Ken supports Romney.
The general principle is that we have been losing for 100 years. Since Wilson we have seen only a skirmish or two won and not a single reversal of a single gain of socialism. Name One? There is none. We are the Chicago Cubs of Politics..
The American people have been supporting the expansion of the welfare state. They have been sold a bill of goods in much the way that people buy Ponzi schemes. Socialism is great until you run out of other people's money. We had the New Deal, the Fair Deal, and the New Society. Bush 43 added the prescription drug program to Medicare even though it represents a $7.2 trillion unfunded liability. People like Newt Gingrich support it as well. No politician is going to suggest eliminating Medicare, Medicaid, or SS. They will try to make it run more efficiently, but there is no political will to eliminate them.
The Democrats are ranked #5,and we have spent all our time, treasure and focus on them while dying of cancer from within.
The Democrats are the party of Free Stuff, but I don't blame them but the people who elect them. By and large, the American public is uninformed and unengaged. And Reps have been complicit as well. What is happening now is the collapse of the welfare state not only here but in Europe where it is more advanced. In 1950 there were 16 workers for every retiree; today there are 3.3; and by 2030 there will be just two to support this huge welfare state. And by 2030 one in 5 residents of this country will 65 or older, twice what it is now.
SS and Medicare are pay as you go systems. SS has been running in the red since 2010 and Medicare (Part A) has been running in the red since 2008. Moreover, Medicare Parts B and D are funded by the General Fund for 75% of the costs. This is by law. The premiums only cover 25% of the costs. If nothing is done to reform the entitlement programs, they will consume the entire budget. They are unsustainable. The politicians know that and have known it for decades. They continue to kick the can down the road but now we are running out of road. Tax revenue only covers the costs of the entitlement programs and debt servicing costs. DOD and the rest of the government are funed by borrowing 42 cents of every federal dollar spent.
In order to rein in these costs before we go off the cliff, there will be much pain for the American people. And they don't want the pain, but rather, to believe the politicians who treat them like children. We are in dire straits. And our aging population will compound our problems.
Source: CBO "Combined OASDI Trust Funds; January 2011 Baseline" 26 Jan 2011. Note: See "Primary Surplus" line (which is negative, indicating a deficit)
Matters are even worse than this chart shows. In December, Congress passed a Social Security tax reduction. Workers are temporarily paying 2 percentage points less, from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, in Social Security payroll taxes this calendar year. Since the government is making up the shortfall out of general revenues, CBO’s deficit projections for the trust funds do not include that. But CBO’s figures predict that the "payroll tax holiday" will cost the government’s general fund $85 billion in this fiscal year and $29 billion in fiscal year 2012 (which starts Oct.1, 2011.) Since every dollar of that will have to be borrowed, the combined effect of the " tax holiday" and the annual deficits will amount to a $130 billion addition to the federal deficit in the current fiscal year, and $59 billion in fiscal 2012.
Obama IS the LEAST of our problems, and if we do not fully understand this and are not fully prepared to clean our own house first, to remove the plank from our own eye so that we can see clearly how to deal with the left, we will NEVER restore America. And we will see the 110th year of the income tax, the 5oth year of abortion and the 10th of sodomy.
Our problem is the welfare state and a culture of dependency. We have 54 million on SS, 47 million on Medicare, 60 million on Medicaid (Obamacare will add 18 million more to the rolls), and 46 million on food stamps. Obama is increasing the size and reach of the welfare state. Obama is NOT the least of our problems. He is embedding the culture of dependence deeply into our institutions so that it will be almost impossible to remove them. Four more years will be the final nail in the coffin. Obamacare will be implemented, which will increase control over the individual and make the state more powerful. The NHS in the UK is the perfect example of how insidious that control is. No politician of any stripe including the so-called conservatives would propose eliminating it. Obama is a Marxist who hates this country and would like to transform it. He is the most dangerous person to every occupy the office of President. He is implementing terrible policies and fomenting racial and ethnic strife. He is the most polarzing political leader in our history.
Obama has doubled the numbers on food stamps even giving states monetary bonuses for increasing the numbers. Obama took over the student loan program early on in his tenure. He can now manipulate that to his advantage with students owing over $1 trillion in student loans. Partial excusing loans or reducing interest rates can buy votes for the Dems and himself.
You bleat on about eliminating the income tax when almost 50% of the peoiple pay no income taxes. They want more free stuff redistributed by the government from the 1%. Most Americans believe the wealthy should pay more taxes. Polls for Americans under 30 reveal that the split between those who favor socialism versus capitalism is about 50-50. Our schools have become indoctrination mills for the leftists. And the changing demography of America and immigration policies that import poverty are destroying our national sense of endeavor and identity. We are being Balkanized along cultural, race, ethnicity, and linguistic lines. 57% of immigrant headed households with children are on welfare.
And at some point, and I suggest it is THIS Point. The Romney types won’t even need to give us lip service and lie to us for our votes. We must change tactics totally and NOW before the WAR is lost.
I have no idea what tactics you are talking about, but allowing Obama four more years is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. Obama is pro-abortion; he has eliminated don't ask, don't tell in the military as part of his social engineering. He will support an amnesty, which will not only legalize the status of 12 million illegals, but allow them to sponsor another 66 million legal immigrants thru chain migration, i.e., family reunification. The Heritage Foundation estimated it would cost us $2.6 trillion in just entitlement costs alone. And an amnesty is forever. There is no reversing it.
I find your analysis childish and misdirected. Obama and the welfare state are the enemies. He will expand it even further in the next four years. I have no idea what your ultimate objectives are, but we are fast running out of time and solutions. And the biggest obstacle is convincing the American people we need to change and that they will have to accept some very painful solutions. Otherwise, we will become Greeks demonstrating in the streets to retain the benefits promised by the government, which it can't deliver.
As someone who has been on this planet almost seven decades, I see this election as our last chance to change things. The Reps may not have the perfect solutions, but I know that Romney will support the repeal of Obamacare, have a pro-business agenda including energy exploration and support the Ryan budget that includes changing Medicare to a premium support program. There are still major differences between the Evil Party and the Stupid Party.