Thursday, September 11, 2014


 Politics’ and People, How Much Dumber Can We Get?

                Politics’: Win at any cost. Do whatever it takes to win. Have you noticed when election time rolls around, weird physiological and mental things start happening to all politicians? Some strange form of metamorphosis takes place in all of them. A dark force emerges from deep inside of most politicians’ and takes control. It could it be that they all have some form of defective “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” gene in them that when running for a political office this gene activates and transforms most politicians from a decent person into a despicable one.
 
                When election time rolls around, it is very evident that their personalities change. We hear lies, half-truths, their spin on the truth, and the twisting of the facts, in their self-serving approach to get one up on their opponent, and discredit the other party by any means necessary, which always includes some form of character assassination. We also hear the “speech of the day” from speaker after speaker, which is constructed for one purpose, to control, manipulate, and invoke, the masses to react the way that either political parties want and need us to react.


                It’s very apparent that their “win at any cost or do whatever it takes to win” approach is working. When watching any major political event, as camera’s scan the audience to catch supporter reaction, it’s like watching starry eyed sheep being herded toward their slaughter.

                People: It’s embarrassing to watch. American politics’ has become nothing more than a “do whatever it takes to win” sporting event in America today. It seems that the truth does not matter anymore. What should be deeply concerning to all of us is an overall pervasive attitude that “winning at any cost” is the only thing that really matters.


                We experience intelligent yet uninformed people supporting their political party or candidate of choice. Most of these people trust their politician of choice (big mistake) to do their thinking for them in today’s society, telling them what is right and wrong, and good and bad. They are unaware, or simply don’t care, that they are getting nothing more than lip service from a political candidate who will say and do anything to get elected, which includes telling their supporters what we want to hear, never what we need to hear. The result of their trusting nature, naiveté, ignorance, being gullible, and lack of vigilance toward public affair, and their growing compliancy and apathy, has been devastating to America.

It seems that when it comes to politics’ so many American’s also have a defective gene deep inside of them that activates. We can call this gene, “the dumbass” gene. Obviously this defective gene prohibits people from thinking for themselves, using common sense, and getting informed. It destroys their ability to see the truth, while enhances their capacity to digest, accept, and absorb political B.S.

I call it “Pied Piper Politics,” which are people who have no clue what is going on in politics’, public affairs, or America.


So many uninformed and unproductive citizens don’t care about the destruction of America or the middle class, our faltering economy, growing poverty, the national debt, or our educational system that is not preparing our children, who are our future leaders, for the real world. All that concerns people with this type of mind set and attitude is voting for and supporting a political party or elected official who is promising to make sure that the freebees and handouts keep rolling in.

 What the hell happened to doing a little research and trying to get informed so one can make an informed decision? Then, for the right reasons, one can vote for the person who they feel is best quantified for the job no matter which political party the candidate they vote for is affiliated with.

                Have we not heard the phrase, “divide and conquer?” That’s exactly what our government and so many of our leaders are doing to all of us. They are keeping us divided and distracted as they tell us what we want to hear, not what we need to hear.


                The masses in America, which is the majority of our population, are falling for their self-serving propaganda hook, line, and sinker. We are allowing them to conquer us and eventually they will control us. We are allowing them to slowly and systematically strip all of us, including our children, of our freedom, our liberties, the American dream, and our way of life.

                Our country is being destroyed from within as predicted by past world leaders. Our government and so many of our leaders, not all of them, have stopped doing what is in the best interest of “we the people” and our once great nation a long time ago. Money, power, and greed, are in control, and fueling our demise.

Here’s the hard truth, which I know that so many of us do not want to hear, the United States is bankrupt and spiraling downward toward certain collapse and destruction.  

It seems that you who only hear what you want to hear, and see only what you want to see, desperately want to be a part of something big, so much so that you’re willing to sacrifice our freedom, our liberties, the truth, and our children’s future, to make it happen.  


Allow me to enlighten you. You’re on the wrong side. You are supporting a minority of politicians that care nothing about you, me, or the USA. They are using you to promote their careers and to increase and satisfy their insatiable desire for power, control, and wealth.  

No matter if you’re upper middle class, middle class, or the working class, we are the majority in America, the movers and shakers. We are the ones who get it done day in and day out, while Washington, and our so-called-leaders, play political volleyball with our lives.


Are you really willing to risk everything on a bunch of politicians on both sides of the aisle who have proven time and time again by their actions, and lack of actions, that they don’t care about us, or what is in the best interest of America? 


You need to channel your passion, and that fire that burns inside of you, and take that small step over to the winning side, the side that matters and the side that wants to get our once great country back on the right path, which is the majority of the citizens in America…the American middle class masses.

The truth: The problems that America is experiencing today is the fault of all of us. It has taken us a long time to get into this mess that we are in. It is going to take us a long time to get out of this mess. There is no easy fix. The one thing that I do know, it is going to take all of us working together to fix it, not just a select group, but all of us.

There is enough blame to go around for everyone. The blame game is over.


It is time for every citizen who loves the United States of America, every color of every race, every one of any and all political affiliations, and all religions, to wake up, unite, and take action. We must start working together. We are the majority, and the only ones who have the power to change the course of our history and get our once great country back on the right path.


Our future, and our place in history, is up to us.

United we can stand side by side, and take back what our government, our corrupt and self-serving leaders, and many in corporate America, are stealing from all of us.

Divided we will surly fall.

 

Tuesday, September 2, 2014


Middle Class Crucial to America’s on-going Success
               
                In order to make an informed decision concerning if the middle class is, or is not, crucial to the on-going and overall success of America; first we must have a basic understanding of all the social classes in America. Webster’s Dictionary provides most of the following definitions.
                Poverty: lack of money or material possessions, poor.
                Poverty Line: a level of personal or family income below which one is classified as poor according to government standards.
                Lower Class: a social class occupying a position below the middle class and having the lowest status in a society.
Middle Class: a social class holding a position between the upper class and the lower class.
Upper Class: a social class occupying a position above the middle class and having the highest status in society.
Wealth: Prosperity, abundance of possessions or resources, affluence, riches, abundant supply, fortune, property, substance, worth.
Elite: The choice part, a superior group.
So, just how important is the middle class to the on-going and continuous success of America? We can’t be too important because the middle class is slowly disappearing in today’s society. If you take into consideration how we are treated by our government, our leaders, and corporate America, one would think that the middle class has become nothing more than an annoying dull throbbing pain in the sides of the wealthy, the elite, and the top 1 percent. This top few are forced to tolerate this almost unbearable inconvenience of having to deal with we who are considered middle class. They are forced to accept the realization that they do need us to do the work, and spend our trillions of dollars, as consumers, on their product and services, which in turn, grows their wealth. But since the middle class is rapidly disappearing, and no one seems to care, then our importance in the on-going success of America must be greatly exaggerated.
The following question must be asked, “If the middle class is in any way important to the on-going success of America, then why would we be allowed to disappear?” Common sense should tell us, no matter what political party we may support, a prosperous, healthy, and growing middle class would equate to a prosperous, healthy, and growing economy. This would be a winning situation for everyone.
I must be wrong because no one in our government or corporate America seems to be concerned, and is doing nothing to stop the slow, but inevitable disappearance of the middle class. We get a lot of lip service out of Washington about saving the middle class, but that’s it, no action. One could easily perceive that the demise of the middle class is a long drawn out calculated plan formulated and implemented by some unknown group, committee, or organization. The goal of their plan could be to control the masses and destroy the America that we all know and love. The reasons behind such despicable, selfish, and self-serving actions, could be very basic and simple, an addiction to greed, and the love of power.
Is the middle class important to our government?
The answer to this question seems to be, “yes,” according to the following information.
The following tax revenue information (Historical Federal Receipts) was found on taxpolicycenter.com and compiled by the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.  2008: $2.5 trillion. 2009: $2.1 trillion. 2010: $2.1 trillion. 2011: $2.3 trillion. 2012: $2.4 trillion. 2013 estimated: $2.7 trillion. 2014 estimated: $3 trillion.
The Urban Institute is a non-partisan Washington D.C. based American think tank that carries out economic and social policy research, collects data, evaluates social programs, educates the public on key domestic issues, and provides advice and technical assistance to developing governments abroad. The Brookings Institution is also an American think tank in Washington D.C. One of Washington’s oldest thinks tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development. The Bookings Institution is ranked the most influential think tank in the world.
Other sources provide the following tax revenue information as a second opinion for accuracy.  Useconomy.about.com went to the White House Office of Management and budget, “table 1.1, summary of receipts and outlays” for the following tax revenue numbers: 2008: $2.5 trillion. 2009: $2.1 trillion. LAtimes.com reported 2010 tax revenue was $2.3 trillion, and 2011 was $2.4 trillion. Heritage.com reported that tax revenues for 2011 were $2.3 trillion. The IRS Data Book tax revenue information released for 2012 was $2.5 trillion. ESmonitor.com states that 2013 estimated tax revenues will be $2.7 trillion. Useconomy.about.com: The U.S. government total revenue for 2014 is estimated at $3.034 trillion.
Cnsnews.com, June 20, 2010, by Terence P. Jeffrey, had the following to say, “Middle Class American’s, not the rich, or the poor, pay the majority of annual tax revenues taken in by the federal government according to data released by a new Congressional Budget Office study.” The article says, “Middle class households that earned between $34,300 and $141,900 paid 50.5 percent of all federal tax revenue in 2007.  According to a CBO study released Thursday, households that earned $34, 300 and $352, 900, paid 66.7 percent of all federal taxes.
 
Usgovinfo.about.com. by Tom Murse, August 10, 2010, gives us a look at individual tax rates and shares by income in 2007, which is the most recent data available from the IRS. The top 25 percent of American’s who earned at least $66,532 paid 86.6 percent of the nation’s income tax. The top 50 percent of American’s who earned at least $32,879 paid 97.1 percent of the nation’s income tax.
 
Manhattan-institute.org. August 2012, the U.S. Tax System asked, “Who Really Pays?” This question is answered by Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer who in on the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.  “The top 25 percent, which is 68 percent of national income, pays 85 percent of federal taxes. The top 10 percent, which is 48 percent of national income, pays 71 percent of federal taxes.”
 
Ntu.org. National Taxpayer Union supplied the following information. Their source was the IRS. 2008: AGI threshold (Adjusted Gross Income) the top 25 percent with income of at least $67,280 paid 86.34 percent of income tax. The top 50 percent with income of at least $33,048 paid 97.30 percent of income tax. 2009: The top 25 percent with income of at least $66,193 paid 87.3 percent of income tax. The top 50 percent with income of at least $32,396 paid 97.75 percent of income tax.
 
Marc Davis reports on investopedia.com. August 31, 2011:  According to statistic provided by the IRS, which was updated in 2010: The top 10 percent, ranked by AGI of at least $113,799, paid 69.94 percent of federal income tax. The top 25 percent, ranked by AGI of at least $67,280 paid 86.34 percent of federal income tax. The top 50 percent, ranked by AGI of at least $33,048 paid 97.3 percent of federal income tax.
 
Robert Longley states in an article on Usgovinfo.about.com. “Taxpayers who rank in the top 50 percent of taxpayers by income pay virtually all individual income taxes. In all the years since 1990, taxpayers in this group have paid over 94 percent of all individual income taxes. In 2000, 2001, and 2002, this group paid 96 percent of the total.
 
Larry Doyle is a Wall Street veteran who shares his views and instincts on the market, the economy, and all things financial. He had an article September 2012, in senseoncents.com. His graph shows that the middle percentiles collectively pay approximately 65 percent to 67 percent of income taxes in 2008.
 The US Census Bureau’s population growth clock says that the population of the USA is 317 million. If we speculate that middle class numbers do not include corporate America, the top 10 percent, and the ones who do not pay taxes, the American middle class is approximately, and very conservatively, 75 percent of our population at 238 million tax paying citizens in the income range of $32,000 to approximately $200,000. It does not take an economical genius to understand that 75 percent of the above $11.4 trillion tax dollars that flowed into Washington in the last five years (2008 – 2012), $8.5 trillion is from the middle class. If the projected tax revenues for 2013 and 2014 are accurate ($5.7 trillion combined), this will be another $4.27 trillion in tax dollars from we who are considered middle class. If the middle class is allowed to disappear, so goes the bulk of the tax dollars that is flowing into Washington annually.
 
 Christopher S. Rugaber of the Associated Press had an article in the Courier-Journal, January 22, 2014. The title of this article is, “Spending likely to drive growth.” In the first paragraph the article states, “Washington—Hopes are rising that consumers will drive stronger growth in 2014 after they stepped up spending at the end of last year in the United States and Europe.” Our government is depending on the middle class consumers to continue to spend our trillions of dollars on goods and services in 2014. Why? Because the middle class in America is the economy. 
I think it’s safe to say that our government needs and depends on the tax revenues generated from the middle class.
Is the middle class important to corporate America?
 
The answer to this question also seems to be, “yes,” according to the following information.
 
Our first step is to look at how much money corporate America spends annually on advertising to get deeper into the pockets of the American middle class masses. Nytimes.com says television advertising is estimated to be $70 billion a year. Online advertising spending topped $100 billion in 2012 according to forbes.com. Extention.org said approximately $10 billion is spent annually on advertising all types of food and beverages to America’s children and youth. The following was found on fiercepharma.com, which details pharmaceutical companies advertising spending in 2012. Eli-Lilly: $433.4 million. Abbott Laboratories: $301.7 million. Merck: $285.5 million. Amgen: $229.3 million. AstraZeneca: $209.4 million.
 
The following is advertising budgets in 2011 for several major corporations provided by Patricia Laya of businessinsider.com. “She says that big corporations know the importance of marketing and they are willing to pay for it.” General Motors: $4.2 billion. Ford: $3.9 billion. Verizon: $2.5 billion. Hewlett Packard: $1 billion. Citigroup: $1.6 billion. Bank of America: $1.9 billion. JP Morgan: $2.4 billion. Walmart: $2.5 billion. AT&T: $2.9 billion. Finance.yahoo.com had the following information. P&G 2011 advertising spending: $2.95 billion. L’Oreal 2011: $1.34 billion. Time Warner 2011: $1.28 billion.
 
 In the end, who pays for the billions of dollars spent on advertising? The cost of advertising is built into the cost of each product or service that corporate America is trying to sell us. Therefore; we American middle class consumers are picking up the tab for the billions of dollars that corporate America spends on advertising annually.
 
Corporate America knows exactly how important the middle class consumer is to their overall and continued success. They know that without our trillions of dollars that we middle class consumers spend on their products and service annually, they go out of business. This should lead all of us to a very simple and fact based conclusion, corporate America needs the middle class, and is willing to invest billions of dollars each year, to get their hands on our trillions of dollars that we middle class consumers spend annually.
 
Lucas Reilly of mentalfloss.com supplied the following information. In 2011, Americans spent $10.7 trillion shopping.  Bloomberg.com report on consumer spending in US by Lorraine Woellert, September 28, 2012  said, “the value of all goods and services bought last month rose 0.5 percent to $11.2 trillion at an annual pace, matching the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg and the biggest gain since February, according to the Commerce Department’s report.
 
We middle class consumers are inundated with an overload of advertising every waking moment of our lives. This continuous buffet of advertising that we consumers are force fed is nothing more than corporate America trying to get more of our money. They use newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards, signs, mailings, online, phone calls, well known professional athletes, celebrities, movie stars, rock stars, semi-retired politicians, animation, humor and drama. They do whatever it takes to make some sort of connection with the American consumer that will trigger us to spend more of our money on their stuff. We can’t even go to a movie today without being forced to sit through a barrage of advertising before we can enjoy the movie.
 
 Due to corporate greed, and escalating competition to get their hands on as much of our trillions of dollars that we consumers spend, it’s getting harder each year for us American consumers to enjoy any holiday. Corporate America looks at every holiday season as another way to manipulate all of us to spend more of our money on their products and services.
 
This is how important our trillions of dollars that we middle class consumers spend annually are to America’s on-going success. It’s worth saying again, without the financial support of the American middle class consumers; America’s economy takes a big dump.
 
Look at consumer debt today. An article by Martin Crutsinger on Huffingtonpost.com, December 7, 2012, says, “U.S. consumer debt hits all-time high: Borrowing rises to $2.7 trillion.” An USNEWS.com report by Meg Handley, March 2012 states, “American’s racked up $48 billion in new credit card debt in 2011.” Not only is our nation drowning in debt, $17 trillion and growing, but we U.S. consumers are also over our heads in debt. So many naïve, trusting, honest, goodhearted, hardworking, and very gullible middle class citizens, are unintentionally allowing themselves to be sucked into the trap (bondage) of debt. Corporate America uses slick, targeted, and well produced, advertising campaigns that are created for one purpose. Their goal is to manipulate, trigger, and entice, us consumers to buy, buy, and then buy some more of what we don’t need. If we can’t afford it, no problem, someone will make it happen. Corporate America will do whatever it takes to continue to prosper, survive, and grow their wealth, at our expense.  
 
Wage stagnation is not helping the average middle class American. CBS.com: “worker’s average hourly earnings in September, 2013 rose a meager 0.1 percent, according to this week’s government employment report.” The report also says, “The reality is that wages and compensation have been stagnant for decades, a consequence of rising income inequality, globalization, declining union membership, widening poverty, uneven K-12 education and a host of other often interrelated factors.”  A report in the Washington Post by Dylan Matthews, and the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), titled “A decade of flat wages,” tells how the middle class is falling. Another report by President Lawrence Mishel and economist Heidi Shierholz says, “Real hourly wages for the people at the middle of the wage distribution were no higher in 2012 than 2000.” A New York Times article by Steven Greenhouse, January 12, 2013 makes several valid points concerning the middle class in America. Mr. Greenhouse talks about income inequality and stagnant wages for millions of workers, “wages have simply flat lined.” Lawrence Katz, an economist at Harvard states, “For the great bulk of workers, labor’s shrinking share in even worse than the statistics show, when one considers that a sizable and growing chunk of overall wages goes to the top 1 percent, senior corporate executives, wall street professionals, Hollywood stars, pop singers, and professional athletes.” Center for Budget and Policy Priorities: “median income for working-age households, headed by someone under 65, slid 12.4 percent from 2000 to 2011, to $55,640. During that time the American economy grew more than 18 percent.”
 
“US income inequality straining economy” This is the title of an article by Christopher S. Rugaber with the Associated Press. This article was in the Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY.) December 22, 2013. Mr. Rugaber states, “Washington: The growing gap between the richest Americans and everyone else isn’t bad just for individuals. It’s hurting the U.S. economy. So says a majority of more than three dozen economists surveyed last week.”
 
The fact is that the American middle class masses are working harder but being forced to get by on less. We are asked to give more as corporate America gives us less. Corporate America is making record profits and hoarding trillions of dollars, as they toss us table scraps. Corporate America needs the middle class. They need our hard work, our attention to detail, our expertise, and our outstanding work ethic; they just don’t want to pay us for it anymore.
 
 If the middle class is crucial to the continuous and on-going success of the USA, our government, and corporate America, as the above information suggests, why are we disappearing? What is the problem? How do we fix it? The big question that all of us that are considered middle class (Democrat and Republican alike) need to ask is, “does our government, our leaders, or corporate America, even want to fix it?” I would say “no.” Why? It’s working for them. Their tunnel vision pursuit of power and their lust for money (greed) will not allow them to think long term. They are oblivious to the devastating consequences that will occur when the middle class transitions into the underclass or lower class. When this happens they lose our trillions of dollars of income taxes and sales taxes annually. Add to their loss our trillions of dollars that the middle class spends year after year on their goods and services. Like the predators that our government, our leaders, and corporate America have become, when the middle class has vanished, they will start feeding on and destroying each other.   
 
Our government and corporate America needs the middle class, there is no question about it. It is also a fact that the middle class needs government and corporate America. Common since should tell us all that if we are going to survive, develop, and advance into our future, and not follow the path of great and powerful civilizations before us that have fallen, failed, and disappeared; we must develop a symbiotic relationship. We need to put aside our petty differences, check our egos at the door, respect one another for what we bring to the table, agree to disagree, start working as a team, and share the wealth knowing that there is enough for everyone if we eliminate greed from the equation. We must get our house in order, and get our nation back on the right path. If we don’t, our differences won’t matter. We will then take our place in history as the late, great, United States of America. Future generation around the world will talk about a paradise lost and the fools that allowed it to happen.
 
The middle class of America is the economy. Fact: Without our financial support, our trillions of dollars in taxes that flow into Washington every year, and without our trillions of dollars that we spend as consumers annually, the economy of the United States of America come to a screeching halt. Why is this so hard for Washington and corporate America to understand? Could it be that they have become so self-absorbed, and are so addicted to power and greed that they simply cannot help themselves?

“Washington’s legalized Ponzi Schemes”
Al Capone would be proud.
 
                President Lyndon B. Johnson started the “War on Poverty” March 16, 1964. Freedom-choice-cost.blogspot.com, with excerpts from Robert Rector, says that since the beginning of the war on poverty, government has spent $16.7 trillion (in inflation-adjusted 2008 dollars) on means tested welfare which are programs that are targeted exclusively toward poor and low-income Americans. In comparison, all the military wars in U.S. history have cost a total of $6.4 trillion (also in inflated-adjusted 2008 dollars).
Thenewamerican.com, June 2012, by Michael Tennant:  A report from the Cato Institute on the American welfare state by Michael Tanner, who is Cato’s director of health and welfare studies. He is the author of “The Poverty of Welfare: Helping Others in Civil Society.”  Mr. Tanner says, “Despite $12 trillion in federal welfare spending and $3 trillion in state and local government welfare spending over the past 48 years, the poverty rate never fell below 10.5 percent and is at the highest level in nearly a decade, 15.1 percent and climbing.” Tanner goes on to say, “Clearly, we have been doing something wrong.”
Brookesnews.com states that in 2005, $1.058 trillion was spent on the war on poverty on low income families through a bewildering variety of programs, all in the name of fighting poverty and inequality. That’s about seven times the cost of the Iraq war.
“Obama to spend $10.3 trillion on Welfare: Uncovering the Full Cost of Means-Tested Welfare or Aid to the Poor.” This is an Executive Summary, and the title of an article found on heritage.org. The first paragraph of the article says, “Since the beginning of the War on Poverty, government has spent vast sums on welfare or aid to the poor; however, the aggregate cost of this assistance is largely unknown because the spending is fragmented into myriad programs.” According to President Obama’s budget projections, federal and state welfare spending will total $10.3 trillion over the next 10 years (FY 2009 to FY 2018).
It is very evident that we have lost the “War on Poverty.” Since poverty is at an all-time high after trillions of dollars has been spent in the past 40 plus years to reduce or eliminate poverty, one must ask the questions, “Was there ever a war on poverty? Has trillions of taxpayers money been diverted (fragmented) into a myriad of programs so this money could never be traced?  Could it be that we citizens of America have been deceived and our trillions of dollars has been spent on other projects that have nothing to do with reducing or eliminating poverty?” Charles Ponzi would be proud. 
The Social Security act was signed by FDR on August 8, 1935. Taxes were collected for the first time in January 1937. Monthly benefits started in January 1940. The ones who created Social Security put a back door in it that allows our government to borrow any excess funds from our Social Security Trust Fund, and place this money into the general fund.
Giving our leaders access to our Social Security Trust Fund, which was a big mistake, like asking the foxes to guard our hen house. Our leaders in Washington have drained our Social Security trust fund.
                Two articles in the Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY.) prove my point that our Social Security Trust Fund is empty. Monday, January 14, 2013, “If Congress Refuses, What Bills Get Paid?” In the first paragraph, Obama states, “older Americans might not get their Social Security checks unless there is a deal to raise the nations borrowing limit.” January 16, 2013, “Emotions, Not Details, mark US Budget Talk.” In paragraph 6, it says, “These cuts would hit military and domestic programs hard. But they would spare “entitlements,” the popular but costly programs that include Social Security and Medicare. Both parties say lawmakers soon must confront entitlements.” The top article talks about borrowing money to send out the Social Security benefits. Our Social Security Trust Fund should have approximately $2.6 trillion dollars in it. The only reason Washington would have to borrow money to send out our Social Security benefits is if our Social Security trust fund is empty. The second article calls our Social Security Trust Fund, “an entitlement.” 
Our leaders in Washington are now on a campaign of manipulation, lies, propaganda, and deceit, to convince us senior citizens of America that Social Security is an entitlement program. Once again, our government is taking full advantage of our trust and naiveté. They know due to past experience that telling the American middle class masses something often enough, and long enough, we will start believing it to be the truth. 
Ignorance is not bliss, knowledge is power. Listen up my fellow senior citizens, Social Security is not an entitlement. I’ll say this again; Social Security is not an entitlement, so stop listening to their lies, and start getting informed.
We all pay a tax that comes out of our checks every pay period. It is the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA), which was created to fund Social Security. Social Security is a pay as you go program which has no effect on our debt. It is Americans taking care of Americans. As I mentioned earlier, our trust fund should have approximately $2.6 trillion dollars in it. The only way Social Security would have an effect on our growing debt, and the only reason our senior citizens who depend on Social Security would be in jeopardy of not receiving their checks, is if our trust fund is empty. If this is the case, then the debt ceiling must be raised so our government can borrow money to send out Social Security benefits.
Fiscal irresponsibility in Washington has put us senior citizens in this position, we did nothing wrong. Our leaders in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, are now desperately trying to cover their derrieres in their efforts to convenience us seniors that Social Security is another entitlement. Why? Because they never had any intension of paying back our $2.6 trillion that they drained out of our Social Security Trust fund. If they are successful in their attempt to convince us seniors that Social Security is just another costly entitlement, and if we continue to roll over and play dead like we are doing, than their next step will be reducing our Social Security benefits. How could they even attempt to pay back our $2.6 trillion dollars that they stole from us…sorry…I meant to say, borrowed from us, when our nation is over $17 trillion dollars in debt? Al Capone would be proud.
Don’t forget, these are our leaders in Washington, on both sides of the aisle, that when writing laws against “Insider Trading,” they omitted themselves from these laws. In November 2011, there were allegations that Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner were involved in insider trading. Nancy Pelosi denied any wrong doing, and she was correct. Our lawmakers omitted themselves from the insider trading laws. This did shine an unwanted light on Washington’s dirty deeds and shady deals, which forced them to create the “Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act” (STOCK act) on April 4, 2012. What many don’t know is that on Monday November 15, 2013, during the Boston bombing, with little fanfare, and using a fast-track procedure known as unanimous consent, and with leaders from both sides of the aisle present, President Obama signed a bill reversing big chunks of the Stock Act (The Teeth). The process took only 30 minutes, and there were no debates.