Posted on 01/14/2013 4:50:06 AM PST by Kaslin
I have a serious question for readers. What’s worse, bailouts for government or bailouts for the private sector?
Yes, both are bad, but is it worse to bail out a bankrupt entitlement program, such as Social Security, or it is worse to bail out an industry, such as the financial sector?
To bail out the housing sector, or to bail out Medicare? Fannie and Freddie, or GM and Chrysler?
All these examples involve huge amounts of money, and both private-sector and public-sector bailouts have perverse long-run effects, but which is worse?
And don’t forget there are lots of other bailouts in our future, as discussed on this interview for Fox Business News.
The interview took place before Christmas, but the topic is even more relevant today since the budget season is about to begin.
Most of the discussion was about government agencies and programs that may get more handouts, though bailouts for the Federal Housing Administration and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation would be indirect bailouts for big business and housing.
So we’d get the worst of all worlds, more government spending and more cronyism.
Or, as they call it in Washington, a win-win situation.
But I call it legal corruption.
Every so often, I try to appeal to statists by explaining to them that it’s not in their self interest to steal too much.
Why? Because if you kill off the geese that lay the golden eggs, what will you do tomorrow when nobody is left to produce?
Heck, even the former leftist President of Brazil understood that there can’t be any redistribution if there’s no production.
I’ve made this point by sharing a very clever cartoon. I’ve made this point on television. And I’ve tried to explain it using simple analysis.
I’m not sure I’ve been overly successful, but perhaps this Chuck Asay cartoon will help get the point across.
The cartoon is akin to the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. But the “modern” version of the story, featuring coerced redistribution that causes the ant to no longer be productive.
Heck, it’s also what we see in the PC version of The Little Red Hen. And the same theme can be found in the amusing anecdote that uses beer to explain the corrosive impact of a “progressive” tax system.
The moral of the story – in every case – is that you shouldn’t be too greedy if you’re living off others.
In my speeches, I often joke that a tick or a flea is in trouble if it’s feasting on a dog that dies. Well, on a more serious note, this can happen to countries. Greece is in deep trouble because there are too many people riding in the wagon and not enough people pulling the wagon.
We’re not there yet, but I don’t like the trend.
I am now being called a “Moocher” because I expect the government to return some of the Social Security deductions they withheld from my paycheck for fifty-four years?
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Yes, these fools sure have their priorities in order don’t they?
Remember when B Clinton stated that it didn’t make a difference, be you a Military Retiree, a food stamp recipient, a welfare recipient, a Govt Retiree, on SS, the ‘common denominator’ was it was a GOVT WRITTEN CHECK, thus no difference.... Of course he also said that those of us that ‘joined’ the Navy/USMC/USAF when there was a draft, were avoiding the draft, so how could we accuse him.
While each statement - in conclusion - is technically correct, his reasoning is definitely flawed....
Also, Chris Rock had a routine a while back where his father used to take him down to Wall Street and tell him to ‘thank’ the workers for keeping him in food and clothes - he also said Never Rob these people, in fact make sure they get back and forth to the subway daily so they can continue working.
according to some on this site... yes.
i have been contributing to socialist security for over 40 years now, and am being told I am greedy for wanting what I paid into...
hell, i even told these people that are calling me greedy, that you can give me back what I paid in, and keep the employer match..
no, I am still greedy and stealing from future generations..
these future generations want to steal what is mine, what I paid into for 40 years, and THEY are calling ME greedy..
generational theft is right... the upcoming generations want to steal from me, what I worked for and what I paid for...
screw ‘em
Which is worse, eating a force fed hot s### sandwich or a force fed cold s### sandwich?
“If You’re a Moocher, Common Sense Should Tell You Not to Kill all the Producers”
Forget the people who paid into the system their entire lives. Forget those who bled for their country. This is addressed to those 47% who lie on their couches and collect.
You are not a moocher. You are a parasite and once you destroy your host, there is nowhere left to turn, because America is the last hope for all humanity.
Which is worse, eating a force fed hot s### sandwich or a force fed cold s### sandwich?
P.S. I do not believe that S.S. is a "gimme program", S.S.I. is.
They are too ignorant to even know where their food comes from. Welfare recipients believe that TheMan is taking more from their government treasure chest than they are allowed to take. SO- they are celebrating now, because they are getting more from the special treasure chest.
We don’t have a gun problem in this country- we have a crack problem and an IQ problem.
Not that I would call someone expecting their monthly Social Security check a “moocher”, but do you really believe there’s a 1-to-1 ratio between what you will receive versus what you paid in?
Parasites kill. Who is John Galt?
To quote Frank Herbert from one of the Dune books, “Too long a parasite, and you cannot live without the host.”
” But I want it NOW!!”
I am happy that some of my tax dollars can make their way to folks like you.Work for 54 years,you deserve every penny you get.
Exactly!
No one who has paid into the system is a 'moocher'.
Most people's issue is with indiscriminate breeders who want someone else to be responsible for their spawn, people who go further with screwing the 'system' by having the kids act like they have issues to get even MORE money, a government that helps people who shouldn't even GET money to stick their hand in the cookie jar, and people generally think their owed something because they were born with health issues, physiological issues, had bad parenting......etc.
Actually, if you had been allowed to invest the amount withhel and matched (after all if your employer did not have to make that payment it would have been apid in wages to you) over the last 40 years you would have enough to live on comfortably.
Now, if I could have taken that money and invested it myself starting in 1964, I wouldn't be working 40+ hours a week now, either!
I watched a movie yesterday, "21" -- which tells the tale of a group of (maybe MIT) students, who were taught by their professor, how to count cards while playing blackjack.
Long story short, the security at one of the casinos caught on to them, and ran them out of town. One of the students was physically beaten pretty badly, but made a deal with the security team that would turn over their professor.
In the deal, the students made a good deal of money playing their last hands of blackjack--which they were promised they could keep--but it was eventually taken back from them by the security "enforcer," played by Lawrence Fishburn. He told the lead student something to the effect of, "I don't get a pension with my job, so I need this money...but you're smart, you'll always find a way to succeed..."
I thought to myself, isn't that the epitome of the Moocher's Creed? Declaring a "need" from the successful, and then appeasing that successful person by saying, "it's OK, you'll figure out a way because you're smart" or, you're a hard worker...keep doing what you're doing, and we'll keep imposing our needs on you."
Since when do MOOCHERS and COMMON SENSE belong in the same sentence?
That's a false analogy. The people who have paid in to SS had no control over their money being taken. They were all victims of a vast Ponzi scheme with no choice other than to leave the country. The money that went to ss could have been put in a different fund which might have made the donor a lot more money than what they're receiving in ss payments.
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