(1 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
Get a load of this. It was released late yesterday evening in The Hill.
2 things happened Wednesday. The new Republican majority House gleefully voted to overturn the last session’s PPACA health care reform bill completely, as expected. And the Chinese President, Hu Jintao had a fancy state dinner at the White House with the President. It was said to be a “quintessentially American” state dinner, with lobster, rib eye beef with onion crisps, potatoes, and apple pie for dessert.
Wednesday, January 19th, 2011.
The Hill
Senior White House officials have told Senate Democrats that raising the Social Security retirement age and changing the calculation for cost-of-living adjustments are “on the table” but no final decisions have been made, according to Senate sources.A White House spokesman declined to comment.
Strategists for congressional Democrats fear this could create permanent Democratic minorities in the House and Senate.
These so – called political strategists really have their heads up their bums if they think their biggest problem is that it could create permanent Democratic minorities in the House and Senate.
I bet they want me and you to be civil about this.
Let’s get this straight.
This isn’t about which Party gets to be on top. This isn’t about getting somebody elected, or re elected, and it’s sure not about being able to pass more pathetic legislation and declaring a victory at the photo – opp.
This isn’t about writing your best selling, tell all, cover up biography afterwards, nor your cushy post administration job in the private sector or think tank.
This is literally about life and death for the elderly and the most vulnerable in our population.
They really think they can extort their remaining constituency on this issue.
They really think they can raise the retirement age to 68 or 69 before somebody can collect on Social Security or Medicare.
They think this is merely a matter of strategizing for the 2012 national re election of the Democratic candidate for the White House, and to hell with the House and Senate.
This is war.
Hey, Madame ex Speaker, we saw what you did before in the House, when push came to shove, on that concept of everybody in the tax extraction in exchange for universal eligibility of coverage for a government program. You punted, and it was disgraceful. Senate Majority Leader, too.
You know and I know what’s going down on that State of the Union speech this month.
There Will Be Platitudes. “And I pledge to you, Social Security will remain safe and solvent on my watch.”
Then afterwards he does whateverthehell he wants.
Don’t make me use the Mother of 5 Voice.
Froomkin has more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…
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Did you know Publishers Clearing House featured a DVD entitled Shadow Government? Just saw it when I “entered” their non-existent Sweepstakes.
nothing civil about stealing the ‘entitlement’ we the people have paid into this insurance. This has got to be at least coming closer to the final straw, right? Why are they doing this? Beyond comprehension both politically and morally.
I have a thousand and one things to say on this subject, as I see the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds at the ONLY constants in the lives of Americans and, in a sense, an “icon” of the last shred of a so-called democracy.
The defeatist chatter is utter and unmitigated BS! These are the on-going psychological tricks that have been prevalent for so long in the on-going media attempt to “control” the sentiments/minds of Fox-viewing Americans, so that OUR monies can be stolen from us in numerous backdoor efforts.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011, in his delivery of the State of the Union address, Obama will be pointing out the recommendations of his “very right wing” Debt Deficit Commission, inventing new formulas for calculations of COLAs (reducing COLAs continuously — and where would those reduced funds go?); raising the retirement age, etc. Even the 2% FICA tax cut for employees is a total fraud, i.e., employees will, nonetheless, have to pay on their total income for the year, but the Social Security Trust Funds would be reduced by 2% across the board, amount to an estimated defunding of Social Security Trust Funds by some $120 billion dollars for the one year. But the kicker is, the U.S. Treasury will pay back that 2% that was defunded, thus, finding its way to a claim that Social Security and Medicare Funds are NOT self-financed and our rightful claim that these programs have not contributed one dime to the deficit of this country.
There was no COLA in 2010 and there is no COLA in this year 2011 — I calculated roughly that the COLA that WOULD have been paid out amount to over $115 billion dollars and the same for 2011 — and these monies are where?
My on-going comment in the argument (to the President, as well), is this:
“I want to know what legal right the U.S. Government, in its role as a Fiduciary for the Social Security/Medicare Trust Funds, has to put these Funds under consideration for manipulation, finding backdoor means of defunding the FICA funds, or making cuts to it for any purpose or disposition whatsoever??? These Funds belong to me and every single American (for the intended purposes) who have paid into the FICA Funds all of their working lives. These are OUR monies – THEY DO NOT BELONG TO THE GOVERNMENT!!
FIDUCIARY: A fiduciary duty[2] is the highest standard of care at either equity or law. A fiduciary (abbreviation fid) is expected to be extremely loyal to the person to whom he owes the duty (the “principal”): he must not put his personal interests before the duty, and must not profit from his position as a fiduciary, unless the principal consents. The word itself comes originally from the Latin fides, meaning faith, and fiducia, trust. . .
When a fiduciary duty is imposed, equity requires a stricter standard of behavior than the comparable tortious duty of care at common law. It is said the fiduciary has a duty not to be in a situation where personal interests and fiduciary duty conflict, a duty not to be in a situation where his fiduciary duty conflicts with another fiduciary duty, and a duty not to profit from his fiduciary position without express knowledge and consent. A fiduciary cannot have a conflict of interest. It has been said that fiduciaries must conduct themselves “at a level higher than that trodden by the crowd”3] and that “[t]he distinguishing or overriding duty of a fiduciary is the obligation of undivided loyalty.”[4] . . . . [”
Sorry for the length! But this issue should enrage every single American. It concerns not only the elderly, but the disabled, the children of deceased parents and the ONLY assurance of any kind for our hard-earned monies, labor and FICA and regular taxes we’ve paid into our government, not just for us, but for ALL future generations.
I also made a statement: “The Social Security/Medicare Trust Funds were not/are not meant to be tools for political maneuvering.”
states go bankrupt, because they’ll be able to free themselves of their pension obligations. There always a couple years of chatter before the shit flies. It seems like this is the new strategy: Fill the air with bullshit, confuse the masses, make em comfortable with new phrases, keep em refreshed with fear and the need to sacrifice, and create some quasi lawful commission to justify a new reality. Now that I think about it, it’s the same old crap that’s been going on for 2 thousand years, except in suits instead of togas. Decadence, lust and greed are still the driving forces of progress. Capitalism simply justifies it all, and religion sweetens it for the peasants and the labor force. And ain’t it nice to know that the real purpose of our constitution was the 2nd amendment…………………yep, progress alright.
will prove he can deliver what Bush couldn’t, or he’ll set up the circumstances that will lead to it. IMO, Barack Obama is probably the most treacherous SOB of a president we’ve had yet, including Dubya. After the past two years, why would anyone still want to vote Democratic?