Did you know we are the problem?

[Vincardog]

I just heard it on 60 minutes. The GAO says that it is entitlment spending that is the problem. It has nothing to do with Corporate welfare Tax cuts for the rich or illegal wars of aggression.

We are the problem.

GIVE ME A BREAK.

[Monkeyman]

1. Part of that so-called entitlements the right wing uses is Veterans Benefits

[Bluzmann57]

2. Well of course we are

Us working stiffs who are merely trying to enrich our lives are troublesome to the elite because we belong to Unions and want a better life for our children. Those of us who actually know right from wrong are no good.

[originalpckelly]

3. Actually, our system is fundamentally flawed. It uses the insurance model...

for something that is not merely a risk, but for most people a certainty. They're talking about Social Security and Medicare.

The GAO are a bunch of straight shooters, they aren't a part of the Bush administration, they operate out of Congress.

[Beelzebud]

4. SSI and Veterans Benefits are robbing from the uber-rich!!!!111

[originalpckelly]

7. There's a cap on how much money goes into the SS trust fund.

That's not the problem here. This is our system and it's our money and it is broken.

[SharonAnn]

16. Yes, and I'm not going to stop saying it. They say we have to "redefine" entitlements.

We won't even consider "redefining" entitlements untile they've done the following:
- increased taxes on corporations,
- stopped giving federal contracts (with My money) to companies who put their headquarters outside the U.S. so they don't have to pay taxes,
- increased tax rates on high income individuals,
- remove corporate subsidies, cut back the Military-defense industry spending

Maybe then we can talk about the situation but not until then.

[annabanana]

5. Aren't there a few billion floating around the mid-east

that we could use here? I'll bet Halliburton could pay for the whole thing without breaking a sweat.

[xchrom]

6. yep -- that the nonsense that reagan first let out of the pig pen.

you have all the conservative think taks spewing different versions of that lie all teh time -- heritage foundation, club for growth, american enterprize institute, etc.

and never, never do you find in the msm a vigorous rebuttal -- i.e. corporate welfare, diminishing job opportunities here, pressure on wage growth, crumbling american infrastructure and education, etc.

i guess the list on the other side is so overwhelming they just don't bother?
:eyes:

[BlooInBloo]

8. The executive accounting office? Or Congress?

[DemReadingDU]

9. 60 Minutes - U.S. Heading For Financial Trouble?

When the stock market plunges like it did this week, everyone pays attention. The man you're about to meet says hardly anyone is paying attention to what really threatens our financial future. Like an Old Testament prophet, David Walker has been traveling the country, urging people to "wake up before it's too late."

But David Walker is no wild-eyed zealot. As Steve Kroft reports, David Walker is an accountant, the nation’s top accountant to be exact, the comptroller general of the United States. He has totaled up our government's income, liabilities, and future obligations and concluded the numbers simply don’t add up. And he’s not alone. Its been called the "dirty little secret everyone in Washington knows" – a set of financial truths so inconvenient that most elected officials don’t even want to talk about them, which is exactly why David Walker does.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/01/60minutes/main2528226.shtml

[TheUnspeakable]

10. i saw it-my blood is boiling

no mention of corporate welfare(billions) no mention of tax cuts for the rich(billions)no mention of this filthy, stinkin war (trillions) this kind of crap is exactly what keeps people stupid. I'm going to start an email campaign to demand 60 minutes have a real economist-like Paul krugman

[Vincardog]

11. While you are at it make them mention the disaster that the flat earth "Free Trade" deals are

Why the hell is the US government paying companies to send our jobs to China?

[havocmom]

17. and no mention of outsourcing jobs which cuts taxes paid by workers making a living here

Workers getting less real dollar wages = workers paying less into the system AND the economy. That added to tax cuts for the rich, not just cuts but sweet deals to giant corporations, and there is only one way to go: down. So, blame it on the soon to retire workers who fucking BUILT the wealth for the top 1%.

Time to eat the uber-rich.

[Jamastiene]

12. By the people, for the people, my ass.

So, it's the people who are the problem. I see now. How could I have missed that very big detail? So, we are supposed to give up part of our hard earned wages, so the rich can send out sons and daughters and brothers and sisters to fight in some war to make the Bush family richer and the rich fat cats in Congresss can live the high life and not complain about it? They are going to have to put my ass to death, because I am going to complain about it. It's wrong that "By the people, for the people" has been forgotten completely. I won't take the blame for that one.

[GeorgeGist]

13. Only because...

greed trumps need ... from their shallow view of life.

[pretzel4gore]

14. that's what 'rightwing' means

the privileges of a few supercede the needs of the many...

[patrice]

15. Don't you know? All of us are supposed to become Entrepreneurs.

Don't like your slice of the pie? Start your own business. Afterall, this IS the ownership society. You can be as successful as "they" are. :sarcasm: