Alan Simpson, Senator from Wyoming , calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation, as he compared "Social Security" to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats.
Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana ... I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!
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"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight!
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole for FIFTY YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).
3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukesdecided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero ambition losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would have made Bernie Madoff proud.
4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and your ilk pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your shill commission is proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now you morons propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because you idiots mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal money from Medicare to pay the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you incompetent bastards spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bullshit" on your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU.
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or, as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcases who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers. And for what?Votes! That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.
And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.
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If you like the way things are in America delete this. If you agree with what a fellow Montana citizen Patty Myers says, PASS IT ON!!!!
NOT sorry about the language.....
She tells it like it is...
I like it. I agree with it. It is an excellent expression of blame and anger.
ReplyDeleteBut beyond it's entertainment value and maybe it's offering of some historical perspective to prevent us from repeating the same mistakes, it's pretty worthless in terms of solutions.
The fact of the matter is that we're here. And while I love to fire off angry missives blaming politicians, the Baby Boomers, high-powered moneyed interests, etc, it really does nothing to solve the problems that we've been handed.
We as a society really need to focus on what kind of people we are and what kind of people we want to be. Our problems took decades to create and will likely take decades to resolve. We need to have some serious discussions about revenue, spending, and spending cuts.
We need to plant the seeds of our solutions today - and they may not bear fruit for a generation. That's a tall order to achieve politically. It's gonna require grown-ups having grown-up discussions and the political will to follow through. Again, how do you convince an electorate to sacrifice now so that our country will benefit in 20 years?
Razor sharp profanity-laced diatribes are fun, God knows I'm guilty, but I think it's time to focus on solving our problems rather than looking for more witty ways to blame someone(s) for them.
ReplyDeleteOur safety net for the "deserving poor" (FDR) has been perverted in to a system that promotes laziness and continuing poverty. Why work for $550/week when you can collect $450/week in benefits.
We need to make things a little less bit comfy. Also, give more people the option to attend charter schools. Take a look at the union Detroit School system where 8% of 8th graders are proficient at reading and you will realize that it's time to step out of the old way of doing things and come up with a new way to educate our children.
Much if not most of it is simply demographics' LS.
DeleteWe have 70 million+ Baby Boomers all reaching retirement age, all beginning to go on Medicare and to collect SS. This was going to occur whether the economy was booming or not. Reagan and O'Neill understood this and attempted to fix this back in the 80s. The financial collapse in '08 exacerbated the issue.
There are also two wars that we've fought for a decade (the cost of which, all on the credit card) creating a spike in veteran benefits that we cover.
Monetary policy also has. There are many folks who work full time that are on food stamps. Much of that is due to market forces and much of that is due to the hidden tax of inflation.
The leeching "layabouts" are in actuality, a very small part of the problem - a rounding error, if you will ...
But yes, we will likely have to cut entitlement benefits in some way or fund them by cutting something else/raising taxes. This is part of the discussion we need to have, and it sucks today, but will benefit us in the long-term.
To your point about education - yes, everything needs to be on the table regarding public education.
I don't believe any problem is solved without first saying, "I will solve this problem". A chief problem I believe we have is that we don't want to pay our bills. As Lou says below, a discussion on spending and taxation is overdue. But before that discussion even happens, I would like to hear the words, "We are going to pay our bills, starting now".
DeleteEducation has become synonymous with union. We hate unions and by default, we have come to hate education.
"Education has become synonymous with union. We hate unions and by default, we have come to hate education."
DeleteFirst statement true, second statement not true. Private sector Unions are a valuable part of our economy, our identity and our fabric. The good of these unions is obvious. The bad side of unions grows from state and federal unions. In particular, federal employees, they have too much control over our lives to have the right to collectively bargain
Here’s one excerpt of a letter President Roosevelt wrote to Luther C. Steward, President of the National Federation of Federal Employees in 1937:
“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government make it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress.”
“Since their own services have to do with the functioning of the Government, a strike of public employees manifests nothing less than an intent on their part to prevent or obstruct the operations of Government until their demands are satisfied. Such action, looking toward the paralysis of Government by those who have sworn to support it, is unthinkable and intolerable.”
"We" don't "hate" unions "we" neeed to strip collective bargaining from the state and federal employees.
Go Patty!
ReplyDelete1773-2009 What? No money in that lock box?
Live Strongest writes” Detroit School system where 8% of 8th graders are proficient at reading”
ReplyDeleteLS would you be kind enough to define by age an” 8th grader”. Here it would represent a 16 year old I believe. I wonder at the standard of grading if only 8% are proficient. Does this refer to standard English text by children who use English as a first language?
The question has no political basis but is asked simply to further my understanding of your country and by extension its people.
Cheers and thanks from Aussie
K,
ReplyDeleteDetroit is a world within itself. A city that had 1.8 million people that now has 800K. That should explain a great deal as the people that cannot afford to leave are still there and are the poorest of the city at it's prime.
Detroit has been plagued with crime and corruption going back 30 years when Coleman Young was mayor and isn't much better. The state pf Michigan is looking at taking over the city and clean it up financially as well as it's infrastructure. They have a huge pension obligation which the ignore.
All in all, Detroit is a poor example and not representative of the typical US city.
8th graders here are in the range of 13-14 years old, school district dependent. Detroit's school system has predominately Black/African Americans and are generally poor.
Detroit is surrounded by some very affluent communities, Gross Point, Gross Point Shore, Woods.
The question of the year, What is poverty in America and what does it look like. Washington's one size fits all isn't a great yardstick as 20K a year in LA is poverty however 20K a year in outback Iowa is not nearly as bad. That is why entitlement programs should be a state responsibility not a Federal issue.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of taxes and spending is far overdue. The conversation will never happen as our representatives speak from Washington where all is well.
Lou as always, my thanks for the info. For some years I have spasmodically followed the progress of Detroit and the demise of a once great city. About four years ago an Australian TV team went to Detroit to illustrate the “Demise of Mow town” as they called the program.
ReplyDeleteThe striking illustration of the near death of the auto industry was graphic. GM buildings empty with broken windows and a derelict appearance; the homeless living in what used to be assembly lines. The beautiful railway station apparently closed with broken windows and empty streets, unkempt and with broken sidewalks.
A city famed throughout the world as a leader in the auto building industry with few cars on the street. The final irony, a real estate agent taking the reporter and cameraman on a tour of the city in his top of the range Mercedes Benz rather than an American built car.
Detroit is certainly an aberration and not representative of American urban culture but I wonder if it is not perhaps the finger pointing towards the future unless your country can somehow pull back from the brink.
We too have problems, not to the same extent but here too our Left wing government has been racking up fiscal debit for four years, I believe we now have about 200 billion of fiscal debit but when the present lot came to power about five years ago we were a creditor nation.
Finally, I stated yesterday that 8th grade here was the 16 year olds. I was incorrect and they are the 14 year olds as with America. We have pockets of poor literacy and numeracy standards, as with Detroit cantered around low socio economic areas. Our Aboriginal settlements are the most disadvantaged and we have a long way to go to fix this problem
Cheers from Aussie
King, where I live in New Jeresey USA we are arguably the richest state in the union. Still, I can tick off at least ten cities in our state that would rival the malaise that is Detroit.
DeleteSocialism is a terrible wife to live with.