In San Jose Inside’s weekly open forum, observations and opinions on any topic are welcome. What’s on your mind?
43 Comments
As we have said before, thousands of dollars from San Francisco business leaders will be used to defeat the Santa Clara stadium. Bill Bailey of Santa Clara Plays Fair has not been caught making false claims on ballot arguments,a state offense,but the origin of Bailey’s electoral perjury is from a tactic used in 1999 by SF political pros opposing Candlestick’s rennovations. These groups have worked with Bailey before on opposing Golden Gate rennovations. Bill is a shill for SF moneychangers and in falsely claiming nonexistent expenses of SC project,Bailey may well plead the Fifth like the political goodfella he really is after you peel off his Goober mask.
I don’t understand why moderators need to post the comments. The word verification below the comment form should keep most bots out. I suggest enabling immediate posting and moderators can remove inappropriate comments after the fact.
Works reasonable well on Working the Corners, which sometimes gets rather lively, but rarely gets out of control.
It’s an interesting idea Pat. For us the problem isn’t bots so much as malicious posters. Nevertheless, we may consider some form of reader-moderation in the near future. I’ll check out Working the Corners.
I agree with Pat on this one. In the old days we got pretty wild with our discussions on the old BBS’ discussion groups, and the sysop would remove a clearly wacko post from time to time, but it was all relatively civil and self-policing.
Another suggestion – don’t trust what comes out of the mouth of some anonymous poster. People that are afraid to put their name on their words are usually up to no good.
Although I do get that an insider might fear for reprisals at work and wouldn’t give honest feedback if they knew someone could track them down.
Blair,
You stated. “don’t trust what comes out of the mouth of some anonymous poster. People that are afraid to put their name on their words are usually up to no good”. Where did you get this information? I think it is a bad idea to encourage the use of a real name on a blog because any real name can be provided, yet for the most part we still have no idea if this is actually the same person posting to the blog. Call in radio station prohibit the callers from using their full names for just this reason. I think that unless there is some way to prove the person writing the blog is actually the same person as the name they provides the only thing that should be allowed is a first name or a handle.
Per a study by a consultant hired by the City of Santa Clara the city General Fund has 67 million less with the stadium being built than without. One of the Santa Clara city council members pointed this out in an interview:
Last Saturday, readers were given a glance at the scandalous 19th Century history of annuities as used by Washington, DC, to seize American Indian lands, as well as some information about the discourse among and between politicians and know-it-all academics. Here’s more.
Kind-Hearted Professor Frolik
Professor Lawrence Frolik, Pittsburgh State University, posted these remarks on 12/04/09: “Little attention has been paid to an alarming development…the likely inability of retirees during the long years of their retirement to successfully manage their retirement funds accumulated in 401(k) and similar tax-deferred accounts….The funding system for retirement assumes retirees will be able to successfully manage their IRAs for the 20 to 30 years of retirement. We know, however, that most will not. Some will lack the basic intelligence or knowledge of finance to take on the risk, oversight and planning…They may lose the ability due to physical decline or because of the loss of mental capacity…The solution is to create federally guaranteed life-time annuities that retirees can purchase with the funds accumulated in their 401(k) retirement accounts.”
That’s clear enough. You’re not smart enough to plan your retirement with your financial property, so our friendly federal government should create a new lifetime, guaranteed Social Security-like annuity program, and use your long-term savings now to pay for new federal programs.
News Reader Wang
Penelope Wang, CNN Money, endorses purchase of annuities immediately on ending one’s 401(k) plan, and says that “there is even evidence that retirees may be happier when they receive regular pension-like payments.” In fact, only 2% of 401(k) plan participants convert retirement savings into an annuity on retirement.
Federal Departments Collect Comments
It is reliably estimated that more than $4.7 trillion is held in tax-deferred accounts, and this makes Washington, DC, salivate. Both the US Treasury and Labor Departments asked for public comment earlier in 2010 on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or “other steady payment streams.”
Tax-Deferred Savings To Buy US Bonds
Bill Denning, Independent Investor’s Daily Guide, on 01/18/10 commented that encouraging the conversion of 401(k) and similar tax-deferred funds to federally-guaranteed lifetime annuities or annuity-like payouts leads to the “big bounty—the retirement savings of millions of Americans. This solves the problem of having to sell the US debt to foreign investors. And it solves the problem of having to make tough budget deficits. Just issue more debt and make the super funds buy it with your money.”
Denning seems to accept the notion that the US government will allow big investment banks to manage the funds, but there is no clear reason why that middle step should take place. After all, your Social Security contributions are paid directly into a lock box in the Department of Treasury, aren’t they? Why would these trillions of newly liquid funds be used to enrich the very companies that brought us credit collapse and vast unemployment?
It’s Voluntary, Isn’t It?
Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, New School for Social Research, has taken the idea as far as endorsing a grant to all workers of “a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the US government” in return for requiring workers “to invest 5% of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration.” So the deep-thinkers are already considering formulas for “requiring” participation in this new Social Security-like annuity program.
And so are our Congress Members. Hearings held last fall by House Education & Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (California) and Congress Member Jim McDermott (Washington, Ways and Means Committee) focused on “redirecting IRA and 401(k) tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute.”
Yes, the deep-thinkers and our federal legislators are keen to explore the possibility of forcing us to put our tax-deferred retirement funds into a new lock box—to help us out.
How’s That Working For Argentina?
Don’t think it can’t happen here. Argentina provided a precedent in 2008, taking over that country’s private retirement accounts for forced investment in government bonds to cover spiraling deficits. A massive flight of capital took place, and bond ratings cratered. What a good idea.
If you take Chile as an example, when publicly held retirement accounts similar to Social Security were privatized, the bankers managed to suck up more than half of the money.
Most likely measures will placate current voters by passing true costs onto future ones. By this I mean that the surplus that was “borrowed” from social security will be repaid with more deficit spending and existing benefits will continue to grow, but newly enrolled wage earners will see benefits begin to decline all during their productive years until its their turn and then will receive a drastically reduced retirement and be forced to sell-off assets (house, etc) to finance the managed care for the twilight years. Luckily the new health system will help contain costs until the nursing home staff forgets to administer medication or something and the end of life issues resolve themselves.
Community input meetings are the “bread and circuses” of modern politics. They are held to attempt to convince people that they actually have a say in what’s happening.
Judge Cordell is an extremely bright person and a quick thinker. But she often came to a conclusion before hearing out both sides. In my few experiences with seeing her on the bench (she never ruled against me), she was frequently curt and abrasive, interrupting counsel frequently to state her position. She seemed to have her mind made up in advanced of oral argument by counsel, and was impatient with anyone who wanted to discuss alternatives to what she had already decided. Many smart people are like that.
Personally, I think she would be a bad fit for the job of IPA…unless she has mellowed and has become willing to listen with an open mind.
Now that the smoke has cleared a bit from the obscene orgy of looting in “our nation’s capital”, it’s time to ask what did our local statesmen and stateswomen lift from other American citzens for the benefit of their local constituencies?
Did we get a Louisiana Purchase?
Did we get a Cornhusker Kick-back?
Will Congressman Lofgren’s office be delivering a new big screen TV to my front doorstep?
Barack Hussein promised no more earmarks. Well, another broken promise.
You SHOULD remember this on April 15 when you pay your taxes & ON NOVEMBER 2, 2010 WHEN YOU VOTE.
The 102 worst ways the government is spending your tax dollars:
102: Protecting a Michigan insect collection from other insects ($187,632)
101: Highway beautified by fish art in Washington ($10,000)
100: University studying hookup behavior of female college coeds in New York ($219,000)
99: Police department getting 92 blackberries for supervisors in Rhode Island ($95,000)
98: Upgrades to seldom-used river cruise boat in Oklahoma ($1.8 million)
97: Precast concrete toilet buildings for Mark Twain National Forest in Montana ($462,000)
96: University studying whether mice become disoriented when they consume alcohol in Florida ($8,408)
95: Foreign bus wheel polishers for California ($259,000)
94: Recovering crab pots lost at sea in Oregon ($700,000)
93: Developing a program to develop “machine-generated humor” in Illinois ($712,883)
92: Colorado museum where stimulus was signed (and already has $90 million in the bank) gets geothermal stimulus grant ($2.6 million)
91: Grant to the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance to support the traditional arts apprenticeship program, gathering and festival ($30,000)
90: Studying methamphetamines and the female rat sex drive in Maryland ($30,000)
89: Studying mating decisions of cactus bugs in Florida ($325,394)
88: Studying why deleting a gene can create sex reversal in people, but not in mice in Minnesota ($190,000)
87: College hires director for a project on genetic control of sensory hair cell membrane channels in zebrafish in California ($327,337)
86: New jumbo recycling bins with microchips embedded inside to track participation in Ohio ($500,000)
85: Oregon Federal Building’s “green” renovation at nearly the price of a brand new building ($133 million)
84: Massachusetts middle school getting money to build a solar array on its roof ($150,000)
83: Road widening that could have been millions of dollars cheaper if Louisiana hadn’t opted to replace a bridge that may not have needed replacing ($60 million)
82: Cleanup effort of a Washington nuclear waste site that already got $12 billion from the DOE ($1.9 billion)
81: Six woodlands water taxis getting a new home in Texas ($750,000)
80: Maryland group gets money to develop “real life” stories that underscore job and infrastructure-related research findings ($363,760)
79: Studying social networks like Facebook in North Carolina ($498,000)
78:18 North Carolina teacher coaches to heighten math and reading performance ($4.4 million)
77: Retrofitting light switches with motion sensors for one company in Arizona ($800,000)
76: Removing graffiti along 100 miles of flood-control ditches in California ($837,000)
75: Bicycle lanes, shared lane signs and bike racks in Pennsylvania ($105,000)
74: Privately-owned steakhouse rehabilitating its restaurant space in Missouri ($75,000)
73: National dinner cruise boat company in Illinois outfitting vessels with surveillance systems to protect against terrorists ($1 million)
72: Producing and transporting peanuts and peanut butter in North Carolina ($900,000)
71: Refurnishing and delivering picnic tables in Iowa ($30,000)
70: Digital television converter box coupon program in D.C. ($650 million)
69: Elevating and relocating 3,000 feet of track for the Napa Valley Wine Train in California ($54 million)
68: Hosting events for Earth Day, the summer solstice etc. in Minnesota ($50,000)
67: Expanding ocean aquaculture in Hawaii ($99,960)
66: Raising railroad tracks 18 inches in Oregon because the residents of one small town were tired of taking a detour around them ($4.2 million)
Had to cut due to character limitations. see below
67: Expanding ocean aquaculture in Hawaii ($99,960)
66: Raising railroad tracks 18 inches in Oregon because the residents of one small town were tired of taking a detour around them ($4.2 million)
65: Professors and employees of Iowa state universities voluntarily taking early retirement ($43 million)
64: Minnesota theatre named after Che Guevara putting on “socially conscious” puppet shows ($25,000)
63: Replacing a basketball court lighting system with a more energy efficient one in Arizona ($20,000)
62: Repainting and adding a security camera to one bridge in Oregon ($3.5 million)
61: Missouri bridge project that already was full-funded with state money ($8 million)
60: New hospital parking garage in New York that will employ less people ($19.5 million)
59: University in North Carolina studying why adults with ADHD smoke more ($400,000)
58: Low-income housing residents in one Minnesota city receiving free laptops, WiFi and iPod Touches to “educate” them in technology ($5 million)
57: University in California sending students to Africa to study why Africans vote they the way they do in their elections ($200,000)
56: Researching the impact of air pollution combined with a high-fat diet on obesity development in Ohio ($225,000)
55: Studying how male and female birds care for their offspring and how it compares to how humans care for their children in Oklahoma ($90,000)
54: University in Pennsylvania researching fossils in Argentina (over $1 million)
53: University in Tennessee studying how black holes form (over $1 million)
52: University in Oklahoma sending 3 researchers to Alaska to study grandparents and how they pass on knowledge to younger generations ($1.5 million)
51: Grant application from a Pennsylvania university for a researcher named in the Climate-gate scandal (Rep. Darrell Issa is calling on the president to freeze the grant) ($500,000)
50: Studying the impact of global warming on wildflowers in a Colorado ghost town ($500,000)
49: Bridge built over railroad crossing so 168 Nebraska town residents don’t have to wait for the trains to pass ($7 million)
48: Renovating an old hotel into a visitors center in Kentucky ($300,000)
47: Removing overgrown weeds in a Rhode Island park ($250,000)
46: Renovating 5 seldom-used ports of entry on the U.S.-Canada border in Montana ($77 million)
45: Testing how to control private home appliances in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts from an off-site computer ($800,000)
44: Repainting a rarely-used bridge in North Carolina ($3.1 million)
43: Renovating a desolate Wisconsin bridge that averages 10 cars a day ($426,000)
42: 4 new buses for New Hampshire ($2 million)
41: Repaving a 1-mile stretch of Atlanta road that had parts of it already repaved in 2007 ($490,000)
40: Florida beauty school tuition ($2.3 million)
39: Extending a bike path to the Minnesota Twins stadium ($500,000)
38: Beautification of Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard ($1.1 million)
37: Colorado Dragon Boat Festival ($10,000)
36: Developing the next generation of supersonic corporate jets in Maryland that could cost $80 million dollars each ($4.7 million)
35: New spring training facilities for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies ($30 million)
34: Demolishing 35 old laboratories in New Mexico ($212 million)
33: Putting free WiFi, Internet kiosks and interactive history lessons in 2 Texas rest stops ($13.8 million)
32: Replacing a single boat motor on a government boat in D.C. ($10,500)
31: Developing the next generation of football gloves in Pennsylvania ($150,000)
30: Pedestrian bridge to nowhere in West Virginia ($80,000)
29: Replacing all signage on 5 miles of road in Rhode Island ($4,403,205)
28: Installing a geothermal energy system to heat the “incredible shrinking mall” in Tennessee ($5 million)
27: University in Minnesota studying how to get the homeless to stop smoking ($230,000)
26: Large woody habitat rehabilitation project in Wisconsin ($16,800)
25: Replacing escalators in the parking garage of one D.C. metro station ($4.3 million)
24: Building an airstrip in a community most Alaskans have never even heard of ($14,707,949)
23: Bike and pedestrian paths connecting Camden, N.J. to Philadelphia, Penn. when there’s already a bridge that connects them ($23 million)
22: Sending 10 university undergrads each year from North Carolina to Costa Rica to study the rainforests ($564,000)
21: Road signs touting stimulus funds at work in Ohio ($1 million)
20: Researching how paying attention improves performance of difficult tasks in Connecticut ($850,000)
19: Kentucky Transportation Department awarding contracts to companies associated with a road contractor accused of bribing the previous state transportation secretary ($24 million)
18: Amtrak losing $32 per passenger nationally but rewarded with windfall ($1.3 billion)
17: Widening an Arizona interstate even though the company that won the contract has a history of tax fraud and pollution ($21.8 million)
16: Replace existing dumbwaiters in New York ($351,807)
15: Deer underpass in Wyoming ($1,239,693)
14: Arizona universities examining the division of labor in ant colonies (combined $950,000)
13: Fire station without firefighters in Nevada ($2 million)
12: “Clown” theatrical production in Pennsylvania ($25,000)
11: Maryland town gets money but doesn’t know what to do with it ($25,000)
10: Investing in nation-wide wind power (but majority of money has gone to foreign companies) ($2 billion)
9: Resurfacing a tennis court in Montana ($50,000)
8: University in Indiana studying why young men do not like to wear condoms ($221,355)
7: Funds for Massachusetts roadway construction to companies that have defrauded taxpayers, polluted the environment and have paid tens of thousands of dollars in fines for violating workplace safety laws (millions)
6: Sending 11 students and 4 teachers from an Arkansas university to the U.N. climate change convention in Copenhagen, using almost 54,000 lbs of carbon dioxide from air travel alone ($50,000)
5: Storytelling festival in Utah ($15,000)
4: Door mats to the Department of the Army in Texas ($14,675)
3: University in New York researching young adults who drink malt liquor and smoke pot ($389,357)
2: Solar panels for climbing gym in Colorado ($157,800)
1: Grant for one Massachusetts university for “robobees” (miniature flying robot bees) ($2 million)
However, the biggest taxpayer bail outs were paid to insurance and financial institutions, with much of that money being used to pay bonuses to executives.
> 64: Minnesota theatre named after Che Guevara putting on “socially conscious” puppet shows ($25,000)
This might be worth it if the socially conscious puppet show shows puppet CIA agents blasting Che to smithereens with puppet assault rifles and splattering his puppet guts all over the puppet landscape.
Some of you know this but not enough of you. Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to us for over 60 years with Social Security. There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.
Do you need a side-by-side comparison here? Well here’s a nifty little chart.
BERNIE MADOFF
Social security
Takes money from investors with the promise that the money will be invested and made available to them later
Takes money from wage earners with the promise that the money will be invested in a “Trust Fund” and made available later.
Instead of investing the money Madoff spends it on nice homes in the Hamptons and yachts.
Instead of depositing money in a Trust Fund the politicians use it for general spending and vote buying.
When the time comes to pay the investors back Madoff simply uses some of the new funds from newer investors to pay back the older investors.
When benefits for older investors become due the politicians pay them with money taken from younger and newer wage earners to pay the geezers.
When Madoff’s scheme is discovered all hell breaks loose. New investors won’t give him any more cash.
When Social Security runs out of money they simply force the taxpayers to send them some more.
Bernie Madoff is in jail.
Politicians remain in Washington.
So, all those people who would be eating dog food without there small Social Security checks are participating in a ponzi scheme? Gee, I guess you had better tell them they don’t need that money for things like food and medicine.
What do you suggest? Get rid of Social Security? Then what?
Is there no one in your world that you think needs help?
Maybe (hopefully) I just don’t understand the point you are trying to make. I hope it is not the point I think it is.
> Gee, I guess you had better tell them they don’t need that money for things like food and medicine.
So, you ARE going to tell needy people that they need money for things and medicine?
And you expect that this is going to get YOU into heaven?
I think that needy people already KNOW that, and they don’t need YOU to tell them that. And moreover, you don’t deserve any credit for telling them that.
What needy people need is for charlatans and con men like you and Franklin D. Roosevelt and The Obamagogue to STOP LYING to them.
Social Security was an unsustainable and FEAR BASED solution from day one, and it was an act of criminal negligence to induce unsophisticated people to become dependent on it.
Ask some of your environmentalist wacko friends what they know about “sustainable solutions”. They are always preaching that “sustainable solutions” are what we need. How come they tolarate an anti-nature, interventionist, big-government imposing an unsustainable solution on human communities?
The deepest, hottest pit of hell should be reserved for the con men who seduce unsuspecting people into dependency on a cratering ponzi scheme like Social Security. And ditto for Medicare and Obamacare.
Interesting coincidence. President Obama delivered himself of the bizarre idea of “typical white persons” just two years ago, last Saturday, 3/20/10.
Were either of the Presidents Bush to have delivered such a line about any of the other demographics, the San Jose Mercury News would still be talking about it.
Tanning’s not the only thing on which Obama wants special taxes that is particularly demographic-specific. Hunker down.
“People of modest incomes in rural South Dakota or Mississippi are typically far more generous than those in affluent areas like San Francisco or Manhattan. What Brooks, who identifies himself as one who was raised in a politically liberal family, found to be most striking was that “liberals, who often claim to care more about others than conservatives do, are personally less charitable.” Brooks was surprised to discover that religious conservatives are the most generous of all.”
This is especially timely…
“Those who favor governmental redistributive programs give less to charity and have, moreover, effectively used public discourse to equate their view with compassion.”
“Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform “a miracle” and a major victory for Obama’s presidency…
As we have said before, thousands of dollars from San Francisco business leaders will be used to defeat the Santa Clara stadium. Bill Bailey of Santa Clara Plays Fair has not been caught making false claims on ballot arguments,a state offense,but the origin of Bailey’s electoral perjury is from a tactic used in 1999 by SF political pros opposing Candlestick’s rennovations. These groups have worked with Bailey before on opposing Golden Gate rennovations. Bill is a shill for SF moneychangers and in falsely claiming nonexistent expenses of SC project,Bailey may well plead the Fifth like the political goodfella he really is after you peel off his Goober mask.
“Bailey has Not been caught….”
Bailey has been caught making false ballot arguments.
67m will Not be Lost
city website debunks this and an indepedent group of citizens has told us they have filed papers with this info.
I don’t understand why moderators need to post the comments. The word verification below the comment form should keep most bots out. I suggest enabling immediate posting and moderators can remove inappropriate comments after the fact.
Works reasonable well on Working the Corners, which sometimes gets rather lively, but rarely gets out of control.
How about it, Mods?
It’s an interesting idea Pat. For us the problem isn’t bots so much as malicious posters. Nevertheless, we may consider some form of reader-moderation in the near future. I’ll check out Working the Corners.
I agree with Pat on this one. In the old days we got pretty wild with our discussions on the old BBS’ discussion groups, and the sysop would remove a clearly wacko post from time to time, but it was all relatively civil and self-policing.
Another suggestion – don’t trust what comes out of the mouth of some anonymous poster. People that are afraid to put their name on their words are usually up to no good.
Although I do get that an insider might fear for reprisals at work and wouldn’t give honest feedback if they knew someone could track them down.
Blair,
You stated. “don’t trust what comes out of the mouth of some anonymous poster. People that are afraid to put their name on their words are usually up to no good”. Where did you get this information? I think it is a bad idea to encourage the use of a real name on a blog because any real name can be provided, yet for the most part we still have no idea if this is actually the same person posting to the blog. Call in radio station prohibit the callers from using their full names for just this reason. I think that unless there is some way to prove the person writing the blog is actually the same person as the name they provides the only thing that should be allowed is a first name or a handle.
Per a study by a consultant hired by the City of Santa Clara the city General Fund has 67 million less with the stadium being built than without. One of the Santa Clara city council members pointed this out in an interview:
http://publicceo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=305:councilman-says-santa-clara-stands-to-lose-in-49ers-deal&catid=151:local-governments-publicceo-exclusive&Itemid=20
Last Saturday, readers were given a glance at the scandalous 19th Century history of annuities as used by Washington, DC, to seize American Indian lands, as well as some information about the discourse among and between politicians and know-it-all academics. Here’s more.
Kind-Hearted Professor Frolik
Professor Lawrence Frolik, Pittsburgh State University, posted these remarks on 12/04/09: “Little attention has been paid to an alarming development…the likely inability of retirees during the long years of their retirement to successfully manage their retirement funds accumulated in 401(k) and similar tax-deferred accounts….The funding system for retirement assumes retirees will be able to successfully manage their IRAs for the 20 to 30 years of retirement. We know, however, that most will not. Some will lack the basic intelligence or knowledge of finance to take on the risk, oversight and planning…They may lose the ability due to physical decline or because of the loss of mental capacity…The solution is to create federally guaranteed life-time annuities that retirees can purchase with the funds accumulated in their 401(k) retirement accounts.”
That’s clear enough. You’re not smart enough to plan your retirement with your financial property, so our friendly federal government should create a new lifetime, guaranteed Social Security-like annuity program, and use your long-term savings now to pay for new federal programs.
News Reader Wang
Penelope Wang, CNN Money, endorses purchase of annuities immediately on ending one’s 401(k) plan, and says that “there is even evidence that retirees may be happier when they receive regular pension-like payments.” In fact, only 2% of 401(k) plan participants convert retirement savings into an annuity on retirement.
Federal Departments Collect Comments
It is reliably estimated that more than $4.7 trillion is held in tax-deferred accounts, and this makes Washington, DC, salivate. Both the US Treasury and Labor Departments asked for public comment earlier in 2010 on ways to promote the conversion of 401(k) savings and Individual Retirement Accounts into annuities or “other steady payment streams.”
Tax-Deferred Savings To Buy US Bonds
Bill Denning, Independent Investor’s Daily Guide, on 01/18/10 commented that encouraging the conversion of 401(k) and similar tax-deferred funds to federally-guaranteed lifetime annuities or annuity-like payouts leads to the “big bounty—the retirement savings of millions of Americans. This solves the problem of having to sell the US debt to foreign investors. And it solves the problem of having to make tough budget deficits. Just issue more debt and make the super funds buy it with your money.”
Denning seems to accept the notion that the US government will allow big investment banks to manage the funds, but there is no clear reason why that middle step should take place. After all, your Social Security contributions are paid directly into a lock box in the Department of Treasury, aren’t they? Why would these trillions of newly liquid funds be used to enrich the very companies that brought us credit collapse and vast unemployment?
It’s Voluntary, Isn’t It?
Professor Teresa Ghilarducci, New School for Social Research, has taken the idea as far as endorsing a grant to all workers of “a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the US government” in return for requiring workers “to invest 5% of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration.” So the deep-thinkers are already considering formulas for “requiring” participation in this new Social Security-like annuity program.
And so are our Congress Members. Hearings held last fall by House Education & Labor Committee Chairman George Miller (California) and Congress Member Jim McDermott (Washington, Ways and Means Committee) focused on “redirecting IRA and 401(k) tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute.”
Yes, the deep-thinkers and our federal legislators are keen to explore the possibility of forcing us to put our tax-deferred retirement funds into a new lock box—to help us out.
How’s That Working For Argentina?
Don’t think it can’t happen here. Argentina provided a precedent in 2008, taking over that country’s private retirement accounts for forced investment in government bonds to cover spiraling deficits. A massive flight of capital took place, and bond ratings cratered. What a good idea.
If you take Chile as an example, when publicly held retirement accounts similar to Social Security were privatized, the bankers managed to suck up more than half of the money.
That, and it took a fascist coup to implement the free market reforms.
Most likely measures will placate current voters by passing true costs onto future ones. By this I mean that the surplus that was “borrowed” from social security will be repaid with more deficit spending and existing benefits will continue to grow, but newly enrolled wage earners will see benefits begin to decline all during their productive years until its their turn and then will receive a drastically reduced retirement and be forced to sell-off assets (house, etc) to finance the managed care for the twilight years. Luckily the new health system will help contain costs until the nursing home staff forgets to administer medication or something and the end of life issues resolve themselves.
What sayeth the soothesayers regarding the electoral fate of Senator Barbara Boxer?
Is the Hindenboxer finally going to crash and burn in fiery cataclysm?
Or, will she float serenely back to Washington, D.C. on the gently rising warm air currents from a contented and adoring electorate?
If SJPD bought a few of these, maybe Raj Jayadev & his motley crew would STFU
<http://www.youtube.com/swf/l.swf?video_id=v7cbfaRRqn0>
JMO,
What is your take on this? What is the point of having community input meetings and a community interview panel if the writing is already on the wall?
http://cbs5.com/local/san.jose.independent.2.1578839.html
http://www.kcbs.com/print_page.php?contentId=5784299&contentType=4
http://www.kcbs.com/topic/play_window.php?audioType=Episode&audioId=4490976
http://dygest.net/bayarea/read/247435/Prominent-Legal-Player-Makes-Final-Cut-for-SJ-Police -Auditor
Community input meetings are the “bread and circuses” of modern politics. They are held to attempt to convince people that they actually have a say in what’s happening.
Judge Cordell is an extremely bright person and a quick thinker. But she often came to a conclusion before hearing out both sides. In my few experiences with seeing her on the bench (she never ruled against me), she was frequently curt and abrasive, interrupting counsel frequently to state her position. She seemed to have her mind made up in advanced of oral argument by counsel, and was impatient with anyone who wanted to discuss alternatives to what she had already decided. Many smart people are like that.
Personally, I think she would be a bad fit for the job of IPA…unless she has mellowed and has become willing to listen with an open mind.
Now that the smoke has cleared a bit from the obscene orgy of looting in “our nation’s capital”, it’s time to ask what did our local statesmen and stateswomen lift from other American citzens for the benefit of their local constituencies?
Did we get a Louisiana Purchase?
Did we get a Cornhusker Kick-back?
Will Congressman Lofgren’s office be delivering a new big screen TV to my front doorstep?
Tickets to a rock concert?
A couple of rounds of free government cheese?
WHERE’S MINE??!!!!
Under the new health plan we all just received a complimentary rectal exam after we were all bent over as a nation.
My Congressman can steal more than your Congressman.
NYAH! NYAH! NYAH!
My Congressman went to Washington and voted for Obama’s healthcare reform and I didn’t even get a lousy T-Shirt.
Barack Hussein promised no more earmarks. Well, another broken promise.
You SHOULD remember this on April 15 when you pay your taxes & ON NOVEMBER 2, 2010 WHEN YOU VOTE.
The 102 worst ways the government is spending your tax dollars:
102: Protecting a Michigan insect collection from other insects ($187,632)
101: Highway beautified by fish art in Washington ($10,000)
100: University studying hookup behavior of female college coeds in New York ($219,000)
99: Police department getting 92 blackberries for supervisors in Rhode Island ($95,000)
98: Upgrades to seldom-used river cruise boat in Oklahoma ($1.8 million)
97: Precast concrete toilet buildings for Mark Twain National Forest in Montana ($462,000)
96: University studying whether mice become disoriented when they consume alcohol in Florida ($8,408)
95: Foreign bus wheel polishers for California ($259,000)
94: Recovering crab pots lost at sea in Oregon ($700,000)
93: Developing a program to develop “machine-generated humor” in Illinois ($712,883)
92: Colorado museum where stimulus was signed (and already has $90 million in the bank) gets geothermal stimulus grant ($2.6 million)
91: Grant to the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance to support the traditional arts apprenticeship program, gathering and festival ($30,000)
90: Studying methamphetamines and the female rat sex drive in Maryland ($30,000)
89: Studying mating decisions of cactus bugs in Florida ($325,394)
88: Studying why deleting a gene can create sex reversal in people, but not in mice in Minnesota ($190,000)
87: College hires director for a project on genetic control of sensory hair cell membrane channels in zebrafish in California ($327,337)
86: New jumbo recycling bins with microchips embedded inside to track participation in Ohio ($500,000)
85: Oregon Federal Building’s “green” renovation at nearly the price of a brand new building ($133 million)
84: Massachusetts middle school getting money to build a solar array on its roof ($150,000)
83: Road widening that could have been millions of dollars cheaper if Louisiana hadn’t opted to replace a bridge that may not have needed replacing ($60 million)
82: Cleanup effort of a Washington nuclear waste site that already got $12 billion from the DOE ($1.9 billion)
81: Six woodlands water taxis getting a new home in Texas ($750,000)
80: Maryland group gets money to develop “real life” stories that underscore job and infrastructure-related research findings ($363,760)
79: Studying social networks like Facebook in North Carolina ($498,000)
78:18 North Carolina teacher coaches to heighten math and reading performance ($4.4 million)
77: Retrofitting light switches with motion sensors for one company in Arizona ($800,000)
76: Removing graffiti along 100 miles of flood-control ditches in California ($837,000)
75: Bicycle lanes, shared lane signs and bike racks in Pennsylvania ($105,000)
74: Privately-owned steakhouse rehabilitating its restaurant space in Missouri ($75,000)
73: National dinner cruise boat company in Illinois outfitting vessels with surveillance systems to protect against terrorists ($1 million)
72: Producing and transporting peanuts and peanut butter in North Carolina ($900,000)
71: Refurnishing and delivering picnic tables in Iowa ($30,000)
70: Digital television converter box coupon program in D.C. ($650 million)
69: Elevating and relocating 3,000 feet of track for the Napa Valley Wine Train in California ($54 million)
68: Hosting events for Earth Day, the summer solstice etc. in Minnesota ($50,000)
67: Expanding ocean aquaculture in Hawaii ($99,960)
66: Raising railroad tracks 18 inches in Oregon because the residents of one small town were tired of taking a detour around them ($4.2 million)
Had to cut due to character limitations. see below
More earmarks:
67: Expanding ocean aquaculture in Hawaii ($99,960)
66: Raising railroad tracks 18 inches in Oregon because the residents of one small town were tired of taking a detour around them ($4.2 million)
65: Professors and employees of Iowa state universities voluntarily taking early retirement ($43 million)
64: Minnesota theatre named after Che Guevara putting on “socially conscious” puppet shows ($25,000)
63: Replacing a basketball court lighting system with a more energy efficient one in Arizona ($20,000)
62: Repainting and adding a security camera to one bridge in Oregon ($3.5 million)
61: Missouri bridge project that already was full-funded with state money ($8 million)
60: New hospital parking garage in New York that will employ less people ($19.5 million)
59: University in North Carolina studying why adults with ADHD smoke more ($400,000)
58: Low-income housing residents in one Minnesota city receiving free laptops, WiFi and iPod Touches to “educate” them in technology ($5 million)
57: University in California sending students to Africa to study why Africans vote they the way they do in their elections ($200,000)
56: Researching the impact of air pollution combined with a high-fat diet on obesity development in Ohio ($225,000)
55: Studying how male and female birds care for their offspring and how it compares to how humans care for their children in Oklahoma ($90,000)
54: University in Pennsylvania researching fossils in Argentina (over $1 million)
53: University in Tennessee studying how black holes form (over $1 million)
52: University in Oklahoma sending 3 researchers to Alaska to study grandparents and how they pass on knowledge to younger generations ($1.5 million)
51: Grant application from a Pennsylvania university for a researcher named in the Climate-gate scandal (Rep. Darrell Issa is calling on the president to freeze the grant) ($500,000)
50: Studying the impact of global warming on wildflowers in a Colorado ghost town ($500,000)
49: Bridge built over railroad crossing so 168 Nebraska town residents don’t have to wait for the trains to pass ($7 million)
48: Renovating an old hotel into a visitors center in Kentucky ($300,000)
47: Removing overgrown weeds in a Rhode Island park ($250,000)
46: Renovating 5 seldom-used ports of entry on the U.S.-Canada border in Montana ($77 million)
45: Testing how to control private home appliances in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts from an off-site computer ($800,000)
44: Repainting a rarely-used bridge in North Carolina ($3.1 million)
43: Renovating a desolate Wisconsin bridge that averages 10 cars a day ($426,000)
42: 4 new buses for New Hampshire ($2 million)
41: Repaving a 1-mile stretch of Atlanta road that had parts of it already repaved in 2007 ($490,000)
40: Florida beauty school tuition ($2.3 million)
39: Extending a bike path to the Minnesota Twins stadium ($500,000)
38: Beautification of Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard ($1.1 million)
37: Colorado Dragon Boat Festival ($10,000)
36: Developing the next generation of supersonic corporate jets in Maryland that could cost $80 million dollars each ($4.7 million)
35: New spring training facilities for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies ($30 million)
34: Demolishing 35 old laboratories in New Mexico ($212 million)
33: Putting free WiFi, Internet kiosks and interactive history lessons in 2 Texas rest stops ($13.8 million)
32: Replacing a single boat motor on a government boat in D.C. ($10,500)
31: Developing the next generation of football gloves in Pennsylvania ($150,000)
30: Pedestrian bridge to nowhere in West Virginia ($80,000)
29: Replacing all signage on 5 miles of road in Rhode Island ($4,403,205)
28: Installing a geothermal energy system to heat the “incredible shrinking mall” in Tennessee ($5 million)
27: University in Minnesota studying how to get the homeless to stop smoking ($230,000)
26: Large woody habitat rehabilitation project in Wisconsin ($16,800)
25: Replacing escalators in the parking garage of one D.C. metro station ($4.3 million)
24: Building an airstrip in a community most Alaskans have never even heard of ($14,707,949)
23: Bike and pedestrian paths connecting Camden, N.J. to Philadelphia, Penn. when there’s already a bridge that connects them ($23 million)
22: Sending 10 university undergrads each year from North Carolina to Costa Rica to study the rainforests ($564,000)
21: Road signs touting stimulus funds at work in Ohio ($1 million)
20: Researching how paying attention improves performance of difficult tasks in Connecticut ($850,000)
19: Kentucky Transportation Department awarding contracts to companies associated with a road contractor accused of bribing the previous state transportation secretary ($24 million)
18: Amtrak losing $32 per passenger nationally but rewarded with windfall ($1.3 billion)
17: Widening an Arizona interstate even though the company that won the contract has a history of tax fraud and pollution ($21.8 million)
16: Replace existing dumbwaiters in New York ($351,807)
15: Deer underpass in Wyoming ($1,239,693)
14: Arizona universities examining the division of labor in ant colonies (combined $950,000)
13: Fire station without firefighters in Nevada ($2 million)
12: “Clown” theatrical production in Pennsylvania ($25,000)
The rest of the earmarks
11: Maryland town gets money but doesn’t know what to do with it ($25,000)
10: Investing in nation-wide wind power (but majority of money has gone to foreign companies) ($2 billion)
9: Resurfacing a tennis court in Montana ($50,000)
8: University in Indiana studying why young men do not like to wear condoms ($221,355)
7: Funds for Massachusetts roadway construction to companies that have defrauded taxpayers, polluted the environment and have paid tens of thousands of dollars in fines for violating workplace safety laws (millions)
6: Sending 11 students and 4 teachers from an Arkansas university to the U.N. climate change convention in Copenhagen, using almost 54,000 lbs of carbon dioxide from air travel alone ($50,000)
5: Storytelling festival in Utah ($15,000)
4: Door mats to the Department of the Army in Texas ($14,675)
3: University in New York researching young adults who drink malt liquor and smoke pot ($389,357)
2: Solar panels for climbing gym in Colorado ($157,800)
1: Grant for one Massachusetts university for “robobees” (miniature flying robot bees) ($2 million)
GRAND TOTAL: $4,891,645,229
Source??
Easy to use http://www.recovery.org.
The bees were actually $9.1M
(http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/RecipientReportedData/Pages/RecipientProjectSummary.aspx?AwardIDSUR=6129&PopId=74196)
However, the biggest taxpayer bail outs were paid to insurance and financial institutions, with much of that money being used to pay bonuses to executives.
> 99: Police department getting 92 blackberries for supervisors in Rhode Island ($95,000)
Lets see: a little public school arithmetic . . .
$95,000 divided by 92 equals $1,031,61 per blackberry.
Hmmm. I just saw a bucket full of used blackberries at Wierd Stuff Warehouse for five bucks each.
Oh, well. It’s only taxpayer money.
> 64: Minnesota theatre named after Che Guevara putting on “socially conscious” puppet shows ($25,000)
This might be worth it if the socially conscious puppet show shows puppet CIA agents blasting Che to smithereens with puppet assault rifles and splattering his puppet guts all over the puppet landscape.
> 12: “Clown” theatrical production in Pennsylvania ($25,000)
Wow! This one’s a real bargain.
The Clown theatrical production in Washington, D.C. costs us over $3 TRILLION a year.
> 5: Storytelling festival in Utah ($15,000)
Does the storytelling include milk and cookies?
I wonder how many stories the fest attendees will get for 15 grand. Did they put this out for competitive bids?
Couldn’t they have just used a politician?
4: Door mats to the Department of the Army in Texas ($14,675)
It probably would have been cheaper just to use piles of dollar bills as door mats. The army would likely have needed a lot less than 14,675 of them.
Here’s some good news-Volaris is coming to town:
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2010/03/22/daily37.html
This makes up for the loss of Frontier.
Some of you know this but not enough of you. Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to us for over 60 years with Social Security. There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.
Do you need a side-by-side comparison here? Well here’s a nifty little chart.
BERNIE MADOFF
Social security
Takes money from investors with the promise that the money will be invested and made available to them later
Takes money from wage earners with the promise that the money will be invested in a “Trust Fund” and made available later.
Instead of investing the money Madoff spends it on nice homes in the Hamptons and yachts.
Instead of depositing money in a Trust Fund the politicians use it for general spending and vote buying.
When the time comes to pay the investors back Madoff simply uses some of the new funds from newer investors to pay back the older investors.
When benefits for older investors become due the politicians pay them with money taken from younger and newer wage earners to pay the geezers.
When Madoff’s scheme is discovered all hell breaks loose. New investors won’t give him any more cash.
When Social Security runs out of money they simply force the taxpayers to send them some more.
Bernie Madoff is in jail.
Politicians remain in Washington.
So, all those people who would be eating dog food without there small Social Security checks are participating in a ponzi scheme? Gee, I guess you had better tell them they don’t need that money for things like food and medicine.
What do you suggest? Get rid of Social Security? Then what?
Is there no one in your world that you think needs help?
Maybe (hopefully) I just don’t understand the point you are trying to make. I hope it is not the point I think it is.
> Gee, I guess you had better tell them they don’t need that money for things like food and medicine.
So, you ARE going to tell needy people that they need money for things and medicine?
And you expect that this is going to get YOU into heaven?
I think that needy people already KNOW that, and they don’t need YOU to tell them that. And moreover, you don’t deserve any credit for telling them that.
What needy people need is for charlatans and con men like you and Franklin D. Roosevelt and The Obamagogue to STOP LYING to them.
Social Security was an unsustainable and FEAR BASED solution from day one, and it was an act of criminal negligence to induce unsophisticated people to become dependent on it.
Ask some of your environmentalist wacko friends what they know about “sustainable solutions”. They are always preaching that “sustainable solutions” are what we need. How come they tolarate an anti-nature, interventionist, big-government imposing an unsustainable solution on human communities?
The deepest, hottest pit of hell should be reserved for the con men who seduce unsuspecting people into dependency on a cratering ponzi scheme like Social Security. And ditto for Medicare and Obamacare.
Well, well, well.
Now just who does President-For-Life Obama’s tanning salon tax affect?
Does it affect BLACK people?
Ummm. No.
Does it affect BROWN people?
Ummmm. No.
Does it affect YELLOW people?
Not bloody likely.
Does it affect WHITE people?
Well, maybe SOME white people.
Does it affect RICH WHITE people?
Ummm. No. They go to Hawaii or the Mediterranean to get their tans.
Does it affect WORKING CLASS WHITE people?
Well, yeah. That’s who you find in tanning salons.
So, really the FIRST tax that ObamaCare grabs is from the Big Dumb White Working Class!
WE’RE NUMBER ONE! WE’RE NUMBER ONE!
They could at least call it “The Big Dumb White Working Class Tax”.
Interesting coincidence. President Obama delivered himself of the bizarre idea of “typical white persons” just two years ago, last Saturday, 3/20/10.
Were either of the Presidents Bush to have delivered such a line about any of the other demographics, the San Jose Mercury News would still be talking about it.
Tanning’s not the only thing on which Obama wants special taxes that is particularly demographic-specific. Hunker down.
It’s funny how frequently democrat/leftist talking points and policies align with those of 3rd world dictators and terrorists?
Almost as funny as how often the right wing/tea bag talking points align with those of people who hate helping those in need.
Wrong again.
“People of modest incomes in rural South Dakota or Mississippi are typically far more generous than those in affluent areas like San Francisco or Manhattan. What Brooks, who identifies himself as one who was raised in a politically liberal family, found to be most striking was that “liberals, who often claim to care more about others than conservatives do, are personally less charitable.” Brooks was surprised to discover that religious conservatives are the most generous of all.”
This is especially timely…
“Those who favor governmental redistributive programs give less to charity and have, moreover, effectively used public discourse to equate their view with compassion.”
Beckerhoff – sound like anyone we know?
http://www.examiner.com/a-1227178~Who_gives_more_to_charitable_causes__conservatives_or_liberals_.html
Even funnier is how conservative talking points always align with the fools of the world.
Sayeth Not A Novice:
> Even funnier is how conservative talking points always align with the fools of the world.
Oh, wow! Namecalling!!!
I would say that this is very definitely Pre-Novice repartee.
I would advise you to refrain from playing with sharp objects, or attempting to engage in a battle of wits.
This just in…
Cuban leader applauds US health-care reform bill
“Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform “a miracle” and a major victory for Obama’s presidency…
If Fidel likes it – it must be good!
If Fidel likes it – it must be good!
Conversely, if conservatives hate it then it must be GREAT!!!