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Happy Birthday Mr. President!
Topic Started: Aug 4 2011, 12:55 PM (383 Views)
Retired WerePenguins
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Happy Birthday Mr. President!

In honor of the POTUS's 50th birthday, Irony was delighted to give the president exactly what he deserves (but not the rest of us) ... a stock market crash!

MARKETS OBLITERATED, DOW DOWN 512, EVERYONE FREAKING OUT
And Tomorrow Should Be Epic Too

Meanwhile, remember that increase in that debt ceiling? Well you can't waste a good opportunity can you? Report: U.S. Spends 60 Percent Of Debt-Ceiling Increase In One Day

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Reports the [Washington] Times: "[t]he debt subject to the statutory limit shot way past the old cap of $14.294 trillion to hit $14.532 trillion on Tuesday, according to the latest the Treasury Department figures, which are released on the next business day."

That increase puts the government already remarkably close to the new debt limit of $14.694, which means one day’s new borrowing ate up 60 percent of the $400 billion in space Congress granted the president this week.

A piddling $400 billion, the increase in the debt ceiling is hardly enough to satisfy the appetite of the big spenders in Washington, D.C. Congress spent nearly $240 billion, a whopping 60 percent in a matter of hours.




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Tuesday's massive increase also put the national debt above 100 percent of GDP. The new national debt of $14.53 trillion elbowed past the nation's $14.3 trillion economy.


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Aside from holding the 1st and 2nd place records for single-day increases in the naitonal debt, the Obama Administration holds others records as well, The New American reported in February.

The Obama Administration broke the monthly record for the budget deficit. Expenditures exceeded revenues by $223 billion. That same month, the government added $63.7 billion to the national debt.

As well, The New American reported, quoting CNSNews.com, such is this administration's profligacy that it increased the average debt per American household by $30,000 in its first two years of control of the purse strings. Debt per household is now more than $125,000.

Citing The Economic Collapse website, The New American has also reported that the national debt cannot be paid off because it exceeds the value of all assets in the United States.

Beyond the $14.5 trillion national debt, American taxpayers face even more trouble as its population ages. According to the debt clock, the United States must reckon a way to pay for nearly $115 trillion in unfunded liabilities. That liability for Social Security is $15.2 trillion; for the prescription drug benefit, $20 trillion. The unfunded liability for Medicare is $79.7 trillion.

That is more than $1 million per taxpayer. The debt clock puts the per capita debt at $46,719. Per taxpayer, the debt is $130,262.

Another $500 billion increase in the debt ceiling is due in the fall.



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Iron Felix
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Retired WerePenguins,Aug 4 2011
03:55 PM
Happy Birthday Mr. President!


:roflmao:

I forgot it was his birthday. What a wonderful gift!
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mousebumples
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The Onion FTW:
Obama Turns 50 Despite Republican Opposition
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Krioval
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Well, it's not like we could raise taxes on people making over $1 million per year or pull our troops out of the Middle East to help close the budget gap. If only it were possible...
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Zarquon Froods
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Raising taxes isn't going to solve anything. It will only serve as an excuse for lawmakers to spend more money and become more careless than they already are.
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Krioval
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I said "on people making over $1 million per year". The tax rates on the wealthy in this country are the lowest in decades. They were taxed more heavily when Reagan was president. Our infrastructure is falling apart, our health care system is a nightmare, and we're still dealing with a recession. Since government spending has historically led to economic recovery, I fail to see how taking the hatchet to Social Security and Medicare (but "ending overseas wars" or "eliminating unnecessary Defense programs" never comes to the top of the list) is going to make our country stronger.

That said, I am fully in support of raising the (Social Security) retirement age in the U.S. to 67-70. People were never meant to live for twenty years without being productive.
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Retired WerePenguins
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I have had this wonderful idea for a new tax. It's a silly one because no one ever votes to slit their own throats, but that's why I'm not in Congress. Consider this: If I gave you a couple of hundred thousand dollars in order for you to get a job or to keep the job you have, you would have to declare it as income and you would get taxed on it, right?

So let's have politicians pay income tax on all the money they receive in political contributions.

:w00t: We could easily solve the deficit. Fair share and all that stuff. :w00t:
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Snefaldia
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Harry Reid is too busy looking at the pomegranate and fig trees he hasn't seen in months to take your considerations into account. He's just a poor civil servant, cut him some slack!
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Retired WerePenguins
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OK, serious discussion on social security from a conservative who is 50 years old.

Point one:

  • It's not a "retirement acccount" it's a pension plan.
  • Drop the "cap" ($100K) on the tax.
  • Yes, it's tax the rich, but this excetpion just feels wrong.

Point two:

  • SS was based off of the old German Plan.
  • The old German Plan was based on an age few people lived to.
  • Create a "Advancement of Life Expectancy" (ALE) index and auto base the retirement age on that index.

Not quite so serious point three:

  • It's a PONZI scheme, damn it.
  • Raise the tax overall but allow deductions for children (future payers) under working age as per income tax.
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Kenny
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Hey look RWP! The Daily Show stole your idea! :lol:

[doHTML]
<table style='font:11px arial; color:#333; background-color:#f5f5f5' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='512' height='340'><tbody><tr style='background-color:#e5e5e5' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com'>The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td><td style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;'>Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td></tr><tr style='height:14px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;' colspan='2'><a target='_blank' style='color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-august-4-2011/presidential-birthday-gift-montage'>Presidential Birthday Gift Montage</a></td></tr><tr style='height:14px; background-color:#353535' valign='middle'><td colspan='2' style='padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; width:512px; overflow:hidden; text-align:right'><a target='_blank' style='color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/'>www.thedailyshow.com</a></td></tr><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><embed style='display:block' src='http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:393953' width='512' height='288' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' wmode='window' allowFullscreen='true' flashvars='autoPlay=false' allowscriptaccess='always' allownetworking='all' bgcolor='#000000'></embed></td></tr><tr style='height:18px;' valign='middle'><td style='padding:0px;' colspan='2'><table style='margin:0px; text-align:center' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='100%' height='100%'><tr valign='middle'><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/'>Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.indecisionforever.com/'>Political Humor & Satire Blog</a></td><td style='padding:3px; width:33%;'><a target='_blank' style='font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;' href='http://www.facebook.com/thedailyshow'>The Daily Show on Facebook</a></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table>
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Zarquon Froods
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Even if you only tax those that make $1 million dollars or more that still doesn't solve the problem. I would love to see us get out of the middle east, hell get us out of the UN while we're at it. The fact is, no one, and I mean no one, has given two shits about getting the budget under control. It's always a political game, you give people what they want so you get to stay in office. It's deplorable.

Why is it so important that these programs go on? I'll give you Medicaid as something that could be needed, but Social Security is not. Why can't we just let people have that money so they can save it themselves, or better yet spend it? Now here I am having paid in well over $6,000 in the short time I've worked and I'm at risk of losing it all. To hell with raising the age any higher than it is. How many people do you actually know that are still working past 60? They are few and far between because they are either unable to work, or no one will allow them to because of the liability.

I had another paragraph I was going to add here, but it was a HUGE rant and I've thought better of it.
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Snefaldia
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Yep, I've paid in Social Security as well. The Roosevelt administration didn't forsee the baby boom. Hell, the Japanese are experiencing a demographic "greying" like we're starting to see in the US.

It's demographics. I don't think the system is perfect, but I certainly believe there needs to be a safety net. Hell, social security payments are barely enough to keep some people in cat food because they have no other source of income.

There are plenty of tax loopholes to close that both sides of the aisle refuse to even touch.
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Krioval
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@RWP:

I agree with regard to the payroll tax. It's ridiculous that income over $100K is exempt. Personally, I'd rather we just eliminate the payroll tax altogether and create one tiered system for income taxes, but that would be far more difficult and would require political will that isn't there (and may never be).

I would also rather the government subsidize jobs for senior citizens rather than pay them to not work, if they are able to work. Then again, I'd rather the government subsidize job creation for all ages than not.

This is from an economic liberal, mind you, so YMMV.

@ZF:

If I claimed that taxing millionaires would "solve" the problem, I exaggerated (unless we set the tax much higher than would be at all palatable, perhaps). It would certainly reduce the deficit. If nothing else, the Bush tax cuts need to expire, even if my own taxes rise as a result. Unfortunately, I do need the government: I like the electrical grid, air traffic control, clean water, and highways to be functional.

I also agree that the budget needs to be brought under control, but I think that we need to get out of the recession first - and not just in terms of the Dow Jones average recovering. Income inequality in the U.S. is getting worse, and aside from a very small minority, I can't see how this benefits American society.

As for people working past 60, it probably depends on industry. I've worked mostly in academia and in technology companies (with few physical demands), and plenty of people work into their 70s. If people are able to work into their 60s and 70s, they should. If they can't, we (the American people) need to treat this as a healthcare issue and move accordingly. There are many people (like my grandfather, who was a carpenter) who lived pretty much paycheck to paycheck, and without federal supplements to his (ridiculously meager) pension would probably be dead. He worked hard his whole life, and I don't begrudge him some rest in his later years. People retiring at 55 without any real plan past age 65 drive me crazy, but I don't see too many people doing this. Doesn't mean that the system shouldn't (strongly) discourage it.

As for the UN, I'm pretty liberal, but I frequently question its use outside of providing a political fig leaf for whatever international issue bigger nations want to act on. I do think that there is a need for a supranational organization like the UN as the economy becomes more global.

@nobody in particular:

Speaking of global economies, I'm starting to wonder if some of the problem is that the American lifestyle is somehow incompatible with a truly global economy. Certainly the entire world can't afford to live like we do (averaged over the collective population of the U.S.).
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Retired WerePenguins
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First of all, I think we need to drastically simplify the tax code, and I don't mean in the way Obama constantly talks about (when he talks about "tax loopholes" he often targets it to specific people/companies as though the loophole is evil for company A and good for company B; he ranted for a week about the number of years to depreciate a corporate aircraft for crying out loud) but real changes that puts tax accountants out of work and allows everyoe to know that they are all contributing equally and that the guy next to them isn't cheating the system.

Second, we need to pull the argument right from the Republicans. That argument is that many small businesses use the personal income tax system. We need to make it so that it is easier and financially better to incorporate and get into the corporate tax system for better rates. Once this happens, the basic Republican argument goes away.

This may mean the killing of sacred cows. Frankly I don't care. If you really simplify then take all of the deductions that I use. Every deduction has the potential to contribute to a bubble.
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Zarquon Froods
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First off I went off on a rant, which was caused by a number of things going on in my life that have reached a breaking point. That being said, I have calmed down a bit now because I have been able to vent since then.

I like have all those things as well Krio. Does the government need to be controlling them, to some extents maybe. I'd rather have a true free market than a state run one. There's a fine line over what the government should and should not regulate, I live by a lot of what Milton Friedman use to teach, let business be and let those who wish to abuse the system fall victim to their own greed. I don't think anyone can really say how a true free market would behave, we've never seen one. But, like any other set of laws, one bad apple can ruin it for everyone. Take Enron, driven by greed and obsessed with manipulating a market. Is the entire company corrupt, most likely no. But because of a few people that made very careless decisions an entire industry now has to meet very strict standards on consumer practice. The same goes with the auto industry, the EPA is killing domestic production. Every year the emission laws change, and every year they have to change their emissions systems to meet them or they are barred from selling the car. Good or bad, there has got to be a line drawn somewhere saying to what extent the government can control, we can blame industry and business for making bad decisions but if you look at the root causes sometimes they point to DC.

Most people do live paycheck to paycheck regardless of age. I know I do, mainly because I make a low wage. I try not to spend anymore than necessary but it doesn't leave much at the end of the month. I am working towards another job that would put me in a much better position, it keeps me going and I am determined not to stop until I get it. I have a theory about why people stay at jobs they dislike for so long, largely I believe people are not willing to put in the effort of seriously pursuing their dreams or they spend far too much time chasing something that is obviously unattainable. Just my own theory on the matter. The biggest problem at the moment is that good jobs are becoming scarce. Progress Energy and Duke Power are getting ready to cut 30,000 people combined once their merger is complete this month. Another Durham based company is about to let go of another 15,000 and close its doors for good. For every job created in this state, there must be at least 5-6 if not more lost and some of those will not return. The town I live in use to be very industrial. At one point there were three large spinning mills, two steel plants, a foundry and several automotive and equipment manufacturers. Today, there is one mill, and the foundry is a shadow of what it use to be. GKN driveline moved its operations to Mexico, the spinning mills couldn't compete with foreign markets, plastic drove out steel.

On the same train of thought and just to make a point, I find it very hypocritical to chastise companies in the US that fail to meet labor and health laws yet we continue to purchase goods from nations where such laws don't even exist.

Anyway, with regards to retirement, I firmly believe that the individual and he alone should be responsible for their own destiny. Most people believe that SS will hold them over and it is a gross misinterpretation. I would wager that if 10% of the voting population knew exactly how much money they would draw if they were to retire today, SS would disappear within a decade. That or they would start diverting money into a secondary retirement income.

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