Recent presidents explain why we’re broke.
The U.S government wastes money every second of every day come rain or come shine irrespective of which party is in power. From bridges to nowhere, to endowments for “performance artists” to urinate in public to Amtrak to studies on the mating habits of cockroaches; the federal government incinerates billions of dollars every single day.
And yet, if all of this waste were to magically end tomorrow, the United States would still be broke. Such is the magnitude of the entitlement state that has been growing since FDR signed the Social Security Act of 1935.
Roosevelt died at 63, never eligible to draw Social Security. Lyndon Johnson signed the Social Security Act of 1965, amending the 1935 law to create Medicare. LBJ died at 64, never eligible for Medicare benefits.
But the five presidents that followed shattered the assumptions behind Social Security and Medicare. Nixon died at 81. Gerald Ford died at 93. Jimmy Carter is still alive at 86. Ronald Reagan died at 93 and George H.W. Bush is alive at 87.
Therein lies the simplest possible explanation of our massive fiscal problems. Neither Social Security nor Medicare can sustain the costs of paying benefits for 20 or 30 years as they now routinely do. Social Security and Medicare have to be modified or the country goes bankrupt plain and simple.
The bravest president in American history will be the one who finally stands up and says so.
Not only would it take a President to call a spade a spade, but it would take term limits for Congress as well. When some one is in the Senate or House for 30, 40 or 50 years, it does nothing but breed corruption and greed. Our Founding Fathers did not mean for people to make a life long career at the expense of the people they were elected to SERVE as their senator or representative. The result of them staying in Congress for so many years is right in front of us. We are broke due to the out of control spending because, we, the people, have not held these people accountable. The only way we can make sure this doesn’t continue is to impose term limits at the ballot box. One thing is for sure, things will not change as long as the same people stay in charge. We can not keep letting the fox guard the chicken house. We will end up with no eggs and no chickens before long! We are almost there now!
The reasons we are broke are: 1) Aid to countries who hate our freakin’ guts. 2) Welfare programs brought about to make us feel warm and fuzzy about not giving to our favorite church or charity, 3) Suplimenting the living standards of the “poor” so they can have conditions that include modern conveiences, 4) Allowing the “poor” to not pay taxes and then get refunds on taxes we pay., 5) A group of Presidents who feel that Cloward and Piven have a good idea., and last but not least, 6) Taxing and regulating corporations into obliion and causing them to move off shore.
That’s my thoughts….
Rick Armstrong
How can you explain the increase in the federal debt under BHO of $3.7 trillion in 2.5 years vs. $4.9 trillion in 8 years under Bush? This is 2.4 TIMES THE RATE OF DEBT ACCUMULATION by BHO as compared to Bush. This is NOT because of Social Security and Medicare (that definitely needs to be fixed in the long term). The demographics haven’t changed that much. It is due to the BHO fake bailouts (crony capitalism) and huge federal payola to reward his followers in every nook and cranny at the federal feeding trough. This is his camouflaged down payment to energize the left-wing underbelly that infests every corner of this nation. He needs to fund the left-wing in order to keep his Marxist organizations powerful as they push their political agenda for the next campaign.
I would love to see a study of the fraud and abuse of the Social Security Disability benefits (available to anyone) outside the normal retirement age of 62 to 65 years of age that is helping to bankrupt the nation. Here is an (abridged) example of an advertisement of a law firm ($#% Group) that is dedicated to helping individuals with Social Security disability claims throughout the United States.
“Social Security Disability is designed to provide income for individuals who are unable to work because of a disabling condition that does not allow them to work. Anyone can file for benefits. However, statistics show less than 50% of individuals who apply on their own are approved for benefits. Those individuals using our $#% Group can achieve over 90% approval rate.”
If you saw the list of ailments that I found on their web site, you could easily see a wide opportunity for fraud and abuse. I would consider over half of the issues listed as mild to minor, yet easily exploited by anyone wishing to get a federal handout at the expense of the rest of us. Anyone that is willing to unnecessarily live off of SSD benefits is going to vote for even greater government spending and has accepted being a dependent subject of the State. This is how the Socialist Democrats grow their base and “appear” to be compassionate. Who has the courage to flush out this deception and risk the demonization of the media?