I saw several Democrats on the Sunday shows this weekend denying that there is a "crisis" in Social Security that needs to be addressed. Ted Kennedy, seemed sober, but none the less tried to sell the bizarre theory that President Bush has dreamed up this problem and that there is no crisis.
It is probably not best to get into a Semantic argument about what constitutes a crisis so I'll leave it to great minds, like that of the Mass. Senator's to come up with an appropriate description. None-the-less, it is an undeniable fact, that as currently constituted the program will not have enough funds to pay out the current level of benefits to anyone who is 35 years old or under and working today, along with every single person entering the workforce from this day on for the rest of time. Al Gore's lockbox not withstanding.
What happened? Iraq? The tax cut? George Bush's spending? Sorry, none of those benefits to the moneyed elite in our society caused this looming crisis, er problem.
As the democrats hysterically cry about preserving FDR's legacy, its instructive to focus just on this issue. The fact is FDR and the boys created one of history's greatest Ponzi schemes when Social Security was invented decades ago. One can argue that they did it with the best of intentions, and I won't disagree with them here. The fact remains, however, the program was created to take wages from current workers and pay for the retirement of older workers, with the promise that future retirees would receive similar benefits from their children in the future.
Ensuing generations of politicians along with the full complicity of the American public, added to program benefits as a painless way of winning votes using the future wages of workers that had yet to be born. Political genius, really, but a domestic policy disaster should birthrates ever begin to decline.
The program also had a side benefit for the Democratic party in that it created a whole new dependent class. Grandma could now be counted on to vote for the party that would protect her retirement and keep her out of the home and off of the streets.
Social Security was already "saved" once in 1986 when a bi-partisan group of Senators changed the funding formulas and tax rates for Social Security so the the system would run a surplus well into the second decade of this century. The excess funds, were to be saved in a trust fund - Al Gore's non-existent lockbox - and drawn on when withdrawals from the system started to outpace tax receipts. Unfortunately, the trust fund was spent to reduce current deficits. In effect building a second level Ponzi sham on top of FDR's original scheme.
Today, since a Republican President would like to change the system, the New York Times and fellow Democrats insist that this second level scam, the Trust Fund, is really just a prudent investment in Treasury securities. Why should we be so concerned they ask? The answer is, of course, clear to anyone with a brain. When those securities come due, the American taxpayer will have to foot the bill.
In the most delicious irony of this whole tale, the Times and Democrats argue today, that we shouldn't borrow in the short-term to include some small degree of ownership in social security accounts. Yet, that is exactly what the system has been doing for the past two decades to fund current non-Social Security spending! The only difference being that the borrowing from the trust fund was ok with these folks when it expanded the government bureaucracy. Now that borrowing is proposed to shift the program towards ownership for each and every working citizen, borrowing has become the completely wrong strategy.
So, I ask you. Are these people truly on the side of the worker?
Monday, January 17, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
I'm Doomed!!
Wow, I really hope they beat this cancer thing. Otherwise I've apparently lived 52% of my life! How long will you live, check it out.
According to our research, you'll be dead by
- probable cause -
CANCER!!!!
| August 2044 at age 83 |
- probable cause -
CANCER!!!!
 |
Make Love, Not War
Spoons links to this amusing story about abandoned US Def. Dept. chemical weapons programs. An amusing story about chemical weapons? You bet. I especially like the terrorists/bad breath plan!
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Women Gone Wild!!
There is a commercial on TV that has been running for a while, that astounds me to no end.
"There she goes, there she goes again"
You know what I'm talking about right? The birth control pill commercial - Orthatetranobabiesforyou its called. Or something like that.
At any rate, this commercial originally caught my eye because the song, as it is wistfully sung by Sixpence None The Richer, is kind of sexy/cute. That and the fact that semi dressed women were jumping up and down on the TV, apparently very eager to have sex. Odd as it may seem, I found that quite attractive.
So I enjoyed the commercial for what it was when it came on every now and then. A little mind candy, but I really didn't give it much thought. Of course, now I can't get it out of my mind. Because, it seems, there is so much more.
"There she goes, there she goes again"
Could this possibly have been a mistake. Was it some subconscious longing of the creative staff that put the ad together? "There she goes - you wish!" I said to myself. The more I watched though, I realized every word must have been intended. Every word and so much more.
What is the message these guys are trying to deliver? "Orthatetranobabiesforyou - the pill for women who boink like rabbits" seems to be the slogan they were going for. If that's the case, then I'm here to tell you these women don't need birth control, the need some self restraint!
At that moment I was lost. I had to find out more. So I went to look up the lyrics - and I found this little ditty:
"There she goes, there she goes again, she calls my name, SHE PULLS MY TRAIN"
Go back, read that again, I'll wait.
Please do not get me wrong here, if she wants to pull your train, my train or anyone's train I'm ok with that. In fact, depending on whose train is getting pulled, I may even encourage it. But for goodness sake, this is a birth control commercial! Train pulling could definitely lead to non-birth like control behavior!
At that moment of realization the full nefarious intent, yes the true genius of the ad was clear to me; "My God, they aren't just selling birth control, they are creating market demand at the same time!" I said to no one in particular. People this is pure genius! As they say in TV ad land though, "but wait there's more".
Oh yes, so much more. This commercial, it became like an obsession for me. Genius like this just doesn't show up on TV everyday, so when it does it must be studied. Knowledge can be gained and passed to future generations. That is when I noticed the visuals.
Flowers. More specifically open, blossoming, pink flowers. Beautiful, orchids and lilies in full bloom, their petals spread wide, and stamens shamelessly displayed. Bring anything to mind? In another scene, an actress languishes clitoral like in the smooth folds a tree trunk, a dreamy inviting look in her eye. I imagine that at that moment, men all over the country are leaning over to there wives/partners (lets face it we're men - total strangers) with that old familiar look in their eye.
Then the moment of triumph! What is a woman to do? Why with the full support of Orthotetranobabliesfor you, she hasn't a care in the world! The final scene delivers this message with all the subtlety of the preceding 54 seconds; an image of a woman is created from the drawing of the flower -the petals turn into her skirt, the stamen become her legs. She leans back on the product name, kicking her legs high in the air.
Is this a great country or what?
"There she goes, there she goes again"
You know what I'm talking about right? The birth control pill commercial - Orthatetranobabiesforyou its called. Or something like that.
At any rate, this commercial originally caught my eye because the song, as it is wistfully sung by Sixpence None The Richer, is kind of sexy/cute. That and the fact that semi dressed women were jumping up and down on the TV, apparently very eager to have sex. Odd as it may seem, I found that quite attractive.
So I enjoyed the commercial for what it was when it came on every now and then. A little mind candy, but I really didn't give it much thought. Of course, now I can't get it out of my mind. Because, it seems, there is so much more.
"There she goes, there she goes again"
Could this possibly have been a mistake. Was it some subconscious longing of the creative staff that put the ad together? "There she goes - you wish!" I said to myself. The more I watched though, I realized every word must have been intended. Every word and so much more.
What is the message these guys are trying to deliver? "Orthatetranobabiesforyou - the pill for women who boink like rabbits" seems to be the slogan they were going for. If that's the case, then I'm here to tell you these women don't need birth control, the need some self restraint!
At that moment I was lost. I had to find out more. So I went to look up the lyrics - and I found this little ditty:
"There she goes, there she goes again, she calls my name, SHE PULLS MY TRAIN"
Go back, read that again, I'll wait.
Please do not get me wrong here, if she wants to pull your train, my train or anyone's train I'm ok with that. In fact, depending on whose train is getting pulled, I may even encourage it. But for goodness sake, this is a birth control commercial! Train pulling could definitely lead to non-birth like control behavior!
At that moment of realization the full nefarious intent, yes the true genius of the ad was clear to me; "My God, they aren't just selling birth control, they are creating market demand at the same time!" I said to no one in particular. People this is pure genius! As they say in TV ad land though, "but wait there's more".
Oh yes, so much more. This commercial, it became like an obsession for me. Genius like this just doesn't show up on TV everyday, so when it does it must be studied. Knowledge can be gained and passed to future generations. That is when I noticed the visuals.
Flowers. More specifically open, blossoming, pink flowers. Beautiful, orchids and lilies in full bloom, their petals spread wide, and stamens shamelessly displayed. Bring anything to mind? In another scene, an actress languishes clitoral like in the smooth folds a tree trunk, a dreamy inviting look in her eye. I imagine that at that moment, men all over the country are leaning over to there wives/partners (lets face it we're men - total strangers) with that old familiar look in their eye.
Then the moment of triumph! What is a woman to do? Why with the full support of Orthotetranobabliesfor you, she hasn't a care in the world! The final scene delivers this message with all the subtlety of the preceding 54 seconds; an image of a woman is created from the drawing of the flower -the petals turn into her skirt, the stamen become her legs. She leans back on the product name, kicking her legs high in the air.
Is this a great country or what?
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
We're Canadian And We're Here To Help, Eh
You just can't make this stuff up. God only knows what would have happened if these guys had shown up in Iraq to help. Kind of explains why Atta and his murderous brothers came via the Great White North.
They did send us John Candy and SCTV though, so you know, that gets them some credit.
Link via Spoons.
They did send us John Candy and SCTV though, so you know, that gets them some credit.
Link via Spoons.
Sullivan's Dis-ingenuous Attack
This is really quite stunning. Even for Andrew Sullivan.
President Bush today made the statement that he does not understand how anyone could be President without a personal relationship with God. Fair enough, frankly I don't either. Without a doubt its the toughest job in the world, on any one issue half the country thinks you're wrong most of the time at least 40% of the people want to get you fired!
Back to Sullivan. Andy, who it seems has quite the axe to grind with Mr. Bush on this issue, takes the statement, reprints it out of context, and then twists the meaning to be that Mr. Bush would restrict the Presidency to Christians only!
I really don't know why I stopped by there today, I never do anymore since Andy started his anti-Bush jihad, but really I'm going to stop now.
President Bush today made the statement that he does not understand how anyone could be President without a personal relationship with God. Fair enough, frankly I don't either. Without a doubt its the toughest job in the world, on any one issue half the country thinks you're wrong most of the time at least 40% of the people want to get you fired!
Back to Sullivan. Andy, who it seems has quite the axe to grind with Mr. Bush on this issue, takes the statement, reprints it out of context, and then twists the meaning to be that Mr. Bush would restrict the Presidency to Christians only!
I really don't know why I stopped by there today, I never do anymore since Andy started his anti-Bush jihad, but really I'm going to stop now.
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
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