As the country plummets deeper and deeper into debt, the need to review and revamp entitlement programs has never been greater. And yet, politicians on both sides of the aisle refuse to touch that hot potato for fear of the political repercussions. For social security in particular there is a pretty easy solution. Phase it out, raise the retirement age incrementally over time, and provide motivation for people below the age of 45 to start personal retirement accounts. What's the problem? As a 53 year old I know that may include some things I don't like. Maybe I won't be able to "collect" until I'm 65, 67 or 68 instead of 62. Ok, so be it. The alternative is that at some point in the future no one will be able to "collect" and they also won't be prepared with personal retirement accounts.
We have politicians who relish the tactic of fearmongering. Whoever they can scare into voting their way, they will. Doesn't matter to them what's right for the country, or even if what they tell you is truthful. It only matters that the tactic can be used to get re-elected and increase their power. Politics in Washington isn't just broken, it's not just corrupt, it is a huge Ponzi scheme, a house of cards waiting to crumble. Read Saving Freedom by Jim DeMint, then get out and VOTE the corruption out of Washington. That may mean taking a hard look at your Senators or your Representative. But if they are not complying with the Oath they took, they need to go - pure and simple. Get on board!
Social Security Reform: The New Radicalism
By Joseph C. Phillips
10/18/2010
There is, perhaps, no better testament to how far this nation has drifted from the principles of individual liberty, free markets, and private property than that those proponents of real reform of the Social Security system are now looked upon as radicals.
Senate majority leader, Harry Reid (D-NV), running for his political life, accused his opponent, Sharron Angle, of wanting to “kill Social Security.” Of course, Harry Reid has a rather elastic definition of “the truth,” so his attack lacks a measure of veracity. Angle has taken the position that in order to save Social Security we must stop raiding the (non-existent) lock-box and that “going forward, we need to personalize Social Security the same way that Harry Reid has a personalized account.” Reid has routinely characterized Angle as an extremist. Alas, Reid also suffers from the political malady known as “Venetian memory:” Recalling that which is advantageous and forgetting everything else. You see, in 1999 Harry Reid was all for “putting a small amount of Social Security dollars into the private sector.”
What is also interesting is how fast Angle changed the subject. And who can blame her? Democrat warnings that Republicans want to roll the dice with the retirements of the elderly have been extremely effective. Republicans running for office must distance themselves from the topic of Social Security reform, lest they commit political suicide.
Unfortunately, such scare tactics have also scuttled any hope for finding a real solution to the very real problem of securing the financial future of the Social Security system.
This year, Social Security went into deficit; the program is paying out more than it is taking in. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this deficit will continue for the next four years, “with small surpluses reappearing briefly in 2014 and 2015.” The report continues: “After that, demographic forces are expected to overtake the fund, as more and more baby boomers leave the work force, stop paying into the program and start collecting their benefits. At that point, outlays will exceed revenue every year, no matter how well the economy performs.”
To this happy news, progressives shout that privatization, which really means giving private citizens ownership and control of their Social Security dollars, will lead to disaster. Such pronouncements are really an example of the old political game of saying one thing while doing another. In neighborhoods outside of Washington, D.C., this is also known as lying.
In order to stave off the impending collapse of the system, Congress must either raise taxes, raise the age of retirement, cut services, implement means testing for recipients, or some combination thereof.
In other words, in order to get votes, liberal politicians are convincing citizens that conservatives want to take away their retirement savings. Once in office, those same Democrat politicians will pass laws that will take Social Security away from large swaths of the American public.
As it happens, there is also another way to save Social Security: import workers. In addition to the potential of providing Democrats with several million new voters, “comprehensive immigration reform,” (or amnesty), would also add millions of new workers to pay into the Social Security system. The idea of importing workers to sustain entitlement programs is not new. France buoyed its social welfare programs by importing millions of North Africans; Americans can sustain its entitlement programs by looking south of the border. And like France, we might also look forward to millions of citizens rioting in the streets when the financial rubber finally hits the road. But I digress.
The great irony is that what conservatives are really saying is that workers should be allowed to own the fruits of their labor. What a radical concept!
Actually, it turns out that it’s not all that radical. You see, there are approximately six million state and municipal employees, including policemen, firemen, and school teachers that have been able to opt out of the Social Security system. In fact, prior to 1984, federal employees did not participate in the system. In an effort to shore up the system, federal employees were brought into the fold. That process was vehemently opposed by none other than that old radical, then-Congressman, Harry Reid.
My, how times have changed!
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like A White Boy” available wherever books are sold.
Stand With God, Stand For Liberty!
HOW WE LOST AMERICA :: A Brief History in Ten Points
ReplyDeleteCopyright (c) 2010 Bruce Arnold. Republication with attribution permitted.
Preface: For anyone of predominantly White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (i.e. European) heritage to bemoan "How We Lost America" is the height of hypocrisy. But for the sake of the Cherokee blood in my veins mixed with that of the Aztecs in my children, I continue:
1. Whether God preceded Greed or Greed preceded God is debatable. The fact that all forms of government and all flavors of politics are the spawn of their unholy union is not.
2. At the core of Christianity is the pursuit of good. At the core of Capitalism is the pursuit of gold. Beginning in 1492 at the latest, these pursuits connected all continents, corruptly conflating in the process.
3. Global empires constructed on this corrupt conflation collided in what we called "the Great War", the bloody battlegrounds of which provided ideal breeding pools for the false profits and false prophets that followed.
4. Massive military machinations offered Sheeple on all sides salvation from depression and oppression. And at the end of what we called "World War II", an American military-industrial machine of unprecedented power prevailed.
5. Not wishing to part with their power or profits, the "rising military-industrial complex" and Kleptocracy Ike warned us about began clandestinely fomenting fears of foreign foes and promoting puppet politicians at home and abroad.
6. The demise of the Soviet Union brought about the need for a new Boogie Man to keep billions for bullets, bandages and bridges in the federal budget. And after some behind-the-scenes bargaining by the Good Ole Boys, the Bedouins were happy to oblige.
7. In the "Coup d'etat of 2000", the Kleptocracy overrode our Constitution and the electorate to install "Dubya", the idiot son of a former CIA Director, as POTUS (knowing that although they controlled Gore as well, he'd be harder to manage).
8. On 11 September 2001, the Kleptocracy allowed or orchestrated the massacre of thousands of innocent American Sheeple as pretext for the perpetuation of their war profiteering and Peak Oil reserve pursuits.
9. With the debris of the three towers still smoldering in Manhattan, political puppets Left and Right proudly voted away large portions of our Bill of Rights in what must have been laughingly labelled "The Patriot Act".
10. The 2008 election brought no "Change", as Gates stayed in charge at the Pentagon and Goldman-Sachs kept their hands in the Treasury. And to assure no change in 2010, Citizens United v FEC legalized unlimited anonymous (including foreign) corporate political donations.
And THAT's how we lost America, folks...
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This sad commentary on the rape of our republic and death of our democracy brought to you by Bruce Arnold ... a record-holding long distance motorcycle rider ... a bikers' rights activist, and proud member of The 100 ... a political agitator targeting social injustice and piercing the veil of our two-puppet system to expose the institutionalized greed of the Kleptocracy pulling all strings Left and Right ... like Thomas Jefferson, an aficionado of ethnic aesthetic and a philosophical anarchist who accepts the State as a necessary evil under which the best government is less government. Follow Bruce at http://LdrLongDistanceRider.com
The 2008 election brought no "Change", as Gates stayed in charge at the Pentagon and Goldman-Sachs kept their hands in the Treasury. And to assure no change in 2010, Citizens United v FEC legalized unlimited anonymous (including foreign) corporate political donations...
ReplyDeletehttp://ldrlongdistancerider.com/29
Welocme IBB: Read Saving Freedom by Jim DeMint, it gives a good explanation of our history, our present, and the course our future can take. Let's get God back into society!
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