Posted on 09/08/2011 7:17:47 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Anyone hoping or fearing that Rick Perry would crash and burn in his first GOP debate last night can either feel depressed or rest easy.
In his debut on the national stage, Perry proved he possesses a somewhat indefinable star quality -- exactly what Republicans were distressed to feel was missing from the field.
That quality emanated from him even when he struggled with difficult questions about his views on climate change and Social Security that present complex electoral challenges for him and his party in a national race. He knew when to speak strongly and when to underplay.
......The real controversy arose from his decision not to run from the attack he launched on Social Security in his 2010 book “Fed Up,” but rather to say that politicians need to be honest about the Ponzi-scheme nature of the old-age pension system.
......He’s right -- it is a Ponzi scheme. The challenge for Romney now will be making the case to primary voters that it will be fatal for the GOP’s shot at denying Barack Obama a second term to have a candidate who calls it a Ponzi scheme. He’ll have a strong case to make.
But there is something striking in the contrast between the two men. Romney looks like a casting director’s idea of a president, and after running for the office for four years solid now, he has an enviable fluency and command of the stage.
Alas for him, there’s a reason he was unable to solidify his own status as a front-runner: He just doesn’t seem to have “it” -- that elusive quality populist politicians who find a connection with ordinary voters seem to possess.....
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
How Three Texas Counties Created Personal Social Security Accounts and Prospered Across the country, state and local governments are facing huge unfunded liabilities for their employee pension plans. And then there’s Social Security.
But three neighboring Texas counties, which opted out of Social Security 30 years ago by creating personal retirement accounts, have avoided a fiscal train wreck while providing retirees with even more retirement income.
Galveston, Matagorda and Brazoria County employees, many of them union members, have seen their retirement savings grow every year, even during the Great Recession. If state and local governments—and Congress—are really looking for a path to long-term sustainable entitlement reform, they might start with what is referred to as the “Alternate Plan.”
[snip]
More importantly, if a worker participating in Social Security dies before retirement, he loses his contribution (though part of that money might go to surviving children, if any, or a spouse who didn’t work and therefore didn’t establish his or her own benefits). But a worker in the Alternate Plan owns his account, so the entire account belongs to the estate. There is also, among other benefits, a disability benefit that pays immediately upon injury, rather than waiting six months, plus other restrictions, as under Social Security.
And those who retire under the Galveston model do much better than Social Security. For example:
A lower-middle income worker making about $26,000 at retirement would get about $1,007 a month under Social Security, but $1,826 under the Alternate Plan, according to First Financial’s calculations.
A middle-income worker making $51,200 would get about $1,540 monthly from Social Security, but $3,600 from the banking model.
And a high-income worker who maxed out on his Social Security contribution every year would receive about $2,500 a month from Social Security vs. $5,000 to $6,000 a month from the Alternate Plan……………….
You know everyone pretty much knows paulbots spam those unscientific, online polls right? I mean, you don't really think your fooling anyone do you?
Ron Paul did bring attention to himself again though, in a sort of "I'm a completely deranged doddering fool" kind of way. Who knew that the great fear with building a fence to protect our southern border was because it might be used to stop Americans from fleeing....to Mexico.
Ron Paul will never win the Republican nomination and will never be President of the United States. He's good for a giggle now and again, but other than that he is completely irrelevant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7AIBlzCluc
brrrrrrrrr!
WOW! Thanks for this info—and AMMO!
Above all I don't want another president that fractures the English language.
SNL and the MSM will have a field day with Perry.
Also--SOMEOME needs to inform him about the minor little detail that Federal employees, including ALL members of Congress, have the option of investing in what is basically a private retirement account--namely the THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN--which is a supplement to SS. But the rate of return on TSP investments often far exceed those of SS. Yet the Dims scream and holler about the DANGERS of offering this option to employees in the private sector. I would so LOVE to see any Pubbie candidate bring up the subject of TSP accounts, because it would put any incumbent Dim in an very awkward position to have to tell how much they--or their fellow Congress critters--have earned through investments in this PRIVATE investment plan.Excellent point, and in making it you solidify my biggest worry about Perry: that he has the George Bush inability to articulate his positions.
Remember how frustrating it was watching Bush not defend himself for 8 years?
And now here's Perry, on SS, an issue he obviously cares deeply about, and he doesn't bring up this excellent point that you just brought up.
Why not?
Why not?
Someone please tell me why not?
Are we facing 8 years of asking the same d*mn question we asked for 8 years under Bush: Why doesn't he just SAY how the left is wrong?
It's the reason I'm now ready to hear what Palin has to say, on stage, with all the others.
Perry is still my #1 choice. But he worries me.
amazing how good Bachmann looks for her age back there..she is my age
Good hair goes a long way
lucky husband
OOPS—sorry about the double post—but thanks for the great responses!
It’s simple:
The msm are socialist enablers and they WANT to see big government succeed in running the lives of us morons.
Perry wants free-market capitalism and limited government power — fix it and go home.
Romney is too enamored of the office and the power.
I agree that we can’t whistle past the graveyard. But what we as citizens, and the government, have to do is expressly recognize social security for what it is:
a system in which current payors are basically contributing to the retirements of current recipients.
Once we recognize that reality then we can start substantially reducing the benefits without hurting current recipients (via age eligibility/means testing/reduced benefits for items not directly involving monthly payments), start reducing the FICA payments, and provide tax credits to enable us who are in our 50s and younger to better save for our own retirements (or, at the very least, have a large percentage of the FICA tax actually deposited in an IRA account in which the contributions are invested by court approved fiduciary/trustees for income/growth with the suitable investment mix dependent upon the individual’s age).
Two points: First, a debate is probably not the best place to try to provide a detailed explanation as to why AGW is a hoax. Second, this election is going to be all about jobs and the economy, so if he can tie the AGW argument to that, I think he will connect with more people than trying to make the scientific argument.
The moderator asked if he believed what was in his book. Kind of hard to not bring it up now.
The truth is refreshing. I had a hard time believing that Herman Cain wanted a better working SS system and a better more efficient Dept of Homeland security.
I liked Rick Perry going into the debate. I tried an interesting experiment, I let my two older children (9 and 11) watch.
One is somewhat liberal, the other staunchly conservative. When it was nearly over (because of bedtimes) I paused it on the DVR and asked them who they thought had won. The younger one said it was just boring and he liked the guy who said that if 10 percent was good enough for God then 9 should be good enough for the federal government (Herman Cain). The 11 year old said that he really liked Cain and thought he had performed the best of the night. I asked him who he thought next would be and he said Ron Paul. Then he said Michelle Bachman did very well. I asked him about Perry, and he said he was weak and slimy. I asked about Romney and he said that Mitt looked like he was a guy willing to say whatever he thought people wanted to hear to get his way.
Frankly, Rick Perry failed to impress by a long shot last night, and I fully expect his numbers to go way down after his performance.
From the mouths of babes.......
Young, but already with good judgement !
You must be raising them well.
>>>Were there two different debates last night?
Just the one... and those who think Perry is the second coning still think that...
Yes. It must be addressed honestly. Hopefully, we can learn that we don’t need government to do these things for us. It’s crippling what being human means.
But--right now--gotta run. So--thanks again for some very excellent posts to this thread. As I said, it's encouraging!
Bump!!
Yes and no.
Here’s the argument:
1. Proposed AGW “solutions” will kill the economy
2. There is NO AGW
3. There might not even be any GW
You can drop #3 from the argument, but I don’t see how you credibly drop #2.
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