http://investmentwatchblog.com/these-11-st...ey-do-employed/


a little health care factoid
http://sarasota.craigslist.org/rnr/3902871838.html

We are headed down the road to ruin.

"Income Security" represents about 14% of our national budget while "National Defense" is just a tad up from that at 19%. As the economy continues to stagnate and unemployment hovers near 10% here and inflation adjusted wages continue to stay flat, I think we will see income security eventually rise above National Defense in terms of total expenditure. But neither one of those is the thing that gonna kill the pony.

Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid represent roughtly 43% (and climbing) of our entire national budget and the Baby Boomers are retiring at the rate of 10,000 EVERY SINGLE DAY. A bit of math on that is truly staggering. You don't have to project the numbers very far out before it entirely overwhelms the rest of the budget. According to the SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION ssa.org and I quote...

“Annual cost will begin to exceed tax income in 2017 for the combined OASDI Trust
Funds, which are projected to become exhausted and thus unable
to pay scheduled benefits in full on a timely basis in 2041.

Yup. The whole thing is gonna go belly up and they know it So boomers are going to have to start skipping retirement and going straight for the unemployment check Until that runs dry as well. The "sequester" (remember that?) has mandated severe cuts in federal spending including a 10% reduction on all unemployment benefits.

In short, it's a pickle I"m not blaming, I"m not shaming, I"m just saying

Todd





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 26 2013, 03:51 AM

Why do you think they passed Obama care, the government doesn't care about our health, They just passed a bill so they can seize 1/6 th of the US economy,and do you really want the government managing your health the way they manage everything else, oh Wait ruin every thing else.
The answer is not for the government to spend( take) more money,it can only spend what it has to take and that is as inefficient as anything)
it has to start some where , it has to start now
it will hurt , but not as much as letting the country go under
Do you remember the bread lines in Russia = That is what happens with socialism -everytime- its a proven fact, look at all the European nations going down because the people dont want to get rid of there handouts

I can only say it's no different here in Poland :/ Very often it calcutates better to stay at home than going to the job. Goverment doesn't support employers (small and mid-ranged companies) so they could afford employing people. Everything goes in the wrong direction. But now I see it's a worldwide problem...

Milton Friedman once said: "If you pay people not to work and tax them when they do, don't be surprised if you get unemployment." I couldn't agree more. It's just that easy.

nice

Do you know who siad" we will be ready to rule from day !"

















Barack Obama
Last I checked he was an elected official and not a Ruler

Sadly crsn, "they" (the govt) already have 100% of the economy It really doesn't make that much difference who sits in the big chair to be honest. The Presidential office only has one real power. "The Power of NO". He can VETO anything. That's pretty much it. He can't sponsor legislation, can't push it through, thats done below him. The job of the president is to rally the people who in turn rally congress, who in turn initiate and eventually pass legislation. So yeah, honestly, Blue/Red, mostly it's an honorary position

As for spending "what they have" I'm sure you know we've been "deficit spending" and just paying the interest for quite some time now and again it's just how govt works, not really a party thing. Clinton had the last "Budget Surplus" and it's been downhill ever since. Now with the boomers retiring (10,000 a day) the situation simply can't be plugged. People are not going to "vote themselves out" of benefits they feel they have earned. So it's going to be a challenge to watch one or two generations of children be worse off than their parents. But at this point, the course is already set. It could be worse Several countries in Europe are having far more trouble than we are and have to deal with 30 percent youth unemployment. So it could always be darker


Todd

Or maybe the opposite Todd - The "economy" already has the gov in it's pocket )) I was watching some documentary movies about Dr. Burzyński who currently lives and works in U.S.A. He has some original cancer treatments but since 80's he fights with FDA...they don't want him to success - whole the money from present therapies would be gone...check the movie if You have a while...it's so damn scary...

That veto power I am sure you know can be overridden by congress, however it is not likely the way congress is stacked at present. And too many of these people are bought and paid for.

And as far as Clinton's so called "Budget Surplus". I have heard many good arguments as to why it wasn't all it was made out to be be , if there was a surplus at all thanks to government math, which politicians on both sides of the isle have been using for years.Fudging numbers.
Which brings me to the unemployment rate , this is probably double what the stated rate is, or greater if you count true unemployment, meaning people that have just given up looking for work which for some reason aren't counted as unemployed. Especially for the youth of this country where the true unemployment rate is very close to that 30% you were talking about. It may be even worse for youth minorities according to some articles I have read lately.
So it seems to me that it is much "darker" than it is made out to be. The stock market is being propped up by Gov aka taxpayers, creating a new bubble ready for the bursting, and the recovery is virtually non-existant and seems like it was more of a payoff for support than anything else.
Was it Orwell that said all people are equal, it's just that some are more equal than others?
The bottom line being that Gov doesn't seem to represent the people anymore, just the groups that play ball.How many times have you seen legislation passed that didn't have the support of the people? (Hint) obamacare for one.
Term limits for members of congress anyone?

what I meant todd, was that when they take a hold of health care and you have to go plead your case to them to get it, do you see the power shift
and yes it does matter big time who is in the office. Look at the disaster and how he has handled the middle east , Benghazi = our own ambassador died ,this stagnant economy recent data shows incomes fell more in barack's recovery than in bush's rcession.
If that is what you feel a president is , no wonder we elected a cheerleader without any business experience
This economy is a direct result of his agenda being pushed thru from a congress that was with him, that is why the 2010 elections were important( biggest change of congress in history)people saw that stuff was getting rammed thru and they changed with their vote
and why what the IRS did is so important the 2012 elections were a result of the TEA party groups and by them not getting their tax exemptions they were not allowed to use their money the get their voice heard
Did you understand that, The government used it's power to silence opposition ( ever heard of Hitler, Stalin)
And if you don't think the president does anything , then don;t give Clinton credit for the balanced budget
But it was balanced under him, the fact is , it was balanced by Newt Gingrich and the republicans( who by the way got elected by the 2nd biggest congressional over throw due to the fact that things were going the same way , Clinton and the democrats were ramming things thru and they got voted out)Gingrich ran on a ten point promise , one of those promises was balancing the budget, Clinton saw the overthro and knew if he did not sign the balanced budget ammendment that he would have most likely lost his upcoming 2nd term

And yes I am well aware that our government has to borrow 40 cents of every dollar it spends
That is why we have to make cuts, we can't say "we are spending to much" and never stop spending

And about the Veto power, Obviously He has not Vetoed any policies that the congress passed , therefore, he must have agreed and be held

Accountable

This post has been edited by jstcrsn: Aug 27 2013, 01:58 PM

Good point The exact opposite is also true. I was talking about the national economy being reflection of govt budget/economy. The Federal Govt is funded by we the people entirely. The govt itself is elected by we the people (sort of) but guided by big business, big donors, lobbyists, etc. It's a symbiotic relationship that has turned a bit sour since the big crash of 2008 which was caused by a distinct gap between the large banking/investment houses (credit default swaps etc.) and the rules designed to keep them from train wrecking our economy.

From reading this response, I'm guessing you watch a lot of FOX (Faux) News? Just ribbing ya. The good news is, we get to see what a President from the other side of the aisle will do in just a short while. I doubt seriously a democrat will get elected next time around for the big chair. But after we get one of our last Republican presidents this next cycle...

(the demographics of the united states are changing in such a way that puts Republican ticket on the path to extinction IMHO)

...We will get to revisit all of this. I'm personally a Libertarian so I don't vote repub/dem. But no matter who is in the chair, one side just blames the other and Congress stays in lockdown. So again, I just don't see it making a big difference. But hope springs eternal

Todd

P.S. I found this info graphic that explains a lot of why our country is in the state it's in Priorities are a bit out of balance.
I"m all for NATIONAL DEFENSE but I'm not all for nothing but.





This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Aug 30 2013, 05:54 AM

That graphic is extremely misleading my friend. Check it.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/breakdown
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/united...nding_pie_chart
http://www.examiner.com/article/a-breakdow...-tax-dollars-go
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2...he-numbers-2012

This post has been edited by AK Rich: Aug 31 2013, 06:20 AM

Holy Hell gents- this is the first time ever I read people discussing stuff like this without getting nuts with name calling and back talk-
nicely done!
I say throw out the lot of the politicians and vote in guitar players!
unfortunately for the U.S> we have a wannabe dictator in office and half of the populace either don't care or are oblivious to the fact. Also, the amount of people in the US Govnt who have not been voted in that actually run the show is staggering-they have been 'appointed'-and many positions have been created just for them-and they do not share the same values and views as I do.
It's a vast political machine-where the common citizen has no say.
it is really going to get ugly in the Western hemisphere ....

Actually , I watch the evening news on abc and compare it to actual figures and that is very telling
Figures never lie while Liars always figure.Have you seen the latest on Obamacare(how much will you pay)
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/apnewsbreak-...-181912365.html

I have been registered independent for almost 15 yrs now , But I am curious. What are the tenets of a libertarian ?
When I ask, I dont want a link, I would like what you think it is

This post has been edited by jstcrsn: Sep 5 2013, 12:28 PM

Rich, you do realize you (and Crsn quotes one of the same sites) are quoting thinktanks funded with right wing money? One in particular, usgovernmentspending.com is run by Christopher Chantrill who is about as far right wing as it gets, so not exactly "fair and balanced" However! It's fair enough as the missile graphic is from LEFT WING sources So we have balance! Here is a NON PARTISAN graphic directly from the CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE. This is what we spend. And as you may know, it's mostly heavy on entitlements. More so than the military, that's the chunk that will break us. All of the other spending outside of Miltary and Medicare/Medicaid/Social Security is really just a drop in the bucket.

So to save any real money we have to cut things that are political suicide and will never get cut. It's a pickle

I have a serious filter for far left and far right sources as the truth often lives somewhere in the middle IMHO It's not that I"m a lefty, so bashing right wing think tank sites, or that I"m a righty, I"m a Libertarian and we take all of that with a big salt lick











Simply put, "Libertarians" are big fans of, you guessed it, "liberty" so what makes that any different from the other two parties? The core ideas

1.)Freedom
2.)Independence
3.)Tolerance

Libertarians support the rights of all people to do as they are led (even if they choose things we would not choose for ourselves) so long as it doesn't directly impede on the rights of others. E.G. most libertarians are all for legalizing many of the things are not legal now and taxing them to generate revenue and eliminate Black Markets, and for making all people equal under the law regardless of how they live/think/believe/love etc.

That's about it

Todd

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Sep 6 2013, 05:49 AM

so , as a libertarian , how do you feel about the government forcing you into a paying contract with another individual, and penalizing you if you don't.

I don't think tolerance is involved, because once someone steps on your liberty tolerance goes out the window

Actually no, I didn't realize that site was a think tank funded by right wing money. Except for the Heritage Foundation. But, if you take a look at where the spending data comes from at the usgovernmentspending website , it is all from government sources except for some projections of future Intergovernmental transfer, State spending and revenue, and Local spending and revenue beyond 2013. The data sources are stated to be from the federal government and there are links to them.
http://usgovernmentspending.blogspot.com/2...es-by-year.html
Also read the comments at the bottom for more clarification.
Those numbers seem to be pretty much in line with the latest graphic you have posted.
What I did notice is that it is a far more detailed breakdown than what that little missle graphic shows that you posted which really is quite ridiculous IMO. It just goes to show what kind of dumbed down info you get from the left.And it wasn't hard to tell that is where it came from.

Which brings to me my next opinion. I noticed that you took a dig at Fox News in another post in this thread. I would agree that Fox is leaning to the right, but as far as the bias scale goes, it is nowhere even close to the bias you get from ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN (commie news network) those networks don't even try to hide their bias anymore , they wear it as a badge of honor , or dishonor.
To me it is borderline propaganda.
I agree that whatever news you get , it has to be taken with a grain of salt as you say,there are 3 sides to every story. It is a shame that if you really want answers and facts you have to do a bunch of research and try to figure it out for yourself.

Also I agree the things in gov spending that need to be curbed may be political suicide.Once you start giving things away to some by taking from others, it is hard to go back.The ones that are getting don't want to give it up but sooner or later you run out of other peoples money. But those are the real hard steps that must be taken to get back on track, not more borrowing into oblivion, more and more entitlements,and higher and higher taxes to pay for it all. Especially when the money that is supposed to stimulate the economy isn't at all going to where it was supposed to go or where it is truly needed.( I am against bailouts and stimulus spending btw )If the big dogs can't make it and fail by their own doings then it's time for some new dogs to step in.
All one needs to do is look what is going on in some European countries that are taking austerity measures to see where we are headed.What is happening there is our future if we stay on that kind of path.
Socialism has never , ever, been a success in the long run , especially in nations with large populations.

I kind of like those three ideals of the Libertarian party you stated, they sound alot like the ideals of the Tea Party if you add in smaller government.

CRSN, are you talking about CAR INSURANCE? Then yes, I feel my liberty is being infringed!! The govt making me buy car insurance is against my beliefs Oh wait, Health insurance? hmm. I want to risk permanent indebtedness to a hospital and go without health insurance! By golly! When I have a car wreck, let them bill me!!

In all seriousness, affordable health care is something I think everyone deserves to be honest, just as they deserve affordable car insurance And affordable Homeowners insurance, renters insurance, etc.

here is a link to an article in the WASHINGTON POST with hard info on the REAL COSTS for what folks will pay with obamacare. It's looking like I'm going to SAVE MONEY!!! Woohooo!!!: )

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkbl...nder-obamacare/






Some fine points rich I think we are actually not that far apart in political terms. The tea party does embrace many things near and dear to the Libertarian heart so to speak. It does split off with marriage rights for any and every adult/persuassion, legalizing various substances and hobbies etc. But the core bits are pretty close

I agree in full that the "left" newsies are NO BETTER than the right. And in fact, I take a big dose of all of them and then sort out the actual "news" for myself. I've found that by adding BBC WORLD NEWS and AL JAZEERA AMERICA news to the mix that it broadens the perspective quite a bit. Just CNN, or FAUX news just isn't enough info to actually have a valid base of information IMHO but sadly the politics are such that many folks that watch one never watch the other.

I also agree that limitless spending is just silly. However, we are now in the echoe of the 2008 crash which is still acting as a weight on the entire economy and causing a myriad of ancillary issues affecting growth/jobs which would just be too boring to go in to and i"d need charts and a little slide rule. As such, I honestly think now is not the time to tighten the belt but instead focus on "core research" funded by tax dollars that led us to such things as the Internet, Space Travel, etc. The core research is what allows business to create new markets from scratch and have a competitive advantage imho.

The real problem, as you mentioned, is the balooning entitlement spending and 10,000 baby boomers a day retiring and leaving the tax base. Social security/medicare/medicaid is the nail in our coffin waiting for a hammer and sadly I don't see a way around it. Not to be all "doom and gloom" but nobody is going to get elected saying "old people, we are cutting your benefits!".

Todd

This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Sep 8 2013, 07:45 AM