"Hi....I'm from the government and I'm here to help", or "Bend over and feel the love"

Imagine for a minute you decided you wanted a new computer, but you didn't want to go into debt for it.  Then you heard of a merchant who would sell you one on an old-fashioned layaway plan....you paid monthly, and when you'd paid in full, you could go and pick up your purchase.  It was sale priced, so you jumped at it.

This was the prize you were promised.

After working hard day after day, looking at the picture of your new computer stuck to your refrigerator door with a little magnet, waiting for the day when you could get your hands on it, you go to the store to claim your hard earned prize, and this is what they handed you....

Then they tell you they miscalculated....they couldn't deliver on that new computer after all.  Their projections were way off, they were operating in the red, costs were up, revenues were down, times were tough.  Never mind what they promised, but this was all you were going to get.  Sorry.

This is essentially what is threatening to happen with Social Security.  Most Republicans and more than a few Democrats have decided that "entitlements" must be cut if we're ever to have a balanced budget, or even a manageable deficit.  It seems the politicians have over-promised.  *shock!*

Only one little problem....people PAID into Social Security all their working lives in order to have that little pot of money waiting for them when they retired.  It's THEIR money!  Anything they could put aside over and above Social Security was great, but at the very least they had their Social Security waiting for them.   Now the gubment is considering taking at least some of it away.

"Entitlement" means they've already paid for it and they are entitled to receive it.  IMO, at this point it's a right, not a privilege.

This might be a bit more palatable if they had scrapped the entire tax code and put in a new one that treated everyone equally, but they didn't.  There are still subsidies and loopholes sprinkled throughout the old code, robbing the gubment of revenues it needs to keep above water.  And now they want to change the Social Security rules in the middle of the game to make up for their wild promises elsewhere.

Loopholes and subsidies are not paid for in advance.  They are pure and simple freebies to the recipients.  They are not entitled to them.

So people who are "entitled" to something are (maybe) not going to get it, while people who are NOT entitled to something can still count on getting theirs.

I could not in my wildest dream imagine a more dishonorable idea.  Considering it's coming from Congress I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Oh....and Happy Tax Day.  :)

S

The "Pelosi-Ryan" connection

Yesterday on the news I saw GOP Veep candidate Paul Ryan trying to explain why Mitt Romney won't divulge any specific tax loopholes he would close or what tax rates he would set if he's elected.  They're being vague, he said, "....because we want to get it done."  He went on to say, "We don't want to presume to say, 'Here's exactly our way or the highway, take it or leave it Congress.'"  Huh?

Ummm, Paul....that's exactly what the Tea Party "Young Guns" have been saying since they got to Congress:  "Here's what we demand, take it or leave it."  No compromise, no way.

And didn't the Republicans lambaste then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her quip during the debate over health care reform when she said, "We'll just have to pass this bill so you can see what's in it"? 

Aren't Romney and Ryan doing the same thing, in essence saying, "You'll just have to vote for us so you can see what were going to do with your taxes"? 

One of my favorite old sayings is, "If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem."  Looking around Washington today I see lot's of "problems" and very few "solutions".  

Even though you might have some potential solutions, unless you're willing to work with others, you have nothing.  Therefore you're still a "problem".

Whenever politicians, any politicians, try to fluff me off by just saying "trust me and I'll fix everything",  I immediately grab my wallet and back myself into a corner, 'cause I'm fixin' to either get robbed or screwed....quite likely both.

S

"Rain, rain, go away"...no, wait...PLEASE STAY!

"I don't need no stinkin' trainin'."  Smart dog.  Haha!

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Rain is always to me a good news / bad news sort of thing.  We desperately need more rain here in drought stricken Texas, but as a homebuilder, rain wrecks a construction schedule.  In a perverse way, not having a home under construction right now is good because we're expecting rain all day and night....2-3 inches of the liquid sunshine, and now I can enjoy it.   I have a couple of errands to run today, but otherwise I'm sticking close to home.  I asked K what needs to be done around here (I'm really scratchin' for something to do, can you tell?) and she said I could clean out the pantry.  How do you "clean out" a pantry?  Do you dust the cans, or maybe arrange them in alphabetical order?  Geez, I'm bored, but....

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So Mitt Romney made $42M last year, but paid only 14% in taxes.  I think people are outraged by that for the wrong reason.  I don't blame him for taking advantage of every deduction and loophole available to him.  You would, too, and don't lie and say you wouldn't.  I blame congress, who WE elected, for allowing those loopholes to exist in the first place.  And to say, "Yes, they (congress) are bad guys, all except MY guy, and he's good" is why things never change.  Just because your congressman sent you a birthday card or gave you a commemorative paperweight isn't reason enough to vote for him/her.  At the same time they were robo-signing your card they were emptying your pocket in order to subsidize 'ol Mitt and his buddies.  Think about it.

S