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My vicious cat Rocket cruelly cuts one from the herd
It was the one who didn't donate
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Posted on 07/08/2011 4:41:50 AM PDT by blam
The Sneaky Way They Plan on Cutting Social Security Benefits
July 8, 2011
Talk of changing the way the CPI is calculated is now part of on going talks on how to deal with the debt expansion. Reuters explains bluntly what is going on:
President Barack Obama and lawmakers are considering cutting Social Security and increasing revenue by changing the way the government measures inflation.
Four senior congressional aides said lawmakers are discussing using an alternative yardstick to gauge inflation, known as the “chained consumer price index,” to determine annual cost-of-living adjustments for millions of Americans. How much of an impact will the change in the method of calculating CPI have on Social Security?
It could result in cutting Social Security by $112 billion over 10 years, raising taxes by $60 billion and cutting pension and veterans’ disability payments by $24 billion, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation.
According to Reuters:
Advocates say the change is needed because the government’s current measure of inflation overstates how quickly prices rise. Got that? In May, the annualized core CPI came in at 2.4% and the government debt negotiators think this is too high a number.
Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma goes one better, he says:
There hasn’t been any economist anywhere that says we shouldn’t do that, [change the way inflation is measured] Earth to Couburn, start with John Williams at Shadow Stats, if you are looking for some one who thinks the CPI measure has been manipulated downward enough already and read up on the last manipulation of the CPI, which was inspired by President Richard Nixon.
Coburn continues with this outrageous remark:
We need a CPI that truly reflects what’s happening in the economy, not what’s good for the politicians.
Bottom line: D.C. politicians are attempting every way possible to raise revenue and cut expenditures, even if it is on the back of the elderly. They will lie and say things with a straight face, even if a quick trip to the supermarket confirms the absurdity of the statements made by politicians like Coburn.
Agreed!.....Stop the spending. It’s that simple, just stop it. Pull back some of the ‘billions’ we send overseas to ratchet other Governments up. Bring it home and get our own “house” back in order. And stop telling other countries they don’t have to pay it back...they owe, they should pay.
What a gorgeous Cat The-Ol’ Looks like a big one too!
They found a way to cut benefits without sneaking around. They simply haven’t paid retirees any COLA increases for several years now and none appear in the offing.
Nothing sneaky about that. Just a middle digit extended while paying for Palesinian bills, foreign aid and other things overseas I’m not in favor of.
So far as I can see, seniors are the only section of society that are part of a shared sacrifice. Not complaining, but would like to see Congress, government unions, the Defense Dept, Education department, etc. join us.
It’s a bit of an old picture from when he was in his prime. He’s at least 16 now (adopted as an adult of indeterminate age), and he’s trimmed down quite a bit because he has chronic renal failure. We’re very protective of him because he is the sweetest cat we’ve ever known, not vicious at all in fact. ;-)
The functioning of the markets, even in the US, has been so rigged and lobbied and negotiated by various parties that they lack a lot being free markets. So, did the free market set the minimum wage? Did it set union contracts?
In the instances when an employer is free to hire or not hire, an employee is free to take a job or note take a job, and the employer is free to set a wage, then I am right.
I’m also right when the entities at the bargaining table are free to negotiate the compensation collectively. If that 6% weren’t taken by the government, it’s on the table just as much as the last dollar of employee pay.
I also note that your use of “perfect” to describe your opponent’s position is shameless straw-man rhetoric.
You do realize that you are arguing the position of the leftists, don’t you?
Thanks. 16 is plenty old for a cat I understand. Mine passed at 12 and had been failing for quite awhile. But I’ve heard some live on to their twenties.
I was protective of “Kitty” too. An Alstralian Tree Cat..so long haired with a plume for a tail. Beautiul and fun too!
I liked your Cat’s face and indeed looks like the sweetest cat ever!
If they put away the “politics” of their own states and just focus on stopping the spending ,and cut the junk, then see where they are at. But I am not going to support cutting those who earned and have need of ‘their’ retirement monies ,which they paid into the system, until they get serious about spending in all the other areas.
They just want a quick fix and going after where the most revenue is generated from.....how about stop giving to Freddi Mac etc. and cease feeding the banking system of other countries.
Oh the lists could go on..... but as I see it the problem isn’t where they can cut, but they simply aren’t willing to do that.
There is a nice pic of him on my profile page. Just scroll down past all the “banned or suspended” stuff.
one of the tragedies is that we allowed Congress, signed off by Reagan, to smole and mirror us back in the 1980s to greatly increase taxes by using the excuse of SS running out of money, All this did was allow a wasteful congress to use this money to spend elsewhere, not to “save” for SS.
“one of the tragedies is that we allowed Congress, signed off by Reagan, to smole and mirror us back in the 1980s to greatly increase taxes by using the excuse of SS running out of money, All this did was allow a wasteful congress to use this money to spend elsewhere, not to “save” for SS.”
Yes, SS was running low on cashflow in the 80s, and the right response would have been to get rid of it then.
Nevertheless, that was politically impossible because SS and Medicare had political constituencies that were far too powerful. I would only add that the system was never designed to “save” money for anyone’s retirement. It has always been money-in/money-out.
Because the program wasn’t killed in the 80’s and taxes were raised, the 80’s seniors and their kept politicians created a whole new generation of victims (roughly speaking, us) who had to pay massively more in payroll withholding. The 80’s era retirees, BTW, were still among the big winners in the SS/Medicare ponzi scheme.
Now we have to ask whether we have more integrity than the geezers who shafted us in the 80s. Are we going to try to do the same thing (actually it will be worse because payroll taxes would have to go up a lot to maintain “benefits”) to our children and grandchildren?
LOL...ok I’m going to do that.
Oh she IS a beautiful cat! That photo makes you want to reach out and pet her...sweet!
Thanks Lyndon. By the way is it really hot down there?
Unless you voted for a third-party, you voted for the other side of the same Republicrat coin.
Lots of people moaning today about the proposed Social Security and Medicare cuts had decades ahead of people like me to change course and avoid slamming head on into a financial iceberg.
Instead, what did they do?
They--Republicans and Democrats alike--ignored the warning signs by denigrating the messengers of such signs as "kooks," handed over the keys to the United States to irresponsible politicians, bankers, and corporate elitists, and partied hard like the U.S. would be on top of the world forever.
Well, guess what! The day of reckoning is here, the ship has hit the iceberg, and if you want your Big Government benefits, the Pied Piper is going to take America's youth away because your generation can't (and won't) pay the bill for its insatiable appetite for Big Government "solutions" to Big Government "problems."
Just...like...in the fairy tale.
You do realize what happens when young workers are so heavily burdened with taxes and debt, don't you?
They don't get married, they don't buy houses, they don't start families, and they don't start businesses.
Consider those consequences.
” handed over the keys to the United States to irresponsible politicians, bankers, and corporate elitists”
These people are outright THIEVES!
Well, he is beautiful and very, very sweet. Thank you for taking a look at him. He is MY cat, and my favorite cat of all time.
I got that...He’s YOUR cat....tsk tsk.
Not once have I said I support SS and yet you continue to blame my generation for something we are not responsible for. Stop acting like a sniveling snot sucker and fight to end SS and don't blame the people who paid in and supported your parents/grandparents. 'nuf ced.
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