Social Security..Is It a Ponzi Scheme?

Imagine this scenario..you work for fifty years, faithfully paying your taxes and dreaming of that day when you can retire because you have faith that the system will take care of you.  You start planning your financial budget with all of the retirement income that you will have coming in.  You faithfully waited until 67 to retire so you could take full advantage of the social security that you receive.  Your first social security check comes in the mail and suddenly it is only 75% of the benefits that you were suppose to get.  What the hell?

Retirement is an important part of ones life and we should look forward to it without worrying about financial issues.  The Social Security program was something that was a good idea because at the time there were many elderly people during the Great Depression that were poor.  It has become so much more than Social Security adding disability, Medicaid and unemployment later on.

Facts about Social Security

The Social Security system is our largest social program and it is used by advocates of other social programs as to how the government is able to provide for their people.  A lot of the annual budget goes to social security and yet people continue to say we are going to have problems in the future.  People want more money to put into the program despite an almost three trillion dollar surplus.  So why are they asking for more money?

The reason why is that as with most programs, the planning was done to try to impress constituents versus actually making the program something that is good for the present and the future.

First of all, Social Security is a tax, it is not a savings account or anything even close to it.  It is not like a 401K or a pension where you made a choice to put money into something.  It is a tax that both the employee and employer have to pay in order to keep it liquid, it has nothing to do with having a choice.  With it being a tax, it can be reversed at anytime without anyone saying they have to give the money back.  So if some group of legislators say one day they want to stop Social Security, they can.  That is why when Donald Trump passed a plan to temporarily stop payroll taxes to give people some relief, the haters immediately complained making it seem like he was attacking social security.  Besides having the right to do it, what they didn't say is that people would have to still pay that money back.  The haters didn't care about the people on social security, they were covering up what is blatantly the weakness of social security. 

Social Security is not an entitlement despite when people love to say it is.  An entitlement means you have a right to something but as previously communicated the government can change the law at anytime therefore taking this away.  Even the Supreme Court has said this is not an entitlement and the paper statement received for social security has printed the laws can change.

Supreme Country on Social Security

So what makes up the weakness of Social Security, one that showed the original plan was not as thought out as it could have been.  The plan was to pay the retirement payments for today's elderly with  payroll deductions that come from people that are working today.  So for those that think the amounts taken out of your paycheck is going into some fund that you are guaranteed to get when you retire, think again.  For those that say what I paid while working is what I am getting when I retire.  Think again.  You will be dependent on the people working at the time you retire to pay for your Social Security.

To update those that hear all of the grumblings about the future of social security.  Estimates say the 3 trillion dollar excess will be gone by the year 2035, that doesn't mean it will run out of money.  It means that the amount of benefits will be less because the amount of money coming in to make the payments will be less.  So people will not get 100% of their money that they thought they would.  Again, bad planning on the side of the government.

7 Myths of Social Security

A Ponzi scheme is defined as a fraudulent investing scam which generates returns for early investors with money taken from future investors.  How does that not sound like Social Security?  We are giving money to the elderly today with funds taken from working people who will retire in the future.  So we have to depend on working people to make sure our social security program has enough money to pay out.  Unemployment benefits do not charge social security taxes.  Illegal immigrants do not pay social security taxes unless they have a social security number and even then they do not get benefits.

So the fact that the government controls Social Security, they also control when people are able to get those benefits.  That is an additional knife in the gut of American's.  The government tells us when we have to retire in order to get our full benefits, not only for social security but for any kind of retirement.  If you choose to retire at 62 you only get a portion of the benefits you were told you would get and in the future that might even be less than it is now.  If one waits five more years, then one will get maybe 100% or in the future less.  For 401K, they tell you that you have to be 59 1/2, where did they come up with that number.  If you decide to retire early and take that money out, you may endure a penalty.  So anyone that wants to retire on their time may not get any money so the government wins again.

There are other holes in the plan that is Social Security.  There didn't seem to be a plan for population increases in the United States.  In 1935, the population was 127 million people (over 300+ years) and since that time we have increased in population by 200 million plus (over 85 years).  Other than a cost of living increase and some modest payroll tax increases, Social Security fell way behind.  How was this not taken into consideration?

Another hole is a change in the the job market effecting Social Security.  When jobs decrease, the amount of money being given to Social Security is also going to decrease while the amount being paid out will continue or go up.  What changes were put in place when technology has removed jobs from the market and therefore less money going into the fund.  The same with outsourcing, no jobs, no money.  

It's greatest weakness has  shown no brighter than the current Covid crisis.  The number of unemployed people increased and so the amount of money being paid into Social Security has decreased tremendously and eventually will need to make up the money.  The most ironic thing is that the government is responsible for putting many of these people out of work and therefore the reason the money is not going into Social Security.  Why would one ever make something dependent on other people working to fund it, of course that is how the entire government works.  No working or low wages means less taxes.  Hmmm...could that be the reason for all of the advocating of more jobs and more wages?

Even the original issue, solving elderly poverty, is still not totally fixed.  Even though one gets more than they put in (if getting 100%) they still get a lot less than what they were making.  Depending on where one lives, social security is not enough to live on.  Then if people try to offset with another job, they can only earn a certain amount otherwise they will have to pay taxes.  Taxes on the taxes.

A part of bad planning for Social Security that we do not even talk about is something that has a lot of different rumors about it.  Social Security has its own governmental trust fund (a fund is where the money is stored) and is not used for anything else, which the general fund is.  However, because it is a tax, the government as it does with most of our other taxes, uses the money received to buy Treasury bonds.  The government has to pay the money back with interest which is one of the ways the plan increases.  However, that interest is one of the largest expenses the federal government pays each year.  So basically, it helps one fund but shorts another.  If the fund has no surplus then it means the government has less money to use from the fund.  Less money means less programs and a hard time making interest payments.

So how will the government get the program in line?  There really isn't a lot of things they can do that do not potentially hurt some tax payer.  One is increasing the payroll tax which is currently 6.2% for social security (both employee and employer) and 1.45% for Medicare.  Who knows what they would have to increase it by to make it work but it would take more money out of people's pocket.  One thing going around is increasing the minimum amount of wages that are subject to taxes (which increases based on cost of living), currently at $142,800.  It has been said to increase from anywhere between $250,000 and $400,000.  Every $10,000 takes out $620 for social security so increasing the limit on wages takes money out of people's pocket which means they have to adjust their livelihood.  Raising the retirement age, adjust the benefits formula and/or changing the cost of living formula are some other ways, all of which hurts the working people.

Social programs are essential for the people to live a decent life in their country.  However, these social programs are really only beneficial if they do not hurt others in the operating of them and if they are planned well.  So we have to ask ourselves if we do have social programs, is the government the right ones to run these programs.  We have to push back on the people making the decisions that take our money and do not use it wisely.  Otherwise, that day we open the check from the government it will not be enough for us to retire the way we want, it will continue to be the way the government wants.

Trump Exposed Our Country..We Should Thank Him

Something that I have never understood is how people can be so consumed with self interest that they let it take over their lives to the tune of doing something stupid or blaming the world for the issues.  Then again why should we be surprised because we are human beings and unfortunately that is part of human nature.

For four years, many in this country separated themselves because of one man.  There were very few people in between when it came to Donald Trump and in the end, I don't think he really cared either way.  The problem is that the issues of this country either got worse or even ignored, bringing about tons of blame but no accountability.

What we do not talk about is that Trump exposed our country for what it is at this moment and for that we really should thank him because now we can attack these issues, if we choose to.

The hypocrisy started before Trump was even elected, it started when he was a candidate.  The people of the political establishment do not like it when outsiders are close to taking over their power and they will do whatever they can to stop it.  Don't think it can happen, look at this years Democratic Campaign.  Bernie Sanders, a true outsider for the people, was leading the race for the party.  Suddenly, right before the primaries and caucuses, Joe Biden comes into the race.  So now it was a party guy against the non party guy, who do you think was going to win?  The difference this time was Bernie for some reason dropped out of the race early so by the time the election came around, no one really remembered he was part of the conversation.  Unlike 2016, when Bernie was still having polls about whether he could beat Trump so people still had him in their mind when voting.  This is not about conspiracy, it is about asking questions.  For those that want to see what the establishment can do watch the documentary "The Plot Against the Presidents".

The election of Donald Trump brought forth issues that have been lost as the country tried feverishly to get him out of office.  One thing his election showed is there are a lot of people who are feeling under represented when it comes to the government.  Do we really believe that 60+ million people would elect a misogynistic egomaniac if they thought anyone else was listening to them?  The other thing it exposed is the way we view each other as American's.  60+ million people that used their right to vote for someone they felt were listening to them, yet we called them nothing but ignorant, white supremacists despite the fact that minorities, women and some intelligent people voted for him.  Instead of listening to this group, we continually showed them that maybe they had a point that no one was listening, not even their fellow American's.

One of the biggest highlights of the election was the hypocrisy of the people of establishment government.  Immediately, there were calls of voting improprieties because of Russia, saying his election wasn't real.  They said because he received less popular vote that democracy was gone and we should end the electoral college.  Of course, in the 2020 election the electoral college is okay and even in the midst of calls of election issues, the winners were saying no need to investigate it.  When riots happened all the way up to the Congress voting for the electoral college in 2016, no one talked about how it was ruining democracy.  Of course, when it came to 2020, everyone blamed Trump without a word being said about 2016.

It immediately showed that Trump was never going to succeed because the people of the established government and the people of the country weren't going to allow it.  If he had done everything correct, they still would have found something to push him to failure because when people have you in their sights it is difficult to get away.  We should really be upset as American's that we assisted in this push to the failure of our President, a man whether we like it or not was voted in by our democratic system.  If we can do it to him, now we know we can do it to anyone.  Now that they have their power back in 2020, they still have to realize they have a voice to answer to because he still to ten million more votes than last time.

For four years, the people of the establishment tried and tried to bring down the President and each time they failed.  What they didn't fail at is getting more people to hate this man and dividing the country even more.  Donald Trump did himself no favors by sounding like a buffoon and making it seem like his supporters were also buffoons.  It exposed that an egomaniac cannot be trusted to represent 300 million people.  It exposed the failure of the people who were voted to represent us when they spend all of their time trying to reverse the decision of the people instead of doing their job.  That is really what we should take from the past four years because it means the parties have officially taken over our democracy and continue to only push their own agenda.  They continue to manipulate us into thinking they are doing it for us when they only care about their own power.

Something very few talk about over the past four years is what was exposed of the American people.  We found that our internal prejudice, hatred, anger and frustration continues to drive the worst of who we are and act it out on our fellow human beings.  Instead of taking accountability for it, we continue to blame and criticize others for our actions and words.  The continual division of the people further stops us from really figuring out who we are as American's.  How can we expect to have a country we all can leave in if we are always separating ourselves into groups instead of being decent human beings.

It also exposed how easily we as people can be manipulated.  It has been proven Russia manipulated us into hating Hillary during the 2016 election by posting social media that created the hate.  We continue to manipulate each other on social media and politicians have figured out they can use the same platform to manipulate us.  At the same time, the social platforms themselves are using it to manipulate us into what they want us to know.  For those that do not think it can happen, watch the documentary "The Social Dilemma".

Covid 19, no matter what one believes, is probably the greatest crisis to hit this country since the Great Depression.  What this exposed is the failure of most people in a crisis.  It showed the breakdown of so many of our systems and how fear can overtake people's reaction.  This could have been something that united us as a country but instead it divided us even more because of these weaknesses.

It exposed is how weak our leaders are when it comes to understanding that they have the lives of 300 million people plus in their hands.  Trump, a person use to putting his own interests ahead of others, will always fail when it comes to protecting others.  He could not put aside his ego and that ego won't allow him to admit failure.  

Don't think that Trump is the only one that failed on this.  Our other leaders also showed how weak they are in a crisis.  First of all, trying to immediately blame every bad decision on Donald Trump so he doesn't get reelected instead of focusing on the crisis at hand showed their true character.  It was a time where the leaders could have worked together but instead kept driving their own party agenda instead of the agenda of the people.  Elections are our opportunity to show our leaders that we will not stand for their weakness and failures, this should have been used more in this past election because all of our leaders failed us from local, state and federal level.

Shutdowns, calling people essential and non essential, continuing to blame everything on racism, allowing people to protest and riot when others are told to stay in their houses.  Instead of treating the people of this country as human beings, we treated them as five year olds that have to be told what to do, when to do it and how to do it.  Then when we pushed back they had the gall to say we should be trying to unite as a country.  These are the failures of not only our leaders but ourselves because we let our fear be more important than making sure the country did not become what it did.

Even after the election, Trump continued to expose us.  Donald Trump says there is election issues, his opponents say he is a sore loser.  No one talks about an investigation they just continue the Trump dumping to get him out of office.  No one discusses the 2016 investigation that had to be done for Russia or the investigation that had to be done in 2018 when Stacey Abrahms cried fraud.  I guess if Donald Trump was a Democratic black woman, people might have listened.

Then came January 6th, a day that surprised people when it shouldn't have.  Continually being told that they should be quiet about the election or that they need to get over that their candidate lost.  What did they think was going to happen?  As they protested, people were saying they should shut up and this caused a few idiots to say enough was enough so they attacked the capitol.  All this really did was expose Trumps opponents for what they are, vindictive, petty, selfish individuals.  Instead of preparing for another President, one they wanted, they tried one last time to get Donald Trump and while they were at it, as many of their enemies as they could.  Of course, it also gave them an incident they could use to get their agenda moving in the next administration.  See how many times this incident is used to get what they want over the next four years.

The people of the establishment didn't care that they just won, they wanted to serve notice that no outsider would ever be welcome.  How may times over the years has a politician said things about other people that incited people to do things?  I am sure we can find plenty of examples, including examples where Presidents commuted sentences of the rioters.  These types of events may not have been the same type of situation but it is still actions of politicians that these occurred.  

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/history-violent-attacks-capitol-180976704/

One thing that continued to be exposed is that the riots were because voices continued to be ignored not only by the politicians but the American people.  Of course, when these riots occur it is because of white supremacy and ignorance.  When the 2020 racial riots occurred because their voice was trying to be heard, we were told we needed to listen to them and riots were an expression of their oppression.  Forgotten as well is the riots of 2016 election which also occurred to try to overturn an election were because we elected Donald Trump and needed to listen.

Figuring they could use the momentum, the riots also allowed the establishment to go after their perceived enemies.  If any Republican said anything about the election, they were going after them because they were part of the incitement.  It didn't matter that over the years, people such as Nancy Pelosi or the darling of the House, AOC have said some pretty rotten things about their counterparts as well as the people of this country.  They don't seem to be accountable for saying some of the things they say, including accusing fellow Congressman of 'attempted murder'.  I guess because there is no visual incitement of it so it is okay.

Say what you want about Donald Trump and you can say a lot about him.  What I want to say is thank you for doing what very few people have done before or will probably do after.  That is exposing the people of the establishment government for who they really are and their lack of character.  Also exposing the people of this country for their hypocrisy and some of the idiotic actions that we continue to blame on others for.

So thank you Donald Trump for showing us the way, now we need to use it to fix the problems.

Is Our Government Built for Today's Politics?

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation….

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness… it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

                                                  10 Things About Our Government

These are the words of our founding document the Declaration of Independence.  It basically says that the government's power comes from the people and if it isn't working it is our duty to replace that government.  Words we should take seriously, but in today's world we have let ourselves be beaten down so much we feel we can't make a difference.  We have been manipulated to be so scared that we think more government is the answer to protect us.

The founding fathers worked hard to build this country so it was not a monarchy but a republic.  A republic where the elected officials are suppose to do what is best for all of the people, not the ones that follow their beliefs or financial success.  I am sure that in the time this was a great premise but did this country change so much over 200 years that even the foresight the founders had was blind to what we have today.

Today's politics is not about doing what is right for the country, it is about empty promises, arrogance, selfishness, pettiness, theories and manipulation.  Instead of the people trying to make their country better, we spend our time dividing each other on behalf of our own agenda.

One of the reasons why we are a republic versus a democracy is the electoral college.  If we were a democracy, the popular vote would create the winner, which means the big states would have all the power.  In a republic, the electoral college makes sure that all states have a say in the election.  In our last election the popular vote favored the losing candidate for the 3rd time in history but you take away the margin of victory in California and that vote difference is close to zero.  In the previous two times, no complaint about the electoral college but in this past one, everyone wants to change so the electoral college goes away because that is what sore losers do.  It is also why the electoral college is the way it is.

Our government was created so Congress was suppose to be the decision makers of government while the President headed foreign affairs but was part of the checks and balances in everything else.  With the tremendous growth of this country, the power of the President has become more necessary, even to the point of thinking they could do anything.  Congress was built so that each state had a say in the way the country was run based on their own constituents as well as the constituents of other states.  However, now Congress is about making sure the other guy doesn't get what they want and about taking so much time bad mouthing the other side that nothing gets done.

Today the two parties have divided themselves and the people to the point of hating each other just because we belong to the other party.  Our political leaders are suppose to be representing everyone, no matter what party they are, and because we don't believe in this we don't hold them to it.  If a person does represent everyone equally, why would we ever need political parties?  Of course, the government and people would never allow this to happen because then we would have to see each other as people and as equals.  Has anyone ever noticed that this never an issue that is discussed.

Term limits was another idea that in today's country we are trying to destroy.  The founding fathers  wanted the chance for new ideas to come in or if the bad are part of the government to give us a chance to remove them.  The House is elected every two years and Senators are every six, the President every four years.  The real issue is that Congress has unlimited terms while the President only can serve 2 (which by the way was approved by Congress).  This really would not be an issue if we voted out the people that do not do what they are suppose to but instead we vote for their party instead of what they stand for.

Our government wasn't created in a world of fundraising that is 'needed' in today's world.  We as people have basically made it necessary for politicians to treat fundraising as more important than governing.  Politicians even use this to manipulate us as people.  They say they aren't asking large doners for money but they will ask the very people they are saying need more money to contribute to their campaign.  We have basically given money to politicians so they can spend their time berating and manipulating us to hating the other party or people.  Can any politician, even the ones that say they won't go negative, say anything without putting blame on someone or something?

                                                             Term Limits Debate

Maybe it was to make sure useless legislation doesn't get done but the founding fathers made it very long and tedious to get legislation passed.  Making it very tedious usually means there is not a lot long term growth unless there is a reason to expedite the bill.  Currently, since 1973 there has been over 300,000 bills introduced but only over 12,000 has been put into law. (4%)  There are over 1,000 bills from 1973 alone that never became law.

Constitutional Amendments can also take time to create.  Two thirds of the states have to ratify an amendment which can take a long time.  Even though the 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 14th Amendment giving rights and freedoms to ex slaves took five more years to create.  In that time how many people went back to becoming slaves, were killed or not given the right to vote.                                             
As if the process is not slow enough, several people introduce the same bills, with only small differences.  How does this not segregate the number of voters on the bill or create a bottleneck on getting the bill passed?  For example, there are 2 Medicare for All bills where the only main difference is one takes 2 years to implement and one 4 years to implement.  Why would you need two instead of one if you were able to come to compromises?  Is credit for the bill more important than the bill itself?  Does this government bureaucracy really allow for getting things done quickly and efficiently?

                                                  How a Bill Becomes Law Children Style
                                     
I am sure when the founding fathers created the system, financially backing each bill wasn't as a big of a question as it is today or maybe they didn't think of the taxpayers as a big piggy bank.  With our deficit as high as it is today, financial transparency should be a priority for passing a bill.  Otherwise, if a bill is actually approved into law then time has to be spent trying to find the money for it which may include another bill.  Politicians manipulate us so they can refill the bank instead of fixing the problem.  Why would we ever want a bill that didn't show how it would be paid for, isn't that like paying for a car and then the salesman says he will tell you what the payment is later?

When our government was created, polls were not even a thought, empty promises had nothing to do with politics and political theories were not the cornerstone of our country.  Today, all of these are used to manipulate us to get us to agree with them, divide us so we can't see the reality of what is really happening or get us to hate one group or another.  Our country is being run on an illusion while the reality is our country is breaking into pieces.

We say unemployment is low at 3% but this is based on a statistic given to us by the government.  It is a political tool to highlight when things are good and attack when things are bad.  Why else would we not care that 3% is still 5 million people unemployed?  Is there even 5 million jobs available when we have so called full employment?  Is the reason we are so easily manipulated because it is easier seeing people as a statistic then actual human beings who are suffering?

We want our candidates to make promises to us so that we have a reason to vote for them.  Then when they don't keep these promises we get angry and ask why.  The funny thing is that the promises they make to us most of the time they cannot do in the first place.  No one knows what kind of Congress they will have or what the state of the country will be in when they take office.  Then they say they are going to make several changes when the previously mentioned legislation process is slow.

Have we ever thought when we answer or rely on polls that we are just being manipulated into being used by the political world or each other to adhere to another's agenda?  How would we react if we actually saw politicians or each other talking about our issues instead of trying to shove them down our throat?  Just because 1,000 people make up 87% of wanting something, doesn't mean that 300 million people want something.

The founding fathers wanted to try to build a government that was somewhat the British way but unique in its own way.  To try to take 50 little countries and ask them to act as one.  To let people have freedoms so that they can treat each other as equals.  Even if we have done so in the past, our current way of dealing with each other and politics has destroyed any of these.

Our government was suppose to be of the people, for the people and by the people.  We have turned it into a government and country of whining, complaining, greedy, arrogant, insensitive, selfish, pettiness, scared people.  What happens when you have this, easy manipulation where real change doesn't happen, only division happens.  What happens then, a house divided cannot stand.

The only way to move forward is with real change.  Don't believe it can happen?  The founding fathers did, that is why they told us it can.  We just have to believe it and make the sacrifice that our founding fathers did.

Are we ready to do that?

America is Too Unique to Follow Others

It really irritates me when people say we should be following the way other countries are structured.  We are always being measured against other countries in areas of crime, education, military, etc.  People want to use that for their own agenda without really thinking about one very important aspect.
 The United States of America is a country where there is no equal because its structure is unique and because of this, it has created unique complications and issues.  These complications have caused a division in the country especially when we do not look at ourselves as the unique country we are.

First of all, we are one country that has fifty states as part of it. States that have their own constitution, economy, blend of people, governments, basically fifty sub countries.  Tell me any other country in the world that is following this structure and then I will start to review their structure to see where they can help us.

Next, the population of 320 plus million people are a melting pot of people.  We have different religions, different cultures, different social classes, not only in the country as a whole but by each state.  We were setup to invite people to this country by promoting freedoms and the American dream.  How many other countries are inviting people to their country for what they offer?  Tell me that and then maybe we can start having a conversation about it.

Finally, we tried to build a foundation in this country of freedoms.  The ability to follow your own religion, to be able to protest when you want change, freedom to write, speak and express when we see something that is wrong.  Give me examples of where another country has the blend of people we have and are offering the freedoms that we 'offer' and again we can talk.

So with us being a unique country did we really believe we were not going to make mistakes or have growing pains?  Why would we ever say we were a great country when we are still growing and progressing?  If we were great at anytime, it was a fleeting moment and not a permanent state.  Think of how fast we have changed in 400 years and ask ourselves how would we ever think we wouldn't have the kind of issues we have had.

One of the unique characters of this country is it has given the power to the people but also made them responsible for using that power.  Instead of using it to make our country better, we manipulate each other to use that power for the agenda of others.  We are always being told what our most important agenda should be or we are always trying to instill our own agenda as being the most important.  We are always being told what we should do or think instead of being asked or just doing it on our own.  We are always blaming or criticizing others for the problems without really reviewing what the true cause is.  This comes from there being so many different types of people in this country and there is no precedent on how to bring us all together for some kind of compromised agenda.

This country was built to be run based on state's rights and the federal government was to be the check and balance against the states.  But that has changed dramatically for various reasons.  No country has the issue of trying to deal with the needs of fifty different states, some rich and some poor while at the same time keeping a Federal Government alive.  Obviously life in New York is not the same as Mississippi and that is okay but where is the rule book on how to help them both live together in the same country.  So we generalize everything as if each state is the same.

Something as simple as a license plate tag, none of the states do it the same.  So buying a sixty thousand dollar car in Illinois will cost you $150 a year for your tag but in Colorado it will costs thousands of dollars each year until your car is old enough for it not to.  There is no additional services received for the extra money so it is money needed for agendas that the people might not even know about.

How can we expect to implement something like a federal minimum wage when that wage means less in California and New York than it does in South Carolina and Kansas.?  But we are being manipulated to believe that $15 a hour will be okay for the entire country when in reality it doesn't help anyone it is suppose to other than single people.  The $15 isn't even an immediate fix, it is a phased fix, so who will suffer until that time?  Again, where is the precedent for this?

The electoral college was built so that every state had a say and were able to be represented.  If there were no electoral college or some other way to give even the smallest state a say, all of the large states would rule all elections and legislation.  That is why we were created as a republic and not a democracy so that every state has a voice and can use that voice to make changes not only for themselves but for the country as a whole.

Some people of this country believe that the rich are the biggest issue of the country because they are always bypassing the system to get what they want or because we bend over backwards to please them.  That is one of our biggest illusions we have been manipulated to accept.  It downplays those that have succeeded and I am not talking about the millionaires, I am talking about the people who are actually living the life they enjoy.  This country was built for everyone, that includes the rich, the poor, the middle class.  This country is the way it is because all of the people have allowed this progress to happen with the eventual outcomes.  This is not because of one person or another, it is because we have all made decisions, good and bad, that effect us all.

Even our history, the good or bad, came with the blessing of the people.  Slavery would not have existed unless we allowed it to.  Even though we stole these people from their land, they became part of this country even if it did take legislation instead of morality to do it.  We made the choice to ex slaves back into society walking next to the very people who whipped them without any kind of plan for either side.  Did we really think that was going to get them to play nice together?  Again, there wasn't alot of precedent for this and obviously the way we did it continued with animosity to this day.

Whether you believe we stole the land or not from the Native American's, the way they were treated was wrong.  As supposed Christian people, could we have not lived peacefully with a compromise versus using our own agenda to make us into monsters.  The only precedent we had was previous conquerors so how would we ever think of anything else?

Even if the rich were the problem, then why do we insist on always electing people that are either rich or are so overcome with power that they actually become slaves to their own greed.  To make matters worse, we keep them in power, because we are manipulated in believing they have our best interest in mind.  If the last presidential election showed us anything, it was that we do have the power to make changes and to do something in this country that we have never done before.  People won't look at it that way but that election result was truly our country at its best and worst.

Even our freedoms, we do not really believe in them unless it serves our own agenda.  We think we have the right to bear arms but not to burn the flag in protest.  We think we have to stand to pledge some kind of allegiance to America but can't kneel at the national anthem.  We think we have a right to stand in front of Wall Street, crapping all over the ground but the Klu Klux Klan does not have a right to march down the street.  Again, to try to have a country with real freedom is unprecedented and no one really knows where the line is drawn.

Medicare for All, which is a great concept, is a hot subject that is difficult to get immediate results on.  First of all, show me a country of our size and population that does universal health care, otherwise stop telling us about other countries.  Socialized health care is great when the entire country has agreed to it and the high tax that comes with it.  However, when you have a huge division of the country between who wants it and who does not, then it is going to be hard to come to a compromise.  Plus we were not built as a welfare state, we were built to have limited government which is why again no country can give us the real answer.

Every country has poor people and in this case maybe we can look at how other countries handle this but how can we when the structure is not the same.  Some states have more poor than others and the reasons are different for each state, and that is not always the rich's fault.  Instead of figuring out what the reasons are we throw money at it hoping that will fix it.  How has that worked so far?

One of the largest issues in the world that very few talk about is how people see each other.  It makes an impact in a situation such as India/Pakistan where they do not see each other as human beings but as religious groups that can't get along.  Who else puts several cultures together in one country and asks them to get along without any kind of compromise?  To make it easier to survive, we don't see each other as human beings, we see each other as labels (Republican, Democrat), groups (Gay, Christian) or color (Do I even have to mention this).  If this is how we walk through life judging each other, how do we think we are going to get along let alone fix issues.  Every where we look, someone or something is trying to manipulate us to see each other as something other than human beings.

Our country was not built to follow, it was built to lead.  How many world wide inventions have come out of the United States?  How many people come here to buy our product because it is cheaper than the product in their own country?  Unfortunately, with a leadership that is always looking ahead or to their own agenda as progress moves forward, we leave too many behind.  Then we put blame on others because we do not want to look in the mirror at what we have done.  When you lead without example, there are too many people that get lost.

Our progress as a country has caused us to be admired and to be hated.  It has caused us to make alot of mistakes, some of atrocious nature but we have some great things as well.  The one thing we should never do is be manipulated into thinking that we need to follow other countries way of doing things.  We should never be manipulated to think that we do not have the power to change anything.  We should never be manipulated into thinking that our uniqueness stops us from being human beings.

So to all the countries who think they are better than us because they have universal health care or free college, go fuck yourself.  If you do not like the way we are, stay the fuck out because you do not have any clue on what we are trying to do.  To all the people that want us to be like other countries, if you do not like the way our country is, there is the door that you can use to go somewhere else.  Otherwise, take responsibility for your place in this country and help to make it what it will always be...one of a kind.

$15 - Is it Just a Political Ploy?

Wages are always a battle between people that do the work and people that pay the wages.  The people doing the work always think they deserve more money for what they do, even if they are not doing that much.  The people that pay the wages are always looking for ways to make sure the wages are low enough to not hurt their business.  With all of these battles, will a solution for a livable wage ever become reality?

Is basic necessity enough money to buy clothes, house, food, etc?  Would a car be classified as a basic need if you have to go to work?  Would a cell phone be defined as a basic in today's society?  If you worked and were able to afford all of this, would your wages be considered livable?  If you were able to only afford clothes, house and food but not a car or other needs, does that mean it is not a livable wage?

Minimum wage is the argument that people use about a livable wage.  America is unique, and sometimes complicated, in that we have 50 states that are almost like little countries.  They all have their own economy, their own rules, their own problems.  So what may be a livable wage in one state would not be a livable wage in another.  If this is true, then how do we think that we can come up with one standard minimum wage that every state can adhere to?  Do politicians that are 'fighting' for the people understand this or are they just using $15 to manipulate us to agreeing with them?

Even though today's federal minimum wage is one amount, most states have implemented their own minimum wage.  Do we think that $15 is the government trying to manipulate the states into raising their minimum wage?  Where does federal intervention start and states rights end?

It is amazing to me that in today's world we have access to so much information yet we still let people manipulate us into giving them what they want.  One example of this is the $15 discussion.  Almost every legislation or 'agreement' to raise the minimum wage to $15 is not the reality that people think it is.  Most of the agreements are phased in over what is usually 5 years.  So they raise the current minimum wage to around $12 and then it goes up a certain percentage over the 5 years until it is $15.  So how many people know this versus thinking that the $15 would be immediate?  How is this not manipulating us to giving people what they want versus what is best for us?  What is $15 going to be worth five years from now versus today?

Only about 2% of hourly workers are making current minimum wage or below.  Now that is around 1.8 million people but it is still a small sample.  Out of the 98% that are making above minimum wage we do not know what the average wage is for those people, including how many already make the $12 or above.  Is this the reason why people don't talk about people making minimum wage anymore they talk about a livable wage instead?

Do politicians actually think that raising the minimum wage will cause the company to raise other people's wages that are already making the new minimum wage?  Do unions agree with this so that they can get more money for their employees?  If the new minimum wage is implemented, will companies respond by cutting people's hours or getting rid of people which will put more demand on other employees?

Will raising the minimum wage actually raise prices on product?  In normal business, if the business wants to make a profit then they have to raise prices if costs rise.  If a business doesn't raise prices then either they are okay with less profit or their prices were so high before that the cost increase is okay?  If raising the minimum wage causes small businesses to close, is the government going to help these people?

Why hasn't anyone ever asked politicians if they are only wanting to raise the minimum wage because they want more taxes for their programs?  Why is $15 the wage that is acceptable?  This is only $31,200 a year which is about $7,000 higher than the poverty rate.  We are told that most people making minimum wage can't afford a $400 surprise bill but why is $400 the number?  Does that mean they will be able to afford all these additional costs after $15?  Every number is given to us by the government and we are asked to believe it.

Why have we not put some responsibility on ourselves?  Minimum wage was not meant to be a career wage, if anything it should be a temporary wage until getting a career that we want.  If we are making minimum wage as a career, then maybe we need to reevaluate what needs to happen to change that part of our life.  If we are not making enough money to provide for ourselves or our family, then maybe we need to look at why that is.  We still have to take responsibility for our lives.

People's wages should be something we take seriously because we are dealing with people's livelihood.  It shouldn't be a political ploy, it shouldn't be corporations looking at people as numbers instead of human beings and it shouldn't be people looking at others as if they are less than human beings.

There are still a lot of questions out there related to the $15 minimum wage.  Who is responsible for giving us the answers, government, corporations, people?  Until everyone comes together to try to help those that need it, these questions will continue to pile up without answers or with answers that only are there to manipulate us.

Budgeting Our Agriculture

One of the things that happen each year in our government is the annual budget of our Federal Government.  Being a person in Finance this has always interested me because I really do wonder how much of our budget is wasted and how much is really necessary.

So I have decided as part of this site to go over each area of the ‘Make America Great Again’ budget and communicate on it so we can see whether we agree or disagree with how our money is being spent.

So what I noticed first about the budget was that the first ten was all about the reasons for the cuts in each department, how it was for efficiency purposes and the need for the increase in areas of defense of this country.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf

The first department to be discussed is the Department of Agriculture.  This department is to provide leadership to promote sustainable agriculture production, protect long term availability of food through innovative research, and safeguard the health and productivity of the nation’s forests, grasslands and private working lands.  Basically, this department is about protecting our food and our forests.

The message on the budget for this department was about streamlining or reducing programs where the department competes with the private sector or other levels of government.  So basically, where they think these services can be provided by the businesses or departments that they think are better, the services are cut or reduced.

The budget reflects a 4.7 Billion dollar, or 21%, reduction, from the previous budget.

The reductions or eliminations are as follows:

-Reducing funding for lower priorities in the National Forest System, such as major new Federal land acquisition, instead focusing on maintaining existing lands.

-Basically this program reduces the chance of the government buying up land to either protect or sell for their own use therefore leaving it open for the ‘private’ sector.

http://www.trcp.org/2017/03/16/trumps-proposed-budget-threaten-hunting-fishings-future-2/

 

-Reduces funding for USDA’s statistical capabilities, while maintaining core Departmental ana­lytical functions, such as the funding necessary to complete the Census of Agriculture.

 

            -Reducing the amount of statistics is always a good thing.

 

-Eliminates the duplicative Water and Wastewater loan and grant program, a savings of $498 million from the 2017 annualized CR level. Rural communities can be served by private sector financing or other Federal investments in rural water infrastructure, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s State Revolving Funds.

 

-This program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage system, sewage disposal, sanitary waste disposal and storm water drainage to businesses and homes in rural areas.

https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/water-waste-disposal-loan-grant-program

https://www.epa.gov/cwsrf

 

-So basically this is to push the safety of our water into the hands of the private sector or the states.  For example, Flint, Michigan.

 

-Reduces duplicative and underperforming programs by eliminating discretionary activities of the Rural Business and Cooperative Service, a savings of $95 million from the 2017 annualized CR level.

 

-This offers programs to support business development and job training opportunities for rural residents.

https://www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-business-cooperative-service

 

-Discretionary spending is optional spending for programs which means it can be eliminated easily.

 

-What actual programs this will reduce or cut is not known.

 

-Eliminates the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program, which lacks evidence that it is being effectively implemented to reduce food insecurity.

 

-This program provides for US agricultural products as well as feeding of school age children in poverty stricken countries.

https://www.interaction.org/choose-to-invest-2017/mcgovern-dole-international-food-for-education-and-child-nutrition

 

--Where is the evidence that it is not working because there is plenty of evidence that it does.

 

-Are we okay with providing for other countries feeding as part of our spending in this country?

 

 

Not a lot of people know about the Department of Agriculture and people forget that there is still farming going on in today’s country.

 

Do we believe that we should be cutting federal programs where they are in direct competition with private businesses?  Do we believe that incidents like GMO labeling or the Flint Crisis would be better off in the hands of corporate America?

 

We should agree that spending by the government needs to be more efficient but to do it so that corporations are in charge only brings about the country being at the mercy of them same corporations.

 

Is that the country we want?

We are Not Listening to the Anthem Protests

“To Sin in Silence when We Should Protest makes Cowards Out of Men” Ella Wheeler Wilcox

There are many different issues that plague this country and there will always be problems that plague this country.  How can we expect anything less when we are trying to be a country that prides itself on its diversity and freedoms?  If we do not try to fix these issues, however, then we are only giving lip service to what this country really is versus what it could be.

In this country, we have the right to protest something as a way of trying to make real change.  This is a right for everyone, even for the people/groups that we may not believe should have the right.  Like anything, though, protests only bring about change when they are taken seriously and when people want to make the change.

A good example of this is people protesting our national anthem.  It all started with one quarterback who chose to not stand during the national anthem.  It wasn’t until he was actually noticed that someone asked why he was doing it.  He honestly said that he was protesting the oppression of black people in this country as well as police treatment towards black people.  As soon as this was made public, the new world of social media began.

Of course, as with the burning of the flag, anything related to the ‘patriotism’ of this country is deemed wrong.  The haters came out, calling names, saying they were spoiled athletes or taking away their endorsements.  In the end, we were happy when they were entertaining us but when they use their celebrity to call out the issues of the country, then they are bad people.

People joining the protest are doing so making the sacrifice for something they believe in.  They know there will be consequences, they know there will be haters but they believe in trying to get some action on the things they believe in.  It is a lot better than people sitting behind a computer ‘protesting’ on Facebook or Twitter or afraid to protest because it will cost them something.  If one is not willing to sacrifice themselves for the protest then it is just empty.

Would this protest be viewed differently if white people and the police joined in?  There are a lot of both that probably do believe the same thing but are they afraid to do anything because it would cause a problem?  I actually told someone that I was going to join this protest and their response was no you are not.  No asking me why, just no I was not.  If we are trying to get racism changed in this country, white people can’t always be the enemy and black people can’t always be the victim because both are needed to make the change.  We also can't be afraid to join in the protest just because we are white or with the police.

Is one of the reasons that this protest is so divided because they do not do a good job of communicating the agenda beyond the protest?  It is great to say the agenda at the beginning but one still has to create actions on it so that it does not get lost in the distractions.  As these protests continue, I do not see any of these athletes getting together with police officials to see what can be done to make things better.  I do not see police leader’s or black leader’s trying to fix this issue yet both sides have no problem complaining about the protest itself.  There comes a time when there has to be more done beyond putting up a fist in the name of solidarity.

What about empathizing with the people fighting against the protest or not joining the protest?  Has anyone bothered to ask why some athletes have not joined the protest even though they believe the same problem?  Why have we not seen one protestor say they do not feel they are disrespecting the people that have died for the flag, if anything it is the greatest respect to use the very freedom they died for to change things.  Being against a protest or not joining is as much of a right but it doesn’t mean those people can’t be brought together to help change the issue.

Another part of protesting is the images of the protests themselves.  Over the years different pictures from this country and the world have shown protests but how many inspired changes versus inspired violence.  If we showed more images that would inspire or question change, would that help get more people together?  How can we not be inspired from a single person standing in front of a tank in Tenemin square to help change why that tank is there in the first place?  How inspired are we when we see Muslims burning a flag in Iran?  Where we should be inspired with pictures of people not standing for the national anthem instead we seem to just show pictures of people looting for three days.

Protesting is something we should be proud of in this country and we should show the world how this freedom helps to get things changed.  Unfortunately, the reality of protesting is that we continue to let it divide us and create more hate.  The more this happens, the less we will protest to change anything.  This is exactly what the people we are protesting against want because then they can continue to do the things that are wrong.

Albert Einstein said “What is right is not always popular and what is popular is not always right”.  There is a severe race problem in this country one that has divided us so bad that now the police are one side of it.  We need to listen to these people who are doing something they know is not popular by using an event we hold sacred to protest because they feel what they are doing is right.