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StumbleLETTER TO THE EDITOR:
A way to get rid of career politicians
Wednesday, July 28, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
I had hoped that the American people would impose term limits on members of the House and Senate by voting them out after one or two terms. Since that now seems unlikely, I think we need to call for term limits of a single six-year term for members of the Senate and two two-year terms for members of the House of Representatives.
Our government and our lawmakers have grown so powerful that a seat in the Senate or the House has become very valuable. The contacts, the perks, the power and the prestige make these offices great “career” positions, to be held year after year after year.
Our Founding Fathers never intended that to happen and now that it has, it is damaging our democratic republic in serious ways. Longtime members of the House and Senate shy away from volatile issues like entitlement reform and immigration. Their decisions and votes are heavily influenced by lobbyists for powerful companies, unions and other interest groups.
We must change this and the only way to do that is to impose term limits so that there is no chance of making a career out of being a member of the House or Senate. Once that option is removed, we will have different sorts of people running for these offices and, I hope, senators and representatives who actually make “the people’s business” their No. 1 goal — instead of just saying they do.
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Great point. To the Founders a "professional politician" would have been unthinkable.
George Washington said, "The power under the Constitution will always be in the people. It is entrusted for certain defined purposes, and for a certain limited period, to representatives of their own choosing, and whenever it is executed contrary to their interest, or not agreeable to their wishes, their servants can and will undoubtedly be recalled."
In the beginning, we formed a limited government that serves us and provides just the limited number of things we cannot individually provide for our selves.
For most of our history it took only a small portion of what we earned to operate our government. But, nowadays, average Americans pay 60% to 70% of what they earn on taxes and fees, federal, state, county, city, local. Add 'em up! The government no longer works for us -- we work for the government.
It wasn't always that way. This government tyranny started in 1913 when Congress passed the 16th Amendment, giving themselves the right to levy taxes on our individual and corporate incomes. At that moment we lost the unalienable right to the "pursuit of happiness." Now, the IRS and a myriad of similar government agencies at all levels aggressively pursue the fruits of our labors.
So, we've come full circle from the time when the original Colonists went to war over the tyrannical levying of taxes (the Stamp Act, Tea Tax, etc.) Now, we go to jail if we don't pony up to the IRS, we just seem to accept it as a fact of life. What we have now is worst than the taxes imposed by a tyrannical king in the 1770's.
We no longer have Liberty. We have government tyranny, brought to 300 million unaware and disinterested people by professional politicians all in the name of "helping us."
It's been a long slow slide into this upside down mess. Professional politicians continue to lull us into submission by telling us, don't worry we'll take care of you. You'll get free health care, free retirement benefits, homeownership you can't afford, child care, food stamps, free schools, etc. You don't have to provide for yourself -- just give us your money and we'll take care of you in government-run hospitals, schools, housing, etc.
When will we wake up and realize we're into Socialism, big time. Can we ever walk back from this? Can we ever get back to individual Liberty? It's so overwhelming....
Good letter. JanK--nice post. Bundle it in a letter to the editor please.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Then do not vote for Angle
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Angle wants to go from State to Federal so if the letter writer has a point do not vote this Angle comic into office, right?
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
What's the difference - jumping from one body to another still getting a governmental check, still being a career politician
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Have a good one
I have long advocated term limits for Congress.
It's the right way to go.
We have term limits (a.k.a. elections).
"A way to get rid of career politicians"
Yeah, there's a sure way -- it's called voting.
A "career politician" is there because his/her constituents keep voting them in. Term limit laws restrict that choice and is therefore unConstitutional.
I need coffee ... can't even find a good quote for this ... oh yeah here's one --
"Government . . . an illusion the governed should not encourage." -- from John Updike's "Couples"
"We have term limits (a.k.a. elections)." "Yeah, there's a sure way -- it's called voting."
Unfortunately, it's not that easy. When the incumbent runs unopposed, am I just supposed to vote for the other party?
I don't always agree with Senator Reid's positions, but I don't agree with more than a couple of Angle's positions. Frankly, if she's the best the Republican party can come up with, Reid deserves 6 more years.
bg - "Frankly, if she's the best the Republican party can come up with, Reid deserves 6 more years."
Amen!
Hey Michael: "Good idea" But the courts have never' And will never' Allow it to happen.
JanK, You Lie!
JanK:
When will we wake up and realize we're into Socialism... Can we ever walk back from this? Can we ever get back to individual Liberty? It's so overwhelming..."
______
Jan, you sound desperate and depressed.
This should brighten your spirits! Why not move to a third world country that has almost no taxes and the small, limited government you crave -- somewhere like Somalia or Bangladesh?
crybaby
"Last Throes" calls me a cry baby and "I saw the truth" says I lie.
But "Houstonjac" thinks my words are good enough to be submitted as a letter to the editor. Thanks, Jack, now I don't feel like such a cry-baby liar anymore.
Stay the course with Harry! It's not like everyone doesn't have a job.
Fosimmons,
Sharron Angle is a poor candidate and she has held office before. Harry Reid has been a Senator for a long time and I don't believe he does a very good job. So, we have a couple of poor choices for this election, which is unfortunate.
Michael
LastThroes and KillerB,
What we have is 'potential' term limits. That only kicks in when enough voters pay attention and vote the bums out. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often. As for the unconstiutionality, forcing everyone to buy health care insurance is probably also unconstitutional, but I'll bet that is upheld by the Supreme Court. You never know anymore how the courts will rule. I say...give it a try. The President is limited to 2 four year terms. I don't see the court ruling that as unconstitutional.
Michael
BG,
Angle is a poor candidate to be sure and those of us who would like to see Senator Reid replaced will probably have to wait another 6 years. That's life, I guess.
Michael
JanK stole the thunder with the astute observations and loud, clear WTF.
Your post reminds me of the last few pages of To Kill a Mockingbird when the time passage is in years per paragraph; it DID take time and events and shenanigans for us to get from George Washington to the new George W.
Along the way, you're right, we handed over more and more of our individuality to benefit the whole. We went to war to save the world from domination. We fought for what we got and tried to eliminate evil doers. All this stuff was, of course, around the bend from Washington and Franklin and Jefferson when they penned the papers.
Not saying socialism is good or that it's not the trend. But I am saying that the truth is, no matter what term we slap onto the notion, our confluence as a people toward a more just nation and a safer world has come at a cost.
E pluribus unum.
JanK,
Don't let the name calling get you down. Those with the opposite view have a right to their views, although it would be nice if they came without name calling. That's immature no matter who does the name calling. I don't know if we can ever walk back from this giant government we have created by our indifference and inattention, but I do believe term limits must be a part of the solution. The issues we have cannot and will not be solved by electing a majority of Democrats or Republicans. What we need are representatives that go to serve for a short time and then return to private life. When the job you have as a representative 'of the people' is temporary instead of a 'career' you are less likely to be influenced by lobbyists and more likely to do what 'benefits the people'. It's not a perfect solution but it is part of the solution.
Hang in There...
Michael
rusty57, Why don't you form your own opinions as true as you can rather than become an unthinking feed for Russo, Marsh, and Rogers, a consulting firm in Sacramento, CA that runs the "our country deserves better"PAC and "tea party express.org."
Are you brainwashed or just too mentally lazy to do research on the web and look for the truth?
Vidi: Fat, drunk and slurring dumbocrat talking points is no way to go through life, son.
Vidi: Here's a bit of truth about Harry's green jobs fantasies. Stell can make windmills but windmills can't make steel, but they can contribute to job loss, something Nevada knows all too well, ie 3 cancelled coal plants, no yucca.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-26...
It would be better for everyone if all the name calling and talking points were put aside in favor of reasoned views supported by facts. I know that takes some effort, but....
Harry Reid isn't all bad and has done some positive things for Nevada as well as supported legislation that isn't good for America. Sharron Angle has some radical views but some of what she has said has been mis-represented.
Rather than name call, why not try to really debate the issues. Everyone might learn something.
Michael
rusty,
we didn't need 3 coal plants.
If you think we need Yucca, something is wrong with your brain.
Yucca makes for more stupidity, more fat kids who think power is free or too cheap to meter, casinos that base decisions on whim not thought, and people turning their A/c on one time from May til October.
Yucca is passe as nukes are time's bomb of a half-life of half a MILLION years. The power we get is paid for with thousands of generations of Americans watching the PILE. Talk about entitled.
rusty,
your article, linked above, includes references to carbon leakage, the term for exporting production facilities to lands where no CO2 limits are imposed.
Job loss is part and parcel of our plan.
We plan to trash the skies from over there, not from here.
And we plan to pay foreign laborers $3 an hour, not the $35 we have been paying Americans.
See? Clean air, more profit, right?
Until we factor in the transportation, infrastructure duplication, social upheaval, boom-bust cycles of rumination, and the ever-present wars to maintain the status quo, plummeting real estate values, rising crime and insurance rates.
airweare, Spot on!
JanK writes here usual emotional missive, bright and early as usual, and of course full of false figures, propaganda and general misinformation. As I've mentioned to her before: if you just repeat what FOX NEWS broadcasts, you'll never get your facts straight.
Jan's latest is this:
"But, nowadays, average Americans pay 60% to 70% of what they earn on taxes and fees, federal, state, county, city, local. Add 'em up! The government no longer works for us -- we work for the government."
That breathless information is kind of hard to square with the fact that nearly half of American households pay no income tax at all:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nearly-hal...
And for those that do, that they don't pay anywhere near Jan's astronomical nunbers:
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/0...
As usual, Jan's numbers are all wrong, which of course is par for the course with her posts.
What's fun is to see her repeat these bogus "facts" endlessly wherever she posts--no matter how many times they have been corrected.
Like Sharron Angle, Jan would like to get rid of Roosevelt's "New Deal"--kill social security, get rid of Medicare, abolish the Dept of Education, abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, withdraw from the UN (because 187 countries have signed their Kyoto Protocol, including all of the industrial nations of the world, except the U.S.), etc, etc.
JanK thinks that by pulling fake figures from her derriere she can help get Angle elected and presumably roll America back to where we can enjoy life in the 13 colonies again. You know, when we had slaves and only those with property could vote. Or at the very least life before the EPA was created, so that we can better enjoy industrial pollutants, some of which can be quite intoxicating.
Can't wait for the next one, Jan.
AP
To all Red boot licking wingnut bloggers:
Red State's Erickson to GOP/republicans:
"Stop lying and admit you're the party of "No"
airweare: CO2 is a trace atmospheric gas essential to the planet. Historically speaking, we are in CO2 famine. At one point, CO2 was 5 times what it is now, when we evolved as a specie (at least us meat-eaters). The air was fine, the oceans were fine, etc.
Did you read the part about electricity rates going up? That will cause businesses to hire!
"Trashing the skies" with CO2, too funny!
Term limits just make the rich peoples lobbyists more powerful ; the vote is the only thing we poor have. I can name some careerists that govern in the public interest Dina Titus , Nancy Pelosi,and Marcy Kaptur.Not to mention Dennis Kacinich.
AmericanPatriot,
Do you really think it is ok that middle class Americans pay all the taxes and fees we now pay? It's true that the rich pay the bulk of the taxes and the poor mostly pay no taxes but I'm middle class and the taxes and fees I pay are not trivial. Sharron Angle does have some radical views but the distortion goes both ways. Angle explained that she'd leave those already collecting SS and those about to collect SS as they are. What she proposed was to slowly transition out SS and Medicare and replace them with something that could be paid for. Those facts are replaced with 'Sharron Angle wants to abolish SS and Medicare for old people'. Come on! Our lovely government has been raiding the SS trust fund for years to pay for other government spending. Nothing has even been done about that and nothing is being done today. This isn't black and white issue like both sides want to paint it. We need government, but when it is this big; when government employees often have wages and benefits not found in the private sector and it continues to grow at a rate where taxes will have to be raised alot more to pay for it, people have a right to be concerned.
Michael
The POWERFUL Senate Majority Leader from Nevada couldn't even keep our school funding alive.
The POWERFUL Senate Majority Leader has us in LAST in federal funding per capita.
The POWERFUL Senate Majority Leader is from a state with the HIGHEST unemployment rate.
The POWERFUL Senate Majority Leader can't stop the feds from grabbing geothermal allocations for rural Nevada counties.
All of you whining and crying liberals who think this guy really gives a rat's a** about you, why didn't he insure that those funding programs weren't taken from our children and the people in rural Nevada. He can write carve-outs for Pharma in the massive health care bill but can't get us our dough?
This guy is a fraud. He does NOT have the power you loons think he does. He is carrying the water for Durbin and Schumer and the rest of the pols in the electorate rich states.
WAKE UP YOU IDIOTS!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and parents back in charge!
Now we learn that the touted "FinReg" bill has a nasty little clause. That provision exempts the SEC from the rigors of the Freedom of Information Act.
Fox Business, which laid out the short-comings of the SEC in the Bernie Madoff case by going to course and compelling the SEC to turn over documents regarding past audits of Madoof's firms, has found that the bill allows to the SEC to turn away all inquiries about the activities and investigations of the SEC.
Basically, the SEC is now the secret police of the Street. We will never know how competent or incompetent they are and who they are investigating.
This is the "Transparency" we were promised?
Just another broken promise by the "Prevaricator in Chief"......
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and parents back in charge!
Is the SEC still watching porn on their office computers? Some of those caught were pulling down over 225k/year. Wonder if they even got fired.
More gov't regulation is obviously the answer.
wtplv (sounds like a news station!) writes:
"Sharron Angle does have some radical views but the distortion goes both ways. Angle explained that she'd leave those already collecting SS and those about to collect SS as they are. What she proposed was to slowly transition out SS and Medicare and replace them with something that could be paid for. Those facts are replaced with 'Sharron Angle wants to abolish SS and Medicare for old people'."
Yes, and Bush tried that. It's called "privitization."
Bush backed off because the polls were against him. Most Americans want to keep "the New Deal." The right wing of the Republican Party--and that includes the tea baggers and Sharron Angle--do not.
And yes, Angle has some more "radical" ideas:
Getting rid of the EPA. Makes great sense. Who needs clean air and water?
Pulling the U.S. out of the UN because Angle does not believe in global warming. I guess a degree in fine arts qualifies you to make those kinds of judgements.
Getting rid of Roosevelt's social security program. Let the old fend for themselves--just as they did before the Great Depression. Brought to you by the party that continually gives the wealthy tax cuts. But, after imploding the U.S. economy, wants those lazy unemployed people to re-create all of the jobs the Republicans lost.
Thanks, but no thanks.
AP
Rusty57 writes:
"Trashing the skies" with CO2, too funny!"
Actually, the U.S. is the laughingstock of the world. We are the #2 polluter of the planet, yet the only industrialized nation to refuse to sign the Kyoto Accord. 187 other nations have done so, including the entire European Union, and all of the industrialized nations. Just not the U.S. And I should say, "just not the Republican Party"--the party that laughs while polluting the rest of the world.
What was that that Nero did when Rome was burning?
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/...
AP
"A way to get rid of career politicians" Why don't we ask the Canadian people how they do it?
rusty is right.
This place has seen some concentrations of CO2 that dwarf our current content.
But as we now know and at least I for one back in the days of 5 times the CO2, had concerns about my health, but had no internet to check out the details!
I started out, actually, before air. See, we grew it from lichen and sunlight. Times were tough, but we had a stash from the earlier tribe and got by on what we had in the cave, thank God.
But as we know, the increases lately (last 50 years) have not only brought collateral acid rain from all the hydrogen getting squeezed into nitric acid and NOX, all the CO2 piling up in our skies, and the big problem - the stupid people thatb think it's just fine to squander energy at a rate ~38 times anyone else on the planet because it's fun and convenient to do life BIG.
nitrogen
For info. on tax redistribution that is correct and not a lie:
www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/22685..., and you can type in "Red State Moochers"
The formula for redistribution of taxes to the states was approved by the Democrats and the Republicans.
The amount that is returned to a state depends on how that state maintains it's infrastructure such as education, health care, and physical improvements such as roads etc...
You know as well as I do that when the radical extremist republicans are in power they neglect the infrastructure at the Federal, state, and local level.
Example: NV is behind $5,000,000,000 in road infrastructure improvements.
Global climate change is a natural process that will take place no matter what we do to slow it down. Mother Earth can be one bad-ass B***ch!
Sooner or later conditions *will* change in ways that will make our current existence difficult. If nothing else, we are doing our part to continue to provide evolutionary pressure on the human species. We can only hope it will be an improvement.
Ten years ago people did not want the government to follow the course of privatizing Social Security. THat attitude has changed dramatically in the last ten years in that younger people don't think they will ever see the benefits due to the possibility of the government going broke. Here are some polling data on this issue:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/...
From USA Today no less - a left wing leaning paper!
The voters are well aware that politicians can't keep their hands off the social security dollars and are moving en masse towards wanting private accounts. But American Patriot, like Little Miss Loco, will say "I know better, I know the public wants Social Security like it is despite all the facts to the contrary."
You are dead wrong, American Patriot - as usual.
And the EPA? You believe the EPA has done anything to stop the polluting of air and water in this country. You just said we were the second worst offender of clean air - what the bleep has the EPA been doing then?
THe U.N.? Yeah, great. Let's let Uganda, Sri Lanka and the Mongolians determine how much money we must funnel into the IMF to fund their enterprises. The U.N. and it's usefullness has run it's course a long time ago - just like the unions. It won't be around in ten years - and we will save billions because - TADA - we fund almost all of it! Ain't that grand!
Dinosauers all, time to head to the tar pits!
Latest poll:
Rasmussen released today:
Reid 45
Angle 43
It going to come down to the wire!
Go Sharron!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in charge!
Social Security: After stealing the election in Florida in 2000 the radical extremist republicans with the help of the 5-4 majority on the Supreme Court--SS was fiscally sound until 2042 but after 8 years of the bush/cheney that went down to 2037. All of those 8 years there was a surplus. What happened?
A small increase in the FICA tax of 1.8% would make SS fiscally sound until 2110 or longer.
If SS was privatized before the "Almost" financial collapse the trust fund and SS payments would have been reduced by approximately 20%.
Presently the SS trust fund has $2,500,000,000,000 that the Wall St. Ganksters want to get their greedy hands on. If they were to manage those funds they would charge approximately 15% per year for their administrative cost.
Presently, SS has an administrative cost of 2-3% and manages those funds very well.
The radical extremist republican and their criminal business cronies will say or do anything to get their hands on the SS funds.
AmericanPatriot,
There are immovable people on the left and the right and they all scare me. Let's take what you said:
"Yes, and Bush tried that. It's called "privitization."
Bush backed off because the polls were against him. Most Americans want to keep "the New Deal." The right wing of the Republican Party--and that includes the tea baggers and Sharron Angle--do not."
My question to you is: How is the continued NEW DEAL going to be paid for? The government stole and spent all the SS money.
"Pulling the U.S. out of the UN because Angle does not believe in global warming. I guess a degree in fine arts qualifies you to make those kinds of judgements."
Do you agree with the kinds of pronouncements the UN often makes? Are you happy that we pay the vast majority of the UN costs (much of the money is squandered)? Can you name some conflict where the UN has made a big difference?
"Brought to you by the party that continually gives the wealthy tax cuts. But, after imploding the U.S. economy, wants those lazy unemployed people to re-create all of the jobs the Republicans lost."
I hate to break it to you but along with greedy bankers and other industrialists, a big reason for our financial collapse was that home loans were provided to millions of people who could not afford them and then the government allowed the banks to sell the worthless paper to FANNY and FREDDIE, so that when the whole house of cards collapsed, the tax payers would be on the hook for the tab. And you are OK with this? It wasn't just the Republicans who caused this, it was this massive government, which has been controlled by both Democrats and Republicans.
Please try to take off your ideloogical blinders and see that it is not one party or one political philosophy that is causing all these problems.
Michael
Socail Security is good until 2037? What have you been smoking, Vidi?
There is NO MONEY in the supposed "Lock Box" or "Trust fund". There are U.S. Treasury Bonds - better known as IOU's from the Treasury. The "Solvency" you speak of is one aspect of government OWING another part of government money. The illusion of a "Trust Fund" when one doesn't exist. Tell me, Vidi, where is the "Trust fund" money? In a bank in Beverly Hills? On pallets in the basement of the Treasury Deaprtment? Maybe it's in Fort Knox next to the gold deposits.....
It's just this type of stupidity that Harry Reid is counting on when he says that there is nothing wrong with Social Security. And you left wing lunatics believe this nonsense.
We are six years away from either cutting back on benefits OR sharply cutting back on other services like Medicare. Choose your poison, Vidi.
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and parents back in charge!
wtplv writes:
"Let's take what you said:
"Yes, and Bush tried that. It's called "privitization."
Bush backed off because the polls were against him. Most Americans want to keep "the New Deal." The right wing of the Republican Party--and that includes the tea baggers and Sharron Angle--do not."
My question to you is: How is the continued NEW DEAL going to be paid for? The government stole and spent all the SS money."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lynn-parra...
"Pulling the U.S. out of the UN because Angle does not believe in global warming. I guess a degree in fine arts qualifies you to make those kinds of judgements."
Do you agree with the kinds of pronouncements the UN often makes? Are you happy that we pay the vast majority of the UN costs (much of the money is squandered)? Can you name some conflict where the UN has made a big difference?"
If you really believe in isolationism, then just go ahead and say it. Angle has stated that her reason for withdrawing from the U.N. is because she doesn't believe in global warming. And that's fine. You obviously do not either. That is fine too. I--and 187 other countries and all of the other industrialized nations of the world--think you are wrong. Dead wrong. Try fixing the climate with no UN.
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/...
"Brought to you by the party that continually gives the wealthy tax cuts. But, after imploding the U.S. economy, wants those lazy unemployed people to re-create all of the jobs the Republicans lost."
I hate to break it to you but along with greedy bankers and other industrialists, a big reason for our financial collapse was that home loans were provided to millions of people who could not afford them and then the government allowed the banks to sell the worthless paper to FANNY and FREDDIE, so that when the whole house of cards collapsed, the tax payers would be on the hook for the tab. And you are OK with this? It wasn't just the Republicans who caused this, it was this massive government, which has been controlled by both Democrats and Republicans."
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11...
"Please try to take off your ideloogical blinders and see that it is not one party or one political philosophy that is causing all these problems."
The Republicans howl about fiscal responsibility. Show me a Republican administration, since 1980, that hasn't doubled or tripled the national debt.
Can't find one? Then I rest my case.
AP
ggws, You Lie!
lady gogo; your good buddy ex-ranger shill george bush wanted to invest social security into the stock market just before it CRASHED! remember AIG? merril lynch? gone baby because of one factor, GREED! tell us more about your fantasies about american capitalism.
Oh, Yeah, the erudite response of Vidi when the truth be known:
YOU LIE!
Well, Vidi, take a look at the Social Security Trust report. You will see NO CASH in any account. The shortfall we are experiencing is now coming out of the General Revenue of the United States. THat's right! The payers into the system are not covering the money going out!
Here's the New York Times:
The New York Times reports that the Social Security Administration will pay out more benefits than it collects in payroll taxes this year, "an important threshold it was not expected to cross until at least 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office." This doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence in those CBO scores that we kept hearing so much about during the health care debates.
*************************************************
Prove me wrong, Vidi. Instead of stomping your foot like a little girl and saying "You lie" please give me some facts to back up your position.
Where is the money?
How much cash is on hand?
How long will the benefits be paid out in full?
Frankly, Harry Reid is the one lying to you but you wouldn't know or don't care if he lies to you. You have your head so far in the ground your A*** can't be seen.
Oh, I forgot, facts and statistics don't mean anything UNTIL the benefits aren't paid in full around 2016 - then Harry Reid, if he's still around, will give you another load of bull**** and why you should be willing to accept less....and YOU WILL BUY IT!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in Charge!
AP, are we here to impress the European Elites? They are the only people laughing at us. The remainder are losing their jobs due to enviro-whackos "green" policies. Funny how Reid promotes the same policies. Enjoy the 14.5% unemployment, ain't going away anytime soon via "green energy" jobs.
Here is the italian experience, same as spain, portugal, germany, england and now australia.
Mr Lavecchia is a fellow and Dr. Stagnaro the research and studies director at Istituto Bruno Leoni. This post follows the release of their recent analysis for Italy showing that for every 'green' job created by government, 4.8 'gray' jobs are lost in the private sector.
http://www.masterresource.org/2010/06/it...
Well, dipstick, if you knew ANYTHING about the market you would know that there has never been a point in our history that the S&P 500 has EVER declined over a twenty year period. That puts the retuns of the privatized funds ahead of the Ponzi scheme funds.
Again, if you knew ANYTHING about the markets, you would know that a person who had taken his FICA and placed it in the market each year starting in 1975 (forty five years) would be drawing benefits about ten times what SS curently pays EVEN WITH THE MARKET CRASH!
Again, if you knew ANYTHING about markets, those dollars would be ASSETS of the individual as opposed to be subject to raiding by the politicians in this country and could be used for a variety of purposes such as home purchase, grandchildren going to college, etc.
Again, if you knew ANYTHING about the markets, the infusion of capital from individuals placing FICA dollars in equities, would cause a tremendous boom to the U.S. economy due to huge influxes of capital for expansion.
Finally, the reason why Harry Reid and the Pols don't want this? It's a slush fund to tap into for their programs - an easy way to "Borrow" from your left pocket to pay for programs in your right pocket.
Wake up and smell the coffee, both of you!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in Charge!
Rusty, don't worry. Those people who lost their jobs to support the "Greenies" have other opportunites - to collect unemployment for two years - compliments of the Sierra Club, Barack Obama and Harry Reid!
For info. on Social Security and the trust fund, go to:
www.socialsecurity.gov/history/trustfund...,
www.ncpssm.org,
www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&...
Dang, gogo's even regurgitating Michele Bachman lies now.
"The shortfall we are experiencing is now coming out of the General Revenue of the United States."
This big whopper of a lie is easily debunked... but lets see if gogo's man enough to admit he's wrong first.
lady gogo; i was only kidding when i said i wanted to hear more of your fantasies about american capitalism.
Term limits imposed upon ruling "parties" would be more desirable --
Example; if a party representative becomes elected, the associated "party" of the representative elected has a 2-term maximum service limit in which the representative's party would be prohibited from participation in the position previously held for a minimum of 4-consecutive term durations.
Any and all elected members holding leadership positions during a period in which public debt increases would be subjected to execution on grounds of treason.
Mandated public funding of any political individuals and/or organization is prohibited.
All ballot partition laws will apply equitably between all parties/individuals seeking placement upon election ballots.
All proposed legislation will be available for public review/feedback (via the internet) a minimum of 90-days prior to proceeding to the vote process.
: {
Between Sharon and Harry, Harry is the lesser of 2 evils.
Really, OKRA, the statement that the excess is coming out of the General Fund is false? Well, here you go you blithering idiot, a story from one of the libs favorite sources MSNBC. It details how for the first time that receipts do not meet expenditures and that the government either has to sell more more bonds - that means increase the debt - or use General Funds to meet SS expenditures.
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Image: Treasury Department office
Jeff Gentner / AP
Paper securities are pulled from a safe at the Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt office in Parkersburg, W.Va.
updated 3/14/2010 8:08:15 PM ET
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PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
It's time to start cashing them in.
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits -- billions more each year.
Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes -- nearly $29 billion more.
Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs -- in the form of Treasury bonds -- which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg's municipal offices.
Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn't be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.
Social Security's shortfall will not affect current benefits. As long as the IOUs last, benefits will keep flowing. But experts say it is a warning sign that the program's finances are deteriorating. Social Security is projected to drain its trust funds by 2037 unless Congress acts, and there's concern that the looming crisis will lead to reduced benefits.
************************************************
You two brain surgeons can post your apologies any time you want. Get some facts before you pull your head out of the sand!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in charge!
Harley, Term Limits and National Debt.
There are already term limits in effect-vote for or against by voting for another candidate.
National Debt:
Reagan increased the ND 186%
Bush Sr.--------------- 62%
Clinton --------------- 36%
puppet bush jr. Almost--100%
Source:www.lafn.org/gvdc/Natl_Debt_Chart.html.
"At the Social Security Administration, spokesman Mark Hinkle said that even if benefit spending exceeds available revenue from payroll taxes, the program can draw on interest from money it's invested in securities in the general treasury.
Hinkle said: "We have all our trust fund dollars in special-issue treasury bonds that earn interest. We're not borrowing from the treasury."
It's actually the other way around doofus! Besides, how could govt. borrow from SS if there's nothing there? Didn't you just call SS a slush fund for Harry? How can it be both, doofus?
It never ceases to amaze me how people who post on this blog think they are so smart and yet they believe everything that a guy like Harry Reid tells them hook, line and sinker.
Harry Reid tells them social Security is "Fine" and that it will last forever. But a simple "Google" of the facts tells you something completely to the contrary.
Yet these liberals who portray themselvs as "in the know" never acknowledge facts and statisitics. They just blurt out "George Bush did it" or "You lie!" or "You're a right wing nut job - Social Security will always be around".
No Facts, nothing to back them up - just slogans and the gentle peace they get that Harry Reid says it's so!
Republicans want RESULTS. Republicans can't depend on unions, blacks and welfare recipients marching in lockstep to the polls to vote 95% for them. The conservative wing demands you do what you say or we'll stay away - just what happened in 2006.
But now we're back with a group of candidates who understand that we need to get on that conservative fiscal path. Sharron Angle is one and there are hundreds across the country. We ask them to do one thing - stop the runaway spending and socialist programs...nothing else matters.
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in charge!
The two reasons for raiding the SSI fund or privatizing it are, 1) the upper tax payers -- over 250,000 AGI -- don't have to contribute disproportionately to return entitlement, 2) of the estimated 2014 amount of 3,218,886 million only 365,000 est. amount would be returned to the people and the fed. would reap an est. 2,853,886 for earmarks.
The larger the account grows, greater the pressure will be to dissolve it, just like the AK Dividend Fund. Don't kid yourself it is government that must be watched out for.
The reason NV is not receiving all that it could in the way of Federal grants is the shortage of grant writers for the state;"the squeaky wheel gets the grease".
Rumor: Sharron Angle is dropping out and the radical extremist republicans have picked Charles Manson to replace her.
I cannot believe that Okra is as stupid as this. Listen to what you're saying, you ignoramous:
Hinkle said: "We have all our trust fund dollars in special-issue treasury bonds that earn interest. We're not borrowing from the treasury."
Who issues the Treasury Bonds: The Government!
Who pays the interest on these Bonds: The Government!
When these bonds are redeemed who has to transfer the cash to the SS Administration: The Government!
Are you that frickin' stupid! Does the money appear out of thin air when the bonds are redeemed? What is transferred to the SS Adminstration to cover the benefits? CASH it gets from the redemption of the bonds which comes from A.) the sale of more bonds which equals more debt, or B.) the General fund. As noted in the article, the spread this year is $29 billion AND GROWING!
Can it be that you are that stupid, Okra, that you don't understand that those special "Bonds" are like borrowing from yourself and then saying you are liquid?
Geez, you're a moron.....
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in Charge!
My, God, let's hope so...........
The old Mark Twain saying about the three types of lies: "lies, damned lies, and statistics."
I'm still stunned.....can it be that you liberals are really that stupid that you think an asset transferred from one part of government to another creates a surplus?
Vidi, LastThroes, Okra does anyone on the left have a brain?
lady gogo; if republicans wanted RESULTS the wars they started in iraq/afghanistan would be over, the bloodshed would have stopped and the spending of trillions of taxpayers dollars ceased. do you think they dropped the ball on this one?
The government should set up a base with 5,000 troops between Kandahar and Kabul. It should contain about 1,000 drones. Inform the people fo Afghanistan that whenever we see anything resembling a training facility we will destroy it immediately.
THen let the people of Afghanistan police themselves. If it's the Taliban, so be it. Just make sure they understand the rules.
Pakistan would be notified of the same criteria. If there was an insurrection, the troops would be turned loose and clean it up immediately.
That would reduce cost tremendously and also the casualties to our troops. If the Afghan people finally came to their senses and wanted to unite and rid themsleves of the Taliban and corrupt officials we would be in position to assist them.
We should also shut down bases in Germany and Western Europe. They are of no use and are primarily an economic plus for the region in which they are located. The idea of repelling invasion by having a "jumping-off" point in that part of the world is completely outdated. That would save BILLIONS!
Charlie Manson sure had a bad rap because of what happened and all. But deep inside, and L Ron can help with this, too, he's as good a human as SharLron.
Their convictions carry the threat of consummate reality, however surreal.
Sharon Tate, kid. EPA, SS. Medicare. Remedies for hire. Charlie/SharLron at your cervix
By the way, dipstick, it seems Obama promised the return of our troops from Afghanistan. Why aren't they home?
HMMMM, double standard?
Maybe they are setting up a transport link at Gitmo...that would explain why Gitmo is still open, eh?
Airweare, you've again proven to be the sickest and vilest person on this post....
Keep up the putrid work!
gogo got his training from 'Big Dick' aka LBJ during Vietnam, second-guessing commanders and 'throwing off the enemy' with his interventionist strategies, playing with lives when daily 400+ American kids were getting blown to smitherines.
It's kinda like letting the homecoming queen call every other play.
Rusty57 writes:
"AP, are we here to impress the European Elites? They are the only people laughing at us."
Hmmmm. Last I heard 187 countries, including all of the industrialized countries, had signed the Kyoto Protocol, limiting the production of greenhouse gases. Except one: the United States.
And last I heard there were not 187 countries in the European Union. There were 27. I guess your numbers differ from mine.
A good analogy is that your neighbor produces a lot of sewage. In fact, your neighbor produces the second greatest amount of sewage in the city. And this neighbor has pipes that run into every yard of every house in the city and those pipes dump sewage into those yards--even into the yards of houses that produce no sewage themselves.
The neighbors finally get together and come up with a plan to limit the production of sewage that each produces, out of concern that eventually the city will be smothered with it. All of them sign the plan. Except neighbor #2, the United States, which continues to dump sewage into its neighbor's yards (that is, the atmosphere) in great quantities.
And your response? "Are we here to impress the European elites?"
No, we're actually here to limit our sewage disposal--that is, our CO2 emmissions--and join with the rest of the world community in addressing this problem.
Or we can just stick our heads in our derriers and laugh.
Which is the response of the Republican Party. And apparently yours.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/12/05/aust...
AP
Airweare, anybody who is sick enough to join Charles Manson, Sharron Angle and the word cervix in the same entry should not have anything taken seriously.
You have noting of value to contribute but the vile machinations of a very, very sick mind.
Professional help, please!
Vidi, how many times are you going to post that debt graph?
Here is one that includes Obama. Please pay particular attention to the year 2006 when Democrats took over Congress.
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
It should be obvious to anyone who has read the Constitution that it is the House of Representatives and not the President that controls spending.
gogowhitesox writes:
"The voters are well aware that politicians can't keep their hands off the social security dollars and are moving en masse towards wanting private accounts. But American Patriot, like Little Miss Loco, will say "I know better, I know the public wants Social Security like it is despite all the facts to the contrary."
You are dead wrong, American Patriot - as usual."
Actually, as usual, you continually forget that the majority of Americans elected the current president, Obama, and that Obama never ran on a platform that vowed to privatize social security. In fact, just the opposite.
I know you voted for McCain--and I hate to have to remind you of this--but McCain did not win.
"And the EPA? You believe the EPA has done anything to stop the polluting of air and water in this country. You just said we were the second worst offender of clean air - what the bleep has the EPA been doing then?
We are the second largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world. Bush eviscerated the EPA during his 8 years in office, refused to sign Kyoto, and in general did what Republicans like to do--wreak havoc on the environment:
http://environment.about.com/od/environm...
Hmmm. You don't like the United Nations. Nor does Sharron Angle. Hmmmm.
You are an isolationist. Why am I surprised?
http://www.un.org/aboutun/achieve.htm
From Wikipedia:
"A 2005 RAND Corp study found the UN to be successful in two out of three peacekeeping efforts. It compared UN nation-building efforts to those of the United States, and found that seven out of eight UN cases are at peace, as compared with four out of eight US cases at peace.[21] Also in 2005, the Human Security Report documented a decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuses since the end of the Cold War, and presented evidence, albeit circumstantial, that international activism--mostly spearheaded by the UN--has been the main cause of the decline in armed conflict since the end of the Cold War.[22] Situations where the UN has not only acted to keep the peace but also occasionally intervened include the Korean War (1950--1953), and the authorization of intervention in Iraq after the Persian Gulf War in 1990."
AP
Poor, poor, pitiful ggws is losing it again today because all his misinformation has been disputed and he is resorting to insults and name calling.
He only wants to use the radical extremist sources and not sources that are objective.
Ooh how, poor, poor pitiful ggws hates the truth.
Wow, I'm shocked that gogo knows absolutely nothing about bonds--or the fact that they pay interest. Or the fact that US treasury notes are considered one of the safest investments worldwide. Or that the money coming into SS does not--and never has--gone directly into the "general treasury fund."
FACT: Social Security does NOT borrow money from the Treasury to make up its shortfall.
Think I'll wait to put up the proof... it's fun seeing gogo's bs parade.
nitro writes:
"The responses of the "progressives" are quite interesting"
Apparently nitro only reads "progressive" posts and chooses to cast a blind eye to gogowhitesox, a conservative.
I don't blame you--I'd pretend that gogo did not exist as well, because otherwise your post would look very one-sided!
AP
boftx--show me a Republican president since 1980 that did not double or triple the United States' national debt.
And, one more question--who was the only president in the last 40 years to balance the budget and begin paying off the national debt?
I'll help you with that one--Clinton.
AP
AP, for two points, how many times have the Republicans controlled both chambers in Congress in the last 60 years?
MSNBC - Radical Extreme?
New York times - Radical Extreme?
Again, to quote Jack Nicholson,
Vidi, YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
American Patriot, you seem to be missing one little piece to your argument. when Obama ran he said he DID NOT intend to move towards government control of health care - yet he did.
He said he would remove the troops from Iraq and Afghanistan - he hasn't.
He DID NOT tell the American people he was going to implement a $900 Billion stimulus boondoggle when he was running.
He talked about Cap and Trade, but when asked in the debates, said it was a theory that needed to be looked at.
He said he was going to attack immigration - He hasn't
That, American Patriot, is why Mr. Obama's approval rating is esentially HALF what it was when he took office. He ran as a CENTRIST and has been governing as an EXTREMIST. The American people have not gotten what he ran on and he will be booted out in 2012.
The very fact that a Republican tsunami is coming in November undercscores the fact that the arrogant b***** does NOT have the so-called mandate he thought he had. His arrogance and determination to utilize the super-majorities he had after the Anti-Bush election is going to be a millstone around the neck of the Dems for years to come.
Tell me, American Patriot, if the President and his policies were so popular, why would a person of such dubious qualifications - your assessment - be in a dog-eat-dog race with the Senate Majority Leader?
Simple answer - Americans want a return to CAPITALISM!
Nov. 2 - Parents back in charge!
gbigs, You have been totally brainwashed and your post at 3:28 pm shows that.
poor, poor pitiful ggws is experiencing the "propagandist syndrome" He has constantly put out the talking points propaganda from his miserable failure masters for so long that he has begun to believe it himself.
Somebody call for a priest or a psychiatrist to free him from the demons that have been created by himself in his own mind.
if americans want to return to capitalism, they better start paying off their debt; one of these days the china man is going to have his hand out.
What? Investors worldwide are scurrying for US Treasury notes??? They must not have consulted with gogo/michelle bachmann. Don't they know Social Security holds over two trillion worth? And yet Treasuries are STILL considered one of the safest investments available?
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/thinktank/2...
Let me get this right, Okra. You have fifty dollars in your pocket and you want to go out and have dinner. But you need fifty dollars to pay your electric bill. So you write yourself an IOU saying you will save the next fifty dollars you earn and pay yourself back.
When you make the next fifty you can pay the electric bill AND the IOU? You seem to think you can take care of both with the same fifty.
Can you be so dense?
That's what the government is doing. It took the money from the SS administration fund in return for bonds and spent the money. Any interest that the bonds earn are the OBLIGATION of the originator of the bonds - in this case the Federal Government.
Now the SS Administration needs to redeem the bonds, plus interest, to meet it's obligations. It presents them to the Federal Government for redemption plus interest. This year it's about $29 billion dollars.
Upon request for redemption, the Treasury transfers the money to the SS Administration so benefits can be paid in full.
Tell me, Okra, WHERE does the money the Treasury transferred upon redemption come from?
Simple question, please give me an answer.
ggws, Your post at 4:04 pm is pure Hooey!
For the truth on Social Security:
www.socialsecurity.gov/history/trustfund...,
www.ncpssm.or,
www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx=print&id=...
That's right, Okra, there is a NEVER ENDING supply of bonds that can be sold. Just keep a'printin' them and we'll sell 'em until the cows come home.
Just goes to show you how economically illiterate you are, Okra. What happens then when the market becomes so saturated that the bonds are worthless? What happens when the coupon rate for the bonds increases to 4-5-6 even 10%%? Do you even know what a coupon rate is, dimwit?
That's called INFLATION! and when the economy isn't moving forward and you continue to sell bonds to subsidize your debt you go into BANKRUPTCY. Nobody wants your paper. You can't finance anything. You're DONE!
Geez, you're a bonehead!
Vidi,
Looked at your post already. The funding levels reported are the Bonds held by the SS Administration.
You don't know what you're talking about and the links don't differentiate between cash and acquired debt.
Get a grip - you're a novice and easily fooled!
Vidi, prepare your apology. Here is the wording directly from the SAA website:
As stated above, money flowing into the trust funds is invested in U. S. Government securities. Because the government spends this borrowed cash, some people see the current increase in the trust fund assets as an accumulation of securities that the government will be unable to make good on in the future. Without legislation to restore long-range solvency of the trust funds, redemption of long-term securities prior to maturity would be necessary.
That's right, Vidi, the government borrowed the money and spent it. Then they replaced it with U.S. Government Securities which will begin coming do, oh say, NOW. And the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government backs these bonds meaning they have to be redeemed by funds either borrowed OR additional debt taken on by selling more bonds.
A Ponzi scheme.
You aren't a LIAR - you're just too ignorant to see what is happening around you - and you keep believing that mope Harry Reid!
OOPS - Another radical extreme web site used as a source - the SSA site......
about as right wing as MSNBC and the New York Times....
Sorry, Vidi, you are vastly overmatched, try playing with the big boys when you grow up!
Nov. 2- Capitalists and Parents back in Charge!
AmericanPatriot,
Oh My! I've read the Huffington Post and I certainly read Paul Krugman's columns. Not eveyone who disagrees with you just watches Fox News.
I believe global warming is real. I remain unconvinced that carbon emissions are the sole cause of global warming. Many treaties have been signed before the UN and without in UN, so no, I don't think the UN is vital to getting a global warming agreement. I don't believe in isolationism but I also do not believe in nation building. I did not support the war in Iraq and I believe we should exit Afghanistan. I also believe the UN is unnecessary, especially at the price we pay to support it.
I really readily admit that I cannot name a fiscally responsible Republican Administration because there has not been one. I suspect you'll name the Clinton Administration as your shining example. Please - take away the dot com bubble and add in the unfunded social security and medicare expenses and there goes Clinton's budget surplus.
The truth is we just cannot get a fiscally responsible Congress whether it be Republican or Democrat, which brings me back to my original call for Congressional Term Limits.
I rest my case...
Michael
Gogo the EGO
Never said we could print a never ending supply, gogo, but like the name calling, that's just your way of changing the subject, we all get that. The fact is that US Treasury notes are one of the safest investments in the world, and nobody but the most partisan hack is suggesting that we're going to default on them any time soon.
The money going into SS from the very beginning has been invested in Treasury notes, gogo, not tossed into, and removed from, the "general fund" like you asserted earlier (your welcome, glad to teach you something, gogo). You can argue till you're blue in face about the perils of financing govt. debt, but the fact is that governments and corporations around the world are betting that T-notes are a solid investment. Why wouldn't they be for the American people?
Want to learn another fact? Social Security does not dip into the "general treasury fund" to pay its shortfall. It uses the interest earned from its investments in the USofA.
"While the financial crisis and debt troubles halted the growth of credit in many economies, the process of deleveraging has just begun. To avoid risks, financial institutions have to switch on deleveraging. So they have to reduce the proportion of risk assets in their asset portfolio and turn to Treasuries, particularly US Treasury bonds for better safety. And the US financial supervision bill will further boost the trend.
Till the first quarter of 2010, the US household net worth was $54.6 trillion, down $11.4 trillion from its peak in 2007. It is estimated that it would take several years for America's debt-to-income ratio to reach a sustainable level. This means US government bonds will be a popular asset across the world for a long time simply because there is no alternative."
ggws, You are still lying!
When the government takes those Social Security surpluses and puts it in the general revenue.\, the SSA administration is issued special bonds that pay interest. That is the reason that the SS trust fund grows.
That benefits both the government, the economy and the trust fund. The interest paid on the surpluses does not leave the country.
When the government borrows from foreign countries or foreign business entities they have to pay interest which leaves the country.
Irving Kristol, the father of conservatism would probably would say the same thing about you that he did about his son to his friends. "I am afraid that Billy has got it wrong again."
Wow, looks like investors the world over are buying up those "useless pieces of paper in drawer somewhere" called US Treasury securities.
Gogo lies! and he's not too bright either.
Where, Where, Where does the "Interest Earned" come from?
You seem top think there is some entity out there called "Bob's Bond Shack" who has sold these bonds to the SSA and that Bob is paying the interest.
I'll ask you again, when the SSA obtains the "Interest" on the Bonds it has in it's potfolio, who is making that payment?
One answer - The Federal Government.
Where does the Federal Government get the money to transfer the "Interest" payments, or redemptions, to the Social Security Administration?
One of two ways: From the selling of additional Bonds OR from the General Fund.
If you can dispute those facts please tell me where the money comes from.
If you can't, keep your mouth shut because you don't know what you're talking about.
The Chinese and Japanese own almost $1.5 Trillion dollars of U.S. Bonds. Do you think they will continue to buy these securities forever, even when the debt outpaces the GDP of this country? No, and when they stop or reduce the amount of debt they purchase we are in deep trouble. But I'm sure you are comfortable with the Chinese dictating fiscal policy to us in the future.
Did you see what happened to Greece when nobody would buy their debt? Bankrupt.
But of course you're one of those ostriches that stick their head in the ground and say "This is America, can't happen here!"
That's why we need PARENTS IN CHARGE who can face these tough issues instead of kicking the can down the road!
Nov 2 - Parents back in charge!
how is that our self-proclaimed internet finance wizard doesn't know anything about finance? It's ok gogo lots of people fudge the truth about themselves on the internets. I never believed anything you said in the first place. Now we all know, huh.
lol,
"What happens when the coupon rate for the bonds increases to 4-5-6 even 10%%?"
Gee gogo, lemme think about that for a while and get back to you... but I DO know what mumbo jumbo looks like when I see it.
Ironic then that the world financial crisis would increase demand for US Treasuries? Hey gogo, can you tell us why?
Okra, you are by far the biggest moron on this post. You have no clue. you think there is a never-ending supply of debt that can be floated out there and that we can pay.
It doesn't bother you that $.40 of every borrowed dollar is going to interest. You seem to think that's just dandy - sell some more bonds. Get that number up to $.60 or $.70 and then we'll.....SELL some nore bonds.
OOPS..... nobody wants to buy our bonds anymore....We be in a wholw lot of trouble...
Okra, you are the most amazingly feeble minded arrogant misinformed person in terms of finance and economics EVER!
wtplv writes:
"I believe global warming is real."
Good, so does the rest of the world--just not the Republican Party.
"I remain unconvinced that carbon emissions are the sole cause of global warming."
No one says that they are. From Wikipedia on the Kyoto Protocol:
"Under the Protocol, 37 industrialized countries (called "Annex I countries") commit themselves to a reduction of four greenhouse gases (GHG) (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride) and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons) produced by them, and all member countries give general commitments."
"Many treaties have been signed before the UN and without in UN, so no, I don't think the UN is vital to getting a global warming agreement."
Then show me what other treaty has been signed by 187 nations including all of the industrialized nations--except the U.S.? And what has the U.S. done to curb its greenhouse gas emmissions?
"I don't believe in isolationism but I also do not believe in nation building. I did not support the war in Iraq and I believe we should exit Afghanistan."
I agree. Nation building is a quick way to drain your own economy of necessary resources. How ironic that we are pouring 11 billion a month into Iraq/Afghanistan while cutting everywhere we can here!
"I also believe the UN is unnecessary, especially at the price we pay to support it."
That's your opinion. The trend throughout human history has been to go from the small, isolated and local to the large and global. From primitive, warring villages to cities, states, nations, and federations. The UN is the natural outgrowth of that trend.
"I really readily admit that I cannot name a fiscally responsible Republican Administration because there has not been one."
I agree. 99.9% of Republicans will not admit that.
"I suspect you'll name the Clinton Administration as your shining example. Please - take away the dot com bubble and add in the unfunded social security and medicare expenses and there goes Clinton's budget surplus."
I agree that the dot.com boom increased govt revenue, but disagree about your social security and medicare expenses conclusion:
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/du...
"The truth is we just cannot get a fiscally responsible Congress whether it be Republican or Democrat, which brings me back to my original call for Congressional Term Limits."
I'm with you on term limits. However, if you look at the last 200 years of U.S. debt, I think the recent three Republican administrations stand out like a sore thumb. The surge in the middle of the graph was due to the Civil War. The next small surge was WWI. The next large surge was WWII. And the giant surge to the right--minus the dip during the Clinton years, represents the combined records of Reagan, Bush I and Bush II. Pretty tragic.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fede...
AP
ggws, I retract 1% of my comment about you lying. Do you think you can improve in posting truthful, objective facts?
Vidi, ALL my facts are truthful and accurate. I use the best sources and it is impossible to educate a slug like you because you refuse to A.) look at facts, and B.) come off your ideology. A waste of time providing you data, but some of the other thinking participants might be interested. Yet I've NEVER seen you provide one shred of documentation disputing my posts other than the ubiquitous "You Lie". Baby talk.
Here is some more information about YESTERDAY'S Bond sale:
TODAY'S TOP MARKET STORIES
Yields on 10-year notes, which move inversely to prices, rose 6 basis points to 3.05%, after reaching 3.06% before the confidence data.
A basis point is 0.01% percentage point.
Yields on 2-year notes increased 4 basis points to 0.64%.
Before Wednesday's auction of new securities, yields on 5-year notes rose 5 basis points to 1.79%.
The Treasury Department sold $38 billion in 2-year notes at a yield of 0.665%, the lowest level on record for an auction.
"It's hard to blame investors for stepping back at these levels," said George Goncalves, a strategist at Nomura Securities, one of the 18 primary government-security dealers required to bid at auctions.
************************************************
That's right, it's getting MORE expensive for the U.S. to sell Bonds and demand is dropping. Hey, OKRA, do you have a clue what Bond Yields are and how they effect the selling of debt by the Treasury. Get an education and then you can post an apology.
Nov. 2 - Parents in charge!
What's this? Investors demand for treasuries surpasses dealers??? For the first time in history?
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.c...
Gogo, please explain to us why Treasuries are so popular with investors now. We know you're the (self-proclaimed) financial wizard and all, but didn't you say they were just useless pieces of paper, stuffed in a drawer somewhere?
Quiz: What is a "Dealer"?
When you tell me what you think it is, I'll respond.
like i said, gogo's a complete fraud. posting a DAILY trend on two year notes means nothing. Gogo can't even tell us why yeilds (overall) are dropping--like a rock.
What a bufoon. Quick, gogo, google supply and demand and get back to us! You are a fraud gogo and we all know it. You know nothing about the subject at hand.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-18...
Under the category of "Bonds Can't fail" in this country, here is an article about the problems with municipal bonds. "Muni's" are a staple of retiree income because the yield is tax-free and, supposedly, AAA rated. There has never been a question of the possibility of a City or County defaulting on their "Muni's"...until now!
Storm Clouds For Municipal Bonds
Underfunded liabilities loom as a threat to governments finances.
By Alan Lavine
Underfunded liabilities loom as a threat to governments' finances.
Tread carefully with municipal bonds over the next decade. Many city and state governments face mounting problems from underfunded pension plans and/or health care liabilities that could hamper financial strength.
Cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh and San Diego have massive pension shortfalls that could lead to Chapter 9 bankruptcies. Chapter 9 of the U.S. bankruptcy code lets municipalities continue to deliver services while adjusting or refinancing debts. A city may remain under federal court protection while developing a plan to cut debt.
Other cities with major underfunded pension liabilities include, for example, Fort Worth, Texas; Dearborn, Mich.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Hanover, Pa.; Houma, La.; and Houston.
States are also in a pickle. Colorado needs about $500 million to make up its shortfall. Illinois has a $35 billion shortfall. Last year, Illinois cut contributions to five state pensions by $3 billion to avoid a budget crisis, while selling billions in "pension obligations" to the public. Still, experts believe it may still need to cut another $20 billion.
Nationwide, Standard & Poor's estimates that pension shortfalls are running more than $280 billion, including states, cities and counties. And if interest rates stay low and the stock market declines, the amount of underfunded liabilities should climb.
************************************************
The Federal Government has one advantage the states, cities and counties don't have - they can't print money. The Federal Government is one step ahead of the above.
What??? Mr. Grown up financial wizard doesn't read Bloomberg? He didn't know how the Treasury market works--until now???
Oh, gogo. I'm so embarrassed for you.
And your welcome.
shouldn't you be watching the gas pumps, nitro?
Didn't answer my question, Okra, do you know what a "Dealer" is and what his role is in the Bond Market?
Now, not the dealer you buy your crack from, a Wall Street Bond dealer....
and I am watching Bloomberg at 5:00 AM every day (DirecTV Chanel 353) to see the overnight commodity prices and bond yields. Sorry, your knowledge in this field is not close to mine.
If you want to start talking about hallucinogenic drugs, how to cash Government checks or avoid understanding factual documentation - I'll defer to you...
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents in Charge!
Gogowhitesox writes:
"ALL my facts are truthful and accurate. I use the best sources and it is impossible to educate a slug like you because you refuse to A.) look at facts, and B.) come off your ideology"
Kind of a hilarious post, really.
You yourself can't get beyond a few simple facts:
Reagan tripled the national debt, turning the U.S. from a lending nation into a debtor nation.
Bush I doubled the deficit, following Reagan's lead, which originally Bush I had called "voodoo economics."
Clinton balanced the budget, and is the only president in 40 years to have begun to pay it down.
Bush II doubled the national debt again, gave us two foreign wars, and torpedoed the economy.
So when you constantly repeat "parents back in charge" I have to belly laugh each time. What a joke.
Oh, and by the way: a majority of Americans voted in a Democratic president, a Democratic Congress and a Democratic Senate.
And that combination--against constant Republican opposition--is delivering the programs the president promised while campaigning.
Despite what you constantly declare about what "the majority of Americans want."
Ain't democracy great?
AP
Real slick how you quick change the subject, gogo. Nobody noticed at all! Please tell us more about TREASURIES, though, so we can all get a good laugh at your mad google skilz.
Read the Bloomberg link, crazed wingnut. You might actually learn something. But I doubt it.
Again, Okra, I'm not the one changing the subject, you are. I actually read your article because I have a very rare habit for this post - I like to gather information so I know what I'm talking about.
I ask you again, your article claims Bond sales are strong because investors bought more bonds than dealers. What is a dealer?
If you don't answer I'm going to assume you don't know and that will indicate to all of us that you have no clue how the Bond market operates.
Please tell me or post about another topic with which you are just as unfamiliar....
November 2 - Parents and Capitalists back in charge!
nitro, Idiots like dogma, misinformation, myths and lies and that is exactly what you and your ilk absorb.
Do you not have the mental capabilities to do some research and post the truth or do you find that it is much easier to post the talking points from your miserable failure masters without question?
Do you have any mental analytical ability left to question your own opinions or thoughts? processes.
I'll betcha that you watch a lot of Fox propagandist news such as O'Reilly, Beck, Hannity, Savage, Limbaugh and others. I'll betcha that you listen to hate radio a lot. I'll betcha that you have not read a self improvement book in years.
I'll betcha that you have been brainwashed and really do not care that the opinions between your ears are not your own.
Gogo's a complete fraud. But he's so mad at me for proving it that he has to resort to childish games.
Hey, Sun Readers. Did you guys know that in addtion to his keen Treasury market acumen that Gogo climbed Mt. Everest... in the nude... twice... at night... with Elvis...
Interesting. I have NEVER seen a post from Vidi from a reputable source - NEVER!
He blurts out a lot of unsubstantiated rants, throws out a lot of sophomoric rhetoric, has no grasp of detail and basically utters the liberal lunatic party line.
When caught with his pants down - hide the children - he then resorts to his now infamous "You Liar" with the corresponding ZERO facts to rebut anything posted.
THen, as is the style of the liberal loons, when they don't have facts they contend YOU don't have facts even though a trove of them has been posted.
Childlike stupidity. "Mommy, Mommy, he's lying because I don't like what he said"
No FACTS, No SUBSTANTIAL Arguments, Nothing....
nitro writes:
"And "AmericanPatriot" has an horizon of no more than 20-30 years and believes, that he has something to say."
Actually, I'm happy to take the horizon of the national debt back 200 years.
The first bulge in the middle is the Civil War.
The next bulge is WWI.
The next one is WWII
And the next giant debt bulge--save for the dip which represents the Clinton years--is the accumulated debt of three Republican presidents: Reagan, Bush I and Bush II.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fede...
Is that a long enough "horizon" for you?
"It's the economy, stupid."
AP
Wall Street bond dealers, gogo. There's an index of the ratio of governments, banks, mutual funds buying treasuries as compared with Wall street dealers. Primary dealers, which are required to bid in government auctions and act as the trading partner to the New York Fed, have won the lowest proportion of Treasuries in auctions since the government began releasing the data in 2003.
But you already knew that, didn't you.
I see Okra has now given up and is trying to blur the picture by throwing out some completely unintelligible obtuse statement.
He can't answer a simple question because he doesn't know the answer. I'm going to help you, little girl. Please "Google" the words "Market Maker" and you will be able to find out what the role of a dealer is in a bond sale.
When you do, you may understand why the atricle you linked completely proves MY point that the bond market is weakening.
Try some education, young lady, and some day your little whining may disapate and allow you to grow some b***!
nitro, please try to learn English. Your post gives "you're" away as the type who never finished 10th grade.
Poor, poor,pitiful. nitro has become a psychic on the computer. He can smell the cyber space and know all about people on computers.
Wow! If you can do that the FBI and the CIA sure could use you. Why not send them your resume?
nitro writes and pretends he cannot see:
"Actually, you must be one of the sharpest minds on the planet, to get and write down the essence of it, in three sentences."
I suggest you take a close look at the graph again. Especially at the giant bulge of national debt on the right.
I believe you missed the "essence" of it the first time.
AP
Nitro,
Ideology apparently prevented those particular pixels from registering in your brain.....
Vidi, if you had any substance to your posts maybe you might be taken seriously. Come on, how hard is it to find a fact to back up your statements, theories or your own dogma? All you seem to do is call people names and attack them.
Will US Treasuries continue to sizzle?
http://www.time.com/time/business/articl...
Why do you continue make a fool of yourself gogo?
It certainly could, but so far govt. debt hasn't had an adverse affect on the Bond market. Fact: The SS trust fund is composed of US Treasury bonds--arguably the safest investments in the world. The system itself just needs minor adjustments (raise cap, increase tax) to stay solvent.
PRG, your post at 7:14 is basically your standard reply when the traditional Republican, Independent, and Democrat bloggers confront you with the truth. Another one of your standard replies is "prove it" after you have been proven wrong.
How many times does the objective bloggers have to prove you wrong on just one of your misinformation posts?
So what's next gogo? Got another cut and paste article on yesterday's municipal bond rates for Omaha, Nebraska. That'll prove you're not a complete fraud, for sure.
That's right, I forgot, no money for social security benefits are coming out of the General Fund or by the selling of more Bonds. Your article was from two months ago - what has happened to bond yields in the last couple months, Okra?
Bonds ARE the safest safe bet in this investment envorinment. Again, you never looked up what a "Market Maker" is and his role. The article you linked to made the statment that investors outbid "Dealers" for bonds. That means yields were not high enough for the "Dealers" and the equity yields sent "Investors" to the Bond market - neither of which is positive for the economy.
Your stupid contention that we can just "continue to sell Bonds" because the Bond market has temporarily replaced the equity markets as the "Flight to Quality" mechanism underscores your ignorance of the markets and their function.
Frankly, you can only have an intelligent argument when both participants actually know what they're talking about. You, Okra, bore me with your juvenile knowledge of the markets and I find myself speaking to you like I would talk to a ten year old just dipping his toe in the water.
So I bid you, adieu, and let you bask in your ignorane!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents in Charge!
"I suggest, you take a look at okra's last posting."
I guess I miss your point there. My point was that the last three Republican administrations are responsible for creating America's enormous national debt. In fact, their actions are only matched by the debt we took on during WWII.
So when someone like gogo tells me that the Republican "parents" will soon be back in charge, I can't help but laugh at the unbelievable absurdity of that remark.
The Republicans are presently screaming that the current administration is spending beyond its income in order to pull the nation out of the recession that the Republicans landed us in. Yet Obama is following classic economic "stimulus" policy to do so. It's what Roosevelt did during the Great Depression.
And not one of the Republicans will admit that they are the culprits for the most shameful run up of debt since WWII--when we were fighting an all-out, two battle front war.
http://zfacts.com/p/318.html
Like I said, "it's the economy, stupid."
And with that in mind, the Republicans should be kept as far away from returning to power as possible, as they have proved themselves to be, among other things, economically incompetent.
AP
Is Social Security borrowing from the general treasury, now that they have a shortfall?
Sadly, for gogo's credibility anyway, NO. But he's in good company though. Michele Bachmann got caught slinging the same baloney.
http://www.politifact.com/texas/statemen...
Ah, I see "Politifact" has again reared it's head. The supposed "Source" run by David Corn and Craig Crawford - uber liberal leaders of the left-wing!
THat's right, these are the kind of sources generated by the liberal loons - leftisits "Checking" right wing policy or statements.
How OBJECTIVE!
What's the matter, Okra, Fidel Castro wouldn't take your call for an opinion?
You're a FRAUD!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in charge!
Last comment of the night on this topic as anyone with a third grade education would understand what is happening. This line from a New York Times article in March:
"In a year like this, the paper gains from the interest earned on the securities will more than cover the difference between what it takes in and pays out."
Those "Paper Gains" are interest on the bonds being held by the SSA. That interest due is going to be taken from the U.S. Treasury. The amount for fiscal year 2010 will be $29 Billion. The U.S. Government will either have to sell more bonds to raise the $29 Billion interest payment due or transfer the money from the General Fund. Period.
If you have a third grade education you can understand the concept. Unfortunatley, Okra, that leaves you out.
Good Night!!
Nov. 2 - Capitalists and Parents back in charge!
P.S. - White Sox 6, Seattle 5.....Did someone talk about a summer swoon?
lady gogo is here for one thing -- to stir up s%&#. Everyday she regurgitates the same BS but in a slightly in order while rarely mentioning bats%&# Crazy Angle because no one takes that psycho's candidacy seriously, not even gogo.
gogo is a right wing troll with little or no life outside of this (and probably other) forums. She's a social outcast. We ought to let her stay that way and not help her sad existence find validation on an anonymous comment board.
BTW, shouldn't lady gogo be over at the RJ where her views are considered mainstream?
Hah! Even Okra's "source" admits that the "Trust Fund" is an acounting device and that it doesn't exist!
The "trust fund" is more or less an accounting device -- how the government keeps track of the money it's authorized to spend on Social Security.
And this from the same "Source":
At the Social Security Administration, spokesman Mark Hinkle said that even if benefit spending exceeds available revenue from payroll taxes, the program can draw on interest from money it's invested in securities in the general treasury
Those "securities" are issued by, who else, none other than the U.S. Government! That means, Okra, that the U.S. Government is PAYING those interest payments!
And where do those interest payments come from? Aha! The U.S. Treasury!
Checkmate!
Gee, LastTHroes, I only thought Little Miss Loco fell prey to those wicked monthly hormone problems.
Well, put a towel down and remember this one stirring thought. The R-J reflects MAINSTREAM thought and the vast majority of this community read that paper as opposed to the DNC house organ Sun.
I just post here because it is so much fun to beat you liberal little girls, who think they're sitting at the "Cool Table", with facts and polls that spell out your impending implosion.
So take care of that leak and try to control yourself because in 97 days it will all be over, and....
Capitalists and Parents back in control!
Good Night, Everyone....
I actually read the rest of the "Source" and got this as the postscript that the fraud, Okra, didn't want to post:
Update: We stepped on a live wire with this article and, based on reader reactions, realize we could have been blunt that the so-called Social Security Trust Fund isn't a pot of money like, say, someone's personal savings account. Also, we could have been clearer about decisions that lie ahead to shore up Social Security.
References to the trust fund are really references to an ongoing relationship between two parts of the U.S. government. Here's how reader Michael Brandl, a lecturer at the McCombs School of Business, summed it up in his note to us this morning: The Social Security system "will be in a deficit this year -- that is because of economic slowdown, as you correctly point out. However, the 'trust fund' is not really a 'savings account' as one might think. As you correctly point out, the trust fund is made up of Treasury securities, which are paid with future tax revenues. So, the Social Security trust fund is made up of promises to repay ourselves!"
That comments backs up EVERY WORD I'VE POSTED TONIGHT! And this from YOUR source, Okra....
Double checkmate!
nitro writes:
"Given, that people like you have a monopoly on truth, you're a macroeconomy expert, compared to comrade Obama."
I realize that it's difficult to confront facts that contradict everything you say.
But sometimes that just happens.
Either you can re-evaluate your beliefs or insult the person who conveyed the facts to you that you dislike--and that contradict your opinions.
You've already made your choice.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/fede...
You can hide, but you can't run from the facts. Three Republican presidents created America's enormous debt--and the last one added a flourish after he got done doubling the debt in the form of an economic implosion that we are still digging out from.
You just can't get admit it.
Other people can, however. It's only the Republicans who find it difficult admitting the truth.
Because if they did, then no one would listen twice to their rantings about "taking charge" again.
Kinda weird, however, that your party can't run on its prior performance though, isn't it?
Rather like a criminal running for public office--and forced to hide his past.
AP
Vidi, I wouldn't have to say "prove it" so much if you actually had something of substance to say...like some facts.
Gogo writes the following:
"Ah, I see "Politifact" has again reared it's head. The supposed "Source" run by David Corn and Craig Crawford - uber liberal leaders of the left-wing!"
Actually, Politifact has absolutely nothing to do with either David Corn or Craig Crawford.
Why am I not surprised about that?
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/09/02/Opinio...
Do you know what the word "boviator" means?
AP
PRG, Facts, are you actually mentioning the word facts when you avoid them like the plague. You know very well that truth and facts will destroy you and your ilk.
You get all your talking points from your miserable failure masters and then just repeat them as facts.
Do you have a direst line to the Fox propagandists?
PolitiFact | Sorting out the truth in politics
May 6, 2010 ... Fact-checks claims of presidential candidates. A joint project of the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Quarterly
CQ Politics | Congressional, Presidential and Political News ...
Jul 28, 2010 ... With CQ's interactive election map, signature race ratings and must-read blogs from Craig Crawford, David Corn and Taegan Goddard
Gee, American Patriot, you're just as big an idiot as Okra. Another "Fact" posted by liberal posters that turns out to be PURE FICTION.
CHECKMATE TO YOU ALSO, AMERICAN PATRIOT!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
You liberals are soooooooooooo stupid!
Take it easy for the night, maybe by tomorrow you can recharged and hang foe an hour or so!!!
Ta-Ta!
Nov. 2- Capitalists and Parents in charge!
Wow! Now all of us know when ggws really loses it, he goes "Off the Cliff"
Can't checkmate you, Vidi, because you never post anything containing facts or relevance....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Just another stupid left-wing nut job.....
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
You are soooooooooooooo stupid!
ggws, Stop drinking and snorting!
If you are having problems call 911, tell them to bring a strait jacket because you might harm yourself.
http://www.ssa.gov/history/BudgetTreatme...
Vidi, more crow for you: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/busine...
One fact I've stated in the past - social security pays out more in benefits this year than it received in revenue. I also mentioned it will return to normal next year but fall short again between 2016 and 2017 and run a permanent deficit unless taxes are raised or it is reformed in some other way...
In fact, I've even pointed to this fact on the Social Security website. I notice, when I post my facts and sources you ignore them - especially if they aren't from Cato, Heritage, Hoover or some other right of center think tank (because if it is a right of center think tank you just do more name calling).
Here is how social security works
1) About 12 percent of your income (of up to just over $100k) is taken.
2) Some money goes to current retirees
3) Dollars left over are spent on government backed securities - which means the government just invests in itself
4) An IOU is placed in the trust fund
5) Government promises to pay you back with interest
6) Government can only pay you back by a) taking money from someone else, b) raising taxes and or c) funneling money from other programs to pay the bill. For people under the age of 35 the answers will be b), c) and or a reduction in benefits...
gogo writes:
"Gee, American Patriot, you're just as big an idiot as Okra. Another "Fact" posted by liberal posters that turns out to be PURE FICTION."
Actually, you said:
"Ah, I see "Politifact" has again reared it's head. The supposed "Source" run by David Corn and Craig Crawford"
Poltifact was never "run" by David Corn or Craig Crawford. Both blogged at CQ. David Corn is no longer there.
Neither ever had anything to do with the St Petersburg Times.
And by the way, can you show one instance of Politifact slanting left or right? And not calling both to task?
Of course not.
Did you look up "boviator?"
AP
Here's a fact, greedy republicans caused the
mess we are in by sending all of our good jobs
to COMMUNIST CHINA.
Our Social Security left with those jobs.
PRG, Your posts at 8:29 and 9:35 PM are just pure misinformation hooey. Those are talking points from your miserable failure masters.
Just go to:
www.ncpssm.org,
www.socialsecurity.gov/history/trustfund...,
www.slate.com/toolbar.aspx?action=print&...
I wonder if your father says the same thing about you as Irving Kristol said about his son William to his friends--"I see that Billy has got it wrong again."
PRG, You have got it wrong again!
Patrick Gibbons, of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, which is funded by the conservative Cato Institute and calls itself "a free-market think tank that seeks private solutions to public challenges" not surprisingly is pushing his company's and the Cato Institute's position again here:
Patrick's employer would like to privatize social security and basically roll back Roosevelt's New Deal, even in the midst of a massive recession created in part by a dismantling of the New Deal's financial regulations.
Patrick says the same thing over and over: that the free market provides the best of all possible worlds, and that government does not need to regulate it.
He just can't explain why American cigarette corporations target certain ethnic and gender groups--and purposely kill them:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/9039
This is not supposed to happen according to Patrick's theory.
Nor is the BP oil rupture.
Nor is our environment supposed to be flooded as they are with carcinogens.
Nor should the Earth's atmosphere be heating up.
It's all the government's fault.
Not the corporations'.
AP
May the Banana_Joe offer some banana to everyone here, just to cool down, some fresh banana?
You can never get rid of fat cat career politicians, because we cannot get rid of them in Europe either. Once they're in charge they have so many supporting connections from political agencies to economic leaders and mighty friends in all kind of places.
That's why they keep themselves in business no matter what kind of sheeet is just happening in politics. One of their favourite strategies is to put the pressure onto people without a lobby like the poor, the homeless, orphans, etc. That's where fat cat career politicians get their money from, just in case some money is missing, but without being in danger of not getting elected (again) for the next period of time.
Read "Animal Farm" by George Orwell. That's just the way it works.
Anyone here for some fresh banana from the banana boy?
Regards
Banana_Joe
This is the US Constitution:
Article One, Clause 1: Composition; Election of Senators
"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote."
>
>
Section Three provides that each state is entitled to two Senators chosen for a term of six years. The state legislatures originally chose the Senators. This provision has been superseded by the Seventeenth Amendment, which provides for the direct election of Senators by the respective states' voters.
Generally, Article V requires that a proposal to amend the Constitution garner a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Congress, and then be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures. This clause of Article I, 3, is one of a handful on which Article V places special restrictions to be amended. In this case, Article V provides that "no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate." Thus, no individual state may have its representation in the Senate adjusted without its consent unless all other states have an identical change.
AP, CO2 is not a "pollutant". You're the type that would do anything to "save the planet" except take a science course. Typical enviro-whacko.
The federal government won't protect U.S. workers, local communities and
taxpayers from illegal immigration. The federal government sues to stop states
that try to help. The federal court system blocks Arizona from enforcing the
federal laws that the federal government won't enforce.
We have to fight back !!
Push your state rep to make a change.
www.numbersusa.com
Once you are registered, go to the "action buffet" to send FREE faxes now.
They are all typed up and ready to go, you just need to click your mouse to send.
Forward this to everyone you know.
Don't let them ruin your state like they've ruined Arizona.
fosimmons says
"Angle wants to go from State to Federal so if the letter writer has a point do not vote this Angle comic into office, right?"
WRONG!!! Sharron is NO comic!!! She is a SERIOUS FIGHTER when it comes to the CONSTITUTION!!! Its all over her track record!!!
The Congressional Budget Office says that the OBAMA-PELOSI-REID LIBERAL fiscal policy is taking us over a CLIFF!!!
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/bu...
I would rather have a FIGHTER like SHARRON in office any day instead of an IDEOLOUGE like HARRY leading us on a path to DESTRUCTION!!!
BuzzwordHit,
You said, "[Sharron Angle] is a SERIOUS FIGHTER when it comes to the CONSTITUTION!!! Its all over her track record!!!"
Would you expand on her track record please. A lot of people have been asking. Thanks.
Hey JanK:
If "government tyranny started in 1913 when Congress passed the 16th Amendment, giving themselves the right to levy taxes on our individual and corporate incomes", how would you have proposed funding the little fight against REAL tyranny that this country mightily helped to win between 1941 and 1945?
Wait, let me guess: you would have put a Second Amendment-empowered "well-regulated militia" of volunteer Tea Party types with handguns up against the German and Japanese war machine, right?