I don't get them all right.... but the Social Security/Medicare ("SSM") call was the easiest in the history of forecasting.
69 the new retirement age? The panel just couldn't bring itself to put a "7" in the front. The fact is at today's tax rate (I know some innumerate, middle-aged-teenager is going to suggest raising taxes... like I said... "innumerate" is the operative word) and longevity that number will needs be moved to at least 70.5 and perhaps as high as 73. The other fact is that I am only talking about Social Security. The Medicare portion is SO BAD that there will be some sort of brutal rationing. This would be an excellent time to get in great shape, eat your veggies, have lots of sex (for your prostate), breast feed (for your breasts) and no matter what - do not sell your health tomorrow for a couple of dollars today - the ROI (return on investment) is inexcusably bad.
If you are 55 and under YOU WOULD BE OUT OF YOUR MIND to let the government continue to confiscate your assets AND NOT CUT THE BENEFITS OF THOSE RECEIVING BENEFITS!!! OUT OF YOUR MIND!!!
Throughout history, parents left assets to their offspring... but not the "Greatest Generation". Nope. They have left their offspring, the baby boomers, in debt up to their eye balls, with no savings for retirement, and unfunded pension liabilities left to the "Gubment". Yea... they are "Great" alright.... "great" like "The Great Train Robbery" kind of "Great".
There is a very good reason why 90% of boomers do not have enough savings for retirement, and it isn't all because they bought granite counter tops. They have been systematically robbed by politicians who bought the votes of the AARP set and the public employee unions. Of course, some could argue that they deserve what they got for being stupid enough to fall for the propaganda these groups planted in the media...
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Here's a link to an excellent article that describes how "capital flows", i.e. money creation by the various central banks, over the past decade or 2 have put us in disaster mode. Worth every minute.
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The trashing the Dems and the RINO's received on election day (and for the RINO's in the primaries) was not enough to help them see the light. They have been rocked, but they are not out of the fight to destroy the country... Read this article. Here you have elected officials saying they can't vote for deficit reduction because it will hurt somebody???!! Cutting the deficit is going to be BEYOND painful. If done correctly and sufficiently doing so will cause the Mother of All Recessions. This is like bariatric surgery on 1,000 lbs patient. These next couple of Congress' are all we have between us and the F&*^##!! abyss. The Republicans had better pick themselves another "Great Communicator" to make this sale to the American people or all will be lost.
A sad observation of mine comes from the Facebook exchanges of my Liberal leaning friends... listening to their banter leaves me saddened for just how impossible this will be. It seems we have a massive minority of highly educated people that have NO IDEA just where the U.S. is terms of State & Federal budgets and the pension liabilities of the local, state, and federal governments nor just how bad our energy situation is... and though they have NO IDEA, they do have ROCK HARD OPINIONS that they are willing to die for. I'd like to ask them: "Does the Republic have to die, too?" But they only roll their eyes and glance at each other knowingly... that they are the enlightened ones.... and I am nothing more than a Proletariat... (which is true... but I would be better described as a highly numerate proletariat).
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22 comments:
Funny how the media yesterday kept telling the Simpson/Bolwes story over and over focusing only on "spending cuts." Not once did the media mention anything about tax increases on the wealthy (only gas taxes, which hits the poor hardest), who under George Bush, have separated so far from the rest of us that no one can even SEE the middle class anymore.
Large corporations are sending less and less tax money to the Federal Treasury cause of their special deals. The rich and powerful have been robbing this country for the last 30 years, ever since Reagan fooled everyone and started credit flowing and deficit spending. Maybe the French were right -- line up the "let them eat cake" crowd and bring back the guillotine.
I thank Jeffers for at least mentioning the orgy of debt to the Nth degree being left behind by the baby boomers for the children of tomorrow. Hope those granite countertops, SUVs and plasma TVs were worth it.
Yes, obviously the awful government worker unions are to blame for everything. Can't say that about the Feds. Our unions are purposefully weak by law -- can't negotiate anything meaningful, like pay, benefits, etc. Sorry, Mish.
Happy Veterans Day! No mail service today.
Social Security at 70??? You ever seen a 70 year old try to do much of anything? At best, they are slow and distracted. My parents are around 70, and if someone would keep them on the payroll at 70, bless them. I sure wouldn't.
That debt ain’t gonna be paid. To quote Mish “Debt that cannot be repaid will not be repaid.” I used to be upset about it until it got so frigging insane. It’s all a big joke now.
Bur:
Please, stop repeating yourself. Its getting boring.
We have all explained, ad nauseum, to you how taxes work in this country. If you insist on embarrassing yourself, please start your own blog. You are co-opting this space for your own insane rants.
Just look here and let your head spin. These are no longer meaningful numbers.
Father: “Son; someday all of this will be yours.”
Son: “You’re on crack!”
The federal government will simply have to default on the debt. It is all funny money anyway.
This SS issue really chaps my ass. The money taken from me all those years would allow me to possibly work less much sooner in life. But, no we get to be slaves while those voting on this are millionaires.
sth_txs:
Yes, the money stolen from you to pay off the people now 70+ could have been used by you, and others, as you saw fit.
The argument from the government is that people are irresponsible and can't be trusted with their own money to do the right thing... but government CAN BE trusted???
It is truly hard to believe what has happened, and how so many are still in denial about it.
BTW... how do you define rich? By income, net worth, or some combination? Is $100 million net worth rich? $10 million? Morgan Stanley says you are rich if you have over $3 million...some might say $1 million makes you rich... should you be treated differently if you made it yourself rather than inherited it?
For most of the later part of the 20th Century the top tax bracket was over 50% and then when you died, the government took 55% of what was left... That's not enough tax?
Just wondering...
Translation: the rich have control of Congress, and they see no reason to consider the USA as anything but their playground, with the taxpayers to bail them out when they get "Wall Street fever." Further, the top 20% are obviously under too much stress to pay any more taxes -- which is crap.
Did Social Security stop sending checks? No, I didn't think so. All talk.
You can lock me out of your blog, and only hear what you want to hear, any time.
bur, the condition of most 70+ers is avoidable if they would get out in the sun and do something. We have a doctor by us that is in his mid-70s and still exercises vigorously a minimum of 3 times per week. His wife is younger and frankly for a woman her age pretty hot. He does stairs, weights, etc. Father-in-law is over 70 and does stretches every day and works outside for long stretches and puts most 30 year old men to shame. The list goes on (Clarence Bass, Skip Hall....) but to you is if you're not already training hard get your arse to the gym and get it done.
"It's hard for bad things to happen when you have no debt."
~ Howard Lutnick, CEO Cantor Fitzgerald
Lutnick said that?
I knew Howard many years ago, when Bernie Cantor was still alive... a little blast from my past... and now kids on my blog are quoting these guys... you'd have done even better to quote Bernie Cantor - now there was a character...
Jiminy Crickets!
Joseph, that is what Jeffers would call "anecdotal evidence." From a bigger standpoint, we already know that people in general are getting bigger, and the older are not going to change that easily. Human beings fall apart eventually. Medicare proves that in spades.
bur, actually it is called "cause and effect". People get older and sit around on their rears watching TV. Others suck up the aches and pains and get moving and doing strenuous activities multiple times per week. There is plenty of research about increased strength and bone mass, etc. when older people start weight training.
I think what we need is more research to find all these 85 year old Supermen doing weight training. My 70ish parents walk on the treadmill and thats plenty for them. :)
Nice to see I'm not the only one who thinks the Libertarians are fundamentally nuts --- Kunstler does too (from his site) ...
"The past two nights on CNN, Elliot Spitzer has grilled a couple of extreme Republican electees about their vows to drastically cut the federal budget. Senator-elect Rand Paul came off as a mad dog, blustering, evading, acting like a maniac (and a bully) -- in order to conceal the fact that he has no idea what can really be cut from the federal budget."
Dex:
My apologies for referring to you as a "kid". You are a young man and father, and very well versed in your history... certainly no "kid".
You just reminded me with that quote that I am REALLy no kid!
Hes a kid. :)
Well a Kid a Heart, at least that is what my wife says.
You see this cartoon vid on Quantitative Easing, Funny, concise!
http://www.youtube.com/user/malekanoms#p/u/6/PTUY16CkS-k
-Meiyo
Another good one about US economic policy.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ivoryjay#p/a/u/0/wpmlHTeVG9A
-Meiyo
Dex:
Me too, bro. As long as I don't look in the mirror I think I am still back in my glory days...
"O Young Man, rejoice in thy youth!"
He wasn't kidding...
This is a very informative article..I have made my effort in explaing how the Current Energy
Order is Changing and Changing Fast..The link is given below..
http://authorshive.com/2010/11/24/current-energy-order-is-changing-fast/
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