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Big Government Cannot Pay Its Bills, Again

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Post by TexasBlue Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:05 pm

Big Government Cannot Pay Its Bills, Again

Andrew Napolitano
Jan, 5, 2011


Since Barack Obama became president on Jan. 20, 2009, the federal government has not had a budget. It did not have one for the first two years of his presidency, when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, and it did not have one for 2011, when the Democrats controlled the Senate and the Republicans controlled the House.

The Senate -- continuously under Democratic control during the entire Obama presidency -- has not voted out and sent on to the House any annual budget since George W. Bush was president. The House sent a budget to the Senate a year ago, but the Senate rejected it and sent nothing back in return.

In the nearly three years that Obama has been in office, the government has been collecting revenue, borrowing cash and spending ravenously on the basis of what the government calls continuing resolutions -- known in Washington by the initials "CR."

When Congress enacts a CR, it basically authorizes the government to operate for a finite and brief period of time. The period of time does not coincide with the government's fiscal year. The federal government's fiscal year runs from October 1st to September 30th. Here we are at the beginning of a new calendar year, and your government does not have a budget for its fiscal year that began more than three months ago.

Instead, the feds have operated under 15 continuing resolutions throughout the Obama presidency. Some of these CRs have been for as long as nine months, and one was as short as 24 hours. There was a time when the end of a continuing resolution would have brought intense media scrutiny. Will the government stay open? Will it shut down? Who will get blamed? Will Congress let the president spend money the government doesn't have? None of this produces drama any longer, because the bizarre has now become the routine.

This new year will bring certain new tax rates, specifically for the payroll tax. The payroll tax is what you pay and what your employer pays to fund Social Security. Social Security is a Ponzi scheme: It pays out more than it takes in, and the government lies about its solvency. It once had a cushion, called the Social Security Trust Fund, but Congress took that money and spent it.

Can you think of any crimes here? Running a Ponzi scheme is a crime -- just ask Bernie Madoff. And spending money you have lawfully agreed to hold in trust for someone else can get you in a lot of hot water, and likely criminal charges. Just ask Jon Corzine.

So here we are, at the beginning of a new year, and employers and employees don't know what their payroll taxes will be in March. You cannot run a business, and you should not run your household, without knowing months in advance what your regular expenses will cost you. But when you have a government in which both wings of the Big Government Party -- that's the Republican wing as well as the Democratic wing -- think they can bribe the people with their own money and the only difference between the two is how much of a bribe, when both wings think they can write any law, regulate any behavior and tax any event, no matter what the Constitution says, no matter what federal law says and no matter what the laws of economics say, is it any wonder the government is dysfunctional?

All of this demonstrates that the government lives in its own world. It writes laws for the rest of us and breaks them itself. It requires openness of corporations that trade publicly, but it won't be transparent itself. It doesn't read the laws it writes, and it doesn't care about the Bill of Rights. What can you do? If you live in New Hampshire, you can vote for a game changer next week. There is only one on the ballot.

Judge Andrew P. Napolitano is the youngest life-tenured Superior Court judge in the history of the State of New Jersey. He sat on the bench from 1987 to 1995, during which time he presided over 150 jury trials and thousands of motions, sentencings and hearings. He taught constitutional law at Seton Hall Law School for 11 years, and he returned to private practice in 1995.
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Post by dblboggie Thu Jan 05, 2012 10:16 pm

I hate to say it, but the judge is right on the money here. Both parties have abandoned any pretense at constitutional governing.

Maybe we should elect Ron Paul for a single term. At least he would make moves in a more constitutional direction. After all, how much harm could he do to foreign policy if conservatives controlled both the House and Senate?
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Post by Arx Ferrum Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:07 pm

There is also the realization we have so far avoided facing down; a large portion of our industrial base is no longer located here. Millions upon millions of jobs that once supported the great (so-called) middle class of America, are now supporting a great upper middle class in China. Revenues from income taxes and corporate taxes... like 'em or not, are no longer filling coffers. Wage scales have fallen, too, so that there is a huge gulf between the lower-upper and upper-lower income classes today.

We simply cannot live like a prosperous nation would... like we did prior to the 21st century, because we are no longer that prosperous nation. Our choices are slim to none; we either *rewrite the laws and draw our industrial plant back to North American soil by force, **build anew in the heaping rubble in places like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, etc. or... ***eliminate unions that make American made products unable to compete in the marketplace and thus lure our industrial base back home again of their own free will.

Wow, I think I need a smoke break and a soda pop now... I'm outta breath!
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Post by TexasBlue Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:24 pm

dblboggie wrote:I hate to say it, but the judge is right on the money here. Both parties have abandoned any pretense at constitutional governing.

Maybe we should elect Ron Paul for a single term. At least he would make moves in a more constitutional direction. After all, how much harm could he do to foreign policy if conservatives controlled both the House and Senate?

He wouldn't be electable. Despite is leanings, he comes off as kooky and the average voter would be turned off by him. That's the reality. We're stuck with Romney, Perry, Santorum or Gingrich. Santorum will be labeled a nut like Bachmann was.


Arx Ferrum wrote:There is also the realization we have so far avoided facing down; a large portion of our industrial base is no longer located here. Millions upon millions of jobs that once supported the great (so-called) middle class of America, are now supporting a great upper middle class in China. Revenues from income taxes and corporate taxes... like 'em or not, are no longer filling coffers. Wage scales have fallen, too, so that there is a huge gulf between the lower-upper and upper-lower income classes today.

We simply cannot live like a prosperous nation would... like we did prior to the 21st century, because we are no longer that prosperous nation. Our choices are slim to none; we either *rewrite the laws and draw our industrial plant back to North American soil by force, **build anew in the heaping rubble in places like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, etc. or... ***eliminate unions that make American made products unable to compete in the marketplace and thus lure our industrial base back home again of their own free will.

Wow, I think I need a smoke break and a soda pop now... I'm outta breath!

Take a deeeeeep breath. ROFL

Yeah, the sooner that these politicians realize what this country is becoming, the better off we'll be. The endless spending on entitlements will come to a halt and not because they stop it. It will all become unsustainable.
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Post by dblboggie Fri Jan 06, 2012 11:30 pm

Arx Ferrum wrote:There is also the realization we have so far avoided facing down; a large portion of our industrial base is no longer located here. Millions upon millions of jobs that once supported the great (so-called) middle class of America, are now supporting a great upper middle class in China. Revenues from income taxes and corporate taxes... like 'em or not, are no longer filling coffers. Wage scales have fallen, too, so that there is a huge gulf between the lower-upper and upper-lower income classes today.

We simply cannot live like a prosperous nation would... like we did prior to the 21st century, because we are no longer that prosperous nation. Our choices are slim to none; we either *rewrite the laws and draw our industrial plant back to North American soil by force, **build anew in the heaping rubble in places like Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, etc. or... ***eliminate unions that make American made products unable to compete in the marketplace and thus lure our industrial base back home again of their own free will.

Wow, I think I need a smoke break and a soda pop now... I'm outta breath!

The Fair Tax would accomplish this in one fell swoop.

Sadly, as this would represent the greatest transfer of power from the government to the people in our nation's history, there is little chance of this happening.
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Post by Arx Ferrum Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:22 pm

The endless spending on entitlements will come to a halt and not because they stop it. It will all become unsustainable.

I really dislike the loose use of the word, 'entitlements'. It presumes the worst of the recipient and of the program.

My mother, 88 years old, gets a VA pension she never paid into because she lost her husband in WW2 flying a B-17 over Germany. She also gets a small monthly SS check from the years she worked as a single mother paying INTO this program. So in this case, her widow's benefit is more the definition of 'entitlement' than her SS.

I wish we could approach this subject on a national level minus the politics. I've paid into this program my entire working life... so someday, I will be expecting the 'contract' to be fulfilled and not feel for one second like I was 'entitled' to anything I didn't pay for with my sweat and labor.

The programs are not the lone ill of a nation that gave itself away in the name of globalism.

Smile
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Post by TexasBlue Sat Jan 07, 2012 7:18 pm

I have a huge probelm with SSA in how it's implemented. As I've stated in here before;

If I die tomorrow, the money I contributed is gone. I'm not even 50 yet. I can't "will" it to my dad or whomever. I can do that with a private plan.

When my grandmother died, my grandfather didn't get her Social Security checks along with his. Why? Because if you received more than your spouse in Social Security checks, you don't get squat except for the continuation of your check.

If you don't receive more than your spouse in Social Security checks, you get the amount that your spouse got. Not theirs plus yours. If you die and leave a child as a survivor, they receive your Social Security check until turning 18 which is fair, imo.

Basically, the gov't should get to keep your money that you paid in all your life. That's nothing but pure theft.
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Post by dblboggie Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:14 pm

TexasBlue wrote:I have a huge probelm with SSA in how it's implemented. As I've stated in here before;

If I die tomorrow, the money I contributed is gone. I'm not even 50 yet. I can't "will" it to my dad or whomever. I can do that with a private plan.

When my grandmother died, my grandfather didn't get her Social Security checks along with his. Why Because if you received more than your spouse in Social Security checks, you don't get squat except for the continuation of your check.

If you don't receive more than your spouse in Social Security checks, you get the amount that your spouse got. Not theirs plus yours. If you die and leave a child as a survivor, they receive your Social Security check until turning 18 which is fair, imo.

Basically, the gov't should get to keep your money that you paid in all your life. That's nothing but pure theft.

And this is the real crime of "Social Security;" all that money the YOU EARNED AND GAVE IN TRUST TO THE GOVERNMENT IS STOLEN BY THAT GOVERNMENT ON YOUR DEATH!!! There is just no excuse for this theft of your hard-earned money, and yet it goes on, year after year and STILL the program is bankrupt!

Social Security is just a legalized Ponzi scheme and it should be abolished and replaced with a privatized program like those used by 2 Texas cities and a South American country that I can't recall ATM.

I should be able to pass on my accumulated wealth to whom ever I please!
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Post by Arx Ferrum Mon Jan 09, 2012 1:15 pm

SS is basically like an insurance policy that is run by crazy old Uncle Samuel. It never foresaw what could or would happen when a generation finally aged and collected at a rate far in excess of what they paid. But none of this makes the recipients at fault and it doesn't make those who today count on the contract being fulfilled anything less than Americans.

It is a real headache because while I vote for smaller government, I find that this generally means that the people I vote for might enact legislation that is going to cost me personally a whole lot of money... and perhaps, hurt my closest family.

On the flipside, I would have to pretty much duct tape myself to a tree and have somebody stick a gun to my head to vote for the other side that is a little less threat. And even then, I would opt to write in Mickey Mouse than vote for those socialist miscreants on the other side.

I just don't see how we take the money of millions and millions of Americans and then say... oops, we made a mistake. All that planning for retirement is down the tubes. Sorry.

And none of this makes the current situation with SS any better. I know fully well what my government has done using those funds for other expenses. I find it criminal. But it still doesn't change the HUMAN end equation.

If we don't find a way to make sure that those millions at least get back what they paid into it, there will be pure hell to pay. Also, if we don't find a better way of defining the subject, then the right will eventually be broken by it... making any chance of ever doing anything all but impossible. Social Security - as a political topic - has the potential to empower the left and hurt the right.

We need to do better.





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Post by dblboggie Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:17 pm

Personally, I believe we should scrap our Social Security program and implement a program like Chile's privatized pension plan.

After 30 years, their plan is doing fantastic. A Chilean retiree makes more than triple the annual pension of an American on Social Security! And as the Chilean's account is their private property, their pensions do not incur govt debt!

It's sad to say, but Chile sounds more economically free than Ammerica.

Read the article on this here: http://www.thenewamerican.com/world-mainmenu-26/south-america-main-menu-37/7344-chiles-privatized-social-security-program-is-30-years-old-and-prospering

THAT is what we should do!
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Post by Mark85la Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:37 pm

Everytime a GOPer tries to fix any of those programs, they get destroyed by the left/media. Like with Paul Ryan's plan and the granny being pushed off the cliff. Sadly the GOP lacks the courage to fight back.
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Post by Arx Ferrum Tue Jan 10, 2012 12:23 pm

I wish I had an answer.

I like the idea of privatization but it would have to be an all-or-nothing deal because to split it up would mean failure for both efforts. The problem arises with current perceptions of investment bankers... by way of this recession and the government bail-out of so many banks. It undermines confidence in the very system that would be the backbone of the privatizing effort.

In my humble opinion, I think the bail outs were a horrible mistake. I think Wall Street and a few too-big-to-fail banks blackmailed Uncle Sam into the bail outs with threats of civil unrest.

All governments, regardless of concept or construct, fear civil uprisings. This was used to skeer the bejeezus out of Capital Hill.

Failure is part of the free market and if government interferes, then the market has no chance of weeding the bad from the good and the outcome is not honest.

I know that this doesn't play well on either side of the fight. I consider myself almost a Libertarian in all things except Social Security because I and so many of those closest to me are so heavily invested. I understand the contrasts and contradictions it creates when trying to talk about the subject to either liberals or conservatives.

No man is an island but this subject can set your butt down on a small patch in the middle of no-damned-where.

All or nothing. If SS is privatized, it has to be this way and there has to be at least two levels of oversight to prevent both the private sector and the government from continuing the abuse of the program. I would prefer panels of average working folks for this. No bankers. No congresspersons. Just your everyday taxpaying American.


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