Posted on 04/02/2005 5:12:36 AM PST by HankReardon
An end to America many of us enjoy and love seams near. The trends are frightening.
Immigration poses a huge threat. Using current rates of birth and immigration (legal and illegal), our Census Bureau calculates all races in the United States will become minorities within 45 years. Coalitions of third-world immigrants may then dominate. Such occurences, some watch-dog organizations contend, will likely lead to conflict among the cultures and open revolt.
An estimated 12 million foreigners are here illegally. Many receive services without paying taxes. Their presence is causing hospital closings because of required, unpaid treatment, the reoccurence of communicable diseases, additional school levies for multilingual instruction, higher costs of incarceration, above normal crime rates, increased gang activity, pockets of squalor in housing, welfare provisions for them ahead of citizens, and lower pay for residents competing for jobs. Besides, the government permits the hiring of illegal aliens without penalty, making a mockery of "the rule of law."
Despite polls showing the public's desire for curtailing immigration, President Bush vowed to continue former President Clinton's desire for a multicultural society. But Bush is pushing far ahead. His latest agreement invites more illegal immigration by providing Social Security benefits to any mexican who worked here, either legally or illegally. Never mind that they are largely uneducated and that Mexico's leader wants them here.
If congress approves, our cost may exceed more than $550 billion. Are our interests being neglected?
Congress shares responsiblity. Legislative action taking trillions of dollars from the Trust Fund occurred mostly during Bush's tenure.
Yet, the politicians give themselves hefty pay and retirement benefits while earmarking $23 billion for pork projects such as ski resorts, a gay and lesbian center, and animal waste management. Don't expect a presidential veto, however.
Our national debt, money owed mainly to Asian countries, is also unprecedently large under Bush. Exacerbating concerns of economists about bankruptcy and our nation's loss of respect worldwide, an unpopular war and other costly involvements abroad, the dollar's precipitous decline internationally, a balance of trade no longer favoring the Untied States, the budget sharply curtailing services for citizens, and a deteriorating infrastructure which studies find will require trillions of dollars to restore.
Can current demographic and economic trends be reversed? That might occur if voters aggressively inform the politicians of desires and replace those (political party aside) who would continue to fritter our country away.
Dr. so and so (Founding President of local community college)
Social Security is a Ponzi scheme, pure and simple. Unfortunately the SHEEPLE still think that we should continue to have it. Were I dictator, it would be totally voluntary.
As stated:……There is no "Trust fund"
There is no "Lock Box"
LBJ did move SS into the general fund/slush fund
President Bush is trying to stop the ponzi scheme by allowing all Americans to be a part of what all Federal Employees enjoy now - why does this seem to be such a problem for people to understand? Or maybe I should rephrase that - this is what Leahy, Clinton, Kennedy, Reid, Schumer, Pelosi, Daschle DON’T want you to know!
Documented workers in the US from any country, are paid the same as citizen workers. Documented US citizens working in other countries, are paid the same as employees in that country.
You'll find all sorts of scarey data here at the US National Debt Clock page:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
Yeah yeah! It's a ponzi scheme, I do not disagree, anyone managing a retirement fund this way in the private sector would be in prison. But how many people come on and say, "it's a ponzi scheme, get rid of it." and that's all. I heard it before! Give me something earth shattering and thought provoking on the subject.
Sorry Dane. That's weak. That'd be like saying Reagan is in favor of the SCOTUS using int'l law as its guide because 2 out of 3 of his appointees think so. The judiciary is a crap shoot. Further, I sincerely doubt a judge was appointed for the sole purpose of trying to overthrow a single ballot initiative. That makes zero sense. And given GW's broad pronouncements in FAVOR of mexican illegals, your argument loses whatever tiny morsel of plausibility it may have had. For example:
"This new system will be more compassionate. Decent, hardworking people will now be protected by labor laws, with the right to change jobs, earn fair wages and enjoy the same working conditions that the law requires for American workers," he said.http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/07/bush.immigration/
THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO SAY! All this talk about "privatizing" Socialist Security will amount to nothing, for as long at the government is involved, it will never truly be privatized. What I say is no more earth shattering than your post of what some third-rate community college HACK has to say.
It's hard to convince people of that when they go to the SS website and see that.
Much more to say, for instance when you mention privatizing Social Security just now, important words such as "partial" and "voluntary" were left out.
Just saying "it's a ponzi scheme, get rid of it" gives me nothing i can use. I'm sure you have more.
The demoncrats are screaming that the "diversion" of SS monies from the "trust fund" to private accounts will add trillions to the deficit.
If there really is a trust fund, how could the private accounts effect the deficit?
The "trust fund" is an accounting scam, just as the SS is a ponzi scheme.
By the way, great name,
"Leave the gun, get the canoli."
"Our homeland will be more secure when we can better account for those who enter our country," he said. "Instead of the current situation, in which millions of people are unknown ... law enforcement will face few problems with undocumented workers and will be better able to focus on the true threats to our nation from criminals and terrorists," he said.
Right, he wants to turn undocumented workers into documented workers. That quote is designed to highlight a supposed benefit of legitimizing and facilitating the use of illegal workers, by simply making it legal.
Dane,
How am I supposed to believe that people that have lived here for years as felons/lawbreakers will all of a sudden, under a new law, without amnesty (as many claim) decide to start following that new law?????
Like I said, I don't think the post is accurate. Of course, it is true that ALL social security benefits are taken from the trust fund. They are taken from the trust fund under Bush's watch. They were taken from the trust fund on Clinton's watch, and on Bush, Sr.'s watch and Reagan's watch. Before Reagan, there wasn't any money in the trust fund anyway, so it's kinda misleading to talk about it before him. I don't think it's true, though that most of the money that has gone out of the trust fund has gone out on Bush's watch. It is true that the number of social security recipient's is increasing, so the amount of money flowing out of the trust fund is increasing as time goes by. But not so much that more than half has come out on Bush's watch. Irrespective, the fact remains that Bush has tried to reform social security and the Democrats have blocked it. So it's certainly not accurate to blame Bush for a problem he inherited, and has tried to fix.
Tell me what you think of the view I am having of Social Security money.
Social Security contributions, the payroll tax, self-employment tax, whatever is like every other tax to the federal government, it all goes into one big pot. The only distinction is the accounting, how much has come from where is recorded, it is all dipped out with the same ladle. Social Security benefits, welfare, farm subsidies..... The only thing the SS Trust Fund has is a record of how much money has been taken and a record of how much went to beneficiaries.
And, are you saying there IS money in the Social Security Trust Fund now? That SS contributions are not going directly to the General Fund?
Agreed. Very true. It's not much protection, is it? Which is why privatisation is so essential. The only way to prevent that from happening is to put the money into the hands of the people who contribute it, i.e. private retirement accounts, where Congress can't touch it.
There is an accounting entry.
There isn't and never was any trust fund. What there is, is a pile of government IOU's called treasury notes obligating the government to pay itself back at a future date. Obviously a failure to repay cannot be pursued legally because no entity can sue itself. SS as a pile of money does not and never did exist. There was nothing to raid.
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