to freedom loving peoples.... just went up. WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates will ask Congress Wednesday to approve nearly $190 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, increasing initial projections by more than a third. In remarks prepared for a Senate hearing, Gates says the extra money is necessary to buy vehicles that can protect troops against roadside bombs, refurbish equipment worn down by combat and consolidate U.S. bases in Iraq. A copy of the remarks was obtained by The Associated Press.
Why don't we save 400 billion and give it to Social Security. Isn't that about what Iraq might cost next year if not more?
Why not.....you'd get a handwritten thank you complete with video from Bin Laden and his faithful followers victorious in the next step in seek of a middle east caliphate to expand world wide in addition to a private audience with Ahmadinejad and his mullahs thanking you for your support.....and the centrifuges in Tehran will spin ever faster......... we can't just go home, sing kum ba yah and live happily ever after.....why do we forget we were home and they came here during the first two attacks that murdered thousands of our citizens.
Let me say that I vehemently disagree. Bush two days ago threatened Social Security cuts or more taxes for the cause and yet we languish in Iraq and they want even more wasted money. What a complete abomination this has been....a fiasco of mammoth and costly proportions. In the interim maybe 5% of the US population is not going to be in need of social services at retirement and the other 95% will have seen that much needed money misspent in places like Iraq. What a tragedy. I have to say that I am in THE most taxed situation of anybody in America. Nothing I do escapes the AMT and yet I don't make enough past that to get ahead and the state of Michigan has a 6% sales tax and a 4.6% state income tax. I have contributed big time dollars to Social Security for several years running and Medicare also and dammit....I want it when I need it!!
Of course you do, as it would be terribly inconvenient for your rants. However, logic dictates otherwise..... OK, OK.....maybe not a handwritten note, but a video for damn certain and the centrifuges in Tehran will in fact spin ever faster. I seem to recall the President leading an initiative to reform social security at the beginning of his second term. I also seem to recall the loyal opposition derailing the process and refusing to deal with the problem.....the notion that you can pin the ills of a poorly conceived social security and high taxes - esp state - on this President is ludicrous.
Mo, There is something you can do to escape the dreaded AMT. Make mo money !! :lol: Also get rid of all those tax bennies. For Christ sakes, how many deductions do you really need? :lol: You don't even come close to the worst taxed situation. NJ & NY got you beat by miles !!
That's the problem with the AMT at the minimum income levels at which I reside. You can't even take your normal deductions which is all I have....( mortgage...dependents...) The AMT resorts back to a minimum tax no matter what deductions you have. As you say...the only way in my case to earn more appreciable take home pay is to "outearn" the AMT. Hey....in this Michigan economy I am doing all that can just to keep my head above water. It's survival of the fittest around here.....
Doc, They have already addressed some of the issues on the AMT. The brackets will be expanded, which will benefit many, but they have also addressed a major flaw regarding the taxation of ISO's (Incentive Stock Options).
I hear you Mo! New Jersey is no picnic and taxpayers here easily get hit with the AMT, as earnings are high and deductions for state and local tax are high.
Between state, FICA, Soc Sec and the damned AMT I have to be about the most taxed person in America percentage wise. After all that I want my damned benefits later on life that I have worked so hard to max out paying into year after year..... :evil: Please God....when?
for me <t>I have spent my whole life hearing about the woes of having to pay for the baby boomer generation...no one had an answer when I was a little boy, no one does now.<br/> <br/> Social Security and most social welfare programs are not a good idea.<br/> <br/> The insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies and their ilk have got a whole line of suckers lined up... I have longed for the day when they will tell me that I won't have retirement benefits from the government. I figure that day is coming. Look at the numbers, they don't add up. People are living longer and the largest generation that this country has ever known is about to become dependent en masse on a system that they've been supporting.. Now who is going to pay for all this?<br/> <br/> The ponzi scheme is up<br/> <br/> Can we at least dump some more tax dollars back into the arts so we can get something productive out of this?? What the hell, let's just bring the whole New Deal back</t>
The wild card in this equation are the illegal aliens who are siphoning off gov't funds and even want social security benefits. That will hasten the demise of this system and many of us boomers will be stuck with nothing I'm afraid. AJ, give us your two cents on this.
Here's a novel idea.......lets run this "cake walk"(Fromms words not mine) and the entitlement programs on a "pay as you go" basis, surely all you patriots won't object to paying for spreading the wonders of democracy around the world. .....I sometimes think Robert Welch was right......sigh....
I hear ya George <t>I have grown up believing that it won't be there for me. I keep waiting for it to be blown up. I see 'the good' in it, but we've also seen the evils of entitlement.<br/> <br/> How can so many lecture us about how we don't learn from our own foreign policy, when we can't even learn from the failures of our domestic policies?<br/> <br/> And Mr whobedis......<br/> <br/> If I can escape town for a roadie in the next few months (and given Irish struggles, I might be able to do that on the cheap)... Im buyin (the first 2 rounds at least)</t>
Only 2 cents George? This sounds like trouble and not as much fun as busting Gonzo. Allright I’ll bite, but only 2 cents OK? Social security collects 7 billion a year and Medicare 1.5 billion a year from people who will never collect social security nor make any demands on Medicare. Illegals can not collect social security, medicare and welfare. That’s Federal law and it’s been like that for quite some time. So my answer is, no they are not a threat or a drain to our social security system. They say that social security will still be solvent by the year 2042 or 2052 depending on which reports you read. George, do you plan on being around then? I’m going to try my best because am I anxious to see if this comes true. If we hang in there extra year we could celebrate our 50th anniversary as Prodigy/Skybox members. Do you think Paterno will still be coaching? With his DNA and a little help from stem cells I wouldn’t be surprised. On a serious note , here’s what I see happening in the years to come: 1. Sky’s the limit…. FICA Tax threshold will have no ceiling. 2. Payroll Tax will increase from the 6.2% FICA and 1.45% Medicare level 3. Employer matching provision will increase from 100 % to 110% 125% etc 4. Normal Retirement age will continue to go up . Are you in the 66 4 mos category? 5. Means test will be applied on a yearly basis and high income applicants will see declining or no benefits. That’s just a few that are obvious to me. Pay as you go will never work here as social security is not actuarily solvent enough to pay at the present levels. We got off to a later start with SS (1935) than much of Europe but it's interesting that while they have the same demographic problems, they seem to do a better job than we do. Why am I surprised? We can't even run a post office in the black. I'm taking bets that we privatize the PO within 10 years, everything else seems to be up for sale. Can we go back to picking on Gonz? :lol:
Here's a good read on the history of social security. http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/briefhistory3.html http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history/pre1935.html I'm with you 110% when it comes to welfare and able bodied people. When it comes to senior citizens , I have a real soft spot for them, especially the older ones from the WWII generation who have nothing but social security and a meager pension.