers…

And there is the problem……the a/holes in Washington have been skimming off the fund for decades and now it is all the “Boomers” fault that it will be bankrupt by 2016….Okay I am a smart ass….do I have a fix for the problem?

Hey! Here is a novel idea……..make people pay their FICA and Medicare taxes……simple huh?……did you know that people that make over $75,000, I believe, are exempt from paying these taxes on everything over that figure……it will help the immediate problem and probably make it more stable in the coming years….yes, it is that simple! (he said condescendingly)…..another thing…STOP! Raiding the fund to pay for bullshit programs that win votes!

What To Do With Social Security?

By now, I am sure that everyone has either read or heard from their favorite news source that Social Security will be dead by 2017. But why will it be dead?

The standard argument is that it is not getting enough money incoming to meet the demand from retiring Baby Boomers. That is a really good argument, but it is a bit of a manure spreader. It is going bust because the government in the last decade, probably more, have been raiding it to pay for pet projects like war and such. Why was this done? So the cowards could continue to preach and enact tax cuts and related BS moves.

Now Repubs want to “reform” the system…that is code talk for eliminate it and let the people fend for themselves. Even the Obama administration has shelled out hundreds of billions, no strings attached, to the biggest financial institutions, under the false rationale that this would “kick-start” lending and generate jobs. All told, between direct cash infusions, loans, and guarantees on debt, Washington has handed over around $10 trillion to Wall Street in less than a year. In comparison, Medicare would need $13 trillion and Social Security $5 trillion over the next 75 years to remain solvent, according to the report. In other words, retirement benefits and healthcare benefits for several generations of the elderly could be secured at the cost of one year’s bailout of the financial aristocracy.

Here is a couple of ideas–1) raise the FICA and Medicare tax about 1% and 2) make ALL income subject to the tax, there would be NO cut off amout, 3) stop fighting stupid wars that we cannot afford.

Tom Eley wrote on wsws.org:

Secretary Geithner’s dual role as Wall Street frontman and “trustee” of the retirement and health care for the working class underscores the duplicitous nature of the Obama administration. Disregarding the trillions he has handed over to the banks, Geithner claimed that “there is no more important long-term fiscal measure than gaining control of the growth of Medicare costs.”

The first target for cuts will be Medicare, followed by Social Security. Geithner explained: “After we have passed health-care reform that puts our nation on a path to lower growth in health-care costs and expanded affordable coverage, this president will work to build a bipartisan consensus to ensure the long-term solvency of Social Security.”

Geithner’s reference to “bipartisan consensus” is Washington code for the sort of reform that can bring the most far-right, pro-market forces aboard.

Once again, we see that Obama Boyz are not concerned with the survival of the poor and retired. Main Street waits for the next hard screw. What will be the next situation that will present another opportunity to stick it to the middle class? Retirement is hard enough, especially for most of the working class and Washington continues to make it harder and harder….it is demeaning.

Will Social Programs Take A Budgetary Hit?

Obama has outlined “five pillars” for a new economy that would “make this new century another American century.” In addition to his vague promise of new regulations on finance, Obama listed education (including several right-wing policy initiatives) and “new investments in renewable energy and technology.”

The other two “pillars” foretell massive cuts to social spending: cutting health care costs and “restoring fiscal discipline.”

Obama did not explain how he would cut the cost of health care, referring only to his stimulus packages’ investment “in electronic health records” and “preventive care.” However, the support his reform initiative has thus far enjoyed from insurance corporations, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and the pharmaceuticals indicates that “cost savings” will come at the expense of patients and the provision of services.

Obama did not tarry long on the first four pillars, but a considerable portion of his speech was dedicated to the fifth, “restoring fiscal discipline.”

Obama boasted that he would “reduce discretionary spending for domestic programs as a share of the economy by more than 10 percent over the next decade.” This will not come from the military budget, which has been handed a record $640 billion for the coming fiscal year.

But what will that entail?

Obama said: “The biggest cost drivers in our budget are entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, all of which get more and more expensive every year,” Obama continued. “So if we want to get serious about fiscal discipline—and I do—we will also have to get serious about entitlement reform.”

Does this mean that medicare or social security or what? If there are going to be cuts and the banks are exempt, where will the savings promised come from? If it comes from where it sounds like it will, then the retired and elderly will be hit the hardest while banks and their CEOs continue to live the “high life”.

But Social Security Will Be Bankrupt

Have you heard this piece of manure coming from the conservatives? Especially when they talk about the ways to save the program, namely privatization. Let us look at a little truth here:

Social Security will officially be bankrupt in 2042. By 2017 a majority of the “baby boomers” will be receiving social security benefits and due to the population and labor force growth slowing down the Social Security Administration will be paying out more than they are receiving in through taxes and other means. Currently there is a 16-member commission to strengthen social security.

Then, the above by no means something is bankrupt. It simply means that the amount of money coming in will be less than that going out. This happens all the time in many businesses in many different economies and industries. Over collections in current, or future years, or years past 2042, can make up for this, as well as many other things (like other government support, program changes, a war or such lowering the number of beneficiaries, etc., etc., etc.).

The trust fund now has about $1.7 trillion and is expected to hit a peak of about $3.7 trillion in 2020; it should have enough money to handle Social Security obligations until at least 2042, according to the Social Security trustees, or even 2052, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Some economists even think the money might hold out indefinitely.

It would even be highly questionable IF a part of the US (or any government using the full force and faith of it’s powers – which include printing the money in the money supply), could go bankrupt and not pay it’s bills.

Just the facts……and the program would be able to pay 3/4 benefits through 2082. Gee, you think that the decline in tax revenues has anything to do with the situation?

The problem is that as the government has been taking in wads of cash from the Social Security trustees who buy its bonds, it has turned right around and spent the money as part of the federal budget. There is the REAL problem..your government has been LOOTING the fund….so stop blaming the Boomers for retiring!

Is there anyone stupid enough to think that if you eliminate revenue that you can continue to fund needed programs? So why do the Repubs continue to push privatization? It is a matter of ideology, not economics. It falls within the conservative fervor for free markets. It’s what the Bush-ites labeled to “build an ownership society.”

And if they had gotten their way, there would be a lot more people homeless and broke because of the economic situation and their lame ass ideology.

Why Is It Baby Boomers Fault?

I have listened to all the rhetoric of the problem that the so-called Baby boomers have caused and will cause any day now. Think about it….the Boomers are the ones that made the middle class the strong entity that it use to be, it is not their fault that the rich have decised that it should destroy a whole class. And now all the conservatives are worried that the retiring of the Boomers will cause yet more economic strife. Gee….it is not the Boomers that worked their whole lives to have a descent retirement to have the government now tell them that they cannot.

But do not look now…it is the Boomers that are doing most of the suffering on Main Street.

However, there is one step that President Obama can take to boost the economy without going through Congress: He can reaffirm his support for Social Security and assure the baby boomers nearing retirement that he will not allow their benefits to be cut. If this huge cohort in their late 40s, 50s and early 60s knows that they can count on getting their promised benefits, they will feel more comfortable spending and supporting the economy at a time when it badly needs a boost.

Workers are likely to be especially fearful about the prospects of getting their Social Security benefits now, due to an all out assault on the program financed by billionaire banker Peter Peterson. Peterson has spent much of the last two decades trying to cut Social Security, Medicare, and other benefits for the elderly. He recently contributed a billion dollars to a foundation bearing his name that is primarily committed to this goal.
The idea of taking away Social Security benefits from baby boomers was always outrageous. After all, this is a generation that has paid into Social Security at the current 12.4 percent tax rate for almost their entire working life and will be forced to wait until age 66 or even 67 to get full benefits. Their average returns are projected to be lower than the generations that follow and far lower than the generations that preceded them.

If policy were responding to reality, then this massive redistribution from older generations to the young should cause the government to focus more attention on helping the elderly. But the agenda of Peter Peterson and his ilk never had anything to do with generational equity. The point was always to gut Social Security and Medicare. These programs stand out as key targets precisely because they are hugely effective and popular programs.

Before one jumps onto the Social Security bashing bandwagon…remember who put this country first on so many levels.