"Payroll Tax Holiday" - - - the political equivalent of a "Pay Day Loan" scam for American workers:

[Faryn Balyncd]

That's why Republican sharks have been pushing a "payroll tax holiday" for YEARS....as a poison pill that will lead to the destruction of Social Security as viable and public.

That's why the most outspoken enemies of Social Security - - - Dick Armey's Freedom Works, the neoconservative American Enterprise Institute, former Republican Senate Leader Trent Lott, and Mitch McConnell himself - - - have been unsuccessfully trying to peddle a "payroll tax holiday" or cut, for years.

Republicans want American workers pawn their retirement for a shiny trinket.







The Republican right wing is keeping their eye on the prize they have long coveted - - - the privatization of Social Security:

When the Koch Brother's funded Cato Institute praised Trent Lott's proposed payroll tax cut back in 2001, they even did so on a page dedicated to their "Project for Social Security Choice" privatization scheme. commenting that such a plan could "could show how the transition to individual accounts could be financed".

That's why Grover Norquist told National Review Online that the deal is “a much bigger victory than people see” for the Republicans.

The amazing thing is that Obama has the gall to claim giving Republicans a "two-fer" --- both the SS destroying "payroll tax holiday" they have been seeking for years, AS WELL AS the billionaire tax bailout - - - is a "compromise". And that Robert Gibbs with a straight face circulates a chart falsely listing the "payroll tax holiday" as a concession "We Got" rather than something we gave up.







Someone clearly thinks we have the mentality of payday loan borrowers.

They think we are so myopic and imprudent that we can be distracted by the high-calorie junk food of a payroll tax cut, while they steal the red meat of our retirement benefits:

- - - benefits which we have paid and funded with decades of our sweat, building up a $3 trillion surplus...
- - - A surplus, invested in U. S. Treasury Bonds, currently sufficient to fully fund payments through 2037...
- - - Bonds that have allowed Republicans to fund multiple wars and corporate welfare while simultaneously slashing tax rates for the uber-wealthy...
- - - Bonds that are there to fund the retirement benefits workers have earned with our contributions...
- - - Funded obligations Republicans don't EVER want to honor.





The Republicans, now aided by a complicit, Wall Street dominated White House, plan to take on the role of Payday Loan scammer, trusting working and middle class Americans to accept the role of gullible, compliant suckers.

They think we will fall for anything that's shiny.

Republicans are betting on their belief that we are fools who will remain passive forever.

The contempt of the enemies of Social Security for all working Americans, not only the Democratic base, is palpable.





That the administration we worked to elect is complicit is simply beyond words.










:kick:

[AzDar]

1. K & R

:kick:

[Waiting For Everyman]

2. K&R

:kick:

[Poboy]

3. Recommend.

[prairierose]

4. This is important information...I hope that ...

many will read this.

[sasquuatch55]

94. HOLIDAY........... sounds so wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is going to completely cripple the S.S. fund so they can actually do away with it for good?

http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2010/11/29/WJE/A/4126...

[myrna minx]

5. K&R. n/t

[leftstreet]

6. K&R

[TheKentuckian]

7. If you've been paying attention for the last few decades then you'd know this is a trap.

[awoke_in_2003]

59. this country...

suffers from a very short attention span, unfortunately. Surely Lucy is going to keep holding that football :)

[John Q. Citizen]

8. this is the biggest and most dire part of the Repo/Obama backroom tax deal.

Billions for billionaries is obscene, but

The payroll tax disruption is insane.


One is obscene and one is insane.

[Faryn Balyncd]

9. And the consequences of which the corporate media remains most silent.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. Barely a peep. 20 mentions on NPR of the obscene, but only one mention of the insane.

[seafan]

11. And this president is an accomplice in this Social Security heist.

Very important post. Thanks, Faryn Balyncd.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

13. True! Kicked

[corpseratemedia]

18. +1000

NO EXCUSES ANY MORE

[Enthusiast]

85. He absolutely is. nt

[Faygo Kid]

97. Simpson, Bowles and the Catfood Commission. Absolutely.

He is more than just complicit.

[bvar22]

12. The Payroll Tax "holiday" is the most insidious component...

..of the Obama/Republican Tax Package.

It IS the de-funding of the most successful Social Program ever seen in this country....
AND it WILL be PERMANENT.

[Enthusiast]

86. Plus fucking one! nt

[Hannah Bell]

14. payday loan -- good analogy

[sasha031]

15. that last pic speaks volumes, they are laughing at us

[awoke_in_2003]

60. "they are laughing at us"...

yes, they are- and "they" also includes a hell of a lot of "democrats"

[fmlymninral]

16. according to the news

the social security monies will be paid back from the general fund. so no monies will be lost from the social security trust fund.

[Faryn Balyncd]

17. I think the reason the right wing has favored this is they will OBSTRUCT future re-instatement....

... of the payroll tax.

They have made no bones about their desire for a payroll tax cut to be permanent, and to be the first step to privatizing Social Security.

So when the time comes for the holiday to end, they will demand that it continue, and/or that the funds be allowed to go into private accounts rather than the Trust Fund. They will use this as an excuse to justify the slashing off Social Security benefits.

They will exploit the future debate over re-instating the holiday as a generational wedge issue, to attempt to create resentment among younger workers.

The fact is that there are alternative ways to deliver a cash stimulus in the same amounts, and on an equally effective time schedule, to the same Americans WITHOUT TYING IT TO SOCIAL SECURITY.

It is the linking the "holiday", and any future re-instatement, to Social Secirity via the payroll tax that explains why the Right Wing has pushed for tis, and why they are so certain it will be their wedge to destroy public, viable Social Security.

Thanks for your comment, fmlymninral.

[Cherchez la Femme]

42. As Dubya's team gloated when they got

their tax cut in, that once it's on the books it's pretty much permanent,

so too with this. I can see no real difference between the two within that theory.

[RaleighNCDUer]

79. And, of course, when they do so it will be because "the Democrats

are trying to raise the taxes on the middle class" positioning themselves as the 'good guys' - just as hey will do when the 'temporary' extension of the tax cuts for the rich end in the next election year.

[ProudDad]

109. Not only that but they will do some "funny accounting"

to "prove" that the Social Security System will "run out of money" that much sooner...

These receipts are NEEDED to cover the Boomers when they are all collecting S.S.

Without them, the safety net killers will claim that we "can't afford it" any more...

Meanwhile the war machine and the wars go one and on and on...

[ljm2002]

29. This would be the first time EVER...

...that general funds would be used to pay into the Social Security trust fund. That is PRECISELY why it is a dangerous and insidious policy. Social Security is self-funding and always has been. It has NEVER contributed to the deficit. So what will happen? 1 - next year, Republicans can say, correctly, that Social Security contributed to the deficit; 2 - next year Republicans will try to block reinstatement of the payroll tax, calling it a tax hike; 3 - this will be used to further weaken the program by pointing out that it will continue to add to the deficit.

This is a BAD IDEA and needs to go down in FLAMES!!!

[dixiegrrrrl]

34. I have my doubts that the supposed money IS in the Soc. Sec. fund.

It is "supposed" to be in there, accounting wise, all 2.6 trillion, but the way the payments work, Treasuries are cashed in ( so to speak, of course it is all computerized) to pay each month's recipients.
So the whole argument is over a ledger accounting system, really.

Thus, the Soc. ?Sec. "box" has a face value of 2.6 Trillion.
Which of course the banksters would love to see "moved" from the Soc. Sec. category to the general fund category.


And this plan will start that process.

If the USA economy remains intact long enough.

[awoke_in_2003]

61. ""moved" from the Soc. Sec. category to the general fund category"

no, they want it moved to Wall Street. Privatization is the end goal. Hell, given the choice between Wall Street and Vegas- I will take my chance in Vegas.

[ljm2002]

80. This is another right wing talking point...

...trying to tell people "the money is not there", "it's just a bunch of IOUs".

Well, if you consider U.S. Treasury notes to be just a bunch of IOUs, okay then. But if the U.S. defaults on its Treasury notes then it is for all intents and purposes bankrupt and we'll have bigger fish to fry than just Social Security funding. So as far as I'm concerned, the money is there. It is in the form of U.S. Treasury notes that have been one of the most rock-solid instruments in finance in the world for many long years now.

Of course, our lawmakers have chosen to borrow funds for their endless wars, which are financed off the books so that the wars don't show up as contributing to the deficit, but now they want to make it so that Social Security does contribute to the deficit. This bit of sleight of hand is being done calculatedly, so they can weaken it and/or privatize it but most of all so they really can avoid paying it back without acknowledging the essential bankruptcy of our system. It's a scare tactic. The more they can undermine faith in the system, the easier it is to dismantle and privatize it.

If you want to get into a theoretical discussion of what is money, well that is a big subject. Yes it's all bits and bytes, but that is true of most of the so-called money in the world these days and is not specific to Social Security.

[Foo Fighter]

72. FDR set it up to be self-funding for the explicit purpose of preventing

it from getting dismantled later.

"Roosevelt insisted that it should be funded by payroll taxes rather than from the general fund; he said, "We put those payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal

Unfortunately, the damn politicians we have today are bound and determined to scrap it one way or another.

[dixiegrrrrl]

33. but..as the article said:

# The "lockbox" principle between Social Security and the overall budget will have been erased forever.

A relatively small infusion of cash into the trust fund will be the poison pill that erases the "trust fund" principle. Once the program has contributed to the deficit, it's no longer separately funded.
********************************************************************************************************

I would recommend reading that point again.

[avaistheone1]

38. Good points in your #32 and #33.

I have had doubts if the money is there myself. But all this backsliding by Obama, the Catfood Commission, and yesterday's appearance of Clinton at the WH before the press makes me wonder: Is the Social Security money in the lockbox or is it not?
The Obama admin is looking pathetic and desperate at this point.


We definitely want the Social Security to remain a trust fund - so no cash infusion please.

[Cherchez la Femme]

44. So why not leave SS alone, and

just issue a nice little Bush-style bribery check for a pittance rather than declaring a "Tax Holiday"
--for all events and purposes the same as actuality taking money out (yeah yeah, 'payback' -- I'll believe it when I see it, and there still are those qualifications others here have mentioned!)

Oh yes, I do believe there are ulterior motives going on here under the surface.

[Foo Fighter]

73. Exactly. They could do another "Making Work Pay" tax credit or give

everyone a 2% tax credit on wages under $106,800. "Making Work Pay" would be a better deal for the lower wage earners so I'd favor that over the 2% tax credit and I don't say that for selfish reasons. (I'd actually get more back with the 2% tax credit but frankly, I'd rather to see those at the bottom end of the scale get more as I think they probably need it more in this economy. And I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination. I live paycheck to paycheck like a lot of people do.)

Regardless of how you look at it, ANYTHING would be better than this POS bill that will start the ball rolling for dismantling SS.

[ProudDad]

110. Obama already admitted that he's for "reforming entitlements"

:puke:

He's already using right-wing verbiage to discredit the "Safety Net" by calling it "entitlements"...

[customerserviceguy]

53. So, then we'll borrow for Social Security from China

That will cement the program as being part of the deficit problem for sure.

[scarletwoman]

19. Kick -- already rec'd and bookmarked this earlier.

Thank you for another excellent post.

:hi:

[pacalo]

20. K&R. Thanks for the info -- needs to be included in e-mails to congresspeople.

[sabrina 1]

21. It is truly beyond words!

Excellent post, Faryn Balyncd. I wish I knew how we could stop them.

The Deficit Commission should have been called the 'Social Security Commission' either that, or it should have been instructed that SS was NOT part of the Deficit, and therefore should not be discussed by this Commission.

The horrible irony is that they are lying to the American people, implying that SS must be cut 'because of the deficit', while they could have reduced the deficit by DOING NOTHING, just allowing the Bush Tax Cuts to expire.

The con game is so transparent now, I cannot believe that the president thinks we are going to be fooled by any tying of SS to the Deficit. Maybe they just don't need to care what we think anymore. The coup appears to be complete.

[indimuse]

22. HUGE KNR!!

Thank you Faryn Balyncd! Xtremley important issue and post! I will definitely pass this along to my FB friends,etc.. (I still can't believe Obama would GIVE THIS TO THEM!!!!);)

[walldude]

23. K&R...

[sasha031]

24. I know this is happening, the question is what will we do about it

"That the administration we worked to elect is complicit is simply beyond words."


:kick:

[senseandsensibility]

25. Please keep kicked

rec'd

[jannyk]

26. k&r! Any re-instatement will be framed as a 'Tax Increase' by the

Right Wing Propaganda Machine, and the Dems will be too afraid to do so prior to the election (and let's face it, it's always 'prior' to some election).

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. Connects all the dots.

Pundits should not be discussing the tax cut extensions without also talking about the points in this post.

[Poll_Blind]

28. K&R and bookmarked! n/t

PB

[Jakes Progress]

30. The only question now

is whether our president is in on the joke or if he just isn't quick enough for the job.

[Little Star]

31. most excellent post Faryn! I can't believe a....

Democratic President is going to open the door for the crooks. It's a sad time for Americans.:-(

[Gin]

32. first they drain the treasury....next the entitlements...and Obama helps

very important post...thanks

[dixiegrrrrl]

35. But the goods news is they do not have the votes to pass it, yes???

Please tell me yes.

[Kermitt Gribble]

36. K&R

It's very clear now to see who's playing for which team in DC. Unfortunately, we have very few playing for our team.

[Laelth]

37. Excellent post. The "payroll tax holiday" will weaken SS.

It's a very bad idea.

-Laelth

[Vinca]

39. This is probably the worst part of the stinky bill.

It opens the door for "expanding" the payroll tax holiday next time around and eventually privatization of social security. The amount someone would see in their paycheck is minimal . . . it's an incredibly dumb provision.

[Starry Messenger]

40. k&r

[Cherchez la Femme]

41. I think I saw brick at the back of the theatre

"The illusion of freedom will continue as long as it's profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater."
— Frank Zappa

Obama hand-picked the absolute wrong people to chair his Cat Food Commission --something he didn't even need to create, nor in that way. At at time when Social Security is in no imminent danger they come out with all these ways to 'save', all of them fairly immediate,
but all at the cost of the people.

Their sentiments weren't popular.


Now, if one wants to exacerbate a shortage problem there are two ways to do so:
1) Take even more money directly out (as was tried with Bush's failed Social Security privatization plan), or
2) Put less money into the accruing fund.

So what does the Pres do?
First thing, he cuts money going in to Social Security and gives it a happy, happy, joy, joy
Bushie little name like 'Holiday'!
The cuts will mean next to nothing to the individual who won't see any appreciable savings, but taken as a whole it will definitely impact Social Security

--perhaps even more alarming than that, it sets a precedent that Social Security can be messed with even more than it already is!
And that this Republican tactic is driven by a Democratic President!


Yes, I think I espied brick showing at the back of the theatre,
and Zappa was, as usual, correct. :scared:



edit: I'm thinking of posting that as an OP or poll, to see who/how many agree or disagree; who needs glasses or actually can clearly see a certain thing -- I hope that's within the rules here...

[Enthusiast]

88. Yeah, the word 'holiday' implies

that it will be restored one day. The truth is they will scream it is a huge tax hike at the slightest mention of restoring it. And THAT is the day they will say we MUST privatize social security.

[Raine]

43. EXCELLENT info here

truly frightening and horrifying! THANKS for posting it.

[True_Blue]

45. Thanks for the info!

:kick:

[Bozita]

46. Superb post! ... Thank you

[JDPriestly]

47. The holiday for the payroll tax is a direct transfer of a portion of the

taxes paid to Social Security into the general fund.

Here is how that works.

If you are earning $50,000 and have a family of four, you will have a few hundred dollars more to take home and spend over the course of the year. That covers a lot of people so it adds up. And with the size of your family, you probably don't pay much income tax on the rest of your income so you will do a tiny bit better. (Probably not enough to notice.)

But think about a couple in their 50s, kids through school, almost no interest payments on their mortgages trying to save for retirement. At the height of their careers, between the two of them, they earn $140,000. Normally, each of them pays the FULL SOCIAL SECURITY tax on that amount plus appropriate income tax on the remaining amount. (They shelter money in 401(K) or IRA, but beyond that, they don't have any meaningful deductions or credits.)

In theory, the payroll tax holiday will leave 2% of that $140,000 in their pockets (2% of each of their salaries). In reality, the payroll tax holiday will mean that they pay whatever their tax rate is on the 2%. So this payroll tax holiday will transfer income out of the Social Security Trust Fund into the general fund.

This is the beginning of the end.

It's wrong. I can't believe that anyone in the Obama administration thought that the American people are stupid enough not to see that this so-called tax cut of 2% will not result in 2% in additional funds in the pockets of many of the Americans who pay a big share of the Social Security taxes and will rely on the program when they retire.

[skepticscott]

101. Well, sad to say

the vast majority of the American public is so woefully uninformed about economics that all they will see is extra money in their pockets, and will have no thought to where it's coming from, how this temporary largesse will be funded, or what the long-term effects will be.

And what does Obama think is going to happen when the time for this "temporary" tax holiday comes to an end? Does he seriously imagine that the Republicans won't do exactly what they did with the Bush tax cuts that were supposed to expire? The Repugs will threaten to shut down the government unless the SS tax reduction is made permanent, and they know that they will have the overwhelming support of a short-sighted, spend-crazy public and a scared, sniveling and capitulatory Democratic leadership.

[JDPriestly]

102. Obama may secretly favor the privatization of all pensions

just like he secretly supports the privatization of the schools and everything else.

He will not get much support in Southern California in the future. I went to a couple of meetings yesterday, and people from the poorest to the upper middle-class are very dissatisfied with Obama.

Don't try to defend Obama in Southern California.

And we set the trends. Not only that, but a lot of the campaign money comes from Southern California.

Obama really kicked himself when he agreed to cut the funding for Social Security. You just can't make a worse political mistake --- ever.

[amborin]

48. K&R and hurts the working poor

[glinda]

49. K & R n/t

[lordsummerisle]

50. We need to get this message

out to a wider audience. k&r

[TBF]

51. K&R nt

[customerserviceguy]

52. Thanks for posting this loud and clear!

Once we've said that it's no longer important to fully fund Social Security, it is on the way out. As a matter of fact, failure to achieve budgets that runs surpluses mean those trust fund securities will NEVER be paid off.

That's why I support letting all the tax cuts expire. I can live without my @20 a week, if it finally makes the rich pay their fair share.

[laughingliberal]

54. Keep up the pressure on your Reps.

I've called every day and, specifically, mention I'm opposed to the payroll tax holiday and want the Making Work Pay tax credit restored.

K&R

[Dinger]

55. K & R

[ProSense]

56. Not according to Nouriel Roubini

What America needs is a payroll tax cut

[hay rick]

76. From the article:

"President Obama could fully fund the reduction in payroll tax by allowing the Bush tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year to expire."

Oops.

[ProSense]

96. It's being fully funded by the general fund.

Still, what difference does it make, it's still a payroll tax holiday.

Sure, the tax cuts for the rich suck, but these are Republican demands and the rest of the package is solid.

[Hydra]

103. Are you forgetting the part where this goes from being

A separate, worker-funded lock box to an "entitlement" program?

And when it becomes part of the general fund and is slashed out of existence, will you still think "Still, what difference does it make"?

[ProudDad]

113. I'll bet you $100 it will be written in such a way

as to be "extended" easily in 2012 when the republicans take over the Senate too...

And possibly the White House the way the current occupant is going...

It's NOT a "payroll tax holiday", it's the camel's nose under the tent to destroy Social Security...

There's not REASON ONE to fuck with the Social Security Safety Net other than INCREASING RECEIPTS by raising the cap!!!

I suggest start at raising it to $10,000,000 per year...as a "compromise"...

[ProudDad]

111. I'll save you the trouble, folks...

Some bullshit globalist "economist" likes the idea of setting this evil precedent...

"Nouriel Roubini is the co-founder and chairman of Roubini Global Economics, an innovative economic and geo-strategic information service and consultancy named one of the best economics websites by Business Week, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and The Economist. <Gee, let's figure out who's fucking side HE'S on!> He is also a professor of economics at New York University’s Stern School of Business. Dr. Roubini has extensive policy experience as well as broad academic credentials. From 1998-2000, he served as the Senior Economist for International Affairs at the White House Council of Economic Advisors and then the Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department, helping to resolve the Asian and global financial crises among other issues. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and numerous other prominent public and private institutions have drawn upon his consulting expertise."

Great FUCKING credentials... The Dismalest of the Dismal :sarcasm:

As usual, assholes like this one justifies crippling the safety net to shovel more money into the maw of Vampire Capitalism instead of suggesting anything that would DIRECTLY create decent jobs for a hell of a lot more people...

They continue to push the same bullshit "solutions" that got us here to get us out...

[ProudDad]

112. link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link, link...

AND IF YOU DON"T START AT LEAST POSTING SOMETHING from the articles you link to, I'm putting you on ignore...

I'm getting fucking tired of having to spend extra time researching these bullshit artists you keep posting -- you're posts are JUST NOT WORTH IT!

[awoke_in_2003]

57. I am just glad...

they increased the chocolate ration.

[Overseas]

58. K&R ! //nt

[Kalun D]

62. K and R

good post

I'll leave you with some Carlin

""Well we know what they want. They want more for themselves, and less for everybody else, but I’ll tell you what they don’t want – they don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that – that doesn’t help them. That’s against their interests. That’s right. They don’t want people that are smart enough to sit around a kitchen table, and think about how badly they’re getting screwed by a system that threw them overboard 30 fucking years ago. They don’t want that. You know what they want? Obedient workers – Obedient workers, people who are just smart enough to run the machines, and do that paper work. And just dumb enough to passively accept all these increasingly shittier jobs with the lower pay, the longer hours, the reduced benefits, the end of overtime, and vanishing pension that disappear the minute you go to collect it, and now they’re coming for your social security money. They want your retirement money. They want it back so they can give it to their criminal friends on Wall Street, and you know something? They’ll get it – they’ll get it all from you sooner or later cause they own this place. It’s a big club, and you aint in it. You, and I are not in The Big Club.

By the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head with their media telling you what to believe, what to think, and what to buy.

The table has tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care. Good honest hard working people: white collar, blue collar it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on. Good honest hard working people continue (these are people of modest being) – continue to elect these rich douchebags who don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you – they don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t care about you at all – at all – at all, and nobody seems to notice. Nobody seems to care.

That’s what the owners counted on. The fact that Americans will probably remain willfully ignorant of the big red, white, and blue dick that’s being jammed up their assholes everyday, because the owners of this country know the truth. It’s called the American Dream cause you have to be asleep to believe it.” – George Carlin""

[russspeakeasy]

63. I did not think of it that way, but you make good points

Thanks for the post...well worth the read..now my brain
hurts..

[defendandprotect]

64. "Complicit" .... ?

as far as I can see this is collusion with the right wing --

As I've asked over and again ... "Where the hell is Congress?" --

it's now bitingly clear that that our Democratic Congress has no

interest whatsoever in ending taxpayer subsidy for "faith based" religion --

for protecting public education from Obama/Duncan who are moving our tax dollars

into private "charter" schools --

Not even to examine the legitimacy of Obama's back room deals with Big Pharma and

the private Health Care Industry which denied Americans universal health care --

And absolutely no interest in stopping this corruption of government by the president

or any other elected official --


Clear enough yet?

[Enthusiast]

89. It is perfectly clear to me. nt

[Skittles]

65. the entire bill is a scam, just like "healthcare reform" was

:thumbsdown:

[pam4water]

66. K&R

[TheKentuckian]

67. A bump in the night

[Warren Stupidity]

68. kick

[Name removed]

69. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Foo Fighter]

70. The Payday Loan scam is an excellent analogy.

Great post.

[KT2000]

71. Wall Street raiders

have their eyes on the last chunk of money they have not been able to steal.
Obama just handed them the keys to the "lockbox."
They will periodically conduct sell-offs that will deplete the privately held retirement funds, allow them to build up again and then have more sell-offs.
If the voting public goes along with this - they are just toop stupid to be saved.

[somone]

74. This is important. Recommended

[inna]

75. another great post. KR

[hay rick]

77. K&R

[pnwmom]

78. I think we should drop the rate and make it permanent.

Then, instead of raising it in a year, we should make up the lost revenue by lifting the lid on S.S. taxed income (currently about $100K a year) -- or removing it entirely.

That would give us the more progressive tax we should have had long ago.

[sirthomas66]

87. Who exactly do you think will do that? The Democrats are coming

out of power in three weeks. If they drop the payroll tax, the Republicans will try to make it permanent. Do you in your wildest imagination think that Republicans, who will only have to wait two years to take over the Senate and the presidency are going to vote to raise SS tax income? And, the Democrats are going to be blamed by the people for defunding social security. I can just see the commercials.

[pnwmom]

104. The Democrats can propose this and the campaign can be about it.

It would be a great issue for the Dems to campaign on.

[sirthomas66]

107. Those days are gone............

ddd

[ProudDad]

114. I Agree...

If they're in the same bill...

Take OFF the cap and lower the rate...

[earth mom]

81. Cat food...it's what's for dinner.

:grr:

[Art_from_Ark]

83. And breakfast and lunch, too

:puke:

[lonestarnot]

108. And when it's gone, we'll be forced to eat the cats!

:puke:

[me b zola]

82. K&R

[Enthusiast]

84. K&R

Read this. Alarming.

[sendero]

90. I don't care..

... if they try to hide behind a "commission", behind bogus "projections" or fear of "debt" which doesn't seem to stop them from giving away money hand over fist the the rich.

Every last one of those assholes will be signing their ticket back to paluckaville the day the screw with SS, and that is a fact.

[Norrin Radd]

91. kr

[Jakes Progress]

92. That second picture should be enough

for anyone to know that we've been had. It should be enough to convince even the most die-hard centrist Democrat to straighten up and fly left.

[democracy1st]

93. K & R

[Faygo Kid]

95. Complete agreement. The destruction of Social Security is certain.

From the moment when Obama appointed Simpson and Bowles as co-chairs of the Catfood Commission - two notorious haters of Social Security - the fix was in.

This will be the nail in the coffin. I will be 60 in 2011, and thought I might be safe down the road regarding Social Security benefits. Now, I think it might not exist even in five years.

The reprehensible Tea Partiers bear a lot of the blame. They are bullies, dupes and fools, but their intimidating tactics have led to the destruction of Social Security not just being possible, but probable. Their wailing about the "deficit" is obviously a farce. They are all about destroying any social programs that benefit the average person.

Obama's deficit commission appointments really threw me - a supporter - for a loop. Social Security is a goner.

[happygoluckytoyou]

98. ooooo...... A SHINY....... oh look..... a squirrel....... AMERICA SHORT ATTENTION SPAN THEATER

[AnneD]

99. Facts.....

Obama is a smart man.

This compromise with it's payroll holiday is a wedge to open the Social Security trust fund.

If Obama is as smart as I think he is, then he is aware of this.

The only conclusion I can reach I can reach is that he approves this destruction of SS.


The American people cried out against the bank bailout bill. We were told this would save our economy. The only economy it saved was WS and the Banks.

We were told that the Bush tax cuts would create jobs. Well just how many jobs have been created.

So now you expect us to believe you when you tell us that this is a good compromise for us?

I say hell no.

[Maineman]

100. Very important information !!! Calls for serious national action.

[Poboy]

105. .

[panzerfaust]

106. Heck of a Job Obamie

[704wipes]

115. the last increase was done under Reagan so that Boomers could pay for

their parents and our own SS. Now Obama and the GOP are cutting the legs out from under the boomers../. just watch.
This is disgusting.

[florida08]

116. great post

SS has never contributed to the deficit/debt..Obama has now changed that. They say they will "borrow" the money to cover the 112 billion that will be lost. Am wondering from where, when it's usually the SS fund they borrow from. This 'holiday' will amount to about $1000/on 50k/yr..or $40/2wk. What the hell can be done with that? Gas and grocery prices will consume that and more in 1 week. The employer's rates won't change. How will this create one single job?

Am already hearing that this is the first year that SS will payout more than it's collecting and he's cutting it? Yes it's a rw talking point..they don't count the 2.5 trillion in bonds and that's not going to change. Looks to me like it's another ponzi scheme to keep transferring wealth to the top with smoke and mirrors to the middle.

It's like to intensify the talking point to 'privatize' ss as the "Obama taxcuts" have made it even less insolvent and we simply can't borrow anymore. As we know COLA has been denied and the goppers wouldn't even ok a 250 one time pay increase for seniors but sure they'll agree to borrowing to refund it.

[Poboy]

117. .