Our live's are about to change.

[Willieboy]

I think Newt would be most able to turn the country around and put it back on its feet. However, I don't think he's electable. I'd be okay with Bachman but as has been said, there are still too many fish in the pond.

Over the long haul, I think the country's in real trouble. There are too many people in the wagon and too few pulling it. The Democratic/Liberal strategy of buying votes with transfer payments has been successful for them and I see no end in sight. Every day, there are more and more people standing around with their hands out.

Cities like Chicago, Detroit, Philidelphia and Baltimore have all but lost their tax base, yet the expectation of hand outs only increases. I think these cities represent an example of what the country will look like in the years to come. I hate the prospect, but I fear it is realistic. I'm glad I'm an old guy now, but worry for my children.

[jocko]

read today in the Journa where Newt is going to announ ce next week and he has raised over 32 million so far for his primary run..I like jhim but even the journal felt that people want a new face and not the same ol washington baggge, which I tend to think could be true. Certainly NEWT could degbate the great one and BURY him. He isjust that smart, but I am just not sure he can win, but no dobt if he gets the nomination, he willget jocko's family\'s vote for sure.

[getsome]

I really hope people will get behind Herman Cain and learn all they can about the man...He has everything going for him except name recognition...He is a very intelligent and successful buisness leader, he is articulate speaker in expressing his views, (doesn't need a teleprompter) he is behind the "Fair Tax" and is an African American...I think a Herman Cain/Newt Gingrich ticket would be a great combination and a winner in 2012..

[Tilos]

+1 to Willieboy
And the almost 45% of americans that pay NO income tax will be supporting/voting for the "tax the evil rich" party.
Tilos

[jocko]

indeed I drink coffee with a retired vfery wealthy nice fella who is always *****-ng because he has not got his COLA the last two years on his SSI.

[Willieboy]

He's very wealty and yet is on SSI?

[jocko]

over 65, they still get what they originally paid in. but some people bit-ch for about anything. He wasn't wealthy 50 years ago, when he was paying in part of his pay check like everyone else. because he isnow is no reason to not give him what he so rightfully paid in for, although he doesnt need it, that is not the point..

[Tilos]

Yes, saved my whole life, drove old beater cars that I fixed myself, packed a lunch, never any extended vacation anywhere I couldn't drive to or camp at and paid my taxes...etc.

People all around me worked pay check to pay check, never saved a dime, drove new cars, spent every dime they made a borrowed all that they could get.

Now the gov'mt wants to say I'm not eligable for SS through "means testing" (I saved too much), and the people who spent every dime, sure, they're broke so get SS.
Go Figure

Remember those campaigning on the "SS lock box"...what happened to that deal and those guys?

Federal term limits are the short, and only answer in my view.
Tilos

[Willieboy]

I don't begrudge people from collecting SS benefits if they've paid into it and I don't consider it some form of welfare. SSI though, I thought was a form of welfare one must be impoverished to receive. That's why I asked if a wealth person really received SSI payments.

How about this idea. If SS and Medicare are going broke, how about the senators and congressmen, past and present, forgo their pension payments and those payments be added to the SS and medicare plans? They are afterall, the goofballs who spent the original "trust fund" when they combined it with the general account.

[Rainman48314]

You may be wrong, but I doubt it

The Socialists will continue to run the printing presses to print money out of thin air with no capital backing.

They will also tinker with the CPI so that "their" calculated rate of inflation will be such that the COLAs will be way behind inflation.

And as a result, they will pay those future multi-trillion dollar deficits with dollars of less value. Yes, you will still get your Social Security, but it will buy about 1/2 to 1/3 of what it did 7-10 years previously. The Socialists will boast that they protected your Social Security and Medicare/Medicaide but more of you will be living below the poverty line on those worth-less SS checks.

Better wake up...pay off your debt, own your home outright because life is going to get real grim for a larger and larger chunk of America.

Carl

I hope you're wrong, but I fear you are not.

[Rainman48314]

Define means testing

Yes, saved my whole life, drove old beater cars that I fixed myself, packed a lunch, never any extended vacation anywhere I couldn't drive to or camp at and paid my taxes...etc.

People all around me worked pay check to pay check, never saved a dime, drove new cars, spent every dime they made a borrowed all that they could get.

Now the gov'mt wants to say I'm not eligable for SS through "means testing" (I saved too much), and the people who spent every dime, sure, they're broke so get SS.
Go Figure

Remember those campaigning on the "SS lock box"...what happened to that deal and those guys?

Federal term limits are the short, and only answer in my view.
Tilos

I'm reasonably sure "means testing" refers to your income, not your assets. Living frugally won't hurt you. Its the size of other pensions, not your savings.

[Rainman48314]

GOP has to do better than that

I really hope people will get behind Herman Cain and learn all they can about the man...He has everything going for him except name recognition...He is a very intelligent and successful buisness leader, he is articulate speaker in expressing his views, (doesn't need a teleprompter) he is behind the "Fair Tax" and is an African American...I think a Herman Cain/Newt Gingrich ticket would be a great combination and a winner in 2012..

That ticket won't win it. There has to be something better.

Romney/Bachman ?

[Rainman48314]

You are mistaking SS with SSI

indeed I drink coffee with a retired vfery wealthy nice fella who is always *****-ng because he has not got his COLA the last two years on his SSI.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal government benefit program providing cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter to persons who are blind or otherwise disabled and have little or no other income. Monthly SSI benefits are paid to persons with limited income and resources who are disabled, blind, or age 65 or older. Blind or disabled children, as well as adults, can qualify to get SSI benefits.

SSI is Different From Social Security Benefits
While SSI benefits are administered by the Social Security Administration, SSI benefits do not require and are not based on the recipient's prior work or a family member's prior work. In other words, no current or prior employment is required to qualify for SSI benefits.
Unlike Social Security benefits, SSI benefits are funded by general funds from the U.S. Treasury generated by income taxes paid be individuals and corporations. Social Security taxes withheld from workers' paychecks under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) do not help fund the SSI program. Total SSI funding, along with maximum monthly amounts to be paid to SSI recipients, are set annually by Congress as part of the federal budget process.
SSI recipients in most states can also have their benefits supplemented by Medicaid to help pay for doctor bills, prescriptions and other health care costs.
SSI beneficiaries may also be eligible for food stamps in every state except California. In some states, an application for SSI benefits also serves as an application for food stamps.
Basic Qualifications for SSI Benefits
To get SSI benefits, a person must:

• disabled, blind, or at least 65 years old and have "limited" outside income and resources.
• be a resident of the United States and not be absent from the country for more than 30 days; and
• be either a U.S. citizen or national, or in one of certain categories of eligible non–citizens.

Details on SSI eligibility and qualifications can be found on the Social Security - SSI Eligibility Requirements web site.
SSI Payment Details
Amounts of SSI benefit payments are set annually by Congress and are typically adjusted every January to reflect the current cost of living. The maximum monthly SSI benefit amount in 2008, adjusted for the 2.3 percent January 2008 COLA, is $637 for an individual and $956 for a couple. This amount is projected to increase to $653 for an individual and $980 for a couple when adjusted for the estimated 2.5 percent COLA payable beginning in January 2009. The average monthly benefit payment was $458 in Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 and is expected to increase to $473 in FY 2008 and $486 in FY 2009.
By 2009, the number of SSI recipients is expected to exceed 7.3 million people.
SSI benefit payments are not taxable.
Exact benefit amounts paid to individual SSI recipients may be less than the maximum depending on non-SSI income, like wages and other Social Security benefits. Persons living in their own home, in the home of another person, or in a Medicaid-approved nursing home may also have their SSI payments reduced accordingly.
Updated current maximum and average SSI payment amounts can be found on the SSI Statistics web site.For Complete Information on the SSI Program
Complete details on all aspects of the SSI program are available on the Social Security - Understanding Supplemental Security Income web site.

[Rainman48314]

See my clarification of SSI, posted

I don't begrudge people from collecting SS benefits if they've paid into it and I don't consider it some form of welfare. SSI though, I thought was a form of welfare one must be impoverished to receive. That's why I asked if a wealth person really received SSI payments.

How about this idea. If SS and Medicare are going broke, how about the senators and congressmen, past and present, forgo their pension payments and those payments be added to the SS and medicare plans? They are afterall, the goofballs who spent the original "trust fund" when they combined it with the general account.

You are correct, SSI is a welfare program, often collected in tandem with Medicaid. It comes from General tax revenue, no one pays a payroll tax for it. No wealthy people are getting this handout of $650 per month

[jocko]

areu saying that because I paid in to SSI for over 40 years, thatbecause today I can afford to not getmy monthly check thatI amnot entitled to it??? What about if i BUY SOME GOVERNMENT BONDS AND THEY 20 YEARS DOWN THE ROAD they tell me that heh jocko ur ok financially, you not going to get your interest earned all these years. I paid into it, no one else did.

U can cal lit anythingy ou want welfare, I cal lit giving me back at least what I paid into it.plus interest, certainly don't deprive me of it because I worked hard, saved and am now basically able to live with SSI. That decision to not take it should be mine and not the governments now. SSI isn't going broke because of people like me that don't need it but are gettingit. If the fokking government would have kept its hand out of that slush fund, wewould not even be discussing it. Now they want to efund it by drawing al inein the sane and everyone abouve a certain income doesn't get sh-t eventhough they paid into if for 40+ years..