By Pam Martens and Russ Martens of Wall Street on Parade.
During his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee yesterday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell let it slip out, for the first time, that the Federal Reserve has had a 10-year game plan to deal with the financial crisis. In response to a question on cyber threats from Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Powell stated the following:
“They kind of pay us to be awake at night worrying about things. I would say that if you look at what happened in the financial crisis, we had a game plan there. We implemented it over the course of 10 years. I won’t say that it’s perfect or anything like that, but we have a plan that is meant to address those kinds of things.”
“Those kinds of things?” The financial crisis, fueled by corruption and lax regulation of Wall Street banks, destroyed the housing market in the U.S. and left the U.S. economy in tatters. Millions of Americans lost their jobs and their homes to foreclosure. The New York Fed was the supervisor of key Wall Street banks that caused this problem – shouldn’t it have had a 10-year game plan to prevent “Those kinds of things” instead of creating the game plan after the damage had been done?
I cannot believe, after successive presidency’s reflecting both supposed political ideologies and party’s, that anyone is still buying into the right vs. left, Republican vs. Democrat, liberal vs. conservative, BS. And it is BS.
Playing on, at times, extreme religious beliefs, or manufactured propaganda meant to frighten you in to accepting another war of aggression, or professed moral righteousness, we are encouraged to vote for one party or the other. Along with the tossing about of the words socialism and communism and the chronic hysteria that accompanies those words, many of us are convinced that our votes really matter or that things will actually change as a result. Actually, they do change…they always get worse. Makes no difference which wing of the this one party system you vote for.
Combining church and state?
We have a 1st amendment prohibiting that and for good reason.
Let me say that the lunacy emanating from churches in today’s world is enough to make a rational, reasonable man’s head explode. When I see blanket statements such as “Democrats hate Conservatives and Christians”…Really?? Really America? How many of you actually believe that? Or how about, “conservatives hate Democrats and they are satanists?” Are you really that easily manipulated and stupid? But if you need one, the barrage of idiotic religious drivel from either side of this combination of church and state, or, the lack thereof, is really obnoxious.
That’s Socialism! That’s Socialism!
First, let’s clear one thing up right off the bat! America is in no danger of becoming a socialist or communist nation. We are heading full steam ahead More
The House Budget Resolution for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 would make cuts to the Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security programs and repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), actions which would be harmful to millions of Americans.
The House Budget Resolution for FY 2019, introduced by House Budget Committee Chairman Steve Womack (R-AR), was approved by the House of Representatives Budget Committee on June 21, 2018. This budget proposes drastic cuts in federal spending for programs of importance to most low- and middle-income Americans while protecting nearly $2 trillion in tax cuts, which mainly benefit the very wealthy and large profitable corporations and dramatically increase our deficits and debt. This paper summarizes some of the key proposals in the House Republican FY 2019 budget resolution that would affect seniors and people with disabilities who rely on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Medicare
The budget resolution proposes $537 billion in cuts to Medicare which would be achieved by ending traditional Medicare and increasing health care costs for beneficiaries. Chairman Womack’s plan assumes savings for the federal government by privatizing Medicare and shifting costs to Medicare beneficiaries.
Privatizing Medicare with Vouchers/Premium Support Payments
Under premium support, when people become eligible for Medicare they would not enroll in the current traditional Medicare program which provides guaranteed benefits. Rather they would receive a voucher, also referred to as a premium support payment, to be used to purchase private health insurance or traditional Medicare through a Medicare Exchange. The amount of the voucher would be determined each year when private health insurance plans and traditional Medicare participate in a competitive bidding process. Seniors choosing a plan costing more than the average amount determined through competitive bidding would be required to pay the difference between the voucher and the plan’s premium. In some geographic areas, traditional Medicare could be more expensive. This would make it harder for seniors, particularly lower-income beneficiaries, to choose their own doctors if their only affordable options are private plans that have limited provider networks. Wealthier Medicare beneficiaries would be required to pay a greater share of their premiums than lower-income seniors.
“It isn’t the patients who are bankrupting Medicare….its the service providers on all levels. If the states and insurance companies need to “recapture” their expenses…why not start with those who are gaming the system?”
According to the US Census Bureau, annual home ownership rates between 1982 and 2017 shows the population of those 65 or older represented just over 80% of all homes owned. This statistic has made the elderly prime targets for estate theft by predatory guardians and attorneys, and now under Medicare Advantage, the state/insurance companies can attack the estate because for some reason they have to be able to recapture the costs of long term care that you financed to begin with.
Now, ask yourself why, after investing in Social Security and Medicare over your lifetime, and….having to pay in most cases exorbitant premiums each and every month once you retire, along with co-pays, deductibles and a host of non-covered services, what you could possibly owe to the state or the insurance company?
But under Medicare Advantage, the combining of Medicare and Medicaid, after you having invested a portion of your earnings over your working lifetime, paid premiums, co-pays, deductibles and paid taxes to support these healthcare programs, these “stakeholders”, the [state/insurance company] must recapture the costs associated with long term care you might have needed, once you pass away.
Now think about this. You worked all your life and invested in Social Security and Medicare. You paid income tax every year which helped pay for medical care for the poor called Medicaid. You bought your home and have been assessed property taxes every year just for doing so, and continue to pay property taxes while you remain there, and long after the mortgage has been paid off. If you hadn’t paid those property taxes they would have already taken your property from you!
Currently, the bills in each state covering this “recapture”, prohibit the state from seizing property if there is a surviving spouse living in or on the property. But once the surviving spouse dies or are themselves put into long term care, the state/insurance company can attack the estate in order to recover those costs. Even if there is joint tenancy or co-ownership of property by those who are not otherwise responsible for, or legally bound to the deceased, the state/insurance company has first rights to the assets. And this recapture takes place before any inheritance can be received by the beneficiaries of the estate. Of course there is no intention of anything to remain for heirs. More
A woman dies at age 65 before collecting one benefit check. She and her employer paid into the system for almost 50 years and she collected NOTHING. Keep in mind all the working people that die every year who were paying into the system and got nothing.
And these governmental morons mismanaged the money and stole from the system, so that it’s now going broke.
BEAUTIFUL! And they have the audacity to call today’s seniors “vultures” in an attempt to cover their ineptitude. DISGRACEFUL!
The real reason for renaming our Social Security payments is so the government can claim that all those social security recipients are receiving entitlements thus putting them in the same category as welfare, and food stamp recipients.
THIS IS WORTH THE FEW MINUTES IT TAKES TO READ AND DIGEST!
F.Y.I. By changing the name of SS contributions, it gives them a means to refute this program in the future. It’s free money for the government to spend under this guise.
The Social Security check is now (or soon will be) referred to as a Federal Benefit Payment ?
I’ll be part of the one percent to forward this. I am forwarding it because it touches a nerve in me, and I hope it will in you.
Please keep passing it on until everyone in our country has read it.
The government is now referring to our Social Security checks as a “Federal Benefit Payment.”
This is NOT a benefit. It is OUR money , paid out of our earned income! Not only did we all contribute to Social Security but our employers did too ! It totaled 15% of our income before taxes.(This should be enough for you to forward this message, If not read on.)
If you averaged $30K per year over your working life, that’s close to $180,000 invested in Social Security.
If you calculate the future value of your monthly investment in social security ($375/month, including both you and your employers contributions) at a meager 1% interest rate compounded monthly, after 40 years of working you’d have more than $1.3+ million dollars saved.
This is your personal investment. Upon retirement, if you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $39,318 per year, or $3,277 per month.
That’s almost three times more than today’s average Social Security benefit of $1,230 per month, according to the Social Security Administration. (Google it – it’s a fact). And your retirement fund would last more than 33 years (until you’re 98 if you retire at age 65)! I can only imagine how much better most average-income people could live in retirement if our government had just invested our money in low-risk interest-earning accounts.
Instead, the folks in Washington pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did (or Lyndon Johnson).
They took our money and used it elsewhere. They “forgot”(oh yes, they knew) that it was OUR money they were taking. They didn’t have a referendum to ask us if we wanted to lend the money to them … and they didn’t pay interest on the debt they assumed. And recently they’ve told us that the money won’t support us for very much longer. (Isn’t it funny that they NEVER say this about welfare payments?)
But is it our fault they misused our investments? And now, to add insult to injury, they’re calling it a benefit, as if we never worked to earn every penny of it. This is stealing!
Just because they borrowed the money, doesn’t mean that our investments were for charity!
Let’s take a stand. We have earned our right to Social Security and Medicare. Demand that our legislators bring some sense into our government.
Find a way to keep Social Security and Medicare going for the sake of the 92% of our population who need it.
President Johnson made the Social Security Trust Fund available to the general treasury to fund the war in Viet Nam. Every president since then has used SS as a political ATM. There is NO TRUST FUND! It exists only as an identified revenue stream in the IMF/World Bank. The feds have stolen 3.7 trillion from SS in surplus funds and used those funds for everything and anything and this has been done by Democrats as well as Republicans.
Editors note: By renaming Social Security a “Federal benefit” program, the access to the principal, not just the surplus, is on the horizon. Currently the largest Social Security office on the planet sits in the middle of Mexico City. Illegal immigrants have only to show they worked three quarters in the US, even if under a stolen identity or assumed name, to collect from Social Security. Americans have to work a minimum of 12 quarters to qualify. currently, the Federal government owes Social Security an estimated 4 trillion in stolen surplus funds: stolen and used to fund illegal wars of aggression and a myriad of other non-related programs and policies. THERE IS NO TRUST FUND! Social Security taxes are identified only as a revenue stream deposited in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) via the World Bank. The next time your politician of choice suggests to you that Social Security is an entitlement program implying that it is some kind of unearned welfare, remind them that taxes on your wages is what funds this program. The federal government does not fund Social Security…… Social Security funds the federal government. Maybe it is some perverse form of reverse welfare. Then, ask them what happened to this 4 trillion dollar surplus that was stolen from our retirement accounts and how they intend to pay it back. Since all surpluses are immediately seized by the federal government and squandered, there is no reserve~ Marti
Consider the exploding star of Social Security, one of the largest and most important pension programs in the world.
Literally tens of millions of people depend on it.
The Social Security Administration itself reports that 62% of recipients rely on the program for at least HALF of their income.
And further research by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) shows that, without Social Security, 22.1 million Americans would fall below the poverty line.
Needless to say, major cuts to the program would have nuclear effects.
And yet, year after year, the Social Security Board of Trustees publishes an annual report that describes the program’s terminal financial challenges in excruciating detail.
They mince no words in plainly stating that Social Security pays out far too much money, and takes in far too little.
According to the 2017 Trustees report,“Trust Fund reserves become depleted in 2035.”
Reposted from 2011….and here we are again with another administration that will refuse to deal with the real issues with medicare and social security….the absolute fraud that is perpetrated by the medical, pharmaceuticals and elder services industries costing medicare 20-60 billion annually. “One way or the other, the elderly in this country will be cleansed from society. In the meantime, every dime that can be squeezed and wrenched out of our existence for any reason whatsoever will continue. And MSM along with government hacks will continue to portray the elderly as receiving “entitlements”, “free rides at the expense of the country”.
Never once will they admit the problem isn’t with the elderly, it is with those who exploit the elderly.”
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It is alarming to hear not only younger members of the country, but also some middle aged members, medical professionals and others, referring to Medicare as some kind of free, gravy train medical insurance that seniors don’t have to pay for. Are people really that ignorant of how this system works?
After paying into Social Security and Medicare for decades, those who receive medicare must also now pay a premium every month for this insurance. These premiums can range from a few hundred dollars a month, to several hundred. Married couples pay individual premiums which can amount to $700.00 per month or more, combined on average. These premiums are deducted from their Social Security checks; neither the government, nor taxpayers, pay this premium.
Then there is that handy-dandy “donut hole” where Medicare pays nothing. This was a huge gift to the insurance companies who whined about not getting a piece of the Medicare pie. From approximately the $2500.00 to $5000.00 costs of care, Medicare pays for nothing. Ta DA! We got your GAP insurance plan which will cost you another $200.00 per month at least. This will cover the costs incurred in the hole. Of course the insurance companies have no plans to make good on these GAP policies, so getting them to pay any percentage of anything is a monumental task.
Then there is the co-pay at your doctors office. Then the co-pay on medications. Then there are the costs of medications your insurance and Medicare don’t/won’t pay for. That comes right out of your pocket!
Now, to add insult to injury, an estimated 20 million illegal aliens will be given “free” healthcare and I have yet to hear the word “entitlement” attached to those benefits.
The “permanent” end to the yearly threatened cuts to doctors’ pay—the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula—may satisfy my curiosity about what the end of a Ponzi scheme will look like.
All Ponzi schemes are unstable and doomed to fail. Medicare and Social “Security” will be no different.
The yearly postponement of SGR cuts was a bribefest held to tease and extort corporate health cronies and physicians. The “doc fix” was not an exception: just look at all the “stakeholders” acknowledged in its 263 pages.
The purpose of the SGR was to delay the bankruptcy and end of Medicare. The doc fix will hasten it.
Central to the progressive goal of controlling the practice of medicine—and to the success of the [Un]affordable Care Act (UCA)—is the need to push physicians into employment contracts with hospitals. As hospital employees, doctors are easier to control, and less able to act as uncompromising advocates for their patients.
It is alarming to hear not only younger members of the country, but also some middle aged members, medical professionals and others, referring to Medicare as some kind of free, gravy train medical insurance that seniors don’t have to pay for. Are people really that ignorant of how this system works?
After paying into Social Security and Medicare for decades, those who receive medicare must also now pay a premium every month for this insurance. These premiums can range from a few hundred dollars a month, to several hundred. Married couples pay individual premiums which can amount to $700.00 per month or more, combined on average. These premiums are deducted from their Social Security checks; neither the government, nor taxpayers, pay this premium.
Then there is that handy-dandy “donut hole” where Medicare pays nothing. This was a huge gift to the insurance companies who whined about not getting a piece of the Medicare pie. From approximately the $2500.00 to $5000.00 costs of care, Medicare pays for nothing. Ta DA! We got your GAP insurance plan which will cost you another $200.00 per month at least. This will cover the costs incurred in the hole. Of course the insurance companies have no plans to make good on these GAP policies, so getting them to pay any percentage of anything is a monumental task.
Then there is the co-pay at your doctors office. Then the co-pay on medications. Then there are the costs of medications your insurance and Medicare don’t/won’t pay for. That comes right out of your pocket!
Now, to add insult to injury, an estimated 20 million illegal aliens will be given “free” healthcare and I have yet to hear the word “entitlement” attached to those benefits.
When I signed in for my yearly mammogram the receptionist announced with a wry smile, “No co-pay this time, it’s free!” We both knew that it really wasn’t free.
To understand whether free means free, let’s look at Medicare as an example. Medicare has four parts. Part A (“hospital”) covers hospital admissions, post-hospitalization short-term skilled nursing, and hospice. Part B (“medical”) covers outpatient medical services such as physician visits, lab tests, and outpatient surgery. Parts A and B are called traditional Medicare. Part C (“Medicare Advantage”) is private HMOs. Part D is prescription drug coverage. Technically, all parts are optional.
Medicare is costly before and after we enroll. We pay for Part A through a 2.9 percent tax on earnings, half of which is paid by employers. Thus, an average worker earning $43,500 per year generates $105 every month for the promise of hospital insurance benefits beginning up to 45 years in the future.
Importantly, Part A is mandatory for those eligible for Medicare who receive Social Security payments. If beneficiaries want to opt out of Part A, they must forfeit all of their Social Security payments. More
On Monday, November 30, 2013, Obama gave a talk about what he called the growing inequality and lack of opportunity in America. He said this would be his focus the rest or his term. This is how he phrased it.
“…. and that is a dangerous and growing inequality and lack of upward mobility that has jeopardized middle-class America’s basic bargain — that if you work hard, you have a chance to get ahead. I believe this is the defining challenge of our time: Making sure our economy works for every working American. It’s why I ran for President. It was at the center of last year’s campaign. It drives everything I do in this office. And I know I’ve raised this issue before, and some will ask why I raise the issue again right now. I do it because the outcomes of the debates we’re having right now — whether it’s health care, or the budget, or reforming our housing and financial systems — all these things will have real, practical implications for every American. And I am convinced that the decisions we make on these issues over the next few years will determine whether or not our children will grow up in an America where opportunity is real.” More
As Americans watch congressional hearings on the Internal Revenue Service, they should ask themselves what this enormously powerful, corrupt, politically motivated agency might do with its new job of administering ObamaCare…..
As Americans watch congressional hearings on the Internal Revenue Service, they should ask themselves what this enormously powerful, corrupt, politically motivated agency might do with its new job of administering ObamaCare.
We have heard testimony from those whose tax exemption was delayed or denied, or who underwent abusive audits, or faced seizure of their accumulated earnings, apparently because someone viewed them as opponents to the Powers.
The people who are testifying are obviously still alive.
What if this agency had the power to control access to medical care?
Of course, it will not have this power under ObamaCare. Not exactly. These are the powers that it will have:
The IRS will decide whether you get a subsidy to buy the increasingly expensive health coverage mandated under the law. Since that coverage could cost a third of your income, its “affordability” obviously depends on whether other taxpayers have to help pay for it. And by the way, the subsidy doesn’t go to you—it goes to the Plan. To qualify, the Plan has to please the Administration. It has to allocate enough for politically correct “prevention” (such as abortions) and not too much to services that lead to “disparity” (such as hip fractures in the elderly).
The IRS will determine which insurers will survive. A Plan that is not eligible for subsidies is likely to die for want of enough customers. The Administration has a record of picking winners (its cronies) and losers (its opponents).
The IRS will influence the chances that your job will survive. Your employer may be hit with ruinous fines for not having benefits that qualify or for having workers who apply for subsidies on the Exchange. As the rules are impossibly complex, government agencies have a lot of discretion, which can be used to reward and to punish. More
The fiscal cliff: How to screw ordinary Americans again
The stage show in the District of Criminals about the fictional fiscal cliff, is in full production. Democrats are busy agreeing to cut Social Security and Medicare to appease Republicans who have now “evolved” to the point where they will support [comprehensive immigration reform]. Both factions of the one party system are trying to rephrase Medicare and Social Security as “Entitlement” programs. That word swap is really important. If they can convince the general public that Social Security has somehow become a welfare program instead of an invested insurance program, it will be far easier to rob people of their retirement investments they have been funding all of their working lives.
The Republican faction has now decided that they just have to give in on immigration reform. Neither faction of the one party system has mentioned enforcement of our laws which, as it turns out, neither faction is interested in.
Of course if you would allow the government to privatize your Social Security investments somehow that would be just peachy. You could throw at least a portion of your SS taxes into the black hole that is Wall Street and then watch it disappear into the pockets of the thugs and thieves who robbed the country blind in 2008 and 2009. In the interim, we can stand by and watch as our retirement investments are doled out to illegal immigrants.
In that sense, Social Security has become an entitlement program. If you are here illegally, and if you can prove you worked here a minimal amount of time even under a false identity, you can collect from Social Security.
“Under the Social Security Act, all earnings from employment in the United States count towards earning social security benefits, regardless of the lawful presence of the worker, his or her citizenship status, or country of residence. Immigrants [both legal and otherwise] become entitled to benefits from unauthorized work if they can prove that the earnings and related contributions belong to them. However, they cannot collect such benefits unless [or until] they are either legally present in the United States [hence the Administration’s Guest Worker Program], or living in a country where SSA is authorized to pay them their benefits. [Hence an SSA office in Mexico City] Mexico is such a country.”
Democrats sell out
The offer now has morphed into “carving out sections of Medicare”. In other words…..the District of Criminals will collude to reduce your Medicare benefits, raise your rates and reduce quality of care and access. This will be done to avoid addressing the actual problems with the program. There will be no discussion on capping insurance rates, allowing negotiation of drug prices or of closing the “donut hole” that was created specifically as a gift to the insurance industry so that they could profit from selling worthless gap insurance. There will be no earnest investigation and prosecution of fraudulent claims by medical industry providers of all kinds where services never rendered are added to billing, hospital bills are padded, and other fraudulent activities go on as “business as usual”.
The well-known fraud that occurs in Medicare by unscrupulous medical providers and suppliers along with other industry players has cost Medicare billions if not trillions. Obamacare will add 540 billion in administrative, record keeping, data basing over the next ten years, to Medicare. More
You have been told that Social Security is an insurance program run by the federal government. You were led to believe that your income would be taxed at a certain rate for the cost of the program. Then in times of medical emergency or upon retirement you would be eligible for Social Security benefits. On the surface, this would seem to be an equitable arrangement.
But the federal government failed to fully inform you as to all of the other ramifications of applying for a Social Security number. For instance, did you know that you became a federal employee? Well, you did – specifically you became a member of the Merchant Marine. You also became an employee of a corporation that is involved with importing to and from the U.S. possessions. Another consideration is that if FICA is based upon a percentage of your earnings, then the government has somehow been granted the right to know the amount of your income and the sources of your income – this is not a hallmark of freedom. These statements and more will be evidenced by the actual federal statutes and regulations further on this page.
Like all great magicians, the federal government has you looking at the obvious while hiding the basis of the trick that the magician is performing right in front of your eyes.
Lots of Americans have questioned the legitimacy of the personal income tax, but it seems that everyone just loves the Social Security program. Social Security is the sacred cow that no one is ever supposed to criticize. Oh, sure, some claimants of Social Security find fault with what claims are denied or only partially funded. And lots of people are now pointing out that Social Security is not going to be solvent in the near future. But up till now no one has questioned the legitimacy of the Social Security program. Well, that time has come. READ MORE
Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that’s close to $220,500.
If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the govt. pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98.
If you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you’re 95 if you retire at age 65) and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit! If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.
The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madhoff ever had. More
It appears that some of our so-called grassroots advocates have jumped ship and now routinely parrot government talking points, helping to drive public opinion away from actual facts and towards what the government is desperate to have the public believe. This is quite evident in the recent article put out J.D. Heyes of Natural News regarding the condition of Social Security and Social Security Disability. Big government gone wild: Social Security on the verge of insolvency
Its hard to know where to start in highlighting the evident misrepresentation of the condition of Social Security (& disability) that occurs in this article. More
Marti Oakley (c)copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
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This is what the District of Criminals is trying to eliminate, the calling in of all the monies stolen from Social Security, due and payable to the investors in Social Security; the working class. Should the fund actually ever incur a shortage, the Social Security Administration could lawfully force the federal government to borrow money to cover the theft and to restore the 2.7 trillion stolen so far from the fund.
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According to Obama, he could not guarantee that Social Security checks would go out on time if an agreement was not reached on raising the debt ceiling. Really? And just what does Social Security have to do with the unfettered and mindless spending that goes on in the District of Criminals, sanctioned by one president after another? From the CBO graph above, you can see that 40% of all receipts in the federal government come from our FICA investments. They have re-designated our investments as “receipts”, as revenue for their use.
What will never be admitted by the District of Criminals is that if the federal government stopped seizing the surplus today, the fund would remain solvent. The projections thrown out continually of just when the fund will run short are all premised on the continued theft of the surplus from invested workers.
The fact is that Social Security has nothing whatsoever to do with raising the debt ceiling unless of course you take into account the fact that 19.5% of the money owed by the federal government, is owed to Social Security as a result of decades of theft from that fund. This is an intra-governmental debt; a nice way of saying we continue to steal money from the investments in Social Security to pay for lots of other crap that benefit, us and our friends. The intra-governmental debt is accrued when money is stolen from one designated fund and used for anything and everything else. It is not money borrowed externally from countries like China and it is not money borrowed from the Federal Reserve. It is money collected as an investment for retirement that was seized and redistributed by the government to other government entities, agencies and programs to cover the loss of revenues generated and accrued after successive tax cuts for the upper 3% and corporations.
Retiree’s were held for ransom and dangled in front of the public as bait, but not one of those haggling over this confessed to the fact that Social Security continues to produce an annual surplus which is immediately seized by the federal treasury (IMF) and used for other purposes.
As noted here: Since the Greenspan Commission in the early 1980s, Social Security has cumulatively collected far more in payroll taxes dedicated to the program than it has paid out to recipients—nearly $2.4 trillion by 2008. This annual surplus is credited to Social Security trust funds that hold special non-marketable Treasury securities, and this surplus amount is commonly referred to as the “Social Security Trust Fund“. The proceeds are paid into the U.S. Treasury where they may be used for other government purposes.” More
Marti Oakley (c)copyright 2011 All Rights Reserved
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We are on the verge of seeing the boomers, who have contributed FICA taxes for 40 years or more, pauperized. Obama and the Gang of 6 (A very apt name, this is a criminal enterprise) are about to chop up SS, and medicare rather than cut costly and useless government programs or shutting down any of the unlawful federal agencies that suck the lifeblood out of the country.
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It is an amazing thing to me to hear those in the District of Criminals continue to spew the mantra that increasing taxes on the wealthiest will somehow cost us jobs. Knock! Knock! Puddin’ heads! WE got no jobs!! We have an admitted 22 million out of work. What is your excuse now? Where are those jobs you promised if we treated the wealthy preferentially and absolved them of any meaningful responsibility to our country?
I believe the excuse for not taxing the wealthy has long since been exposed as fraud. The wealthy do not create jobs, at least not here in the US. The wealthy do not invest in America to any great degree. The wealthy are not willing to make any sacrifices in order to help stabilize the economy and reduce the national debt. Why this privileged class is allowed to exempt themselves from the burden the rest of the country has to shoulder is a nagging question many of us are asking. Maybe God could put a word of knowledge on the hearts of some of those pious Republicans who would see most of us destitute before they called on their wealthy friends or corporate donors to contribute.
Why is it you will tax small business owners and working class people into oblivion but refuse to tax pirating corporations and uber wealthy individuals and families that are plundering the economy and the country?
At what point did these hard core, bible thumping, scripture quoting right wing fanatics decide that it was morally acceptable to relieve their best wealthy friends (and themselves) along with mega corporate donors from any meaningful responsibility in sacrificing for the national debt, but it was just fine and damn dandy to go after the elderly and disabled after decades of plundering the investments in Social Security.
Obviously it is far more acceptable to put the screws to the elderly, retired or disabled rather than ask those skimming the cream off the top to contribute one damn thing to this country.
President Obama and a “Gang of Six” members of the U.S. House and Senate have placed Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid on the chopping block in secret, ongoing debt ceiling negotiations. In these secret negotiations, far away from public enlightenment or debate, deals are being cooked-up to undermine, cut or privatize these important and highly beneficial programs. With a vote on the impending national debt ceiling deadline these programs may be cut at any time in the next few days.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate several times this week. We can support his efforts to protect these vital programs by contacting our elected officials.
Take Action Today to Stop immediate cuts to these programs. According to several members of congress the cuts to these programs will begin this year after proposed changes are made to the CPI Consumer Price Index so that no cost of living increases will be made to recipients, only cuts.
(The Toll Free Number for any member of the U.S. House or Senate is: (1866) 220-0044)
Lynn Swearingen (c) copyright 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is a long-term issue in which many Administrations bear the weight upon their shoulders of “borrowing gone out of control” in conjunction with “spending with no accountability”.
Now consider comparing the above explanation with this “reasoned” Chicago style approach:
Carmen Mercer – Minuteman Civil Defense Corps Project
LNO: Can Americans finally WIN the war against ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION that we’ve been fighting so hard for so many years? YES, thanks to legislation that’s just been introduced in Congress: the “Loophole Elimination and Verification Enforcement Act,” or “LEAVE Act.”
The LEAVE Act was introduced by Rep. Gary Miller, who is from California. Like so many other states, California has good reason to want to finally END America’s illegal immigration crisis: Each year, California households alone pay an average of $1,183 EACH to provide health care, education, and incarceration to ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS. In these economically challenging times, there is NO REASON that hard-working families in ANY state should be forced to bear these costs.
The LEAVE Act takes an enforcement first approach to solve the problems caused by ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION by removing the incentives and loopholes in our current laws that encourage illegal aliens to come to the United States to live and work, and if they entered legally, to overstay their visas. In addition, this sweeping legislation gives law enforcement the tools they need to protect our nation and communities.
Among its many provisions, the LEAVE Act dramatically tightens the forms of personal identification that may be accepted by the federal government and financial institutions; expands the E-Verify program to require all employers to confirm the work eligibility of their employees; and prevents illegals from receiving Social Security credit for illegally working in the United States. More
It’s official, national austerity measures are here! As Wisconsin protesters fill the streets because of lost rights and benefits to workers, the nation is gearing up to face similar losses with social security being cut. Comedian George Carlin warned us that this day would come:
“Somewhere in a closed room—Washington, New York, hard to say— there is, in my opinion, talk of phasing out the most successful government program ever initiated for the common folk because the banksters, who’ve openly taken over the government’s finances are either unwilling to bail it out or, since there’s not enough left in it to steal, are thinking about just shutting it down.
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Today’s elected thieves, Wall Street crooks, and international banking cabal are trying to sell Social Security’s demise to the country in the midst of the financial shutdown they’ve engineered with its accompanying 15 million unemployed and a 22% unemployment rate (Click here to view link) .
Without Social Security, millions more would become as desperate as the unemployed.
Desperate people are malleable people if you’re trying to sidestep a Constitution and force an elite-appointed global government on them. More
Social Security is an investor funded program that has also been used to fund the government, it is NOT an entitlement program nor was it intended to be any form of welfare. The “entitlement” the government speaks of would be more aptly applied to them; they feeling they are entitled to avail themselves of our investments and use that money for whatever they choose to.
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A long coveted cut to Social Security and Medicare is going to happen. This will occur for reasons none of the politicians in the District of Criminals will ever speak about publicly. There is far more at stake here than what the District terms an “unfunded liability”. When you hear those in the District speak about this liability, you need to understand what they are really saying. This is an intra-governmental debt, meaning; a debt accrued within the government. It is a liability to the federal government because it is owed to “you” and they have no way of paying it back without taxing you more heavily. You are the “full faith and credit” of the United States corporation. That means government runs up the bills and we pay it.
The federal government now includes Social Security in its debt portfolio, not because the program is insolvent or ever was, and not because the Federal government has to fund it in any sense (SS is funded by your investments) but because the Federal government has stolen so much money from the fund, then sold special treasury securities on those stolen funds to countries like China to finance the massive debt accruing across the board. Since there is no chance the national debt can ever be repaid, the Fed is now in the position of finagling the discharge of internal debt from the books. Look at it as a form of back door bankruptcy.
The federal government DOES NOT fund Social Security! Social Security funds the federal government. More
Although I totally disagree with this man’s description of Social Security as an “entitlement” program, attempting to paint it as some form of welfare, the remainder of his assessment is quite accurate.
The greatest unfunded libaility we have is the federal government…the same government which has stolen and estimated 3 trillion from Social Security since the Johnson administration. It becomes “unfunded” because they have no way and never intended to pay it back without turning yet again, to the working class to replenish the theft of FICA taxes invested in Social Security.
Social Security becomes a “liability” when the funds stolen exceed those coming in; a threshold we will reach in 2035.
This site will forever end the conflict between the various “tax honesty movement” groups and the enforcement of the internal revenue laws. First of all, when dealing with the federal government of the United States, one must learn the definitions of the government’s legal “terms”. So let’s start with the definition of the term “taxpayer”.
You have been told that Social Security is an insurance program run by the federal government. You were led to believe that your income would be taxed at a certain rate for the cost of the program. Then in times of medical emergency or upon retirement you would be eligible for Social Security benefits. On the surface, this would seem to be an equitable arrangement.
But the federal government failed to fully inform you as to all of the other ramifications of applying for a Social Security number. For instance, did you know that you became a federal employee? Well, you did – specifically you became a member of the Merchant Marine. You also became an employee of a corporation that is involved with importing to and from the U.S. possessions. Another consideration is that if FICA is based upon a percentage of your earnings, then the government has somehow been granted the right to know the amount of your income and the sources of your income – this is not a hallmark of freedom. These statements and more will be evidenced by the actual federal statutes and regulations further on this page.
Like all great magicians, the federal government has you looking at the obvious while hiding the basis of the trick that the magician is performing right in front of your eyes.
Lots of Americans have questioned the legitimacy of the personal income tax, but it seems that everyone just loves the Social Security program. Social Security is the sacred cow that no one is ever supposed to criticize. Oh, sure, some claimants of Social Security find fault with what claims are denied or only partially funded. And lots of people are now pointing out that Social Security is not going to be solvent in the near future. But up till now no one has questioned the legitimacy of the Social Security program. Well, that time has come. More
Anger over illegal immigration, including that from thousands of senior supporters of TSCL, is throwing a monkey wrench into Congressional efforts to pass immigration amnesty legislation this year. But the Obama Administration appears to be bent on considering actions it could take without Congressional approval to achieve its objectives anyway, including giving permanent resident status and “green cards” to large numbers of people in the country illegally.
Recently an internal draft memo, prepared for the head of the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services (USCIS), was made public by a group of Senators who are demanding that Congress hold a hearing to investigate. The memo, prepared by four senior officials in the USCIS, lists ways the government could help certain categories of illegal immigrants achieve permanent legal residence status and green cards—absent reform. “In the absence of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, CIS can extend benefits and/or protections to many individuals and groups by issuing new guidance and regulations,” the memo said.
A spokesman for the USCIS said the document was only a draft memo and should not be equated with actual policy. But critics, including TSCL, say that the memo gives credence to the concern that the administration would try to execute a “back-door amnesty” plan that could add significant long-term costs to Social Security and Medicare.
A green card is an identification card issued to aliens in the U.S. who are in the process of becoming a permanent resident. It serves as proof that the cardholder has officially been granted permission to reside and take employment in the U.S.— the very two things illegal workers must have to claim Social Security benefits. Under current law, benefits claimed by former illegal workers may be based, at least in part, on unauthorized work. When determining entitlement to Social Security benefits, the Social Security Administration uses all earnings, even for jobs worked while the immigrant was illegal.
TSCL strongly opposes extending green cards to illegal immigrants by Administrative rule changes, and instead supports legislation that would protect Social Security by banning work credits based on unauthorized work. Take Action! To learn more about the legislation and whether your Members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors: http://www.seniorsleague.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=57&Itemid=144
Sources: “Obama Administration Considers Bypassing Congress On Immigration Reform,” Marcus Stern, Houston Chronicle, July 30, 2010. “Immigration Memo May Be Break For Immigrants,” Alfonso Chardy, The Miami Herald, August 2, 2010. “Permanent Residence,” Wikipedia, August 3, 2010.
THE SEARCH FOR LIABILITY IN THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
The federal government has no jurisdiction over intrastate commerce because the Declaration of Independence is the organic law of the land and its main tenet is that “all men are created equal”. To make the importing of articles from the U.S. possessions fall under the foreign commerce clause, the U.S. possessions are treated as foreign countries (see 26 USC §§ 2014(g), 865(i)(3), and 872(b)(7) for examples). More
09 06 10 Confiscation of Private Retirement Accounts
By Patrick A. Heller on September 1st, 2010
“The US government plan is to eventually take ownership of all assets in IRAs and 401K accounts and replace them with US government “Treasury Retirement Bonds
It lists the agenda for the joint hearings being held with the Department of Treasury September 14-15, 2010 on what is euphemistically called “lifetime income options for retirement plans.” The hearings are being conducted by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. I don’t like speaking in tabloid-style terms, but the unstated agenda of these hearings, as I understand it, is to push for the US government to eventually nationalize (confiscate) all assets in private Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and 401K plans!
The US government is desperate to get its hands on private assets to help cover soaring budget deficits and debts, and this is simply the largest and easiest piggy bank that could be seized. The Investment Company Institute estimates that at the end of 2008 that there were $3.613 trillion of assets in IRAs and $2.350 trillion of assets in 401K plans.
For more than the past ten years, I have warned readers that the US government was eventually going to go after private retirement accounts. Considered that as the most important reason to avoid establishing precious metals IRAs. Very few other writers (Ron Holland being one) have picked up on this issue as early as I did. In fact, the mainstream media pretty much ignored the subject even after a House Committee held hearings on the issue in October 2008. Obviously, an outright seizure of assets would meet stiff resistance from the public. So the confiscation will never be described as such by government officials. Expect to see terms such as “retirement income protection” thrown around. It is highly likely that such a program would be implemented in steps to help overcome public opposition. More
Lynn Swearingen (c) copyright 2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
For the purposes of this satirical piece, one will need the following definitions to assist in decoding the secret methods of stripping away the populations nest egg.
SSA : Sorry Suckers All gone : Formerly known as Social Security Administration
AARP : Another Association Ripping off People : Formerly known as American Association of Retired People
GRA :Grab Retirement Assets : GuaranteedRetirementAccounts
Introduced in the past have been Bills indicating that American Corporations are being irresponsible with their employees monetary investments (401K/IRA) and that the simple little American Folk need protecting from the big bad businesses. In order to do this, Administrations in the past have helped the under-informed idiots (us) by setting up programs that are designed to “help” us save for retirement. Seeing as the Federal Government has done such a fine job with the SSA program (never mind that for the first time since the overhaul in 1983 the program is in the red, is projected to be “less bad” and then recover nicely until it fails again in a few years) – history shows that another “assistance program” might not be such a great idea.
“While defined contribution plans have some strengths relative to defined benefit plans, participants in defined contribution plans bear the investment risk because there is no promise by the employer as to the adequacy of the account balance that will be available or the income stream that can be provided after retirement.” And furthermore, “The Agencies are considering whether it would be appropriate for them to take future steps for them to facilitate access to, and use of, lifetime income or other arrangements designed to provide a stream of income after retirement.”
We’ll just put that little data point at the back of our “unevolved-cannot-make-decisions-for-ourselves” brains until we work forward with this problem. More
Marti Oakley (c)copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved
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I remember back during the Reagan Administration when “trickle down” economics was first introduced. The idea was marketed as “ we give huge tax cuts to the wealthy and they will in turn re-invest in America and create jobs”; this was a win/win for the country. After all, if you tax the people creating jobs, supposedly they won’t be able to create jobs.
This plan, was marketed to the public as an economic theory and plan that just couldn’t lose. If America’s workforce would just bear the brunt of heavy taxation with no special loopholes, hedges, deductions or other tax escape mechanisms provided to the wealthy, the wealthy would create vast and wonderful high paying jobs. The benefits of relieving the wealthy and corporations from paying taxes on 100% of their income or profits would magically “trickle down” to the working class.
It worked! They did create jobs; in India, Pakistan, China, Taiwan, Mexico and any other nation where returns on investments could be predicated upon slave labor wages and government protection. Oh…and they then got to ship their crappy products back into the US tax free and we got Austin (a.k.a. Abdul) answering the phones for many major corporations.
The wealthy invested alright; in everything and every place but America. The economic bleeding from the US to foreign markets accelerated to such a rate that businesses literally disappeared overnight and took with them the jobs needed to keep America working. Off shore accounts were set up to provide fictional business addresses for the stashing of funds, assets and anything else of value in order to avoid US taxes.
The only thing that trickled down to the working and middle class was diminishing wages, a lower standard of living and increased costs of living. Oh, yeah….and taxes went up too….but not on the wealthy. The Reagan years marked a major event in the redistribution of wealth as the middle and working classes were relieved of ever increasing amounts of annual income and the country’s wealth was redistributed to those in the upper 3% and to corporations. More
“Constitutions alone cannot limit government,” writes Anthony Gregory. “The overwhelming bulk of what the federal government is engaged in, from imperial wars to drug prohibition, from Social Security to Medicare, is unauthorized by the Constitution, and yet they persist. What matters ultimately is the Constitution in the hearts and minds of the people. So long as the American public supports unconstitutional actions, such actions will commence. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, as Jefferson noted. The Constitution spells out great limits on the government, but without the support of the people, the document loses its teeth.”
“What will the reformed Social Security look like? Again, the Conservative think tanks have an idea waiting in the wings: personal savings accounts. In the same way that 401(k)s killed the pension, Social Security is set to be privatized for the mighty benefit of Wall Street.”
Global Research, February 23, 2010
In Washington each new day brings a fresh call to reform entitlement programs Social Security, Medicare, etc., (in Congress, the word reform now means to eliminate, or drastically reduce). Tackling Social Security has been on the to-do list of the corporate elite for years, and they’re not waiting any longer. After years of promoting this cause, conservative think tanks have now garnered solid support from the political establishment as a whole, which includes the Republican and Democratic parties.
The newest liberal recruit to the destruction of Social Security is Thomas Friedman, the influential columnist for The New York Times, who wrote recently:
The president needs to persuade the country to invest in the future and pay for the past… We have to pay for more new schools and infrastructure than ever, while accepting more entitlement cuts than ever [Social Security, Medicare, etc.] when public trust in government is lower than ever. (February 20, 2010). More
“Notice at the end, the point made about how, thus far, Social Security has been running a SURPLUS! They don’t mention anything about that.”
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By James Ridgeway
Hope for lasting liberal change was washed away on Tuesday—not just with the loss of the Democrats’ super-majority in the Senate, but with a closed-door deal that would lead to cuts in bedrock liberal programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. While Massachusetts voters were casting their ballots to install Republican Scott Brown in Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat, President Obama was hammering out an agreement with Democratic leaders to support a commission on the deficit with the power to propose reductions to entitlement programs. This proposal represents a capitulation to conservatives in both parties, and leaves liberals surrendering not only on health care, but on the core achievements of the New Deal and the Great Society.
Under the agreement, President Obama would issue an executive order to create an 18-member panel that would be granted broad authority to propose changes in the tax code and in the massive federal entitlement programs — including Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — that threaten to drive the nation’s debt to levels not seen since World War II. More
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A bill HR 3326, The Department of Defense Appropriations Act is currently up for vote on the Senate floor. An amendment in the Act proposes a national debt ceiling hike to $13 trillion dollars, using “entitlement spending” to pay for it. Facts here on the Government Executive website: see also the Senate website at www.senate.gov
“Entitlement spending” to pay for this national debt is Social Security, Medicare, Veteran’s Benefits, and Medicaid, according to an aid in my Senator’s office. Basically, this means that all of the above programs will either be cut back or could possibly disappear entirely as funds are diverted to paying for the monstrous debt. More
If I hear one more crack pot whining about Social Security being a [Ponzi scheme] I think my head will implode.SS is a retirement fund and one totally funded by taxpaying workers.Even to some extent by those [have mores] who only pay on a portion of their earnings as opposed to us [have nots or have less] that pay on all of our earnings.Come retirement day even the rich guys will be lining up for the monthly Social Security check. They’ll think it’s a really good deal then and won’t say the word [Ponzi].
All the chronic whiners who throw old Ponzi out there as though he was some creature from hell seem not to be aware that those insurance companies that charge exorbitant rates for policies they have no intention of honoring, are modeled on the same premise as Social Security is.Only SS actually pays as promised whereas your insurer most likely won’t unless you sue them..and then you’re not likely to win.Now there is a refined Ponzi scheme for you: even Ponzi attempted to pay at least some of his investors back……your insurance company has no such intentions unless forced to.
As employees, we INVEST in SS with each and every paycheck we earn.The federal government DOES NOT fund SS in any way.Currently, and for the past thirty years, SS has produced a massive surplus and is currently producing about 150 billion a year beyond what it needs to pay all claims.
When the government announces the yearly budget, it is immediately offset by the amount that will be stolen from SS and used for other purposes.So, add 150 billion to the announced budget total: this will give you a more realistic total for what the government is going to spend using your money.
Lets look at those insurance companies.
You are forced to buy insurance whether you want it or not, if you own a vehicle.You are forced to pay extortion rates for health insurance…..or go without.This leaves you either very sick or on welfare or just treading water until the health issues pass.
But what happens to those millions of premiums paid by people who have never accessed their policies or tried to, or who were informed by their insurer that for some reason their ridiculously priced policy doesn’t cover that problem they have?What happens to those billions and billions of dollars paid in premiums year after year to companies that have no intention of paying anything but the smallest portion of claims?
We don’t know what happens to these accumulated premiums because they are used for anything and everything other than honoring the policies the insurance company sold.For every $1 that is paid out on claims, $2 is spent trying to avoid legitimate claims and even with this, they still honor less than 20% of the claims made on policies.
In fact, we just bailed out a few biggy insurance companies that have continued to sell policies and to conduct the business of selling [insurance] after destroying the financial sector of the country with risky business ventures that we can only speculate about.We have to speculate because they were not required to divulge just exactly where the money had gone and what exactly they had done with it.All we know is that it wasn’t used for honoring the contracted insurance policies they sold and continue to sell.I call this breach of contract and you should be able to sue on that premise, but try finding a judge for that one…..in fact, lots of luck even finding an attorney.
In fact, a fair portion of the investments we all made in Social Security just this year will go directly to bail out the biggest PONZI schemes ever devised by people who had no intention of ever making good on their promises.
And this is how we come to the [unfunded liabilities] section of the federal budget.
First we tax workers on their wages for their retirement.
Then, we make the SS trust fund available to the general fund because it has and continues to produce a massive surplus each year.
We use the money stolen from workers accounts to finance wars, to cover up the massive loss of revenues from preferential treatment of the upper 3%, and to fund the day to day operations of the government that is the thief of these funds.
Later, we use these stolen retirement funds to bail out Wall Street, corrupt insurance companies and all of our crooked cronies who enriched themselves at the expense of the entire country
Then we start crying about SS being an [unfunded liability] because we stole so damn much money from this program, which we never had any intention of paying back, we have potentially run it into a hole. Fearing that the worst could happen, we present this as a false scenario hoping to convince the very people we victimized when we stole their retirement investments that somewhere in the future, at a time far, far away, this retirement investment account might only be able to pay a portion of its claims.
Only even that last statement isn’t true. The part about them never intending to pay it back is, but the part about it being in the red in the future isn’t. The fact is, left alone and untampered with, SS will still produce far more than it pays out.
The next time someone tells you that SS is a Ponzi scheme……direct them to their insurance company and ask them to explain that one. Then ask them what happens when and if they try to make a claim. Ask them when the last time was that insurance premiums were seized to finance the repayment to Social Security.
We have a new president which will hopefully mark a new day for America.Unfortunately, we are still saddled with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid whose agendas seem far removed what the majority of American people want.
If I could be the person who could determine the first 100 days of this new presidency, these would be the first things I would make sure were done.
End the use of [and for other purposes] that ends the titling of each and every bill in both houses.The use of this phrase signals the insertion of pork barrel spending costing taxpayers billions in deficit spending each year.It also allows the insertion of non-related attachments to the legislation the bill is supposed to be about in order to pass laws that could not pass on their own, usually to our detriment.
Demand that each and every bill be read in full by the persons voting on it.There is no excuse for any elected official to vote on a bill they have not even taken the time to read.[1]
Repeal, rescind, strike down, nullify, wipe out and eradicate every Executive Order that has been issued with the express intent of expanding presidential powers beyond the scope of the Constitution, and used to limit, erase and obliterate civil liberties.
While our country slides further into recession and another 250,000 lost their jobs in October of 2008 bringing our total unemployment numbers to more than 3 million, enforce our immigration laws; penalize those companies that offshore jobs and end the massive trade deficit with China that is in part responsible for the state of our economy.We need to re-establish our manufacturing base here at home using American workers.A consumer based economy cannot survive, and was never meant to, especially when the consumers have no discretionary money to spend.
As a direct result of the created financial crisis, suspend all foreign aid except to the poorest countries.Why we continue to send 8 billion plus, yearly to Israel when their economy is booming and they were somehow not affected by the global crisis, is beyond me.
Immediately suspend all the tax credits, tax subsidies and cash subsidies to oil companies.The idea that these companies netted as much as 30 billion in 2007 and will see at least that much for this year while America struggles to stay afloat, is beyond me.
Remove Social Security funds from the general fund.Secure these funds against raiding by the federal government.Currently, there is 2.6 trillion in worthless I.O.U.’s sitting in Social Security as a result of theft by the federal government.Since this debt, created by stealing the retirement investments of American workers cannot be paid back (and in fact, there was never any intention to pay it back) the federal government now lists this debt by theft as an [unfunded liability]; which should explain the continual scrambling to try and “fix” the system before we find out just how much damage they have done.
Remove us from the United Nations and tell them to build their multi-billion dollar new complex somewhere else…..and to provide the bulk of the financing they are expecting us to provide.
Cut the bloated White House Staff that is costing taxpayers more than 32 million a year. [2]
Cut the bloated congressional staffs.
End the lobbyist faction.Special interest groups and persons should be required to conduct all their efforts in front of the CSPAN camera’s.That alone could end this nightmare that money creates for all of us, in the halls of congress.
Suspend all retirement payments to former members of congress and their spouses.The millions spent each year for this largesse is more than we can afford, especially for people who most likely don’t need the money.If those of us out here in no-man’s land have to tighten our belts and sacrifice, these people should be more than happy to contribute their fair share.
Begin the ending of the wars.
Seems like a lot doesn’t it?The truth is, all of these things could be accomplished in a matter of days.The fact is, nothing remotely similar to this will happen.Congress will continue to operate as an entity with no obligation to the population.
What we can do is to remain vigilant, remain involved and continue to speak our minds where ever and when ever possible.Our reticence and our apathy is what got us into the situation we find our selves in now.This is not the time to revert back to old habits and feeling that with this new president, everything is fine……it isn’t.Whatever your political leanings, now is the time to stand up and speak out.
LNO
The PPJ Gazette 