Dec 14 2010

Not Good News!

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

I’ve been off and on the telephone this afternoon, after learning that Senator Durbin, was going to vote “yes” on the Obama Tax Cut Deal.  I asked, why?  Because of the compromise, I was told, i.e, child-care tax credit, $250 for Seniors and Disabled, earned income credit (which we’ve had for so long now, anyway).  I was trembling with anger.  I did go into a rant, not once, several times.  The last call I made, I asked point blank:  Why do we keep bending over backwards to the screaming, whining, already rich Republicans and a few Dems?  Sen. Durbin has lost my vote and so has President Obama, who’s demonstrated that he has a very good pair of knees!  Thank you, the Staffer said, and click!

The Roll Call is still going on, and it is being held open for Senators who have been unable to return due to inclimate weather conditions.

Right now, 79 Senators have voted for the bill, while 11 have voted against it!  

I am seeing stars.  Called Sen. Durbin’s office back again.  I have a proposal, I said –what if I simply offered my house and, whatever Social Security I may have coming to me, to the government now, instead, of it taking from me incrementally?  This is where we are headed — Americans have been and are being bled to death — what is to become of them?  We are headed toward 3rd world status — we have nothing left to give.  The wealthy will be walking amongst dead bodies on the streets — people who hung on as long as they could.  How on earth could things be so perverse.  I read the rules concerning Unemployment Insurance, why couldn’t we have simply extended those benefits, as is provided for in the rules, in bad economic times?  At the worst time of our country, we extend tax cuts that benefit the upper 1% to 2% of the wealthy to the tune of $700 billion to be paid back over the next 10 years.  And Social Security will be defunded by those still working Americans by 2% that will not be paid into Social Security Trust Funds, yet individuals must pay taxes on their total income for the year. . . . . I went on — I will not ever vote Republican, but Sen. Durbin has lost my vote.  She was the only one of the staffers I spoke to today that seemed to have any concern!

Yahoo/Reuters couldn’t wait to get the news out!  Tax deal clears first test in Congress!

By Andy Sullivan and Kim Dixon Andy Sullivan And Kim Dixon – 56 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s bipartisan tax plan was on its way to passing its first test in Congress on Monday but a major Wall Street firm warned that damage to America’s strained finances would outweigh any short-term economic boost.

The $858 billion package, which would keep lowered income-tax rates from expiring at the end of the year, picked up 62 votes in the 100-seat Senate. Voting continued but the tax measure had effectively passed a procedural hurdle and will now go to a full vote in the chamber on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Both chambers of Congress could approve the bill by the end of the week, despite complaints from many Democrats that Obama has given away too much to the Republicans who will soon enjoy greater clout in Washington.

“I think we’ll pass a bill, as opposed to simply not passing anything,” House of Representatives Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said at a news conference. He said he aimed to get a bill to Obama by the end of the week.

Income taxes would rise by an average of $3,000 per household if Congress doesn’t act by January 1 — an unlikely outcome, Hoyer said. [$3,000? for those below $200,000?]

Many economists say the deal could boost the sluggish economy, in part because of a payroll tax credit and extension of jobless benefits, at a time when Congress has shown little appetite for spending-based stimulus efforts. . . . .

But Moody’s Investors Service warned it could move a step closer to cutting the United States’ top-notch triple-A bond rating in the next two years if the package becomes law.

“From a credit perspective, the negative effects on government finance are likely to outweigh the positive effects of higher economic growth,” Moody’s analyst Steven Hess said in a report.

The report could give additional ammunition to Democrats in the House who say the package gives away too much to the country’s wealthiest 2 percent as the country is struggling with budget deficits that are higher as a percentage of the economy than any time since World War Two. . . . .

We can only hope that the House will remain steadfast in its stand against this dreadful bill, which will actually backfire against Americans.  There must be a way to demand that Unemployment Insurance be extended NOW without the “provisos” attached by Obama’s tax cut deal!

WE MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!!   CALL YOUR REPS. — KEEP CALLING, KEEP WRITING, KEEP DOING EVERYTHING WITHIN YOUR POWER TO FIGHT THIS BILL!

26 comments

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  1. And yours?

  2. …out of the disgruntled, frustrated derms who don’t get what they want either — I’m talking about Russ Feingold, Dennis Kucinich all those who voted nay on Cloture for Bernie, Bernie himself, Al Grayson, Barbara Lee, Maxine Waters, Raul Grijalva, Larry Ellison, Al Franken, and many more….

    Let these and others who have found themselves unable to do anything worthwhile within the structure of the DNCP, abandon the Democratic Party and form a new, third party — The Democrative Progressive Party, or the Pregressive Dems Party. or just the Progressive Party.

    We demand a return to our priniciples, and we shall find the way to change this ongoing corruption.  

  3. We gotta’ hang together on this — every single one of this, the same as we should for Assange!

    This bill will hurt, in unforetold ways, such as making it even more impossible to find employment, etc.  

    Thanks for uplift — still haven’t regained my composure!

  4. know, or has the legal knowledge!

    According to the article, bonds will start to devalue (it’s already happening).  The IOU’s left by the government to Social Security Trust Funds were/are in the form of U.S. Bonds.  The redemption of these bonds and payment to Social Security Trust Funds are coming due soon (I’ve been searching for the exact date and still, have yet to find — I’ll keep at it!)  

    The bonds are supposedly secure:

    Treasury bills, notes and bonds are sold by the U.S. Treasury Department. These are the safest investments in the world, since they are backed by the U.S. Government. Since they are so safe, they tend to have the lowest interest rates. . . . .

    The interest rate paid should not be confused with the Treasury yield. This is the total return over the life of the bond.  Since they are sold at auction, Treasury yields change every week. Here’s how it works: If demand is low, bonds are sold below face value, which is similar to getting them on sale. Therefore, the yield is high. They buyers get more for their money. When demand is high, they are sold at auction above face value, and the yields is low. The buyers had to pay more for the same interest rate, so they get less for their money.

    In the process of searching for an exact date for repayment to our Social Security Funds, I would like to note this article, which, I think, I may have mentioned before:

    SOCIAL SECURITY I.O.U,s COME DUE-Social Security hits worrisome turning point as Social Security to start cashing Uncle Sam’s IOUs!M

    Mon Mar 15, 5:09 pm ET

    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.

    . . . .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. . . . .

    and, this rather interesting site, with details (have not checked out thoroughly, but scanned and seems to lean toward accuracy):

    National Government Debt Clocks & Savings Clocks

    Who Did It, and Why?

    See for yourself. Based on data from Bush’s White House. Why is the debt so huge? What really happened in the Reagan “revolution.” Fully documented, this is the only place you’ll find this story. Also see how American paid down an even greater debt-with both Republicans and Democrats helping out. New YouTube debt video of graph.

    Here is the reason I went through that exercise!  Mind you, I think, at this point, we would be stupid not to be en gard of whatever legislation comes up by our most benevolent government!  

    So, here is the question:  In that bonds can devalue, can it be that the IOU’s becoming due by the U.S. Government to our Social Security Trust Funds, could be paid (at whatever the designated date is — soon, we’re told) at a devalued rate, as of the date due?

  6. that RUKind left on Rusty’s excellent diary “All Is Not Quiet In the Halls of the Dead”, which I’ve listened to a couple of times — seems everyone else has the courage that we don’t seem to have, except for someone like Sen. Sanders!

    An irate Irishman!

    An irishman’s honest take on it (4.00 / 5)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…

    “Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon and the Truth.” Buddha

    by: RUKind @ Sat Dec 11, 2010 at 23:07:33 PST>

     

  7. .

  8. NAYs —15

    Bingaman (D-NM)

    Brown (D-OH)

    Coburn (R-OK)      

    DeMint (R-SC)

    Ensign (R-NV)

    Feingold (D-WI)

    Gillibrand (D-NY)

    Hagan (D-NC)

    Lautenberg (D-NJ)

    Leahy (D-VT)

    Levin (D-MI)

    Sanders (I-VT)

    Sessions (R-AL)

    Udall (D-CO)

    Voinovich (R-OH)

    Not Voting – 2

    Merkley (D-OR)

    Wyden (D-OR)

     

  9. When you combine some facts, it seems almost glaring!  So, bear with for a moment.

    1)  No COLA in 2010 for those on Social Security.

       Based on a couple of statistics from here, Darwin’s Money, I did some calculation.

    59 million recipients of Social Security, on average, receiving a payout of $1,072.00 from SS per month, (assuming a projected 2% increase in COLA), if my figuring is correct, this would amount to a total of $15,179,520,000 billion dollars that would have been paid out in 2010. And, it would be the same amount, give or take a bit, for 2011.  What happens to those funds that WOULD have been paid out?

    Last week, I called the Social Security Advisory Board and, unfortunately, got a real SOB on the telephone.  I proceeded to quiz him about Social Security Trust Funds, the fact that the government was/is to act as a Fiduciary, etc. — he was not pleased by my questioning by the tone of his responses.  He made the usual comment concerning COLA and why there is none. I, of course, pointed out that the insurance, drugs, etc. will be going up.  I then asked, where are the monies that would have been paid out in COLA?  He answered in a very surly and somewhat angry demeanor — “in the Trust Funds!”  Thank you, I said. It struck me somewhat strange that he should have been so non-plussed.  In reality, I had not expected to hear anything different — they’re going to tell me the truth????

    So, for 2010 and 2011, this would amount to $30,359,040,000 billion dollars that would have been paid out in COLAS, but WERE NOT (I confess these numbers boggle my mind — far larger than I’ve ever even tried to decipher).  

    Do you really think these monies are in the Social Security Trust Funds?  

    Now, they want to give wage-earners a 2% decrease in payment of their FICA taxes, increasing their paychecks by 2%.*  So, over the tax year, wage-earners would enjoy 2% more of their pay in their pockets, but, at the end of the year when all is said and done, wage-earners will STILL be responsible for taxes on their total income.  So, where do those go?  Straight to the government — duh!  It would be next to impossible to calculate the extra amount of taxes the government would gain via this back door method.*

    Worse, while “they’ve” been screaming that there isn’t enough money in Social Security Funds (which we know to be absolute propaganda) — they have succeeded in finding a way to REDUCE the Social Security Funds by the 2% that would have been paid into those funds via FICA taxes in the year of a reduction in payment to them.  

    So, in reality, “they’ve,” IMV, already begun, via back-door methods, to not only rob our monies, but to commence the dismantlement of the Social Security system!  

    *in terms of how many are now wage earners — could change tomorrow  and average salaries, which also fluctuate, accordingly.

  10. f..king $250 and leave our GD Funds alone!  That 2% reduction in FICA taxes should NOT happen period.

    “Actually there is no calculating the profit . . . .”  Hah, you jest, there never has been a way to do that — don’t forget that long before the Bush tax cuts, the wealthy have, including corporations (and still do) ALWAYS had tax breaks, all kinds, loop holes in the Tax Code, offshore banking, a gazillion types of deductions, foundations, you name it, then you add the Bush tax cuts on top of all that!

    As always, they try to make it appear that there REALLY is something in this for Joe Blow American, when it’s mostly detrimental to us and WILL NOT CREATE JOBS!  The bill is another give-away to the wealthy period!

    I cannot, however, leave the subject of Social Security (as you have no doubt noted).  I don’t speak of it in terms of current recipients alone, I speak of it for ALL Americans.  But the really nagging part of the whole subject is, not only are they literally “stealing” our monies from the Social Security Trust Funds, I’m convinced, plus let’s see if the government really pays back the IOU’s (can’t find the exact date for some reason) when they become due, which is soon as I understand it, but I see it as the last shred of a so-called democracy — if that’s gone, then what?

    Thanks, syd!!!!

       

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