Archive for the 'Entitlement Programs' Category

John Sweeney wants a Democrat economic stimulus bill

Posted by Moonage on 03 Nov 2008 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs, National Politics

John Sweeney had this to say in The Hill Blog:
Thursday’s economic news is not a surprise to working families. We can only hope it will be jarring enough to the White House and Republican leaders in Congress that they will finally agree with Democratic leaders that we need a genuine economic stimulus package now, in [...]

Unemployment jumps to five year high ( I told ya so! )

Posted by Moonage on 06 Sep 2008 | Tagged as: 2008 Presidential Race, Entitlement Programs, Fed Policy, Fun with Numbers, Idiot of the day, Political Correctness

Almost two years ago, I warned Nancy Pelosi what would happen if they jerked around with the minimum wage without adjusting other funding to account for it.  She’s a stubborn old bag and didn’t listen.  They promptly crammed it through Congress.
July 1, minimum wage went up 70 cents.  That’s about a 13% increase.
One month later, [...]

Why Aren’t Public Schools More Like Universities?

Posted by Moonage on 06 Sep 2005 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

Richard Vedder asks "Why Aren’t Public Schools More Like Universities?".  He gives a couple of compelling reasons why they could and should.  I was ready with the easy retort of "Because we can’t afford $10k a year for 20 years."  But, Vedder does address that.  And, he puts in some limitations to keep that from [...]

Supporting Social Security Reform

Posted by Moonage on 20 Feb 2005 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

From MSNBC:
In two days of testimony this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan offered plenty of support for President Bush’s plan to overhaul Social Security and partially replace it with a system of personal accounts.

There’s the message, then they promptly shoot the messenger:
Even though Greenspan is a recognized authority on Social Security, given his work [...]

The Social Security Game

Posted by Moonage on 13 Feb 2005 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

This is pretty fun.  For what it’s worth, I made it to 100% on the first try!  Be sure to leave your scores as comments.
– Moon

Technorati Tags: Entitlement Programs

Saving, The Rant

Posted by Moonage on 11 Feb 2005 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

We want everything to be above average. We want more benefits for our future retired, so we’re going to borrow to fund their savings, then hand them the debt along with the accounts. We want more savings, so we also have IRAs and 401ks and maybe we’ll switch to consumption-based taxes. But we also want [...]

Supporting Privatized Retirement Accounts

Posted by Moonage on 07 Feb 2005 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

Becker of the Becker-Posner blog takes an vastly different angle at supporting Privatized Retirement Accounts.  This is definitely something to think about:
Tax revenue from social security taxes at present exceed payments to retirees. This excess is counted as part of the growing Social Security Trust Fund, but in fact also enters into the consolidated Federal [...]

Social Security, solvency and political spin

Posted by Moonage on 15 Jan 2005 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

Social Security is years away from anything that honestly could be described as a financial crisis. But that has not stopped President Bush from trying to whip up enthusiasm for his proposed personal retirement accounts by warning of an imminent disaster.
In its 70-year history, Social Security has faced dire predictions, including the threat of insolvency. [...]

History of SSI

Posted by Moonage on 20 Dec 2004 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

EDITOR’S NOTE — President Bush has made his ambitious proposal to revamp Social Security a priority for his second term. This is one in an occasional series of stories exploring the retirement system, why changes are needed and the proposals for reform, including Bush’s push for private investment accounts.
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) [...]

Tweak It, Not Destroy It

Posted by Moonage on 20 Dec 2004 | Tagged as: Entitlement Programs

Social Security in the United States is a program against old-age poverty. It provides insurance benefits to others, too: workers who become disabled, survivors of workers who die. But mostly, by guaranteeing something between $12,000 and $20,000 a year to every participant, depending on their lifetime earnings, it’s a way of insuring that no elderly [...]

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