buffalo Loc: Texas

Yep, throw the elderly, disabled and poor under the bus but make damn sure that the 1%, the banksters and the military corporations don't have to suffer. Does it make sense to cut benefits for people that pay taxes for them. Where's the war tax?

Unintended Consequences

I am almost 80 years old. Here is my social security statement for 2016 ( cant find 2017)
monthly amount $1623.90 amount deducted for Medicare $104.9 amount deducted for prescription $18.40 Fed tax withholding ( I was still working in 2016)$225.10
What is left? $1275.50 I have been paying SS taxes since 1968 Good thing I was working because my rent was $875. I hope I don't have to start working again.

Seth

Again, most of the Republicans' gripe does not come from seniors who have been paying into the system all their lives or legitimately disabled citizens.

It comes from the fact that the bureaucratic cost of administering these benefits far exceeds the sum total of the benefits themselves, which is pretty damn dumb, but extremely Democrat.

On a smaller scale, for example, look at Democrat run states like New York and Illinois: they are looking at gargantuan retirement expenditures, wondering where the money is going to come from, because they maintain such unnecessarily massive payrolls, not helped much by powerful unions that contribute megabucks to greedy, corrupt Democrat politicians' campaign funds.

Since most of the people in middle management authority in the social services systems are swamp dwelling Democrats, the suffocating costs of various programs are inevitable. These tax devouring parasites (the swamp Dems, not the elderly and legitimately disabled) love expanding their feifdoms and creating new ones without giving the proverbial "tinker's damn" about costs to the taxpayer.

Then, when Republicans criticize the unnecessary bureaucratic spending, the Democrats yell that the Republicans want to take away old folks' benefits, steal some widow's egg money and throw the elderly and the information out into the streets without a penny.

This same bulls**t has been repeated so many times with the same gullible people believing it over and over that it's become quite tiring to hear, equally tiring to watch the same naive people believing it without question again and again.

They are like Charlie Brown, no matter how many times Lucy pulls the football away, he still comes running up and tries to kick it, and ends up on his butt in the dirt...

woodguru

I hope you aren't an economist by profession...because you suck at it.

Clinton (a democrat) raised taxes and created a budget surplus, and added 25 million jobs
Bush (a republican) cut taxes, lost over 20 million jobs, and left a $1.4 Trillion deficit
Obama (a democrat) got 14 million jobs back, and cut the Bush deficit by almost 2/3rds
Trump (a republican) has already cut taxes for the wealthy, and added a few hundred billion to the deficit

Little kids can see the pattern here, and it simply does not support that claim that democrats are better at getting high deficits, you'll lose that argument because history does not support that rhetoric.

woodguru

Your argument if it were a dog would not hunt...

Medicare runs at a fraction of the administrative costs that private insurance and medical corporations do, medicare runs at something like 14% and the insurance industry operates at closer to 50%.

truthiness

...
Dontheeconomist thinks it is your patriotic duty to go back to work to support the rich and the wars that make them richer.
The sad thing is that the increase in deficit was not an unintended consequence--every honest economist knew that the tax-break-to-orangie's rich-friends was going to balloon the deficit because the so-called "dynamic scoring" was a red herring. Now with inflation picking up and the fed charging real interest it will not get any better for retired folks. The question is will we keep habitually v****g against our own self-interest because 'it is the conservative thing to do and I have always been a conservative.'

maryjane

Sorry, they may try to tell us that, but it will be a lie. All that needs doing are these things: 1. Stop giving billions every year to other nations. 2. Stop giving billions every year to global organizations without any benefit to us. 3. Stop bringing in way over a million immigrants legally EVERY YEAR, most of whom require care from the beginning and forever. 4. Stop taking in Any refugees. Asylees, TPS, etc, all of whom are instant drains on our resources and economy. 5. Stop the constant influx of i*****l a***ns and f**e asylum seekers because of their drain on our coffers through access to all our freebies and remittances of our money. 6. Put an end, immediately, to i******s/noncitizens gaving access to any of the rights/benefits of American citizens (welfare - must exclude anchor babies too, non-energency medical care, drivers licenses, filing income tax, tax refunds, free education, free legal help, documents/signs/etc in language other than English, etc). Stopping all of this stupid largesse and keeping that money at home will provide plenty for the needs of our nation and our CITIZENS .

truthiness

...
Emphasis on CITIZENS IN 1% ECONOMIC STATUS as the past two years have demonstrated--largess as defined by Trump and his cronies. Yes, it is sorry; that part you got right.

EconomistDon

That is very true Wolf. But politicians will never go for it. Political Actions Committees (PAC) supporting agriculture and other businesses that hire i******s pour huge sums of money into political campaigns to insure that politicians support open borders and sanctuary cities. I*****l a***ns are today's s***e labor. They get paid less than citizens, and no social security,federal, state, or local taxes are paid. And, there are no health benefits. I*****l a***ns are a huge bargain for business --- s***e labor.

Bad Bob Loc: Virginia

So what is stopping your Reflub govment?????????????

EconomistDon

T***hy??? you should not comment on things that you do not understand, and you should especially not put stupid comments on other people's mouths.

truthiness

Mea culpa--I realize I did misrepresent one thing you said. The comment was incorrect regarding what you said or implied, but it wasn't stupid. As for understanding--I believe I understand general economics.