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| A day late, and a dollar short  |
I used to say the same thing myself!! ____________________________ NRA Life Member, MGO Annual Member | |||
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Honky Lips |
https://www.crfb.org/blogs/soc...g-towards-insolvency _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| Member |
What is your response to the wildly different issues facing Argentina and the US. They still have wildly high poverty rates, no SS, and no Medicare/medicaid, a small defense budget and ample natural resources. What he has accomplished is wonderful. A more interesting study is how does a nation with all those attributes fall so far in the first place? This isn’t even apples and oranges. Cutting waste fraud and winnowing down unnecessary govt programs isn’t the result of two masters degrees in economics it’s just fucking common sense. A smart housewife knows that. So yea, economics as an academic study is wrong more often than it’s right. The argument here is winnowing down social security. I contend the first step is culling waste fraud and abuse. Making disability be a more stringent bar. See where that gets you. Means testing or complete zeroing out would be a horrible choice. Maybe govt subsidization will be required to keep it afloat. Maybe not. I’d rather subsidize my mother in laws social security than fraudulent day cares. Less is the answer. But there is a lot of cutting before you get to legitimate SS payments. | |||
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| Honky Lips |
the basic issue is the same, the misallocation of resources that have been stolen from productive efforts. This isn't some sort of "all else equal" nonsense this is the fundamental issue. Someone with a gun is saying "We know what to do with your stuff better than you do, so give it here or we'll lock you in a cage, or if you fight we'll kill you." _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| Lawyers, Guns and Money  |
Ahhh... there's the rub. I'll agree and it's largely without consent. None of us have really agreed to the size and scope of our government. But still, if you comply, it's only a percentage (although too large). However, in the absence of any government (anarchy): Someone with a gun is going to come along, take whatever they want, rape your wife, kill you both, and then burn everything left to the ground as they leave. "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown "The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor | |||
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| Member |
An interesting metaphor. It does raise a simple question: if the money was taken at gunpoint, why is keeping it after the rules change suddenly acceptable? Ponder that before your give us your solution. You may need to go to a whiteboard for this one. | |||
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| Honky Lips |
What do you mean "keeping it" are you implying the government hasn't spent us into 37 trillion dollars of debt? Do you think there are real dollars in some vault somewhere with a little sign "for social security do not steal" _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| Honky Lips |
Private police, or if you bristle at that idea, "Armed Security". paid for via insurance resolves that problem. _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| Member |
Yes, it was spent. That describes the problem, not your solution. Give us your solution. You don't have one do you?  | |||
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| Lawyers, Guns and Money |
Yes, in theory you could pay for your own security. But in reality, someone will come along with a larger band of marauders than you can defend against. Not everyone can afford their own private army. Justice is the advantage of the stronger? Or... do we want a system of limited government wherein people remain mostly free to do what they want, but there are rules imposed which apply equally to all? And the rule of law to enforce those rules? You do realize that you can't even have voluntary contracts without a system of law to enforce them? That's civil society. That's the founders' vision of a republic. That's "res publica", the public thing. "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown "The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor | |||
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| Honky Lips |
You're not being clear on your question, the solution to the debt? which debt? state your question clearly and coherently and I'd be more than happy to give you an answer. _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| Honky Lips |
You'd not hire them yourself, the insurance company would, it's the same as if you are in a car accident. Ideally you're not hiring a lawyer and suing the other parties insurance company you're carrier does that on your behalf. _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| No More Mr. Nice Guy |
I'm thinking more along the lines of catastrophic medical coverage private insurance plans with some government controls. e.g. For health insurance, mandate that if someone is on insurance they cannot be kicked off. Lots of details need to be worked out, but the idea is decouple medical insurance from employment or the government. Make it like life insurance where you buy in before you need it and then keep it forever. For those who are truly poor, some form of state welfare program to pay the premiums. As catastrophic coverage the cost should be very low. Get the government out of administering the insurance and out of regulating every aspect of the medical care. As far as retirement poverty prevention, that's a tough one. As I posted earlier, educating the younger generations will be critical. So many have no idea how finances or economics work. I like the idea of employers automatically starting a 401k for new hires. There's no reason Americans can't learn to be good savers. For those who are able but unwilling, I'm happy to let Darwin get involved. | |||
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| No More Mr. Nice Guy |
Exactly! The basic concept of the Declaration of Independence is that a righteous government is one by The People in order to preserve the natural rights of the individuals, which otherwise the individuals cannot do. Whether it is the police, national security, or establishing fair trade, as individuals we just can't do it. Some government is needed. How does that saying go? If men were angels there'd be no need for government. | |||
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| Lawyers, Guns and Money |
Federalist #51 The Structure of the Government Must Furnish the Proper Checks and Balances Between the Different Departments February 8, 1788. Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition. The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions. This policy of supplying, by opposite and rival interests, the defect of better motives, might be traced through the whole system of human affairs, private as well as public. https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-51-60 "Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." -- Justice Janice Rogers Brown "The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth." -rduckwor | |||
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| Member |
WHAT IS YOUR SOLUTION TO TOTAL BOOMER COMMUNISM? Could I be any more clear? If not let me know. | |||
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| Honky Lips |
I can see you have no actual question, you're just yelling at clouds. _____________________________________________ Proverbs 3:31 "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower  |
OK, guys | |||
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