There seems to be a secret plot to inject the idea of cutting Social Security into the national debate for the looming presidential election. This plot is among the slithering lizard people known as the conservatives. It started with the oleaginous Ben Shapiro demanding that white people work until they die. He then went to Twitter to gin up more talk among the mouth breathers in favor of cutting Social Security. Now the Republican Party is promoting the idea in Congress.
It is an odd coincidence that once Trump secured the nomination, his alleged allies started talking up an idea that has no constituency. No one wants to throw their granny into the street, and no one wants to throw their parents into the streets. More important, the tens of millions of retired white people do not want to be thrown into the streets, especially in the name of sending their last pennies to Israel. It is the third rail of politics for a reason, so why are these reptiles bringing it up now?
The most popular reason is they hope to slime Trump with this issue, thus undermining his general election campaign. They assume, and probably correctly, that the mass media will claim he wants to murder your granny in the promised bloodbath this autumn, no matter what Trump says about the subject. So far, Trump has mostly ignored it, only mentioning the problems of fraud in Medicare. Fraud is a massive problem with Medicare, but fraud is a defining feature of America now.
Another reason for this sudden interest in poisoning their election chances is that idiots run the Republican Party. The reason the party has been called “the stupid party” for generations is it is run by stupid people. They are clever and scheming, necessary skills for democratic politics, but they are not as cynical as the the other side. As a result, Republican leaders are the forever Charlie Brown, sure that this time the Democrats will let them kick the football.
Then there is the fact that the Republican Party and American conservatism evolved in the 20th century as losers. The GOP’s natural role is as the cleanup crew for the Democrats, who run around smashing things. For their part, the so-called conservatives busy themselves racing in front of speeding trains yelling “stop” while the rest boast about how their principles forbid them from winning. Conservatism evolved to be the consolation prize for the politically inept.
You can probably take a little bit from each column and produce a mix that explains the sudden interest in snuffing out granny. There is nothing about any of these possible answers that contradicts the others. Ben Shapiro is a skeevy little hobbit man who hates Trump with the intensity of a thousand suns, but he is also a mediocrity who has a habit of stepping on rakes. There is a reason that his handlers make sure to never expose him to adults during his public appearances.
There is another element to this and that is the desire of many people, no doubt many people from the loser party, to get back to debating issues. The United States does have real problems that could quickly become catastrophic problems if they remain unaddressed by the political class. For example, there is a pre-French Revolution vibe to the government’s finances. This post in Chronicles is a good explainer and a good example of the desire to return to real issues.
Now, “experts” have been predicting doom over the national debt for generations and doom is always twenty years off. It is like the collapse of “fiat money” or affordable solar energy in that it is always twenty years away. Unlike the other two, math says there is a limit to how much debt the government can issue. At some point, the appetite for new debt will decline as everyone will be holding as much debt as they need. At that point, new debt comes with new, much higher costs to the government.
As far as how to avoid this debt cliff, the only answer is the one answer everyone agrees must never be debated. That answer is ending the Global American Empire and returning to normalcy. That means reducing the military budget by ninety percent, deporting the tens of millions of freeloaders, and cracking enough rich people’s heads, maybe even lopping off a few of them, to get the economic elites inline. None of that can be debated, so they talk about killing your granny.
For the most part, Social Security runs reasonably well. The big problem, as far as old people programs, is Medicare, which is riddled with fraud, but Social Security is largely free of fraud and waste. Suring up its finances during the great baby boomer retirement should not be a great challenge. If life expectancy continues to decline, then it will be a self-correcting problem. In other words, if you are worried about the looming debt crisis, there are better places to look for answers.
That is what really gives this topic the French Revolution vibe. A big reason for the revolution was the gordian knot of royal finances. France desperately needed financial reform, but the rich people opposed it because they saw no profit in it. The Global American Empire faces the same problem. All the best people agree that we face a looming financial crisis, and they all agree that they will not sacrifice a hair on their heads to avoid it. Instead, they think you should work until you die.
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Not sure Z has it right at the end of this one where he says SS runs mostly fine. SS is most definitely broken, and the easiest way to fix it is for the gov’t to stop treating it as a slush fund they can borrow against and each individual has their own “investment account” where they have some latitude to make decisions on how their SS accounts are invested, can track real-time growth, etc. Just like a 401(K) or IRA, except federally mandated and run. Would work infinitely better that way.
I agree that bringing up SS reform is a political loser for the GOP. However,
no one wants current retirees, or anyone even close to retirement, to be affected by any reforms. This has to start with people in their 20s.
Unfortunately, voters won’t hear that message and, like the author of this blog, they will hear that the goal is to “throw granny off a cliff.” That’s why it’s a political loser.
I’ve seen the horror stories out of nursing homes. Their imported and desegregated POC savages abusing “our grandfathers that saved them from genocide” in WWII. And this is the thanks they’ve gotten for saving the banking class from their alleged genocide? Desegregation and “white privilege” propaganda for 70 years? It’s a fucking shame.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcnQJd_XRQQ
The people who rule over us are literal demons and they have to get out. I don’t care where they go, but their influence has been cancerous on everyone. They must leave.
Feminism has been cancer, desegregation has been cancer, trannys have been cancer, DEI has been cancer. With the same people who print the money and control the megacorporations funding it all and creating media to brainwash malleable fools into supporting their misanthropic agendas. But truth always wins out in the end. You can’t fool all the people all the time.
BRICs and the consequences of their own hubris seem to have set in stone a cascade of events that will soon enough dismount them from their ivory towers. Can’t come quickly enough.
SS was a known ponzi scheme from day one.
Ida May Fuller was the first person to collect social security.
Fuller worked under Social Security just shy of three years from the spring of 1937 to November 1939 and paid a total of $24.75 in Social Security taxes
Fuller collected a total of $22,888.92
Wiki has a decent write up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_May_Fuller
Fuller had no children.
One of the insidious things about cutting SS or raising the age for it is that most employers don’t want to hire senior citizens. So we would have a situation where old people can’t get social security or get a job. That’s throwing granny off the cliff and just plain cruel.
That’s easily fixed. Just require each employer to hire a certain percentage of old people. That would have the added advantage of having to hire a whole new bunch of useless bureaucrats to administer the new program.
no problem, white people are happy to be slaves work to death
if white people actually had self-esteem, then Washington already burn to the ground
cheap laborers turn into deadly criminals, white population turns into annual scapegoat, Jew gets happy
Just nuke this faggot earth ASAP
Reading the comments below reveals why the dissident right has always lost in the past and will continue doing so in the future.
A majority of commenters have fully internalized the radical individualism that has brought them to ruin. You can’t be part of a community without caring for the old and young and less fortunate. And yes doing that may theoretically impinge on your “freedom” or “financial independence”.
If I had it my way SS doesn’t exist. It’s a commie Ponzi scheme. However, it does exist, and retirees pay into it their entire working lives.
They are owed the fucking $$$.
There has to be something to replace the Republican Party. To quote my favorite line By Jimi Hendrix, in Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower… “I can’t get no relief. “
They aren’t owed dick. The Supreme Court already ruled its a tax and once it’s paid its gone. The fact Americans believe the bullshit of owed welfare doesn’t excuse they are wrong and it’s a ponzi scheme and theft from the young to the old. Fuck greatest, silents boomers and their theft of their children and grandchildren.
They stole my money and I want it back. GFY
Gotta steal from the young because reasons. The third rail to ensure the old can travel to Europe or some other dumbass place. Viva retirement at the expense of the children and grandchildren. And old people complain about low fertility rates because other reasons.
Jkloi, how do you see your later years playing out?
What if, in middle age, you took some sort of calculated risk with your money and lost everything? Or if your back went out and you couldn’t do much physical labor?
“I would be self-reliant and suffer the consequences without help from the state” is an admirable answer, if you really mean it and would actually do that.
Most people aren’t like that, though.
Yeah. Most would vote themselves ill gotten gains from others. Thieves. All of them whether by votes or laziness. And yes the old do it with a smile saying they “earned” their legal theft from the next generation.
I’m fine with getting rid of the Empire, but that’s only 15% of the budget.
Also no more loans from the world, in fact they start collecting what we owe them.
The Interest Rate hikes alone will eat up any savings.
Hopefully also eating Social Security, cuz justice.
You don’t do your homework on matters popular, Z.
It’s good politics, which means terrible policy.
I’m not at all sure social security is in trouble, there’s a lot of nonsense numbers out there…
As poor as the Social Security system is in terms of design, as lousy as the returns are for the responsible person, the fact is, it does what it is supposed to do and a lot of people rely on it. People like Nimrata Randhawa can talk about cutting it for young people, but if you’re 25 years old now, you will likely be relying on it when you are 65. Most people are not equipped to become financial investors, nor do they generate the spare resources to do so in their life, for better or worse. Social Security is for them, but it works because it is universal and it is simple. It should stay that way.
GOP has no reason to bring it up now. They could easily win the election by just talking about the open borders and violent crime 24/7. It wouldn’t be hard. Instead they’ve done the opposite – they’ve ceded the border issue to Brandon, by letting him lie about the extra powers he needs to secure it, extra powers the GOP won’t give him. It’s unreal. The only way one could behave in this way is if you are trying to throw the election.
The GOP does things so obviously corrupt and evil that no rational peospn could think they would get away with it. they do get away with it because the base is willing to blieve that they are stupd , and don’t know know better.. Karl Rove is the chief od fox news electrioncoverage . He appointed Aron Mishkin , a long time Dem as chief of the numbers desk for election in 2020 . it is clear he did this because he was in on the planning for the fix. He made sure the numbers desk held off on call for trump., or prematurly called for biden , untill the swing states could stop the counting and introduce all the found biden votes.
The problem is clearly the base, who never fail to fall for it.
This is an open attempt to hurt trump and downticket republicans in swing districts .
Mr. Z man, Karl Denninger (market-ticker.org) agrees with you about the solvency of Social Security vs. that of CMS (Medicare and medicaid). SS is generally solvent even out some decades from now. CMS is not, 20% of GDP, and 1/3 of all government revenues is medical and nearly all fraudulent. Most pharmaceuticals do not work and have the effect of making you more dependent on expensive meds over time. The medical insurers do not care because ALL insurance in this country works on the “cost plus” basis, just like the military industrial complex. This is the reason why insurers are more than willing to cover expensive meds. They just pass the cost onto the public. Obamacare destroyed the “catastrophic” insurance business that allowed people like myself (who take a DIY approach ro medicine and anti-aging life extension in particular) to bypass the costs associated with this system.
Karl Denninger has written extensively on medical issues and has proposed comprehensive reform in a way that makes sense to me:
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=231949
You could say we currently have TWO MIC’s, the medical industrial complex and the military industrial complex. This first is actually worse than the latter because the latter is relatively easy to avoid by working in strictly commercial jobs.
Social, Medicare and medicaid all the same ponzi act, literally. Theft of resources from the young productive to the non-productive to fund golf and travel. Nice thievery going on there.
Please stop believing everything Teddy Beale posts. The vast majority of SS recipients don’t live the high life. The ones that do are those who put aside lots of money during their working years. Or were born into wealth to begin with.
Nope gotta fund end of life care and squeeze every drop from the seed corn. At least agrarian justice by thomas advocated grants and theft on behalf of the young as opposed to completely going to the old to fund laying around at the expense of the productive.
It’s funny how just the words “Social Security” trigger so many priors.
My dilemma is that while I want to see my enemies suffer (meaning Trump is back in the Oval office) I also want to see them hang themselves (by talking social security).
This should be a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose situation, but if the Jews are pushing it, I know it ain’t.
When asked, for a while now I’ve been telling people my retirement plan is to fight and probably die in the next civil war. I should be more careful about what I ask for.
The electrician that I use is damn near 80. He has slowed down over the years but is still working, ask him about it ” there is no retirement in the Bible”
While true the subject is THE third rail. I suspect Z is correct the subject is being used to sabotage Trump. He’d better get out ahead of this right now bidens handlers will direct the narrative within hours if that dosen’t happen today that means now. kryptonite
Heads need to roll…literally
I don’t have any faith that will happen.
“All the best people agree that we face a looming financial crisis, and they all agree that they will not sacrifice a hair on their heads to avoid it.”
This reminds me of the African overpopulation crisis. When the poobahs in the Netherlands were looking to reduce farmland, I thought “maybe, just maybe, some of these people have grown a single brain cell and are coming around to the necessity of solving the real crisis, even if they are doing it ENTIRELY on the backs of the working class (which I entirely expect; whether smart or stupid they are grubbing trash clowns after all).” Then it leaked from the Amsterdam municipal government what they planned to do with the newly-fallow farmland: build slums for imported Africans.
These people, globalists, progressives, liberals, whatever you want to label them as, are a vile disease inside European civilization. Either the malignancy is excised or the patient will die, the malignancy with it. It is existential war.
It truly is existential. Get rid of the the Norman Borlaugs, the White nexus, and Nature will take her cruel course. Population will drop to 19th century levels by 2050, as good Prince William proclaimed in a recent speech.
Word to the wise. That’s in one generation. Two if your a dusky baby-mama.
The rino campaign against SS is one data point that the regime is not choosing Orange this year. However, there are other data points that say he might be the choice. It’s confusing. Perhaps the regime is not united on their 2024 choice. Oddly enough, the Manchin/Sinema Democrats appear to be more open to a 2nd Trump term than the McConnell/Cornyn/Thune Republicans are.
I cashed out of the stock market this month. Time will tell the wisdom, but I think we’re about there. And money markets are paying pretty well these days.
I’ve been waiting for the pin prick in the markets for a year now. It astounds me the way they continue to defy gravity. But I have to imagine it’s closer with each passing day. I’ve kept my 401k out of the market since 1/1/24, only popping in for a single day at a time, when I think the odds are good that it will go up. So far I’m 7 for 7 and am up over 7% for the year. Of course, if I’d just kept my money in the market every day I’d be up even more, but I’d also spend a lot of mornings wondering if this was the day the big reverse begins? None of it makes sense.
I think the SP500 tops out about 5400 before the (long) bear market begins. It’s around 5250 today. Right or wrong, I like to go on the record.
“The market” is a Ponzi scheme. When your money is in it, it’s no longer “your money” — it’s been spent on an equity stake, and you don’t get your money back unless until you find some sucker willing to buy that equity stake for more then you paid for it.
Perversely, the soundest investment right now is Treasuries at a guaranteed 5%+, but the problem with them is that the very same government you are lending to in order to sustain its crack-addict spending is inflating your proceeds away.
Nothing makes sense any more. I understand why people are into doom porn because every single socio-economic-political trend points toward disaster — demographics, the birthrate, the spending, the debt, the military brinksmanship, the war in the Middle East, housing prices, inflation, immigration, crime, the Dow at 40,000.
Yet… here we are. It hasn’t imploded yet.
But we’re long overdue…
The longer the wait the bigger the crash, isn’t that a rule of thumb?
Because the yield curve has been inverted for 20 or 21 months now, and the crash still hasn’t happened yet, fund managers are starting to say the yield curve isn’t a reliable indicator anymore
It’s entertaining
Im also getting wary of stocks. I’m not a financial expert but I think stocks will crash. Serious layoffs have started, the corporate culture has become excessively greedy short-term thinking, debt is in new territory and inflation is biting. The only reason interests are not up is that the Fed knows the whole house of cards would come down in an afternoon. Stocks are not safe imo
I am 100% out of stocks now. When that little shit dick-tater up north fucked with the truckers, I pulled 6 figures OUT of anything Canadian. Yes, inflation bad – but high interest rates are not paying my housing costs 100% and while banks may crash, in my lifetime a stock market crash is MUCH more likely.
Paying my housing costs 100%. Live typing, no edit function. FWIW, no consumer debt, never borrow —- so there you go — LOVE the high rates.
I always figured I would work until I died anyway. If I eventually can’t work then there is always the Indian way. The thought of a rest home never appealed to me.
There is always .45 caliber retirement if things get bad enough. The only real fear is losing your mind. Everything else is manageable.
Depends what you do I guess. I look at my cohort in abject fear! I see myself in their shoes, but for the Grace of God. As an academic, I sat on my ass for a lifetime suffering only from nearsightedness in my efforts.
People harp on extending the retirement age, but there are folk out there—many—who are broken down by a lifetime of hard work and poor nutrition and healthcare. I can’t imagine they could, or should, work longer than they have. Work until you die is fine if you are reasonably healthy. It may even extend your life through meaning and purpose. But to work in pain and suffering simply because you have no choice?
That’s some medieval shit there. We have to be a better society than that.
I was buying tylenol for the first time, at a CVS kind of place.
The pharmacist told me he has guys eating a bottle of it a day, just so they can keep working.
(This somewhere in all-White flyover country, natch.)
Of course you are correct. I certainly don’t wish that on anyone.
Yep. What’s with this retirement shit anyway? Humans need a purpose to live, and like it or not, fulfilling work does that.
Downvoted for lack of insight. When your body breaks down as it eventually will, you won’t think yourself such a cool bastard.
Please help me understand the news here, since I don’t access any of it now. (Twitter, TV, XM, s.m., etc.)
So my NeverTrump liberal bestie is crowing this morning about how he hopes “they take all $540 million of Bad Orange’s money, I hope they take everything!”
Why? “‘Cuz Bad said he’d take our Social Security! I heard him say it!”
Yes, yes, that’s exactly what Bad would say to his Boomer / Gen X crowd, you betcha.
(The wife wakes up to tv news every morning. As the greatest comment ever made on the Z-blog said, “If they’re liberal, there’s pussy involved.”)
The Republicans are saying it, so their erstwhile nominee gets the blame?
Is that the puppy’s tail the Fink Party is pulling to make doggo bark?
This almost guarantees Trump gets it, just in time to usher in “the Warp Speed to Fedcoin!” to save the day. Am I reading this right?
The SS talk makes me think they are actually having doubts about their ability to fortify enough to keep Donald of Orange out of the White Outhouse. It’ll be exactly this too. Everyone, including the establishment GOP, will agree that Trump totally, undeniably said he would murder granny. Trump will be on video vehemently refuting this in a very credible way. It won’t matter. They’ll just keep repeating the lie until every Karen and Cuck believes it. At least that’s the plan.
I’ve always liked the idea of an easier path to opt-out of SS.
Maybe it’s tied to some sort of mandatory compliant “financial education” course w a test for competency afterwards.
The training could be privatized.
Perhaps, as it would be a boon to finance, a minimum % YOY return must be guaranteed by Fidelity, or whomever, to access this new client steam.
If the point of SS is to ensure some level of income in old age by taking way too much money from you, because you are too stupid with poor time preference to do it on your own, if you can prove otherwise it gives a way out.
I guess there would have to be a transition period to support the current obligations, so maybe the opt-outs allowable is capped and then increases as the obligations decrease over time.
Anyway, I’m Gen X and certainly not counting on, or expecting, any SS payments in my retirement.
Conversely, for my Boomer mother it is her only source of income.
Probably some holes to be shot through the idea, but at least it’s a non-binary approach.
Apart from being fiscally unsustainable,. Social Security needs to be eliminated because it is simply wrong. It is a fundamental, but often unappreciated, driver of antifamily and anti-natalist social trends. Plus, it functions as a de facto gigantic slush fund for the federal government. It is unhealthy for society in many deep, interconnected, synergistic ways. Not only the program itself but the entire psychology behind it needs to be stopped.
It was FDR’s way of getting the kids off the family farm, and into the cities to labor for his friends. Multi-generational households? Pshaw!
Yes, you’re right Alzaebo.
Not many people today fully understand just how radically different it is to live in an economy that functions on Keynesian social-democratic scrip rather than organic production and sound capital. It literally changes everything. It has become an entire, all-encompassing false reality that lies at the bottom of every social problem we have, even that of race. (Race would be a non-issue without government deficit spending. I know HBDers hate hearing that, but it’s the truth.)
There will be no significant changes in Western societies until we get back to a reality-based system of accounting. But once we do, everything changes.
“Race would be a non-issue without government deficit spending. I know HBDers hate hearing that, but it’s the truth‘
Nonsense, as usual. How about explaining your gratuitous assertions wrt race and deficit spending. Race has always been a problem as it basically boils down to fundamental differences (behavioral as well as IQ) between groups of people. Such “friction” has been described by none other than Thomas Sowell in his writings on race mixing in foreign lands where the government was anything, but profligate. Chinese immigrants have created problems all over the world for example. (Nothing against Chinese, they just outcompete the native population.)
One race, the one with superior skills and behavior, outperforms the other and that is the root of envy and jealousy and societal conflict between the two. Not much different here, is it? Except we had a weaker race (Blacks) forcibly migrate here and to this date, they’ve never been able to close the gap with the founding race (White).
Geez, at least put some effort and thought into your commentary if we’ve got to read the crap.
It’s also a Ponzi scheme. In theory, they throw people in jail for that!
That’s absurd. The Social Security system is far from perfect, and is, in fact, a fiscal mess right now thanks to its being used as a government ATM for God knows what malign programs the elite of both parties concoct. But it represents a perfectly reasonable and in some ways admirable New Deal effort in the name of the common good to ensure that people too old or too broken to work for their livings have some sort of decent old age as a sign of respect for the services they have rendered to society during their working years.
As for anti-natalism, the golden age of natalism in America, the immediate post-World War II years of the baby boom, was also the time when blue-collar Americans felt most economically secure, with high wages, a society orderly enough to secure the freedom of children to amuse themselves outdoors and receive high-quality educations at no or low cost and thus free their parents from huge fiscal burdens, and, yes, the nascent Social Security system that meant that working-class people too old to work did not–for the first time since the Industrial Revolution–have to turn into paupers.
As for anti-family-ism, I hate to break it to you, but no one really likes multi-generational living arrangements, unless Grandma is the on-call cook and babysitter night and day, or Grandpa is a tycoon with a huge, luxurious family house with many bedrooms and a swimming pool, or better yet, a Kennedy-style compound. All you have to do is read some literature from any culture, Eastern or Western. How would you like to be a Chinese bride under the thumb of her mother-in-law day and night? That’s why the Bible says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.” Note that word “leave.” People really, really prefer to live in nuclear families.
That goes for old people, too. Living in your married daughter’s back bedroom was fine if you didn’t have two nickels to rub together, but you never saw any rich old ladies doing that in the old days. They stayed in their nice houses with their nice china and hired poor but respectable spinsters who couldn’t afford their own homes to take care of them.
I’m someone who started paying into Social Security at age 18–and I’m still paying in at an advanced age–so I’m someone who, if I’d been able to keep that money and invest it myself in an index fund, I’d be able to afford my own private jet to fly around the world once a week. But as John Marshall Harlan I, the greatest of all Supreme Court justices wrote, “There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good.”
3gforme and that other one or two and that’s it. Amirite?
I think you’re assuming a lot when it comes to extended family arrangements. It might not work for everybody but I know of a few people doing it; not because they’re destitute or uber-wealthy, but because it’s a healthy arrangement for all generations involved. For them it fosters close family ties, something we could certainly use a little more of in our community.
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The Shapiro Strategy is a winner. Trump can’t be made unpopular but Republicans can, just by reminding people how repulsive they are.
First, they’re nerds. Social Security is unusually functional for a government thing, but it has some problems—of accountancy. Republicans never miss an opportunity to bust out the ol’ spreadsheet and drone on and on in a way that only a *tiny minority of some extremely anti-Republican demographics* can understand. Normal women are disgusted, dummies sense they’re being conned, and decent men get nostalgic, wishing they’d taken out a few nerds back at school before they could be tried as adults.
Second, Republican fiscal policy isn’t economically rational. It’s mere “identification with the aggressor.” Winner good, loser bad. Every Republican fix for Social Security takes money away from normal people—re-screwing the already screwed—and gives it to finance™. Doing this in a high-inflation environment is especially wrong and ugly, so LET’S ROLL. Democrats of course do the same, but they also lie about it—and they *do other things,* like paying their voters instead of telling them all to fuck off and die because Charles Koch needs a new pair of shoes.
Since this shift in “the discourse” every conservative/libertarian commentator, commentary show or podcast, site and *comment section*—you fools!—has smugly donned a mask of retarded evil. And it was so easy to make it happen.
“ Every Republican fix for Social Security takes money away from normal people”
Prey tell, what Republican fix has been added to SSI since Reagan? There has not been any changes in 40 years. I could be wrong and if pointed in the right direction will educate myself. I don’t consider things like SSI Disability changes to be fixes, just bastardized use/interpretation of the system’s rules then in effect—and they came about under Obama who doubled the roles.
Great post. Many conservatives and most libertarians live in fear of granny getting help. They would much rather their money go to the empire than to help Americans. They believe that is granny wasn’t as sharp as them and invested widely she deserves to die.
Interesting to note that the average person was never expected to be a wise investor until Wall Street wanted 401ks.
The Dissident Right is different if your read comments on many sites (not so much this one). Many of the DS hates old people and wants them to siuffer and die since the US was A White paradise before them.
On some things like this and the Palestine genocide I find myself on the side of the left. Too bad they are nuts and tools of the elite on nearly everything else. However, the Right’s attitude of “I’ve got mine so F you, “die granny” and who cares if Jews genocide Palestinians using our money, Palestinians aren’t white, just don’t appeal to me
Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. There sure as hell won’t be any Social Security in the first decade or two after any French-style revolution. Or probably ever. The 1934 Congress was 99% WASP and had a sense of national survival — if one went down, many of them would, too. That’s no longer the case — or at least, they don’t think that way. Rough times ahead.
“ That means reducing the military budget by ninety percent, deporting the tens of millions of freeloaders, and cracking enough rich people’s heads, maybe even lopping off a few of them, to get the economic elites inline. ”
The military—as well as other agencies—should take a haircut. Certainly we don’t get the bang for buck other countries do and of course, the more “toys” given the military, the greater the temptation to play with them. However, “cut the military to balance the budget” is a tired old trope and Z-man should know better.
Go ahead and check, but as I write, the national debt accrues at *twice* the level of yearly military expenditures! In other words, complete elimination of the military still leaves us in the hole and future (official) bankruptcy. The overwhelming expenditures of the Federal government (about 2/3’s) is what we may rightfully term, “welfare”. And no, I’m not talking stroking checks to “welfare queens”. Everyone seems to be sucking off the Federal teat—agriculture, education, big business, Medicare, SSI etc.
I mention SSI, albeit as Z-man noted a pretty well done program, except that it currently is actuarily unsound and to pay benefits, sells Treasuries it holds, which means the Fed’s are financing it even now—and more so when those Treasuries run out in a few short years. However as Z-man astutely noted, this problem is self correcting as the Boomers disappear in 20 years. SSI is a “none” problem and a pretty good tell that a person is a grifter when screaming about its imminent demise.
I think an appropriate, but horribly cruel punishment for Ben Shapiro would be to tie him to a chair and place garden or construction tools in front of him. You could probably hear his screams all the way in California.
What a fabulous visual!
I would also surround him with garden gnomes dressed up as Gestapo officers. Think about the visual and you’ll see it works on many levels.
Oh that’s rich! 🤣
“work until you die”
The vaxx might be a huge help there. More working age people are dropping dead, they won’t be collecting social security
The bulge in the snake, Boomers, will take care of SSI deficit for the most part in 20 years or so. Even before, the SSI deficit is currently estimated at 25% during the worse years of shortfall. However, dead future “collectors” are dead current contributors. I doubt the rise in all cause mortality rates in a blessing in disguise.
The death from vaxx injuries is an enormous crime and curse. I was being sarcastic. Evil is loose in this world in ways I don’t think we fully appreciate
Is that why the covid programs targeted the elderly?
I think it’s mistaken to assume these types are thinking twenty years out. They were dealing with that bulge in real time.
— However, dead future “collectors” are dead current contributors.
Agreed but you know what this means… We just need to import 4.3 trillion more Hondurans to pay into the fund. These people are quite enviable in the way they have a nice self-consistent world view that has an “answer” to everything. It’s like watching a Flat Earther or Scientologist at work.
Bingo, Pozy. And as silly as this sounds to any thinking individual with some basic math skills, it is actually spoken of as the “fix” on the floor of Congress. In reality, it simply kicks the can down the road in a sense. Those gazillion Hondurans will retire and collect SSI and by the time they do, it won’t buy them a McDonald’s Happy Meal.
Moran ya Simba: “The vaxx might be a huge help there. More working age people are dropping dead, they won’t be collecting social security”
The thinking now is that daughters of v@xxed parents are carrying a recessive trait for ovarian failure, and that within a “few” generations [maybe over the course of 60 to 90 years?], sterility will have become the norm and no one will have noticed its encroachment into the mainstream of human biology.
https://archive.4plebs.org/pol/thread/461621924/
I.e. we’re looking at a “Children of Men” scenario unfolding throughout the 21st Century.
Apparently (((Albert Bourla))), the CEO at (((Pfizer))), wrote a PhD dissertation, concerning the control of fertility in sheep and goats.
Organisms are very robust so not sure it will work as they intended. But it is established that fertility and average life span are both dropping significantly and the vaxx is the strongest candidate for why. I don’t think it will wake up the morons but then again I don’t think anything can. Most are too domesticated. Like sheep at the slaughter house
I can see it in the dropping number of actual calves born this year to the neighbors herd in the field across from me, multiply that by a few years down the road, and beef is both expensive and scarce.
Hmm. I only had 2 opens out of 78. Little brother had a couple dozen out of around 700, but that’s most likely that about 100 of them were pretty gaunt when he bought them, then stressed trucking them up from Texas.
For all their East Asian IQs, basically everyone in Japan took the mRNA shots, and nearly everyone took boosters. I’m not yet sold on an extinction-level event, but there’s no doubt these shots are contributing to all-cause mortality well above the norm. Japan was already way behind the demographic 8 ball, now this? We love to say that, unlike our nations, a century from now Japan will still be Japanese. But will it?
“Ben Shapiro is a skeevy little hobbit man who hates Trump with the intensity of a thousand suns, but he is also a mediocrity who has a habit of stepping on rakes.”
Just say he belongs to the tribe. That suffices.
Right now I’d happily vote for someone like Gregor Strasser.
Where’s George Lincoln Rockwell when you need him?
“Excessive free speech is a breeding ground for more Trumps”
PUBLISHED YESTERDAY
UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-excessive-free-speech-is-a-breeding-ground-for-more-trumps/
Flip that. An absence of free speech is a breeding ground for more Turdeaus.
Everything that fellow says is a projection of his own black heart.
Today’s post is Pulitzer level ridicule. And it “feels so good” to bash the cretins in ConInc for their duplicitous back-stabbing tantrums aimed at undermining the Trump candidacy. Those people are beyond vile and its painful to be exposed to their ranting.
Yes, the National Debt cannot be repaid and must be restructured in conjunction with reduced Federal spending. And yes, Social Security will soon be “means tested” which means rich people will get reduced or no benefits. And this pain will be spread across all income earners via inflation.
Now here is the hard part. A slow decline guarantees that the root problem will never be solved. We will continue to faux elect the worst of us to Congress endlessly and everything will be done in a half-assed fashion guided by corrupt idiots beholden solely to special interest donors. Imagine that your brain surgeon is Don Lemon and that is our fate.
But you are speculating about the future. What about the inequality in the medical system?
What if the medical system didn’t have breakfast this morning?
And what if the medical system lived in a food desert?
I’m told the medical system is “experiencing houselessness” and living in a van down by the river. Also, people keep misgendering zhim.
There will never be a cessation of current benefits. Means testing of a sort for future recipients seems probable as the low end of SSI benefit is a joke and folks are simply not able to save appropriately for old age. So yes, SSI for better or worse has morphed into a national pension plan—as most other nations have. Once we realize and accept that, we can and should overhaul the entire thing and be done with it.
SS never morphed into a pension plan. It was designed to be exactly a “pension plan” from the beginning.
At the time the plan was hatched, there was no such thing as 401 k’s, CD’s, or the various investment gadgets like hedge funds. Only the Uber wealthy played in the stock market, and company pension plans were the norm.
This idea that everyone from a CEO to a burger flipper at Micky D’s should be throwing money at the stock market to save for retirement is an absurd fallacy pushed by Wall st types to put more cash flow in the market, to benefit themselves. Average working ppl even extremely frugal ppl do not have the money to invest even minimally, since wages have stagnated since the early 70’s, and inflation has gone up exponentially.
For fucks sake there is barely anything left to call the “middle class” anymore.
This is why I’m a national socialist — lower-case “n,” lower case “s.” The National Socialists of the 1920s were sui generis to the Germany of a century ago and it is not my argument that we should emulate them.
But they were correct when they ascertained that both the international communists and the international capitalists were ripping off the working class and the ethnic German people.
The GAE is a massive grift in which everyone but the white working man gets a piece of the spending financed by the $34 trillion debt but the white man gets the bill.
Ukraine, Israel, global corporations, universities, Big Pharma, Wall Street, blacks, feminists, illegal beaners, the environmental lobby, and the military-industrial complex all get paid.
But the white working man is told to work until he’s 70, live in a singlewide, go bankrupt from medical expenses, and have his Social Security cut. And if he complains about it he’s an unpatriotic white supremacist who will get hauled off after an FBI no-knock on his trailer.
Fuck. That.
Totally rational position to take. Unfortunately, lots of people want to pretend they are Germans from the 1930’s and then think I should want to pretend that too. We can have a rational discussion about the merits of political-economic systems without the goose stepping, ugly uniforms, and admittedly pretty awesome mustaches.
Most people agree the 1930s Germans had some pretty stylish uniforms.
Hugo Boss approves this message….
😝
I think the key is in the boots. I like boots….
The uniforms only look stylish in black and white. Brown is not a good look for most people. Or at least on me.
I’ll take an old school, church-based “socialism.” Less confusing, government didn’t have to pretend to be altruistic. It makes sense for universities to be in charge of liberal and scientific education, but as far as moral education and healthcare— church all the way. Everybody stay in their lane.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: even Peter Schiff is right twice a day.
When was he right? I stopped paying attention to him in 2009 when the predicted hyperinflation did not materialize.
Must be nice to have someone else do your grocery shopping for the past 4 years.
Hyperinflation is a very different phenomenon from just “high” inflation.
Hyperinflation: Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany in the past or Venezuela in 2018, 2019 and to a much lesser degree until now and Argentina (again, to a lesser degree) right now.
High inflation: The US and West in general.
In all these countries mentioned, hyperinflation caused a switch to alternative currencies and the caravan moved on. Hence the beginning of digit currency efforts. Before hyperinflation sets in, or becomes obvious, look for digital currency to be established. At which point, you are now no longer a free person, but a slave who works for a master.
Yes. Hyperinflation is always a political decision. The goal of switching everybody to a fully tracked digital currency is a plausible reason to do it.
Right now, no western country is experiencing hyperinflation. Not even close.
High inflation becomes hyperinflation at some point.
>High inflation becomes hyperinflation at some point.
That’s a meaningless statement. You can have high inflation and then low inflation or even deflation. There are many variables. To create hyperinflation, the people responsible have to really make an effort. It doesn’t just happen.
I call it the “baseball players on steroids” syndrome–politicians focus on some teeny little problem that is easily solvable and then crow about how they have “accomplished something”, because of course the major problems are simply unsolvable..
@Hun
“To create hyperinflation, the people responsible have to really make an effort. It doesn’t just happen.”
You’re technically correct, I would call it the “runaway train” fallacy. Another problem is where do you draw the line between high and hyper- inflation? I wrote earlier that we are headed for hyperinflation, but maybe it will be a series of rapidly succeeding crises of high inflation, default, and hyperinflation, in no particular order.
Schiff gets the logic right. If he’s at fault it is for underestimating how slow people are to realize that monopoly money is worthless. And now reality is starting to return home to roost
One’s sense of timing depends on one’s understanding of other people’s timing. I’m not good at it either lol.
That’s a fair answer haha
There are only three options. Spending cuts, Default, or Hyperinflation. We have to eliminate spending cuts — they’re the Third Rail of Politics, as you said — so that leaves two options: Default or hyperinflation. Default cannot happen, because the Fed can inflate its balance sheet to ginormous size when that becomes necessary. And because the Fed is a political creature, that is what will happen. So that leaves Hyperinflation. When that happens, it’s game over for the GAE. When is the only question. Twenty years is a pipe dream. Five or six years is my guess at the outside. The rats are already abandoning ship. The ratlines are crawling. Ben Shapiro (BS) is runnin cover, rubbing his hands with glee, But remember, this sucker’s goin’ down, in the immortal words of Shrub.
Dang! I meant spending cuts on the big social entitlements were the third rail. But they are the lion’s share, if you leave out the military budget..
Look at the political class. Those people work until they die. Trump, Biden, Pelosi…
John McCain and Ruth Bader Ginsburg worked tirelessly for the nation until Satan took them away…
If they can do it, why can’t you?
All too true, Z.
What is required now is a complete paradigm shift on the part of the American people. We are seeing the beginnings of it up here in Canada where the lunatics have been running rampant for 5 decades. Our system is *trying* to correct. Our conservative leaders are attacking the Canadian Establishment with admirable venom, reason and purpose. Stop the crime. Build the houses. Axe the taxes,etc etc. Even if it is all a dog and pony show – there are voices now that make sense, and the media can no longer stifle the dissent. Today, Turdo La Doo faces a non-confidence vote that could see him canned by the end of the day. This is big, contrary to the cynics.
How long ago was it? A decade? Guys like you were laughed at and dismissed as trolls when you heckled the mighty intellects of the National Review. Today people are laughing at Ben Shapiro and any laughter YOU hear is forced and hollow. There are any number of other voices like yours that are now heard and taken seriously.
We’ve been here before. Your grandparents, or great grandparents for sure – survived the Great Depression by disregarding the gov’t, stashing their cash and gold in a mattress, and hardening the f up. We will do the same. It will be tough and horrible but by the end of this… we’ll have money again. We will have sensible men representing both the right and the left. No, we are not going to kill grandma. Much as I would like to throw my shitlib elderly mother to the wolves she and her generation created… even I will make sure she survives to die of natural causes.
Hide your assets. Get out of debt. Hoard Bitcoin, cash, and gold. Hedge your bets. Minimalize, downsize and stay out of debt. The bankers, the govt and all their institutions are not on your side. If you see some demented shitlib being destroyed by the system they vote for and defend – that is, long term, a GOOD thing. The game is rigged. The smart move is to detach from it and play your hand on your own terms and look out for you and yours. If it comes to it… shoot, shovel, and shut up. This BS WILL end because it has to; there is no other option.
We will get through this.
Well put.
And keep one’s yapper shut.
Nope. Speak out loudly. Free speech: use it or lose it.
Canadian Conservatives are a joke. They are to the far left of Harper Conservatives, who were completely useless. Unless there is a sharp turn to the far-far-far-right, then there is no hope for the country.
Possibly true… but they are at least acknowledging the problems. It remains to be seen whether they have the stones to confront them and solve them.
Over on the burning platform I saw an image of a walker with the “don’t tread on me” logo beneath it, loved it, but we need to ad an AI generated image of a holster on the right side handle of the walker–just sayin–
I see the Social Security debate as nothing more than a deliberate wedge driven between generations. Lord knows things escalate from zero to Boomer hate, even here at Z’s place, faster than you can say “In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida”. If either side of the political spectrum expects difficulty with Boomer-age voters, all they need do is whisper, “Social Security AND pension AND 401(k)” to the under-55 crowd and it instantly becomes a (Day of the) pillow fight.
Heads up, Gen X. You’re next.
It could easily be resolved by keeping SS for the soon-to-be-retirees while throwing a bone to the younger generation in terms of allowing them to invest in higher return investments.
The mantra will be, the olds get what they put in, and you’ll likely get more.
What happens when people in large numbers want to get their money out of the market or move it to lower risk assets? Or when the bubble collapses?
People seem to forget that markets don’t just go up. They go down too and sometimes quite a lot and quite quickly. The stock market used to be something where you could put your money in and generate income via dividends. Now we buy stocks because for some reason, stocks always go up.
This is precisely what my employer, a Big Three defense contractor, has done with the workforce. Those who are with the corporation long enough to have a pension coming receive a smaller 401(k) match on a lower contribution limit. More recent hires receive a significantly larger company match (even with no employee contribution) and a higher contribution cap.
The only issue I see is us Pleistocene-era hires having to explain to the whippersnappers what a ‘pension’ is.
Same here in my corner of Globohomo. New hires stopped being enrolled in the pension plan a few years ago but were thrown the sop of increased contributions to their 401k.
That is indeed the problem. And Gen X is now seeing who is in the cross hairs. The Gen Z’s were born there.
Thought much the same. The “night of the pillow” crowd aren’t getting it through their fat heads that Gen X is next. Then millennials. Ad infinitum.
Hating old people isn’t the sign of a healthy or sustainable civilization.
Social Security is “fixable”.
Increase the Social Security maximum tax limit (currently SS stops being collected at $168/k per year).
Push back age of eligibility a bit to reflect longer lifespans.
Means testing. I hate this one, but after contributing the maximum for decades (with a decade and a half still to go), I’d rather get something than nothing.
“Means testing. I hate this one, but after contributing the maximum for decades (with a decade and a half still to go), I’d rather get something than nothing.”
I hear what you’re saying, but this is a dangerous idea. Before they “means test” anyone who paid into it, they need to cut all foreign aid, all benefits for illegals, all fraud from other programs, the childcare tax credit for foreigners, and a million other bullsh*t things they always find money for.
Anything they “means test” will eventually exclude the majority of white, responsible people — you know, the people who actually paid into Social Security and every other program our irresponsible government controls.
It’s always a slippery slope, like income tax was when it was introduced. They tell us, “It will only impact millionaires and billionaires…” But this really means that “Hey, you’ll be paying into it, White Man, but not getting jack squat in return.”
Screw that.
Again, there is no “we” here kimosabe. Most Gen Xers I know aren’t expecting either to collect social security or retire. Older Gen Xers like yourself tend to align with Boomers, but then the conditions were similar for the beginning of the Gen X generation.
No, it’s not ad infinitum. That “the day of the pillow” floats around is about a generation who has not been particularly responsible. Everyone’s natural inclination is to honor their elders. It’s pretty bad if we’re here, unfortunately.
The date of eligibility has already been pushed back, too by the way.
The is no “get nothing wrt SSI”—even if we do nothing. SSI is the one program that has a recurring income. Current workers pay in every week. Of course, the income does not match the estimated liability. The mismatch is currently estimated at 25% (give or take a bit). By law, everyone gets an equal haircut when the fund runs short for the monthly payout—but the shortfall is never 100%.
Oh I vehemently disagree! The ceiling number will consistently drop, depending on how much the govt claims they need to spend somewhere else.
In addition to which, it will be yet another opportunity for those that despise our people to say, “Fuck you Whitey, we need to spend YOUR money on those more deserving than you!”
No thanks.
One other idea:
Maybe the amount you get out of Social Security should be tied to the amount of children you had? (this would be a kick in the nutz to many, including me)
It’s a pyramid scheme and no one is having the kids to prop it up.
“Maybe the amount you get out of Social Security should be tied to the amount of children you had?”
George Floyd had how many kids? Five? So under your proposal, responsible white people who had only a couple of kids would be getting less than Saint George, had he lived?
I don’t think you’ve quite thought this through.
Not necessarily. We could have simply a cut for childless persons vs those with children. Of course, the do gooders would decry how wicked that is for the barren, or gay, or trans, etc.
Anyone here of just how many anchor babies are paid for with ‘child tax credits’? Or how many ‘jewels in the crown’ they buy in the black community?
Then White people should start having kids if they don’t like being replaced in their own country.
“So under your proposal, responsible white people who had only a couple of kids would be getting less than Saint George, had he lived? ”
Responsible white people would be those having more than “a couple”.
Just base SS not on your “contributions” but on your kids’ “contributions”.
Now we’re talking.
Ideally, any solution would encourage and reward productive people to reproduce while discouraging parasites.
Those who produce only crime and dysfunction should be rewarded for not having children — and not the other way around.
But of course, things would have to get a lot worse before any policies like these would ever be considered.
Still, this is the kind of out-of-the-box thinking we need.
They have been telling Gen X since we were teenagers there would be no SS for us when we got of age. They also have been telling us that everything was going to be put on our dreaded “Permanent Record!!!”. We laughed at them and shrugged it off.
Now look.
Now look what? It’s still there just only the same old attacks and justifiable worries since I was younger.
Yeah, none of that “permanent record” stuff ever came back to bite me. And my record was colorful.
Yeah, well don’t get so distressed. Did I happen to mention that I’m impressed?
“Heads up, Gen X. You’re next.”
Gen Xer’s have been carefully taught that the eventual break down of Social Security was 100% their problem. That in fact the Boomers earned it, and who gives a darn that others might pay in their whole lives to see a fraction or even nothing from the system.
So, to speak in Boomeresque – “There’s no “We” here, kimosabe”.
Every time I hear about some medicare scam, it’s always a foreigner, usually an Indian or Pakistani doing it.
When are our leaders ever going to figure out that importing foreigners to save insolvent retirement schemes only makes the problem worse. We lose money on every sale, but we make it up in volume.
Cutting Social Security is always the “edgy” conservative take for people who want to pretend they are willing to do unpopular and tough things for fiscal responsibility. Talk about cutting defense by fifty percent and watch them wilt though.
It’s a complete losing issue, since SS was promised as a retirement fund you put into, and you can take out at the allotted time. The fact it is a ponzi scheme you were forced to put money into doesn’t make the anger go away at the thought you won’t get anything.
As it is, we are adding over a trillion dollars in debt a year, and social services really can’t be touched, which means it has to be revenue. Given interest is reaching the one trillion mark, the only solution is an unprecented restructuring of our economy, which involves inflating away the debt and massive asset confiscation of the wealthy. There’s no way out outside of a massive depression and wealth confiscation.
Financial repression is the play book, but that’s easier said than done. We had financial repression in 2021 and 2022, and it worked. Debt to GDP went from 130% to 120% as inflation and low interest rates burned away the debt to GDP.
But you might have noticed that people got pretty pissed about that inflation and the bond market got very squirelly several times. The Move Index went nuts.
Now, the people and the bond market are on alert, so I highly doubt the govt can run that playbook for another five year to burn off the debt.
My wild guess is that govt will change the rules on banks, pension funds and target-date funds requiring them to own more treasuries for “safety.” They will be forced to buy treasuries at below inflation rates. Then, the Fed will let real inflation run at ~5%-6% (CPI will show 3%), which will get nominal GDP to 7% to 8%. Keep deficits at 5% and you can burn the debt to GDP away over the next decade.
We’re adding a trillion dollars in debt approximately every 90 days now, nearly $4T per annum. We’re at $34.5T now, and are on track to be over $38T by the time the next president takes office in January 2025.
The larger issue is that the annual deficit is now structural and can’t be reduced without some sort of revolution. This train is going off the cliff. Our political class knows this, which is why we’re in the raid the treasury phase of collapse.
Yep. The deficit – without interest on the debt – is structurally about the same size as nominal GDP growth. That means that debt to GDP will grow by around the interest on the debt.
If you have 125% debt to GDP and interest rates are 4%, that’s 5% of GDP. Having your debt to GDP grow at 5 percentage points a year isn’t going to work for too long. Not when you run a trade deficit and are a net debtor.
“…since SS was promised as a retirement fund you put into, and you can take out at the allotted time. “
Liars are gonna lie, but the truth is SSI was never created, nor sold (initially) as a National retirement program–but rather a supplement to normal retirement efforts expected of the people. Even today, one can go to the SSI website and it is stated *explicitly* that SSI should not be expected to provide more than 30-40% of your required retirement needs.
What you put into SSI and what you get out is also greatly misunderstood. Not a person here collecting for a few years has not gotten out more $$$ than they put in. You all can look at your lifetime contributions on the SSI website. What is conflated is that your monies were not invested and earning anything near what the private market would have earned you. This is also common for most State and Federal pensions. I ran out of contributions for State pension years ago, and will shortly do so for SSI. The numbers are available and the math is simple, try it.
Chet: Point being, though, SS IS a Ponzi scheme. Full stop. And it’s been ruled to be a tax, like any other government program, if I recall. I am Generation Jones, and haven’t put in for SS benefits yet because it would all go to taxes due to my husband’s current income. The amount of taxes and SS he’s had to pay is astronomical. Neither of us ultimately expects to ever see a penny, because my husband feels he must work until we can help our kids get on a solid economic footing – and we both think that the GAE will crash before then.
Contra what Compsci said, I am not comfortable with just accepting it as a de facto national pension. Consider it vestigial libertarian instincts, if you will, but until/unless we have a much smaller, locally cohesive White ethnostate, I don’t consider this country any sort of ‘community’ of mine. And quite frankly, I don’t give a good goddamn if black or squatemalan grandmas are thrown into the street.
The amount of money thrown at every special interest group and pet issue in this country is staggering, but keeping an 87 year old alive via machines for an extra 5 months at the cost of half a million still irritates the f*ck out of me. One way or another, I plan to check out when I can no longer wipe my own backside – or when I can no longer remember what a backside is,
Old does not equal wise or automatically valuable. A healthy society would dedicate more care and resources to its young. Except the young in GAE aren’t ours – they are aliens here to take our kids’ jobs and squat in our homes.
The whole situation is FUBAR and I’m just waiting for the sweet meteor of death. There is no fixing any of this – economically, politically, socially, demographically.
“ The whole situation is FUBAR…”
Yep, and I’ve mention we need to toss out the old system (as in revamp) and start over. However, your comment along the line of ‘not my people’ is well taken. I ignored/forgot that point/aspect.
Well… There is ONE way to fix it, but it won’t be allowed, nor will people have the courage to do it.
The unnoticed fact about historical archaic Jubilee, is that most of the debt was owed to the palace. That means a suspension of taxes.
Kings did it all the time. They didn’t bail out foreign owned banks, instead.
side note: Bronze and early Iron Age kingdoms did jubilees, but there is no record of a Hebrew kingdom *actually* performing jubilee. They only talked about it. Heh.
There’s a lots recorded as “do this in practice” in the OT that was never recorded as actually being accomplished. It’s safe to assume that at some point they were honor those rules, at least for a little while.
While debating Social Security might have made economic sense back in the 1990s, doing so now while Congress is throwing good money after bad in Ukraine after cutting Covid checks for shell companies formed for that sole purpose makes little sense. Running up the federal debt has become a purpose in itself. Another déjà vu aspect to this is how Republicans used to love talking up cuts to entitlements (excepting Social Security and Medicare), then a fairly modest part of the budget, while increasing spending on the military, which was the only part of discretionary spending that would have made up the difference, just so they could claim they were fiscally responsible while being nothing of the sort.
In fact, Social Security has been running a surplus for some time, a deliberate measure to deal with the expected surge in boomer retirees. Yet Congress treated these surpluses as a reduction in the overall federal deficit, so that they could somehow rationalize borrowing even more money for general expenditures. Having up to now treated the Social Security surplus as part of the general fund for purposes of spending, the Republicans are now claiming that the funds are strictly sequestered for purposes of paying the actual claimants. It makes even less sense than their argument decades ago about the need to cut entitlement spending—which they never did anyway. I mean, the interest alone on the government’s projected debt threatens to swallow up the rest of the discretionary budget.
So why are Republicans dredging up Social Security at this juncture? The essay advances several good explanations. Previously, our host has also pointed out that conservatives tacitly accept the left’s morality. As the left’s policies send us hurtling down ever further into rack and ruin, the Republicans see the possibility that the voters may turn in desperation to the other party in our two-party duopoly, namely themselves, and are so terrified by the prospect that they are bent on either throwing the election to to Biden’s Democrats or trying to avoid moral damnation by demonstrating their willingness to euthanize their white voter base. For the de facto white people’s party in a political establishment with a religious devotion to anti-whiteness, actually doing anything to fix real problems may simply be a bridge too far.
“ In fact, Social Security has been running a surplus for some time, a deliberate measure to deal with the expected surge in boomer retirees. Yet Congress treated these surpluses as a reduction in the overall federal deficit,”
Close. To be exact, the surplus was required to be “invested” in Treasuries. In short, we loaned it back to the government. As about two years or so ago, the new income did not meet payout requirements, so SSI began cash in Treasuries to fill in gap. Of course, the government needed to sell more Treasuries to other “suckers” to pay SSI so that SSI could pay me, and you, and you…
The bottom line is that SSI was broke a few years ago and the government has been picking up the shortfall for current retirees—more and more each year until (at least) the Treasuries run out. Estimations varying but about 2030. Then the shortfall is estimated in the neighborhood of 25%. These figures vary since the economy and employment varies.
Mostly correct, as I understand it. But we should be clear that the “shortfall” is really just the drawdown on prior years’ surpluses. The fund will only be “broke” when the surpluses have been exhausted and general fund revenues would be needed to meet the beneficiaries projected payouts. My question is, if they treated Social Secutiry as a general fund revenue in the surplus years, how is it not a general fund obligation in the the deficit years, once the fund actually goes broke (which may well be around 2030 or some such future date)? The Republicans are using a heads we win tails you lose argument on the boomers.
Because the excess SSI funding was turned over to the general fund in exchange for T-bills. Or rather IOU’s. The SSI administration had assets in the form of a piece of paper. When my income taxes are paid, they go into a general federal fund, all I get is a “thank you”.
It’s all smoke and mirrors granted, but those T-bills are considered assets of SSI administration. I say “so what”, the SSI administration is now in deficit and the government is making up the difference as you noted. In a non-Ponzi system, or one that the auditors would say is sound for a pension fund, this would not be allowed. And of course, when the last T-bill is “used” up, (2030–33) the government will (should) simply keep on selling T-bills and borrowing the shortfall. However, under law this mythical surplus is now *gone* and the Treasury is under no obligation, indeed can’t, fund the shortfall as they were doing the month before. Hence the mandatory haircut starts.
To be exact, the surplus was required to be “invested” in Treasuries.
They should have invested in equities. That would have worked out well.
The Covid reaction screwed us in so many ways, and this is just another. Debt to GDP went from ~100% to 130% in one year. That was supposed to be used to deal with the Boomers over the next 20 years. Instead, poof, it’s gone. For nothing.
The funny part about govt debt is that we generally know when debt is likely going to start causing problem for a country. It’s usually when debt to GDP gets above 100% – give or take depending on the country.
All those doom and gloomers screaming about the debt back in in the day really were over-reacting, though their hearts were in the right place. Sure, debt to GDP was rising, but it was still way, way below 100%, so it wasn’t an issue. They should have know that.
But, today, it really is becoming an issue. A study by Hirschman (yep, Hirschman) Capital showed that out of 51 cases where govt debt broke above 130% – which will did, though it’s back down to ~122% now – since 1850, 50 govts have defaulted, either outright or via inflation and financial repression. The only exception is Japan.
(Japan is a special case for many reasons, but even it is beginning to hit the wall. But what’s keeping Japan afloat doesn’t apply to the US anyway.)
But, again, 100% of debt to GDP – not 130% – is usually the marker. The 130% figure is when you good and truly fucked soon. The 100% marker says your time is coming.
The debt is a problem today. Not 20 years in the future. Today. For example, the Fed announced yesterday that it would likely slow or even stop “quantitative tightening,” i.e., selling some of the treasury bonds on its balance sheet. Why? Is inflation under control? No. It’s because it knows that the market is having a hard time absorbing all the treasury bonds being issued by the govt either for the deficit or rolling over the old debt.
I highly doubt that the Fed wanted to stop or slow its quantitative easing, but it had to or the bond market could get overwhelmed.
The Fed is also in a jam with interest rates. It wants to hold them higher for longer to truly kill inflation, but the interest expense on the debt is getting higher and higher because of those higher rates. And that means larger deficits, which causes even more treasuries to be issued, spooking the bond market even more.
The Fed may be forced to lower rates before it wants to keep the deficit from getting out of control, but that risks letting inflation rise again, which also spooks the bond market.
We are likely in Fiscal Dominance, which is a situation where fiscal policy dominates monetary policy. Basically, Congressional spending – debts and deficits – thwarts the Fed’s efforts to keep a lid on inflation. Indeed, the Fed has to change its policy to protect the govt’s ability to run large deficits.
We’re literally seeing that right now. Not 20 years in the future.
The big question is how much rope will the bond market give the US govt. The other big question is whether the bond market will accept buying treasury bonds that pay an interest rate at or below inflation, i.e., you lose money after inflation. Because that’s the only way that the govt can service its debt without running into major problems.
The world needs treasuries, so maybe the bond market will take that deal. But each year, treasuries eat up more and more of the bond market, which means more and more buyers need to accept that crappy deal.
Either the bond market subsidizes the US govt via negative “real” interest rates or the Fed will need to step in and buy treasuries, which means inflation.
We’ll know in a few years (not 20 years) how this will all play out.
Very well put, but one quibble:
–but the interest expense on the debt is getting higher and higher because of those higher rates
As has been noted elsewhere the Fed has been strictly reactionary on this, i.e. debt rate changes precede the Fed rate changes. When they stopped QE the market began to determine the interest rate and they then had to “chase it up”. The only other option is to becomes the bond market, and eventually the debt market generally, but even the Japs have learned that there is a limit to how far that can be carried.
The Japs get away with their insane debt for several reasons.
First, they run a big trade surplus (or they did). This gives them dollars to buy yen to keep the currency from blowing up. Second, they are a creditor nation, so when they have trouble, they sell those assets to get dollars to protect the yen. Finally, they save like crazy.
None of those apply to the US.
But, yes, even Japan is running out of rope.
Very good analysis.
I would just add that if the Fed can run 3-4% inflation while convincing everyone that it’s 2%, they could meaningfully close the gap on the SS problem (and other entitlement problems tied to CPI adjustments) over time. Compounding this 1.5-2% delta over 20 year makes a huge difference.
I believe that will be one part of the plan, which has two parts.
First part, change the rules on banks, pension funds, hedge funds (maybe) and target-date funds (401ks) to force them to own more treasuries as a % of assets. This will created forced buyers of treasuries to maintain the market.
Second, run real inflation at 5% to 7% while saying that CPI is 3%. With 5% to 7% inflation, nominal GDP should be between 7% and 9% since real GDP growth is ~2%.
Hold treasury rates at 3% (well below inflation, i.e., financial repression) and let the high nominal GDP burn away the debt to GDP.
This is the govt’s only hope outside of restructuring the whole system.
Agree. They have to be careful not to tank the equity market in this process. But for sure the will require US Treasuries as part of all IRA/401k
That’s where the money is.
Basically, who’s going to be left holding the bag. As usual, it’ll be bond holders.
Hard to say what will happen to the equity market. Could do well as free investors move their money out of bonds. After all, companies do own real things. Or the equity market could have troubles due to the inflation just as in the 1970s.
Who knows. But I’d rather own stocks than bonds.
As to what else to hold, people like gold or, heaven forbid, Bitcoin, but I’d suggest farmland. It’ll do great in an inflationary environment, close to stocks if things turn out reasonably normal and should (mostly) hold their value in a deflationary/debt default environment.
Farmland gives you inflation protection without losing out in the other two economic environments – growth and deflation/depression – if they occur.
The problem with your astute observation Citizen is that the monies held in private retirement funds in total cannot finance the Fed debt for but a limited number of years. If all retirement investment were required to be in Treasuries, then a few years at best.
It’s a band aid for sure. But it’ll kick the can down the road for awhile.
I mean, there’s no plan that will work if you’re country is run by lunatics.
That 100% debt to GDP line is a bit of a chicken or an egg thing. Do countries run into trouble because they have 100% debt to GDP or was it the incompetence of a country’s leaders that got them to 100% that’s the real problem.
I think that it’s the latter. The high debt to GDP is a symptom of the disease, not the disease itself. A competent country can get itself out of having 130% debt to GDP. It’ll be painful, but it can be done. A country that becomes incompetent will be screwed sooner or later even if it starts with low debt.
The Fed still has a couple arrows. The easy one is reducing or ending interest on overnight funds. The harder is increasing the reserve requirement. Yes, bankers would howl, but if the Fed’s PR did it right, bankers would be forced to lend at lower rates just to cover payroll.
Definitely. But in the end, the Fed can only do so much. Either Congress gets spending somewhat under control or if won’t matter what the Fed does outside of outright buying the debt.
We’ll likely end up with a stealth yield curve control. But the Fed will fight it because that’s a Hotel California situation. Once you start YCC, you can’t ever stop w/o a major blow up.
Channeling my inner Art Laffer, how about we increase the GDP?
I’ll counter Z’s view (and take the hit when he tells me I’m wrong) and suspect that this is a stealth program to keep old White folks who can keep things running “in the harness”. To wit:
It’s pretty obvious that flooding a high tech/high complexity economy like the US with Vibrant! people means there’s a whole lot less people who can pick up the reins. Oh sure, some things like software development you could offshore to Asian and South American countries (and if it’s a particular country in Asia, deal with the sub-optimal results produced by their citizens), but there are a lot of things in manufacturing, finance, infrastructure, etc. that require boots on the ground and butts in the seats to keep things running.
Think the guys standing around the parking lot at Home Depot looking for day work can get assembly line robots up and running?
Also, it turns out that hard working and frugal White people, like say The Mrs. and I, tend to PAY taxes. Taxes The Powers That Be can turn around and use to, oh, hand out $500/month to our Vibrant! New Americans.
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-nyc-migrants-credit-debit-cards-prepaid-240335300869
We gonna need a lot, A LOT o’ money to give someone working two jobs and sending remittances home while not paying one thin dime in taxes $500/month.
And who’s gonna be paying for it? 🤔 Walk to your bathroom and look in the mirror. So you can’t quit! We need you! Your fellow citizens need you! Like Boxer in Animal Farm, your motto shall be “I will work HARDER!”
(Oh, and longer Citizen)
I do not disagree with Z’s take on The Stupid Party. They are being exceptionally stupid here. But politicians eying a pile of money are like Hunter Biden eying a pile of blow. They gotta have it. And if it comes from Social Security and productive folks working longer, so be it.
I don’t really think this is happening in this instance, but you are absolutely correct that roundabout ways to lure white Boomers and soon early white X’ers back into the workforce already are a thing. Given they are Evil White Men, this cannot be made explicit and incentives and signing bonuses are crafted in ways to make this as invisible as possible. This is happening even in otherwise glutted professions such as law, where the vibrant hordes run everything into the ground. The MIC simultaneously recites its commitment to DEI as it drags gold bars through retirement villages. And just wait until those colored accountants become more ubiquitous and math is discovered to be real.
Older white people have checked out, though, and most never are coming back. The most closely watched asset now is the trillions slated to be transferred from them to their children and grandchildren. That low-hanging fruit will be picked and not rot in the field, to borrow a phrase.
The easiest way to encourage deferring retirement would be age-scaled credits or even marginal rate cuts, but for earned income only.
SS taxes still coming in, SS payments delayed until the death jab effects roll in, people still on private health insurance…
The only problem is that I thought pillow lad was already upset that we were not retiring fast enough.
Steve, do you believe that the ship can be saved or are your suggestions stopgaps?
Can the USA approach the prosperity it had, in say the 1950s-90s, with our current population and government?
Is a breakup of the government inevitable or necessary?
Stopgap.
I don’t see realistic way of getting Congress to live within its means, neither are they ever going to deport. Until the gibs stop, self deportation is not happening either.
I’m with Wilder on this. Get out of the cities. A year too early is better than a day too late.
“ Can the USA approach the prosperity it had, in say the 1950s-90s, with our current population and government?”
From an HBD view point, no. If one looks at studies such as Lynn’s on the wealth of nations as related to mean IQ, we find a lowering GDP for each IQ point gained or lost. I believe he calculated 6% (but I’m too lazy to look it up)
Point is not how much per se, it’s the relationship between the lowering of IQ—which is occurring through illegal immigration and reverse Flynn effect, a ridiculous school system, and the wealth generating/creating ability of the country. The factor of government has also been studied. Our trend toward socialism from capitalism seems to be running counter to prosperity as well.
I don’t know of any studies that basically counter these broad conclusions.
Exactly! Pre-revolution France also had corvee’ labor! It was your duty to the Crown.
“Griller, how dis muhfuggin’ machine work”
“Well Jonquavious, the geegaw is connected to the widget and….”
You knew this was happening when you were labeled consumer; rather than citizen.
Yes, this was a glaring, in your face tell to me.
And this is the same logic that drives much of the illegal immigration; They just want more consumer units, and really, really don’t want citizens with any agency, a concept vanishing in the rearview mirror as evidenced by the total corruption of voting. “Sure you can be a Citizen a/k/a Muppet…for all the good it’ll do ya.”
Not gonna lie, if we get our house paid off early, I’m ditching my job in corporate America and doing something fun. I have elderly family who sit on the couch for 16 hours a day watching cable news. I would rather die than live like that.
Save up, get debt free, collapse our living expenses down to where we can live on some part time or passive income, and just enjoy.
Most old people I know are happier when they’ve got something productive to do. That doesn’t meant you have to be a corporate slave, though that’s what Shapiro wants for all of us. Gotta worship those GDP numbers!
YES.
That’s what I did. My fellow Boomers. I was told to keep working so that I could by a catamaran, and sail off into a luxurious retirement. For me that was a financial pipe dream. Because I am the wrong colour, the wrong age, and the wrong gender… all I can get are jobs that won’t cover the expenses of working.
Because I learned finances from my depression era grandmother, I avoided debt, saved like mad and prepped like crazy throughout my working years. Assuming the currency doesn’t implode I should have a modest retirement if I watch my money like a hawk.
We have to rethink our materialist attitudes. Can you enjoy yourself on less? Many of us can, but we were raised in relative opulence and prosperity that will never be seen again. Many became consumer whores, addicted to debt and suicidal lending rates. I espouse your attitude: live simple, live free, even if that means a spartan standard of living. Focus on self improvement, stay square with your Maker and focus on what counts… and prepare for tough times, rainy days, and the bad things that could happen as much as possible.
It’s a great plan, Mr. Filth. If it were up to me, I would stop house maintenance all together and live with what I own. I surely don’t need a new couch, car or iPhone.
But I am married, and Veruca Salt has other ideas.
I agree with the lunacy of even bringing this up in an election year as the discussion is nuanced. But SS will have automatic cuts in benefits starting about 2033. It’s written into law. And apparently this is not hand wringing BS, it’s going to happen if not addressed https://money.com/social-security-benefits-cut-2033/
Like my own SS benefits way back when, the typical answer is to raise the age for full benefits for people under 30 by a little and raise the withholding tax a bit. This of course makes everyone on or near SS feel no pain and puts the problem on the young. It’s the baby booomer solution to everything and what will happen.
But there is time to do this after the election and have it done in the back room. Or kick the can to 2030 when cuts are imminent and everyone panics,
What we know about Boomer elite culture in it’s old age, it’s that it’s prone to panic and short term thinking.
It would would not surprise me that a stay of the cut would be passed only at the 11th hour, along with immediate rise in taxes on the young.
Have you looked at SS rate history? Its been flat for pretty much my whole adult life. Its not that we didn’t pay in enough, but that DC blew it on hookers and blow even faster.
To the extent Boomers are to blame, it was not opposing Clinton’s accounting change to general revenue, refusal to hold Congress to account for blowing the peace dividend on welfare state fluff, and not forcing Gore’s Lockbox idea to restrain the drunken sailors throughout the government.
But before you get too excited, consider 70% want the border closed. They don’t care about what we think.
If an insurance company or pension fund was run this way they would be shut down by regulators and the executives would be charged with crimes, but it’s not an insurance company or pension fund. We all know the government is going to wait until December 28th, 2032 to cobble together some “compromise” that involves paying the difference out of the general fund (which, let’s be real, is where the much-vaunted trust fund is today – government blew through the SSDI taxes as soon as it got it).
Maybe, theoretically, as the boomer gerontocracy disappears, younger folks with a more long-term mindset will rise up to come up with something better (although looking at people like AOC I doubt it), but there’s absolutely no point to discuss this now. Government has degraded to the point where it simply cannot and will not come to a solution to this problem, the way it did when it instituted the trust fund in the first place.
We need a UBI because most jobs are going to be automated away.
We need endless invading replacers because there are not enough people to fill the jobs.
All those jobs are waiting for the invading replacers and still they need free housing, free food, free clothing and of course Ids.
Nobody mentions all of the people with degrees who do net negative jobs – jobs where they get paid to do nothing but tear apart the fabric of society.
So Shapiro calls for ending Social Security while the Democrats run an ever larger patronage network. Maybe he should call for a confiscation of HIAS’ $100 million contract to invade the country.
Shapiro is a very bold man.
The system is full of direct contradictions. People don’t trust it for many reasons – most of all for the contradictions that are obvious and do not make any sense.
“As far as how to avoid this debt cliff, the only answer is the one answer everyone agrees must never be debated. That answer is ending the Global American Empire and returning to normalcy. That means reducing the military budget by ninety percent, deporting the tens of millions of freeloaders, and cracking enough rich people’s heads, maybe even lopping off a few of them, to get the economic elites inline. None of that can be debated, so they talk about killing your granny.”
All of that is correct, but the Global American Empire will end because of reasons beyond its control, and that may happen sooner than we once thought. The Clouds are full-on remoras now attached to the Great White Shark and looting as much as they can and as fast as they can. Construction of new homes for invaders and massive military expenditures that never produce a victory are plunder-rich opportunities. Social Security is next to impossible to embezzle.
The political class, which is remoras attached to remoras, knows it is far more likely to get crumbs than to be voted out of office due to…reasons. Anything that keeps the open ATM going just a bit longer will continue, and anything that requires an actual account there will be on the block, especially programs that cater mostly to evil white people.
The military budget and so forth easily could be slashed by 90 percent, as you point out, which is why it never will be debated. We are therefore transitioning to an Empire in Name Only, and EINO will be propped up as long as there are white people who can be robbed and until the last acre in New Zealand is snapped up (a really stupid plan, by the way, but our Elite is now as stupid as it is trashy).
Empire in Name Only. That alone makes me say, “post of the day!!”
This shall be ‘borrowed’
We’re surrounded by two oceans, Mexico and Canada. The US would be perfectly safe with a fleet of submarines, a bunch of missiles, some long-range bombers (maybe) and a very small army manning coastal defenses that would never, never be used.
The US should have one of the smallest military budgets in the developed world. Instead, our budget is that size of everyone else combined.
Not to mention the fact that we have 400 million private firearms in this country. We are not near the point envisioned by our founders where we overthrow our current tyranny, but they do make a foreign invasion impossible.
DLS: And half of those firearms are kept locked up in safes, and taken out only to be gloated over. I know all the old vets think they’ll grab a gun (along with their knee braces and CPAP machines) and go out into the hills and ‘kill some commies,’ but it ain’t happening.
Getting OLD is a real thing. Bodies and reflexes and endurance change, even if you work at ameliorating it. If some Chinese troops were to show up, most ‘murricans wouldn’t say boo, because they wouldn’t want to be considered rayciss.
Yeah, the guns and Muh Second Amendment thing are ludicrous copes for some. Of course, there are far worse things than firearms that could be deployed, which is why the Regime focuses on and demonizes military vets so harshly these days (I imagine those with certain skillsets get scrutinized more than others). The age thing you mentioned correctly is quite real, but those who were deployed to the desert and Kush to Make The World Safe for Muh Democracy aren’t geezers like us.
I agree most gun owners are pozzed by the propaganda and lawfare from our Jewish overlords. But should an actual invasion be attempted, and our overlords couldn’t find a way to make shekels off of it, they could pretty successfully shift the propaganda to get those gun owners to fight for them and Israel. Oh, and the US too if there is any time leftover. Of course, there would be a pretty strong temptation to join the Chinese and shoot our overlords.
“ Getting OLD is a real thing.”
True, but you can form a nucleus for a resistance. Those with military experience in the field can be great trainers. Too old to hump a pack in the field, then you organize supplies in the rear. You know something about maps and coordinates, you train others in geocaching. Short wave radio enthusiasts should be in great demand. 😉
And all those guns? They are kept for those who need and will use them. I bought mine at prices less than 10 cents on today’s dollar. They are available if needed by those without such resources today once they become awakened.
“If some Chinese troops were to show up…”
Not really your point, but we could do worse. I mean, at least the CCP doesn’t hate the majority Han Chinese. Also, ethnic minorities get free education in their native language, selective state support for their cultural institutions, and exemption from reproductive fines. Any minority that threatens social stability is dealt with pretty harshly to be sure. But Chinese feel perfectly free to hang “No blacks allowed” signs outside their place of business (not sure CCP endorses this).
If the Chinese invaded I would, without hesitation, join them in defeating AINO. My country was conquered so I have no country. I just know that whatever this land mass/economic trading zone is, it’s not my land and it’s not filled with my people any longer. Anything that will advance it towards its destruction is the side I am on.
Add to that ground-based fighters outclass carrier-based in pretty much all respects, and could be moved down the coast a heck of a lot faster than a carrier could get in striking range.
“As far as how to avoid this debt cliff, the only answer is the one answer everyone agrees must never be debated. That answer is ending the Global American Empire and returning to normalcy. That means reducing the military budget by ninety percent, deporting the tens of millions of freeloaders, and cracking enough rich people’s heads, maybe even lopping off a few of them, to get the economic elites inline. None of that can be debated, so they talk about killing your granny.”
That paragraph should be engraved in stone and erected as a giant monolith in the capital city—maybe in EVERY political, economic and military center in the country.
Of course, the thought of ever subjecting the substance to “debate” is immediately seen as a ludicrous possibility. As Zman preaches day in and day out, any debate would be shut down, rigged, corrupted in a way that would diametrically alter its plain meaning. We know that any hope of seeing such a sensible and humane plan enacted would only come about through assertion: by an act of will; by imposition, not by “democratic” means.
It’s some kind of tragedy that so many decent people who were once staunch defenders of the American system have now, for the most part (if they are awake), lost their faith in that system. But in the end, that’s the consequence of realizing that the system was never truly deserving of the trust placed in it.
Our “elections” and “debates” are merely symbolic now, residual habits of a dead age; a way of passing the time while awaiting the real forces that make history, and always have.
Imagine how much we could reduce the tax burden just by getting rid of the blax.
The problem with the federal debt is Medicare and Medicaid. Sure, you could cut the military budget in half (likely making the military better), or cut funding for the sex life of snails, but it won’t move the needle. Transfer ALL of the tax revenue from both Medicaid and Medicare to the individual states and give the federal government zero input.
A point I have made often is that we have the world’s premier health care system in America and it is the most cost efficient. It is called veterinary medicine. Our pets get better health care than 95% of the humans on earth. Whenever I mention this, the reply is, “But you cannot choose to put granny down when she gets too old.” people do not do this with their pets either. In fact, we spent like crazy to extend the life of pets, but we also are humane to our pets too. We used to know when to end care for ole people and just make them comfortable as they die.
My dog and my dad both died last year.
The dog got better medical care. What I saw in the hospital where my dad spent the last few weeks of his life disgusted me.
Sorry for your loss Xman.
End of life care is a gigantic problem for this society and the costs are way underestimated. Lost productivity alone from folks skipping work to care for dying parents will be a trillion dollars at this rate.
My (old & sick) dad was rushed to and stayed in the hospital for a few days last year. Early 2023 and the obese nurses were still full Covidian.
My family vowed that he would NEVER go back to that place.
Six months later, he died peacefully at our home, in his own bed, with his wife and family next to him.
The minute a drug is certified for use in humans they can charge 10 times the price of a vet drug. There are many instances of the same generic drug being used for both humans and animals. But they don’t come in the same boxes. There is money involved in the health care industry you wouldn’t believe. Asking them to forego that is like asking Lockheed Martin to compete with the Russian arms industry on price and cost effectiveness. They’d go “yeah, that’s funny”
Big Pharma won’t be sponsoring this site any time soon. 😂
When I was in college we would go out at Christmastime and sing carols are retirement homes and VA hospitals. It was the most heartbreaking experience because a LOT of those residents had been abandoned there by their families, or had no family left. They were laying in a bed, and there they’d stay until they died.
But there’s a lot of money in milking that system.
We sang Silent Night to a vet in a bed hooked up to tubes. He couldn’t speak. He just laid there are wept. Nobody in our group could talk for 10 minutes.
Our system is cruel.
A touch off topic, but I’ve been wondering exactly how the GOPe is scheming to defeat Trump and it looks like this may be the plan:
https://tinyurl.com/sx5sj44e
Long story short they’ve already kicked out Santos, so they’re already down to a 2 or 3 seat majority. This weasal Ken Buck is quitting early to purposely force a special election and the only way Boebert can run is if she resigns her seat as well. That will reduce the majority to 0 or 1! At that point another two will quit to turn the House over to the Democrats just in time to refuse to certify any Trump election win.
Has there ever been a prior case in American presidential history of a major political party’s establishment actively working to undermine its own nominee’s chances of reelection?
I certainly can’t think of one. I think there have been instances in which the sitting President was replaced with a different nominee at the convention, but sabotaging the actual nominee – never I think.
The closest example I can think of was Barry Goldwater’s principled but ultimately doomed 1964 campaign. Many of the prominent Rockefeller Republicans of the day (e.g., Nelson Rockefeller, William Scranton, George Romney) thought Goldwater was too conservative, but when push came to shove they still supported him in the general election.
I’m surprised that Trump is even carrying the “Republican” banner. Does he even need to? He didn’t do the debates. He must know the amount of hate the e-GOP has for him.
Though he probably thinks he can bust in and reform the party from within, a la the Nick Fuentes method. Vote harder because the system is fundamentally sound; it just has the wrong people in it. Wave that flag harder and America will be great again, I promise!
Doesn’t the newly elected House certify? In 2021, the new House took over on January 3rd and we all know what went down on January 6th. I wouldn’t put it past them to do this if possible though.
It appears from this article at least that it’s the current House that certifies. It looks like they can deny certifications to electors in December:
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/how-congress-certifies-electoral-college-results-what-to-know
The future of America depends on the actions of Rep. Boebert
—
Wow, things are deteriorating faster than I expected.
Let her start that OnlyFans account that she obviously wants. Her campaign will be awash in money with no lost credibility.
Just make sure to start the videos wearing a stars and stripes bikini and then use some gun parts as toys. Can’t lose.
I contacted the company that handles my workplace’s 401k and told them to stop taking money out of my paychecks. I recently turned 45 and there’s no way this sham of an economy is going to last another two decades.
I actually want to cash out what little money is in it right now, since our company pretty much forced us into its 401K program, but I hear the penalties are pretty stiff.
I’ve let it roll under the, probably optimistic, assumption that the worst case scenario is I lose the company match but will get to keep my (inflated away) bucks.
You have to pay income tax plus a 10% penalty on a non qualified withdrawal. I would let it sit there and you can get it in 14 years if you still want to then.
I’m parked at Fidelity who permit fractional share ownership and dividend reinvestment.
I like parking my retirement funny money in something stable like SGOV or XOM and watching the numbers go up.
If that is too risky, I can just park my funny money in their brokerage account and make close to 5%. I believe Interactive Brokers are paying a similar rate if you park your money with them.
My wife still does the dollar cost average 401K thing, but we take the money I used to put into “retirement” and we are paying off our house way ahead of schedule. If you completely own your domicile, your only other big expense is healthcare when you get old. You don’t eat as much. The kids are out, so your insurance bills go way down. All the overhead costs like utilities cost less because you use less. Even your internet bill drops because you don’t need nearly as much bandwidth. Don’t need 2 cars if we’re both not working.
We haven’t had a car payment in 7 years. And I’ve got equity in a home with declining interest charges. Those are investments, too.
We’re a very long way from Soviet-style confiscation of homes and sending people to tenement apartments to work in factories. I figure if we own our house outright in 10 years, we’re pretty much set.
People spend way less in retirement that they think they will. Retire early and enjoy life.
“If you completely own your domicile” the leftists will take it sooner or later. Trust me. They will make your property taxes unbearable. Or maybe even institute a federal property tax.
In addition to announcing mandatory hybrid or full EEV ownership by 2032, The Biden Stooge announced a plan to start taxing property inheritances. I don’t know the details. It used to be if it was below $10 million there was nothing to worry about.
Perhaps Shapiro is doing this as a coordinated shill game. Put Soc Sec on the table to distract and as a bargaining chip. Perhaps the Oligarchy’s play will be – ‘Okay. Okay. You can keep your Social Security but we’ll confiscate your estate.’
Most people not having anything to leave to their posterity will accept this. Still it is odd the messaging. Lock down the world to protect grandma and not 4 years later leave grandma broke and for the dead.
On the bright side, it fuels the crisis of legitimacy.
There are trillions scheduled to be transferred from older whites to their children and grandchildren, largely in the form of real property, over the next decade or so. Does anyone think that will be allowed?
In the UK, hotels are being requisitioned by the government to house migrants on a “temporary basis.”
How long before native born Americans are required to rent a portion of their houses (or even sell entirely) to migrants to atone for racist sins of slavery, Jim Crow, and Manifest Destiny?
“Hey man, the Third Amendment in muh Constitution only refers to soldiers. I guess we gotta let them in.”. Joe Griller
Already happening:
https://people.com/new-york-woman-confronts-squatters-occupying-late-parents-home-gets-handcuffed-8611745
They have trouble raising income tax rates. It’s one of the reasons why I’m not 100% convinced elections are 100% rigged. The rigging is in the candidate selection, vote splitter strategies, and the GOP being a fake political party.
Same with 2A gun bans. They’re tinkering around the edges because voters with shove a steel pipe up their asses.
Those things could be done, but outside of deep blue states, they’re not.
Don’t forget renting out a room in your home to your caregiver, or renting out your yard space to an RV’r who can hook up to your outside faucet, electricity plugin, and dump their black water into your outside septic stub (assuming you live in the country). My suggestion at a city council meeting to allow “sleeping sheds” on your property to be rented to houseless elders/veterans at a nominal rent was laughed at, but it may be coming–or, go long blue tarps/
“ My suggestion at a city council meeting to allow “sleeping sheds” on your property”
So this is not considered preferable to the tent cities cropping up in all areas of the town? Cause that’s exactly what occurs in my city. I drive past them quite frequently.
Hokkoda: We own our home now, and have no car payments. We gave my vehicle to our younger son and share my husband’s. And we still worry daily about both our boys, neither of whom own a home. We hope to help them each to get one, plua some cushion against the disaster we know they will face in their lifetimes.
And in ten years . . . well, think back to 2014. What was happening financially and politically. I don’t know what precisely I expect in 2034, but it’s not to be ‘pretty much set.’
Sounds to me like you are extraordinarily optimistic.
I have to be something, might as well stay positive. Get too far down in that pit of despair and bad things can start to happen.
In a society in collapse, broken families, etc you’re blessed with some things in your post that a lot of people would kill for today. Focus on that, instead, and do what you can.
You’re probably safer than you think and things aren’t always as bad as they seem.
I’m as pessimistic as anyone, but I wouldn’t bet on collapse either. There’s still a bunch of smart people around – you just don’t see them on TV or mainstream print anymore. I do think what we see on TV is just a lagging indicator; one of those things that drags on because of inertia and the dimming memory when journalism was respectable. The only people who give a rat’s butthole about what Lester Holt says are in their 60s and above.
I still think it can be saved. “Can” not “will”. The crown is there in the street waiting to be picked up. Russia in the 1990s was far worse than the US is now, and Putin turned it around.
Yes, but Russia of the 1990’s was much, much poorer than US in the 2020’s. The fall downward will be much tougher as we’ve more to lose.
Yeah I should remember that. If Russia lost electricity and access to food and clean water, I’d bet the people would manage for longer. It wouldn’t be fun, but there’s a lot of people there who still remember hard times. Nobody in the US – except for 3rd world immigrants and maybe a few doomsday prepper whites – knows what shortage really means. Billions would die, but they would die quicker in the USA.
The problem with the complete collapse theory is that the people with the most to lose simply won’t allow that to happen.
There is nothing on this that Blackrock, Meta, Twitter, or 1,000 other outfits produce that I need in any way. If the SHTF, those people will all be dead in short order. And we’ll quickly notice how rich the local electrician, well driller / pump company, and septic people are.
Which is why we probably won’t collapse. The “wrong” people would suffer.
Can you get a loan against it?
The tradeoff is cash now versus a smattering of interest.
I call that “liquidity insurance”- the ‘but yer losing money to inflation!’ crowd thinks that a few pennies per dollar is too high to pay to have cash on hand, instead of all tied up in an uncollectible accounts receivable or unsellable asset.
I’m asking all pension plan or life insurance owners- folks, often you can get a cheap loan of your own money rather than risk leaving it hostage.. (Self-loaning also doesn’t count as income on your taxes.)
Would you take the 20-year payout on the lottery, or would you take the cashout? You’d take the cash. Be your own JG Wentworth.
Maniac,
I enacted that plan after the 2008 debacle. Once I realized the best prediction one can make about the future is tomorrow will most likely be pretty much like today, I started reinvesting. That’s sixteen years of tomorrow being pretty much like today, even though it seemed for every one of those 5,840 days things couldn’t keep going on like they are.
The problem is the capital gains tax.
The rich don’t get a working paycheck, they sell buildings and preferred stocks at a profit.
For this they pay a minimal tax.
In addition, because of the complicated tax code and its loopholes, a giant corporation like General Electric can pay zero taxes, less than a single one of its secretaries pays.
The money is out there to close the deficit. But you know what? It doesn’t matter. The Democrats would just eat that new income, proposing MORE programs (like, say, free national daycare for all) that would create ever-newer deficits.
The democracy is broken. It’s broken because it lets rich tax cheats exist and because it lets the sick, twisted Leftists thrive. Catastrophic failure is the terminal end-point.
You think 20% is a minimal tax rate? That is the current rate on gains for the wealthy. It is 37% for assets held for less than a year. Men throughout most of history would have rioted over tax rates this high.
Capital gains tax is half working income tax. Yes, I would call a 50 percent savings minimal.
If you think this is how “most” rich people earn their money and that a 20% rate is minimal simply based on its relationship to the top rate on income, you clearly can’t be reasoned with.
If you wanted to make a difference with how the wealthy dodge taxes, put stricter limits on the deductions for donating to NGOs. That’s what this giving pledge is all about, they donate to orgs they control and then the org pays a big portion of their expenses because they are always “working” for it. The work they do is mostly harmful to society.
Most states also tax capital gains.
Capital gains taxes are on top of the corporate income tax rate paid on earnings, which are technically owned by the shareholders. So the owners’ tax rate on money they take out is actually above 40%. Plus, the usual reason a company has a zero tax rate in a given year is because of loss carry-forwards they couldn’t deduct in prior years.
“ But you know what? It doesn’t matter. The Democrats would just eat that new income, proposing MORE programs”
Bingo! That’s why I won’t pay attention until some firm limits (or disincentives) are set on Federal spending.
Never underestimate the Stupid Party’s talent at losing a winnable election. If the GOP leads front and center with an austerity program cutting Social Security rather than Trumpist issues like restricting immigration and being tough on crime then they deserve to lose, and lose badly.
Losing? Try “throwing”.
I disabused myself of the notion that the GOP is actually interested in winning elections and enacting things their voters want.
Social Security can be fixed with a little effort. Medicare has a lot of fraud because the reimbursement rates are too low to cover the costs and because the people doing the billing think like defense contractors. Its even worse with Medicaid. So healthcare is all about cost shifting. That is why your crappy policy with a $5,000 deductible costs >$2,000 per month for your family of 4.
Medicare and Medicaid need to be put on a budget, not everyone gets all they want and the government pays for it all like we do now. And there need to be co-pays.
Medicaid is going to be a serious problem when the Boomers get a bit older because it covers long-term care for the poor. That’s a lot of money, though, usually, not for too long.
Medicare is a mess.
“the reimbursement rates are too low to cover the costs”
That’s because the U.S. medical industry is the most inefficient conglomeration of licensed, certified, government protected midwits on the planet.
American health care is the careful blend of the worst parts of socialism and the worst parts of unrestrained capitalism, managed by an army of mediocrities in the administrative state. Frankly, it is a miracle that the system functions at all.
just watched a Russian video of Moscow woman going for MRI. Apparently private and government health insurance there.
She mentioned if she went to the private medical facility or hospital price would have been $60.
15 years ago I had to have one and my plan had high deductible. Price:$3300 which I had to pay $2500.
I had a CAT scan after a motorcycle accident last year. They billed my insurance company twelve thousand bucks for it. Five thousand bucks for an ambulance ride.
The grift in medicine is fucking insane.
Wow, finally somebody who got a more expensive CAT scan than me. Had to have an emergency appendectomy a couple years ago, billed me 10K for a scan before surgery, 75k for the entire hospital bill which doesn’t include all the other grifters bills. To add insult to injury I got a separate bill from some SOB for $300 to “read” the CAT scan. I paid them what I thought it was worth (~7k); they can stuff the rest.
Xman, your ambulance ride was five thousand bucks because it is a free taxi for illegals and inner city people.
For many years I went with the 5k deductable and therefore shopped doctors, when I needed one, for cash prices. Most offices thought I was speaking Greek, but those doctors that did offer a rate got my business and they all seemed to be happier dealing with a customer in this more intimate relationship, and not because they were making bank, because the prices were too good for that.
I went to an ENT for sinus headaches and he found nothing amiss, but recommended an MRI to see more. I told him that was beyond by budget but he told me there was a place down the street that would to it for 250 cash. I went.
Medical tourism to Mexico, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia are things.
Nomad Capitalist has a few clips up on YouTube where he discusses spending $300 in Malaysia to get a complete health check, including bloodwork, scans, etc.
I saw a doctor in Malaysia in 1996. I’d had pneumonia a few months earlier while in Korea and I just wanted a follow up to make sure my lungs were clear. Got an doctor’s exam, a chest X-Ray, and some malarial pills (which I didn’t need) for free. Not one ringgit, even as a foreigner. I can’t imagine that’s still the same today, but I have to guess it would be considerably cheaper than trying the same at home as an uninsured American – unless I was wearing a poncho and sombrero.
POSIWID.
US health care delivers care mostly by accident.
Otherwise, it’s all about the Benjamins.
2016: “You will own nothing and be happy.”
2024: “You will work until you die.”
2016: “You will own nothing and be happy.”
2024: “You will work until you die.”
2032: “Die.”
“You load sixteen tons, and whattaya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
St. Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go.
I owe my soul to Ben Shapiro.” 😓
Republicans attacking Social Security? The one almost solvent US welfare program for White people? Truly, they wish for death, but that’s OK with them if their own candidate, Trump, is defeated….
Truly, we are in the end times for the American Republic..Sorry Ben, we couldn’t keep it…..
Which Ben? Kidding. Only one of them is/was American. I’m glad you pointed out the whiteness of Social Security. That’s what makes it a target since it is about the only social welfare program where whites remain the primary beneficiary. To appeal to minorities, Republicans probably will use Tim Scott to explain in his special way how elimination or reduction of the only solvent government program will hurt only whites and they still will get their gibs.
I have started to think TPTB have either greenlighted a Trump “win” or considered one, and part of that bargain is BOM will increase the Ukraine grift and cut Social Security and a few other more minor programs that continue to benefit mostly whites.
That’s what makes the math easy:
-SS: a comparatively solvent government program used mostly by Whites, but with no corporate interest (I’ll leave SSD aside)
-Medicaid: a mostly insolvent government program, used mostly by Whites, and treated like a cow by BigMed
-Medicare: A budget busting debacle used mostly by non-Whites and used by BigMed to hide as many budget issues as they can.
So then it’s obvious which program Little Ben would have the biggest issue with.
Wouldn’t Medicare be used mostly by whites and Medicaid mostly by non-whites?
Don’t think SS isn’t rife with fraud also. SS disability to non qualifiers is immense.
If you hadn’t noticed both Shapiro and Matt Walsh got big time ratioed on X. What did they do? Changed from the argument that no one should or could retire at 65 to arguing about the future solvency of the program. Walsh even argued that retiring without a purpose too young was fatal.
Why isn’t there a huge debate and outcry about debit cards, housing assistance and cash to the marauding invaders. The permanent bureaucracy and ridiculous salaries, benefits and pensions.
Also the obscene corruption and graft of the political and lobbyist class. Finally the worst of all, the military industrial complex.
Granny can wait.
Yes, the disability program is an issue, but not the retirement program…
It is tied to the same funding.
I should mention your comment about Shapiro’s hatred of Trump. You must of missed his recent statement that he would walk over hot rocks to support Trump now. Reptilian indeed.
Today’s Ben Shapiro is tomorrow’s Bill Kristol. In four years he will be pushing Gavin Newsom as the real conservative because Nimarata Randhawa is just too extreme.
He still hates Trump, billion suns, etc. He just hates Biden even more.
Only thing Shapiro likes is the sound of his voice.
The worst part of Walsh’s argument was that if we really had a system where millions of people in their 70s were working service sector jobs to cover their expenses because of SS cuts he would make complaining about having to deal with them a regular bit on his show. He has made some progress in the last five years, and I would put Walsh in the exact same category as Shapiro, but he still has a long ways to go.
Sortie la guillotine