By Native on 02-02-10
So… have you even been outside of Tok?
By dsrobins on 02-02-10
Instead of reducing everybody’s Medicare and Social Security, let’s just take Mooseberry’s since he volunteered to give it all up. After all, every little bit helps. Other right wingers like him are free to do the same.
By mooseturd on 02-03-10
How about we have SS and Medicare only in months that have an “r” in them?
By vmvan on 02-03-10
This question deserves at least one non-sarcastic comment. Of course I would say NO because SS is 75% of my monthly income, which in total is almost at poverty level. A good question would be: For what percentage of US citizens who receive SS, is it their primary income? I have a feeling that if SS was reduced to help pay the US debt, there would be hundreds of thousands of people more than there are now needing government assistance to survive. This question in itself creates many more questions.
By mitch on 02-04-10
The social security for us seniors will not be touched….........unless we have a scam going. That has been said over and over and over, the abusers will be uncovered and they number in the millions. I have no scam, I have no worry. Don’t you guys ever read this stuff or why is it the same babble of misinformation over and over. Be it social security,SSI, medicare, medicaid, unemployment, workman’s comp. or what have you, there’s people taking millions who are not entitled. Do you want this injustice stopped? Or are you part of the problem?
By mooseturd on 02-04-10
I apologize for my flippant comment yesterday. I agree with vmvan. A deal is a deal, even when one party is the guvrmunt.
Mitch, you must travel in different circles than mine. I’ve never known of a fradulent claim to any of the programs you mentioned. I’ve read of some, usually MDs abusing Medicare, but never knew of one personally. Can you give us an example?
By David E on 02-04-10
No we as a nation should not cut social security. If you look at the cap, the maximum amount you pay on yearly earnings is where a fix exists. Remove the cap and let the CEOs pay on their total earnings and the system will be fully funded. The net effect, cost to those of us earning below 100K will be zero. Further their employer will match their contribution. Yes reform is also needed to reduce waste and weed out fraud. Health-care reform is also needed, medi-care is the second largest government expenditure. It is tied to Social Security. We need sustainable health care reform and that means regulation or some other form of restructuring the current system where costs can be controlled. Drug companies and medical corporations make billions of dollars off the care for seniors. And if you live primarily on social security then you know that the additional cost to you for medical care and prescription drugs is far more than your budget can sustain. And how about the big 3 Hearing, Eyesight and Dental. How many of you go without theses essential services because you do not have the income. Serious reform would include these services based on income. Perhaps social security should be regulated on a sliding scale based on income taxes filed or at least the percentage of medicare co-payments. How about long term care, even if you have a good income going into retirement it can be wiped out by even a short term care event. Long term care can erode million dollar bank accounts. If we fix these 2 areas then we can address real deficit reduction if we choose to do nothing then the national and our personal debt will continue to climb. Want to learn about the Debt and the budget http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/
By mitch on 02-04-10
http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2009/124.html
Here’s one link. There’s a lot of links out there….if you’re interested in actually looking into the fraud. I will not provide further information as it’s all out there on the web, and I do not really believe that you’ve never heard of anyone scamming these organizations???
Enjoying your posts David E.
By David E on 02-04-10
Mitch thanks for the link. Fraud is a major cost to the system for sure. I saw an interactive US budget graph that showed where the budget, money is spent. I have looked for it, however i cannot find it now on the web. It was on CNN via a Link from the News Hour. Anybody know the link. Anyway it outlined the areas of spending in box form. When you click on a box it highlighted the numbers and programs in that budget area. The reason I wanted to find the graph/chart was because I think it was a good visual aid to show difference between discretionary government spending and fixed or mandated spending. Like Social Security and Medicare. When we hear the words entitlement spending from our leaders what they really mean is social security, medicare and fixed governmental pensions that include the military. These are mandated by law and are not part of the discretionary budget. All other social programs funded by the US gov. are and they only amount to a small fraction of the total budget. In fact non discretionary spending dwarfs all other spending in the budget if you take away defense and interest on the debt. We can reduce expenditures in Defense and reduce the Debt also, however if we are really going to get rid of the debt then we have to address the mandatory spending programs and find long term solutions that are workable. We cannot plunge future seniors into a future of poverty and neglected health-care to achieve this goal. What we can do is clean up the fraud and find reasonable solutions to fix the problem. But it will require political will, a willingness to work for the benefit of our nation the people as a whole and perhaps reinventing the system. That will take courage and leadership not fear and partisan and or special interests.
By Vud on 02-04-10
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/02/01/us/budget.html
By David E on 02-04-10
Thanks Vud for the link.
By emerson on 02-04-10
Excellent link. Also a perfect example of why the GOP always creates massive budget deficits when they are in charge:
They want to GROW the budget in the biggest areas and CUT the budget in the smallest areas. And then CUT the revenue in the biggest areas.
It is somewhat like someone cutting back their hours (reducing revenue), while increasing their expenditures on a Masariti and 12 bedroom house (defense and foreign wars), but then cutting back on their morning coffee spend (domestic programs)—and then calling themselves fiscally responsible because they are buying smaller coffees in the morning.
Their math does not add up. More enlightened Americans need to start calling them on it. The GOP is absolutely NOT the party of financial responsibility.
By hammer on 02-06-10
Yah, it’s like proposing a second stimulous package after the first one didn’t work and then have the second one be at 3.8 trillion dollars. HOw about a social health care bill on top of that. THat is financial responsibility. I don’t see how a so called owner of technology business would think that is sound practice. I don’t know any real business owners either that have much faith in the govt unless the business is supported by the govt.
By wedunit on 02-06-10
Interestingly, only one name in the many listed in the fraud allegations could be attributed to a WASP. I’m not tryin’ to make a point, I’m just sayin’...
By emerson on 02-06-10
Hammer—A little over 12 months ago, the guys YOU put in power huddled everyone together with flushed and panicked faces. They said that if urgent action wasn’t taken—the American financial system was going to COLLAPSE.
They had not only figuratively, but literally destroyed the American economy. Based on the fact that YOUR guys and YOUR ideas have failed so miserably—not once—but twice (The Great Depression followed years of Republican “leadership” and now the Great Recession has followed years of Republican “leadership”).
I know you probably worship at the foot of a Herbert Hoover Buddha, but why should anyone even consider taking advice from the fools that nearly sunk the ship just 12 months ago?
By emerson on 02-06-10
Wedunit - About every single CEO of the “too-big-fail” banks that led the American economy to the edge of collapse was a WASP. I’m not tryin’ to make a point, I’m just sayin’
By wedunit on 02-06-10
The WASPs in the instances you mentioned certainly took much more from us than the SS fraud cases. Man is crooked by his very nature, and whenever the opportunity presents itself for ill-gotten gain, I never cease to be amazed at who and how much.Also, in the cases you referred to, the W probably is the common factor. I meant nothing other than the observation that was obvious by the names in the news story. Your point is well-taken.
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