The Republican Party (what an oxymoron!) has no interest in winning elections. They’re in it for the grift. That’s why most “elected” Republicans hate PDJT so much - he understands the seamy underside of politics and seems quite sincere about bringing the whole rotten edifice down. I only hope that in the unlikely event he is able to “beat the cheat” (is that a potential campaign slogan?) in 2024 he truly learned from his mistakes and appoints only the most effective and ruthless of people to help him complete his task. We may have already had our last “free” election, but maybe the country has one more chance to slam the brakes on the slippery slide we’re racing down.
He appoints effective people? Like him or not, Trump has not demonstrated that he is a loyal or supportive boss. I certainly would not work for him, and I’m not alone in that feeling. I’m not sure he will be able to recruit effective people if he is elected.
I don't want to work for him either. I want him to work for ME..... At this point he's the only one running that appears able and willing to work for me.
If all you have to choose from is bad, badder, & baddest, (or as the song goes, Gypsies, tramps & thieves) what or where do you want him to go to. As I recalled Trump actually tried to mix in some outsiders (Moore/Bannon) & the establishment made their lives a living hell.
I had a boss in the Army very similar to Trump. He was sort of larger than life in his demeaner, would war game things in his head and keep things close to his chest until suddenly springing them on you and you had to react on short notice. Mr. Trump is similar I believe. It appears that the people who stay around him understand how he operates, they make sure they clearly understand his priorities ahead of time, and they are ready to move on short notice. Todays "manager leaders" cannot operate at that speed. They have to receive the instructions, develop a plan, go to their teams and develop the plan, and then execute. They are of no use to people like Trump because they are too cautious and lack "real" leadership. Trumps system works for him and anyone else who thinks rapidly and has a firm grasp and experience in their area of expertise. His people need to sort of think like he does and be able to react on the spot. That's how deals are made in his world. He just has no tolerance for people who are too cautious or worried about things going wrong. They are that way because they are not fully on-board with his objectives. They think they will get the job and then change the parts of Trumps objectives they don't agree with. So he goes thru a lot of people. Good news is, we have lots of good people just waiting for the chance to show they can do it. So I don't need to be like him to vote for him.
He's just a lousy judge of character. He raves about appointees and blisters them when he dumps them. But he's a genius when it comes to negotiating. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT. PS: He doesn't fall down steps and walk into walls.
12/08/23: I sure hope that Vivek is one of his appointments, preferably as the head of the FBI/DHS (he'd clean out the rats infested in those criminal cartels). Meanwhile, Nikki Haley has appointed Troglyte Troye as her running mate!
Vivek is a good guy, just not ready for primetime. Saying things and then getting them accomplished are two very different animals. I want to see LTG (Ret) Mike Flynn appointed to run our Intelligence agencies because they are at the heart of our so-called deep state. The FBI is just a tool and will go whatever direction they are pointed because at the heart of the agency, are just career agents more worried about screwing up and losing their future pensions. They need to be able to report problems without fear if their chain of command doesn't address it. DHS needs to get kicked thru the goal posts of life and dissolved as a failed bad idea gone worse. Halley, who has some good qualities, is too much a part of the deep state.
Right you are. Thatcher was a remarkable leader! Unfortunately, with the current political theater of accepting lies, cheating, and subterfuge as just tools to win power instead of seeking honesty and truth, finding a true statesmen today is a rare occurrence. I pray that integrity makes a national comeback in the days to come.
This entire exercise of supposed candidates running for President is a massive joke.
The entire world - every man, woman and child - knows exactly who the people on the Right want as their candidate overwhelmingly, and yet this farce continues to be played out on live TV, while the actual candidate is being dragged and gagged through nearly a half-dozen court systems on bogus indictments, all issued by none other than the opposition party!
It’s like watching a Shakespearean play! But it’s “we the people” who are being played.
It is ALL FAKE, ALL CORRUPT, and extraordinarily EVIL.
The people need to wake up to see what’s being done to them: the Left is determined to remove our candidate by any means necessary as he poses an existential threat to their very existence.
We KNOW who our candidate is, we KNOW who we will vote for, and we will not be deceived by their wicked games.
Because to us, this not a game. It is about our survival as a nation.
Not sure I am on board totally with that but I will say that the GOP has very low standards sometimes while pairing it with a horrible PR and marketing model. We keep giving McDaniel a cush job and do-overs for losing time and time again. That isn't a plan for success, that is a plan for chronic losing.
These are the candidates that the RNC (McDaniel) wanted to see on stage because with the exception of DeSantis, they are all "pliable and moldable" down the road. Re: RINO material.
As far as I am concerned Nikki Haley is a two faced liar and never to be trusted, but Don let's be honest about this, LBJ put all the money in one big pot so he could have "guns and butter" the only SS funds are on paper. There is no real separate fund. We as a nation have overspent and over promised. Social Security gets paid first but the bills are still out there and our children will never be able to pay them off.
We are playing with monopoly money now and the only thing keeping us afloat is our word that we will pay the piper and because we always have lived up to our word the piper thinks he will be paid so he will lend us more or wait for his money. The day the piper wakes up and thinks we won't is the day we all wake up broke. And that day will be followed by days that will make the Great Depression look like good times by comparison.
Yes, but he was referring to locking in the program as it is, so no changes could be made in the future outside of yearly adjustments. He just wanted it out of reach of fiscally responsible members who understood it needed to be remodeled.
I think what Don was referring to was that SSI was currently taking in more than they were paying out but there is no real pot that has the surplus in it. Each year congress has to approve the funds for SSI to use for benefit payments. The problem with SSI is it has been used and abused for decades and now covers far more things than it was ever envisioned to cover. Some people are approved to receive payments that have never paid a dime into it. The average person takes out significantly more from it than they paid in. When the Dems allowed the trust fund payments to be dumped into a common account and accessed for other purposes, it was doomed. Without significant changes, SSI will not be able to cover its entitlement commitments, so something needs to be done soon.
Don lists some of her idiotic campaign statements. Those and more are irrefutable proof she is incapable of forming coherent thoughts about governing in general, government finances and international relations. Like many before her, she is an empty suit candidate getting undeserved attention. The attention comes to her a la Hillary, because she is a woman and the media sees an easily defeated GOP candidate.
Don, it's worse than you think. That $2.8 trillion surplus is all on paper. Ditto the "trust fund". There is no account where all that cash is collecting interest. By law, Social Security and all the other independently funded state programs must "invest" any surplus in Treasury securities -- that is, "loan" it to the Congress. That means that this surplus is actually part of the national debt.
Bizarro is right. If this money was placed in a lockbox (i.e. our trust fund), there would be no problem with funding retirement. It was OUR money placed in trust over and above income tax. Raising the retirement age or reducing benefits is stealing OUR money from us.
Here's a little mental exercise to help pass the time. Whenever you see or hear the words "Nikki Haley", simply replace them with "Nimrata Randhawa." It will bring much needed clarity to your thinking. If you really want to complete the mental picture, think of Leon Varadkar, the "Irish" Prime Minister. The one who wants to put anyone who is critcal of unlimited immigration to Ireland in jail. Yeah, that one. Then ask what he and Nimrata have in common. Let me give you the answer. They are both children of immigrants to their respective countries whose parents are originally from India! (In the case of Varadkar, only his father was Indian, so double the immigrant proportion for Nimrata.) They both got elected by claiming to be "conservative." And it does not take a soothsayer to predict that, should she be elected (God forbid!), Little Nimmi would replecate the path forged by Leon. Did those who claim to support her learn nothing from the election of B. Hussein Obama, whose father was (allegedly) a citizen of Kenya (unless his father was really Frank Davis Marshal, but that's another story)? It's so easy to believe such people when they claim to be as American as apple pie, but the truth is that the offspring of immigrants have been proven to be the MOST likely to feel alientated from their culture-of-birth and LEAST patriotic citizens, and frequently become radicalized against their natal land. Look it up. Then look up "The Manchurian Candidate."
I know by your prior comments that you are one of her supporters, and I respect your decision even though I strongy disagree with it. However, I arrive at the same conclusion about her either way. She is not a trustworthy person. Please read again Don's original post; his quip that she is today's equivalent of Karl Rove says it all and very succinctly.
I think she's staying in the race, no matter what, because she assumes Trump will be be convicted in all the socialist show trials/suits and either be in jail, or will be asassinated by the Dems. They have a rich history of doing so to political opponents, starting in the 1850's against anti-slavery people (Remember "bleeding Kansas"? All the other border states had much Democrat- instigated violence, too), Lincoln, Garfield, invaded the Capital rotunda and shot up a bunch of people (none died, fortunately) in the 1950's, and tried to kill Ford in the '70's. They have a deep bench of violent supporters in BLM, antifa, which is an anarchist group, the various Maoist/communist unions and academic groups, as the summer of love showed, plus in the upper reaches of the business community, who will fund these people.
Gutting SS and Medicare is just part of their formula for destroying the middle class and therefore, the country, as you have repeatedly pointed out in your fine writings, and she's just another of the RINO's/Dems tools.
Amen. They hate America, and want to see her brought down. They dont understand that wont get to rule the dung heap left. There are way to many military aged men coming across the boarder from way too many places . We will have fighting here on US soils I truly fear.
Why would anybody continue this charade thinking they can win the nomination for president? There’s only a few answers. They are either running for vice president, making money so they can run their lavish lifestyle with money. They keep from their campaign or they are deluded. If we examine each of the four remaining B candidates their motivation for remaining in the contest becomes more clear.
Christie has been a buffoon and has an ego structure problem. Only
way he could win the nomination is if he was the only human left on the planet. Similarly Ron D ego will not let him leave the race since he believed all the hype early on that he was so brilliant. ( This is a trend I saw at Harvard a lot.) . Therefore, both of these two men are in the delusional category.
Vic is running for VP. He is not criticized DJT and he parrots his indignation.
Finally, the dark haired Hillary is a grifter. However, her donor are making sure she’s a saboteur. She gets her grift when the Republican pottery and Donald Trump are injured or destroyed. One might she learned a lot from the Chinese inspired Hunter Biden.
“…former UN ambassador’s courage for advocating changes to ‘an entitlement system that makes promises it can’t keep.”
Social Security it NOT an entitlement program as the payees spent their entire working lives funding it. If Haley wants to fix entitlement programs may I suggest that the entire welfare system be torn down. We have millions of third and fourth generation lay-abouts who are perfectly capable of working but don’t, millions of illegals who are sucking on the government teat and millions of baby mamas who keep popping out the kids to get bigger checks from those of us who have worked our entire adult lives. Housing, food, medical care, prepaid phones, etc provided by us and they never even say Thank You.
Sundance writes, "At a certain point you just start laughing at the insufferable corporate club, a corporation we call the RNC and all those therein.
"If we retain our non-pretending status, we all know the reason why. CNN provides the mechanisms for domestic political narrative creation. The RNC will keep attempting to eliminate the Trump virus from their controlled political operation up until the very end. The RNC agenda and the CNN agenda are the same; that reality is why this decision. Yes, it really is that simple.
The functional mission of the UniParty apparatus is not based on ideology; the core and consequential baseline revolves around the business of American politics and the motives of the people who control the institutions within it. For this outline I focus only on the Republican wing, the GOP corporation, one side of the professional business apparatus.
"WRITE THIS DOWN, and force yourself to remember it every day. “The Republican Party priority is to retain their business, to control the outcomes, and this has nothing to do with winning elections.” The RNC would rather lose elections and retain power, than win elections and lose operational control over the apparatus.
"In the past several decades, the motive of a Republican or Democrat politician, advancing their influence by running for political office, has absolutely nothing to do with representing the interests of the American people. Nothing. Their interests are to engage within the business of politics, while presenting themselves as qualified actors, to retain the premise of political service. This is why they will spend $10 million to win an office that only pays $400k/yr.
"The business of buying, selling and controlling policy, is the core operation of people within the US political system. As an outcome, the business has two wings – the RNC and the DNC. Two private corporations inside the political industry who are in place to retain the overall business model. The RNC and DNC are both funded by the same interests, banks, corporations, Wall St interests, and even foreign interests who purchase outcomes.
"The RNC and DNC are two operational wings inside the industry of politics. They are in the same business, but they have slightly different business models."
The article summarizes that Donald Trump is not the problem, Donald Trump is our solution to the problem of having a political system in which we have taxation without representation. Congress doesn't function to represent us, their job is to represent their billionaire donors and pretend they are representing us.
Our entire political system has shifted from a Constitutional Republic to either a crony Capitalist- Marxist system (like China's) or a Fascist political system in which government is fused with corporations and controls all the levers of power. Whatever you call our government, the US Constitution has been shredded and our legal system is there to protect the rights of the State, not the rights of the citizens. Citizens have few rights. Traditional Catholics are the latest FBI "enemy of the state" designee.
A majority of Americans support Israel, but our President is funding Israel's enemies: Iran, Hezbollah, the Free Lebanese Army, Hamas and the PA. Americans don't want Ukraine funded but Congress is determined to fund Ukraine. Americans don't want open borders but Congress puts on acts for cameras and leaves the border open. The head of the US Civil Rights Division of the DOJ is an antisemite! That's why nothing is done to protect Jewish students on college campuses from Pro-Hamas students who threaten them. Imagine what would happen if it were the Jewish students who were threatening the pro-Hamas students! But if Jews are being threatened, this administration is AWOL.
The head of CAIR announced he was happy about October 7th! Obama saw to it that members of CAIR were inserted into many federal government positions. There is an Iranian agent high up in military intelligence! Irene Tabatabai is her name. And Biden constantly is pressuring Israel about "civilian casualties." What civilians? You mean the ones who beheaded babies or spit on the raped women brought back as hostages? This government is trying to make it impossible for Israel to defeat and destroy Hamas. Now the Biden administration wants Israel to give to Hezbollah sovereign land that belongs to Israel! Why? It is clear this administration wants Israel wiped off the map. It would have made that happen already if it weren't an election year.
“ Our entire political system has shifted from a Constitutional Republic to either a crony Capitalist- Marxist system (like China's) or a Fascist political system in which government is fused with corporations and controls all the levers of power.”
It is both, working simultaneously to maintain their business model, through rampant corruption and force.
Great expose on Haley as she touts her wall street and esg backers.The fact she is the msm choice tells you all you need to know.I join the Poca-Man in wanting every damn dime paid in to my account on my behalf for 60 + years of labor and making ends meet with a budget.Maybe the government should try a budget within their means and not borrow willy-nilly to fund the mob.Great post easy poll/MAGA and FJB.
Thanks for the easy question on Freaky Friday. Doesn’t the debt include a portion that was “borrowed” from Social Security, effectively robbing one fund to pay for another? In this case, why would they ever pay themselves back?
"Emily Seidel — praised the former UN ambassador’s courage for advocating changes to ‘an entitlement system that makes promises it can’t keep.”’
My brain may be getting a little rusty as I enter retirement this month and will draw my first SS check in January, but as I recall, there was a day our greedy, slimy Congress couldn't keep their paws off the SS revenue, saying they would repay it with the full faith of the US government (paraphrased).
The promises "IT" can't keep is really saying THE PROMISES CONGRESS DOESN'T KEEP.
No surprises there . . .
We are always expected to take the blame for - and fix - the problems they create.
Geesh, thx Don. Haven’t even finished breakfast and you’re forcing Kasich (my former guv) into my thoughts. That’s an indigestion that even my omeprazole doesn’t curb.
Dewine’s motto is “Back off- at least I’m not Kasich.”
As Republicans learned- you can’t criticize Kasich, because he’s more moral than God. (Literally)
As a fellow Ohioan I agree that Omeprazole - even at 40 mg - isn't strong enough to knock out Kasich heartburn. Mini-Mike Dewine just causes unending gas.
Someday it will be discovered that politicians like John Kasich (and three of the current candidates in the debate) are really the root cause of GERD.
To some extent, the future problem with Social Security is an "unintended consequence" of Roe v. Wade. I have not seen any recent numbers, but some years ago I was seeing that abortions in the US had passed 60,000,000. The earliest aborted babies would be 50 years old by now. Probably 2/3 of them would have been paying into Social Security currently. If they had been, SS might not have any financial problem--other than the gov't mooching the cash with its debt paper. Sooner or later, in the real world, you have to pay off your debts. If the supposed "creditors" don't make you do it, the Gods of the Copybook Headings will. https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_copybook.htm
It has made an impact for sure, but the decline in birth rates is mor ethan an abortion impact. Had those 40 million babies been born, there would have been a substantial number of babies not born in the future. Perhaps we would have bought a few years, but wea re in terminal demographic decline, and the rest of the world is worse.
The Republican Party (what an oxymoron!) has no interest in winning elections. They’re in it for the grift. That’s why most “elected” Republicans hate PDJT so much - he understands the seamy underside of politics and seems quite sincere about bringing the whole rotten edifice down. I only hope that in the unlikely event he is able to “beat the cheat” (is that a potential campaign slogan?) in 2024 he truly learned from his mistakes and appoints only the most effective and ruthless of people to help him complete his task. We may have already had our last “free” election, but maybe the country has one more chance to slam the brakes on the slippery slide we’re racing down.
‘Beat the Cheat’…I like it. A lot!
Truly a great slogan !
He appoints effective people? Like him or not, Trump has not demonstrated that he is a loyal or supportive boss. I certainly would not work for him, and I’m not alone in that feeling. I’m not sure he will be able to recruit effective people if he is elected.
I don't want to work for him either. I want him to work for ME..... At this point he's the only one running that appears able and willing to work for me.
On target my friend.
If all you have to choose from is bad, badder, & baddest, (or as the song goes, Gypsies, tramps & thieves) what or where do you want him to go to. As I recalled Trump actually tried to mix in some outsiders (Moore/Bannon) & the establishment made their lives a living hell.
True. That is what people don't understand fully. It is the deep state "system" that is the problem and the uni-party that supports it.
I had a boss in the Army very similar to Trump. He was sort of larger than life in his demeaner, would war game things in his head and keep things close to his chest until suddenly springing them on you and you had to react on short notice. Mr. Trump is similar I believe. It appears that the people who stay around him understand how he operates, they make sure they clearly understand his priorities ahead of time, and they are ready to move on short notice. Todays "manager leaders" cannot operate at that speed. They have to receive the instructions, develop a plan, go to their teams and develop the plan, and then execute. They are of no use to people like Trump because they are too cautious and lack "real" leadership. Trumps system works for him and anyone else who thinks rapidly and has a firm grasp and experience in their area of expertise. His people need to sort of think like he does and be able to react on the spot. That's how deals are made in his world. He just has no tolerance for people who are too cautious or worried about things going wrong. They are that way because they are not fully on-board with his objectives. They think they will get the job and then change the parts of Trumps objectives they don't agree with. So he goes thru a lot of people. Good news is, we have lots of good people just waiting for the chance to show they can do it. So I don't need to be like him to vote for him.
He's just a lousy judge of character. He raves about appointees and blisters them when he dumps them. But he's a genius when it comes to negotiating. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT. PS: He doesn't fall down steps and walk into walls.
Yep: Excellent! BEAT THE CHEAT: BE NEAT - BEAT FEET TO THE POLLS AND BEAT THE CHEAT!
12/08/23: I sure hope that Vivek is one of his appointments, preferably as the head of the FBI/DHS (he'd clean out the rats infested in those criminal cartels). Meanwhile, Nikki Haley has appointed Troglyte Troye as her running mate!
Vivek is a good guy, just not ready for primetime. Saying things and then getting them accomplished are two very different animals. I want to see LTG (Ret) Mike Flynn appointed to run our Intelligence agencies because they are at the heart of our so-called deep state. The FBI is just a tool and will go whatever direction they are pointed because at the heart of the agency, are just career agents more worried about screwing up and losing their future pensions. They need to be able to report problems without fear if their chain of command doesn't address it. DHS needs to get kicked thru the goal posts of life and dissolved as a failed bad idea gone worse. Halley, who has some good qualities, is too much a part of the deep state.
Oh, man, that would be fantastic--Mike Flynn appointed to run the intelligence agencies and get them purged!
An excellent idea. We'd be able to copyright him as political x-lax.
Nikki has also hired "Budlyte" Troye, the somewhat less obese sister (3' 6" in height; a mere 210 lbs) , to run her campaign. On tap: A nostalgic re-enactment of the entire Clinton staff (somehow) getting themselves locked in the ladies room in Brooklyn in 2015 ----- https://www.google.com/search?q=clinton+staffers+locked+in+brooklyn+hqs+bathroom&sca_esv=589305066&hl=en&tbm=isch&sxsrf=AM9HkKmOX5hMCC6ZRjp1AsKEmafXImyDMA%3A1702095492995&source=hp&biw=1024&bih=499&ei=hOpzZeDbOqap5NoP4YeqyAU&iflsig=AO6bgOgAAAAAZXP4lMdJBIdGQr8vAJBG06miKFTiJcCi&ved=0ahUKEwjgre3pv4GDAxWmFFkFHeGDClkQ4dUDCAc&uact=5&oq=clinton+staffers+locked+in+brooklyn+hqs+bathroom&gs_lp=EgNpbWciMGNsaW50b24gc3RhZmZlcnMgbG9ja2VkIGluIGJyb29rbHluIGhxcyBiYXRocm9vbUjvW1AAWMtYcAB4AJABAJgBXaABhBKqAQI0OLgBA8gBAPgBAYoCC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwgIFEAAYgATCAggQABiABBixA8ICDhAAGIAEGIoFGLEDGIMBwgIGEAAYCBgewgIHEAAYgAQYGA&sclient=img )
“‘I love all the attention, fellas — thank you for that,’ Ms. Haley, the only woman in the race, quipped.”
That made me cringe. I could never imagine Lady Thatcher, the epitome of a female politician, replying with such a cheesy 'quip.'
“I love the attention”
Probably the only true thing she said all night.
Nikki Haley - a Republican version of Hillary Clinton without the corpse trail?
She has brains and charisma. But she is way over pay grade here.
Right you are. Thatcher was a remarkable leader! Unfortunately, with the current political theater of accepting lies, cheating, and subterfuge as just tools to win power instead of seeking honesty and truth, finding a true statesmen today is a rare occurrence. I pray that integrity makes a national comeback in the days to come.
Right you are! Thatcher was a true statesman. Unfortunately, finding t
Golda Meir was a Founding Mother.
Remember what Sally Field said to the audience when she won that Oscar some years ago?......"You LOVE ME!.....You REALLY LOVE ME!"
Thatcher dittos!!
She get's a couple points for being ready for the attack she knew was coming, but that's all. When she went left of center she torched her career.
This entire exercise of supposed candidates running for President is a massive joke.
The entire world - every man, woman and child - knows exactly who the people on the Right want as their candidate overwhelmingly, and yet this farce continues to be played out on live TV, while the actual candidate is being dragged and gagged through nearly a half-dozen court systems on bogus indictments, all issued by none other than the opposition party!
It’s like watching a Shakespearean play! But it’s “we the people” who are being played.
It is ALL FAKE, ALL CORRUPT, and extraordinarily EVIL.
The people need to wake up to see what’s being done to them: the Left is determined to remove our candidate by any means necessary as he poses an existential threat to their very existence.
We KNOW who our candidate is, we KNOW who we will vote for, and we will not be deceived by their wicked games.
Because to us, this not a game. It is about our survival as a nation.
The Republican wing of the UniParty wants to lose, as long as they get their $$'s
.
Not sure I am on board totally with that but I will say that the GOP has very low standards sometimes while pairing it with a horrible PR and marketing model. We keep giving McDaniel a cush job and do-overs for losing time and time again. That isn't a plan for success, that is a plan for chronic losing.
Spot on Suzie !
Superbly said!
These are the candidates that the RNC (McDaniel) wanted to see on stage because with the exception of DeSantis, they are all "pliable and moldable" down the road. Re: RINO material.
As far as I am concerned Nikki Haley is a two faced liar and never to be trusted, but Don let's be honest about this, LBJ put all the money in one big pot so he could have "guns and butter" the only SS funds are on paper. There is no real separate fund. We as a nation have overspent and over promised. Social Security gets paid first but the bills are still out there and our children will never be able to pay them off.
We are playing with monopoly money now and the only thing keeping us afloat is our word that we will pay the piper and because we always have lived up to our word the piper thinks he will be paid so he will lend us more or wait for his money. The day the piper wakes up and thinks we won't is the day we all wake up broke. And that day will be followed by days that will make the Great Depression look like good times by comparison.
Anybody remember Algore and his famous campaign talk about putting social security in a "lockbox"?
i do but then I am older than dirt.
My kinda gal. I'm 88...older than soot.
I remember when Algore said that: "I remember thinking, yeah, he just put his cajones in a lock box."
The Bhudda donation guy???
Yes, but he was referring to locking in the program as it is, so no changes could be made in the future outside of yearly adjustments. He just wanted it out of reach of fiscally responsible members who understood it needed to be remodeled.
I think what Don was referring to was that SSI was currently taking in more than they were paying out but there is no real pot that has the surplus in it. Each year congress has to approve the funds for SSI to use for benefit payments. The problem with SSI is it has been used and abused for decades and now covers far more things than it was ever envisioned to cover. Some people are approved to receive payments that have never paid a dime into it. The average person takes out significantly more from it than they paid in. When the Dems allowed the trust fund payments to be dumped into a common account and accessed for other purposes, it was doomed. Without significant changes, SSI will not be able to cover its entitlement commitments, so something needs to be done soon.
Don lists some of her idiotic campaign statements. Those and more are irrefutable proof she is incapable of forming coherent thoughts about governing in general, government finances and international relations. Like many before her, she is an empty suit candidate getting undeserved attention. The attention comes to her a la Hillary, because she is a woman and the media sees an easily defeated GOP candidate.
When your opponent party gushes over one of your candidates, look out.
Don, it's worse than you think. That $2.8 trillion surplus is all on paper. Ditto the "trust fund". There is no account where all that cash is collecting interest. By law, Social Security and all the other independently funded state programs must "invest" any surplus in Treasury securities -- that is, "loan" it to the Congress. That means that this surplus is actually part of the national debt.
Welcome to our Bizarro World.
Bizarro is right. If this money was placed in a lockbox (i.e. our trust fund), there would be no problem with funding retirement. It was OUR money placed in trust over and above income tax. Raising the retirement age or reducing benefits is stealing OUR money from us.
We are robbed on a daily basis from cradle-to-grave.
Here's a little mental exercise to help pass the time. Whenever you see or hear the words "Nikki Haley", simply replace them with "Nimrata Randhawa." It will bring much needed clarity to your thinking. If you really want to complete the mental picture, think of Leon Varadkar, the "Irish" Prime Minister. The one who wants to put anyone who is critcal of unlimited immigration to Ireland in jail. Yeah, that one. Then ask what he and Nimrata have in common. Let me give you the answer. They are both children of immigrants to their respective countries whose parents are originally from India! (In the case of Varadkar, only his father was Indian, so double the immigrant proportion for Nimrata.) They both got elected by claiming to be "conservative." And it does not take a soothsayer to predict that, should she be elected (God forbid!), Little Nimmi would replecate the path forged by Leon. Did those who claim to support her learn nothing from the election of B. Hussein Obama, whose father was (allegedly) a citizen of Kenya (unless his father was really Frank Davis Marshal, but that's another story)? It's so easy to believe such people when they claim to be as American as apple pie, but the truth is that the offspring of immigrants have been proven to be the MOST likely to feel alientated from their culture-of-birth and LEAST patriotic citizens, and frequently become radicalized against their natal land. Look it up. Then look up "The Manchurian Candidate."
Or you could just evaluate her on her record and the content of her character.
I know by your prior comments that you are one of her supporters, and I respect your decision even though I strongy disagree with it. However, I arrive at the same conclusion about her either way. She is not a trustworthy person. Please read again Don's original post; his quip that she is today's equivalent of Karl Rove says it all and very succinctly.
She is a political whore.
Sorry - not sorry.
I voted for Mrs. Haley twice and am happy about those votes. If she ever runs for Governor of SC again I will vote for her *
*I would not vote to eliminate the term limits in the SC Constitution.
I understand that Nimrod is derived from Nimrata.
I think she's staying in the race, no matter what, because she assumes Trump will be be convicted in all the socialist show trials/suits and either be in jail, or will be asassinated by the Dems. They have a rich history of doing so to political opponents, starting in the 1850's against anti-slavery people (Remember "bleeding Kansas"? All the other border states had much Democrat- instigated violence, too), Lincoln, Garfield, invaded the Capital rotunda and shot up a bunch of people (none died, fortunately) in the 1950's, and tried to kill Ford in the '70's. They have a deep bench of violent supporters in BLM, antifa, which is an anarchist group, the various Maoist/communist unions and academic groups, as the summer of love showed, plus in the upper reaches of the business community, who will fund these people.
Gutting SS and Medicare is just part of their formula for destroying the middle class and therefore, the country, as you have repeatedly pointed out in your fine writings, and she's just another of the RINO's/Dems tools.
Danny Huckabee
Amen. They hate America, and want to see her brought down. They dont understand that wont get to rule the dung heap left. There are way to many military aged men coming across the boarder from way too many places . We will have fighting here on US soils I truly fear.
Why would anybody continue this charade thinking they can win the nomination for president? There’s only a few answers. They are either running for vice president, making money so they can run their lavish lifestyle with money. They keep from their campaign or they are deluded. If we examine each of the four remaining B candidates their motivation for remaining in the contest becomes more clear.
Christie has been a buffoon and has an ego structure problem. Only
way he could win the nomination is if he was the only human left on the planet. Similarly Ron D ego will not let him leave the race since he believed all the hype early on that he was so brilliant. ( This is a trend I saw at Harvard a lot.) . Therefore, both of these two men are in the delusional category.
Vic is running for VP. He is not criticized DJT and he parrots his indignation.
Finally, the dark haired Hillary is a grifter. However, her donor are making sure she’s a saboteur. She gets her grift when the Republican pottery and Donald Trump are injured or destroyed. One might she learned a lot from the Chinese inspired Hunter Biden.
. . . they're running for getting a gig in mass media as a nominally opposition voice
“…former UN ambassador’s courage for advocating changes to ‘an entitlement system that makes promises it can’t keep.”
Social Security it NOT an entitlement program as the payees spent their entire working lives funding it. If Haley wants to fix entitlement programs may I suggest that the entire welfare system be torn down. We have millions of third and fourth generation lay-abouts who are perfectly capable of working but don’t, millions of illegals who are sucking on the government teat and millions of baby mamas who keep popping out the kids to get bigger checks from those of us who have worked our entire adult lives. Housing, food, medical care, prepaid phones, etc provided by us and they never even say Thank You.
Bravo!
Thanks Don Surber for pointing out that the RNC would rather lose the election than lose money.
Check out this article:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2023/12/07/ronna-mcromney-schedules-iowa-and-new-hampshire-primary-debates-with-cnn/
Sundance writes, "At a certain point you just start laughing at the insufferable corporate club, a corporation we call the RNC and all those therein.
"If we retain our non-pretending status, we all know the reason why. CNN provides the mechanisms for domestic political narrative creation. The RNC will keep attempting to eliminate the Trump virus from their controlled political operation up until the very end. The RNC agenda and the CNN agenda are the same; that reality is why this decision. Yes, it really is that simple.
The functional mission of the UniParty apparatus is not based on ideology; the core and consequential baseline revolves around the business of American politics and the motives of the people who control the institutions within it. For this outline I focus only on the Republican wing, the GOP corporation, one side of the professional business apparatus.
"WRITE THIS DOWN, and force yourself to remember it every day. “The Republican Party priority is to retain their business, to control the outcomes, and this has nothing to do with winning elections.” The RNC would rather lose elections and retain power, than win elections and lose operational control over the apparatus.
"In the past several decades, the motive of a Republican or Democrat politician, advancing their influence by running for political office, has absolutely nothing to do with representing the interests of the American people. Nothing. Their interests are to engage within the business of politics, while presenting themselves as qualified actors, to retain the premise of political service. This is why they will spend $10 million to win an office that only pays $400k/yr.
"The business of buying, selling and controlling policy, is the core operation of people within the US political system. As an outcome, the business has two wings – the RNC and the DNC. Two private corporations inside the political industry who are in place to retain the overall business model. The RNC and DNC are both funded by the same interests, banks, corporations, Wall St interests, and even foreign interests who purchase outcomes.
"The RNC and DNC are two operational wings inside the industry of politics. They are in the same business, but they have slightly different business models."
The article summarizes that Donald Trump is not the problem, Donald Trump is our solution to the problem of having a political system in which we have taxation without representation. Congress doesn't function to represent us, their job is to represent their billionaire donors and pretend they are representing us.
Our entire political system has shifted from a Constitutional Republic to either a crony Capitalist- Marxist system (like China's) or a Fascist political system in which government is fused with corporations and controls all the levers of power. Whatever you call our government, the US Constitution has been shredded and our legal system is there to protect the rights of the State, not the rights of the citizens. Citizens have few rights. Traditional Catholics are the latest FBI "enemy of the state" designee.
A majority of Americans support Israel, but our President is funding Israel's enemies: Iran, Hezbollah, the Free Lebanese Army, Hamas and the PA. Americans don't want Ukraine funded but Congress is determined to fund Ukraine. Americans don't want open borders but Congress puts on acts for cameras and leaves the border open. The head of the US Civil Rights Division of the DOJ is an antisemite! That's why nothing is done to protect Jewish students on college campuses from Pro-Hamas students who threaten them. Imagine what would happen if it were the Jewish students who were threatening the pro-Hamas students! But if Jews are being threatened, this administration is AWOL.
The head of CAIR announced he was happy about October 7th! Obama saw to it that members of CAIR were inserted into many federal government positions. There is an Iranian agent high up in military intelligence! Irene Tabatabai is her name. And Biden constantly is pressuring Israel about "civilian casualties." What civilians? You mean the ones who beheaded babies or spit on the raped women brought back as hostages? This government is trying to make it impossible for Israel to defeat and destroy Hamas. Now the Biden administration wants Israel to give to Hezbollah sovereign land that belongs to Israel! Why? It is clear this administration wants Israel wiped off the map. It would have made that happen already if it weren't an election year.
“ Our entire political system has shifted from a Constitutional Republic to either a crony Capitalist- Marxist system (like China's) or a Fascist political system in which government is fused with corporations and controls all the levers of power.”
It is both, working simultaneously to maintain their business model, through rampant corruption and force.
Even simpler - it’s a kleptocracy: a money laundering scheme stealing from taxpayers and paying off preferred connected associates.
…coupled with fascist legal and “law” enforcement thugs to crush all dissent and imprison them.
Great expose on Haley as she touts her wall street and esg backers.The fact she is the msm choice tells you all you need to know.I join the Poca-Man in wanting every damn dime paid in to my account on my behalf for 60 + years of labor and making ends meet with a budget.Maybe the government should try a budget within their means and not borrow willy-nilly to fund the mob.Great post easy poll/MAGA and FJB.
Thanks for the easy question on Freaky Friday. Doesn’t the debt include a portion that was “borrowed” from Social Security, effectively robbing one fund to pay for another? In this case, why would they ever pay themselves back?
Hasnt Congress raided Social Security 2 or 3 times? I can think of 2 for sure. and it is still has a surplus.
Yes, they do it consistently, thanks to LBJ and Congress passing the resolution for year-end balancing-the-budget act (as in pretending).
We OAPs are keeping them solvent? Oy. I detest when SSA is called "entitlement!" We overworked our pet donkeys for it.
They messed up the Post Office too, when it was running in the black.
The internet and cell phones destroyed the USPS. They are just a government subsidized jobs program now. They need to be privatized.
They are the only agency that has to provide heath care insurance costs up front for their workers. Projected. All the others run it different.
Not sure I understand yourr comment.
"Emily Seidel — praised the former UN ambassador’s courage for advocating changes to ‘an entitlement system that makes promises it can’t keep.”’
My brain may be getting a little rusty as I enter retirement this month and will draw my first SS check in January, but as I recall, there was a day our greedy, slimy Congress couldn't keep their paws off the SS revenue, saying they would repay it with the full faith of the US government (paraphrased).
The promises "IT" can't keep is really saying THE PROMISES CONGRESS DOESN'T KEEP.
No surprises there . . .
We are always expected to take the blame for - and fix - the problems they create.
Geesh, thx Don. Haven’t even finished breakfast and you’re forcing Kasich (my former guv) into my thoughts. That’s an indigestion that even my omeprazole doesn’t curb.
Dewine’s motto is “Back off- at least I’m not Kasich.”
As Republicans learned- you can’t criticize Kasich, because he’s more moral than God. (Literally)
As a fellow Ohioan I agree that Omeprazole - even at 40 mg - isn't strong enough to knock out Kasich heartburn. Mini-Mike Dewine just causes unending gas.
Someday it will be discovered that politicians like John Kasich (and three of the current candidates in the debate) are really the root cause of GERD.
I'm going in the bedroom. I know my neighbor can hear me roar with laughter.
Sorry for that inconvenience. I am glad you are laughing though!
AND His Father was a Mailman!
Yeah, he wanted us to never forget that.
More moral than God AND a man of the people.
I forget what he did post-guvnorship; was it haul trash or deliver mail?
Trashed Trump and collected his paycheck.
To some extent, the future problem with Social Security is an "unintended consequence" of Roe v. Wade. I have not seen any recent numbers, but some years ago I was seeing that abortions in the US had passed 60,000,000. The earliest aborted babies would be 50 years old by now. Probably 2/3 of them would have been paying into Social Security currently. If they had been, SS might not have any financial problem--other than the gov't mooching the cash with its debt paper. Sooner or later, in the real world, you have to pay off your debts. If the supposed "creditors" don't make you do it, the Gods of the Copybook Headings will. https://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poem/poems_copybook.htm
It has made an impact for sure, but the decline in birth rates is mor ethan an abortion impact. Had those 40 million babies been born, there would have been a substantial number of babies not born in the future. Perhaps we would have bought a few years, but wea re in terminal demographic decline, and the rest of the world is worse.