[quote]John S. wrote:
Thinking this is going nowhere shows people still don’t understand, it was when they supported Brown that he got elected. If they can put a republican in office in Mass, just think of what they could do in a more conservative friendly state. This is the direction of the future. [/quote]
It’s not the direction of anything, it’s a fluke. Coakley simply ran a bad campaign. I live here and I can tell you that it’s business as usual. Politics and nepotism. Nothing new under the sun.
P.S. Mass. had Republicans in office under Romney, Celluci, Swift, etc… I shall remind you of this fact every time you profess how “amazing” it is that Brown got elected.
[quote]Headhunter wrote:
What most everyone fails to understand, from the Tea Party people to the Libs, is that we are mathematically and certainly doomed. No matter what anyone does, we are doomed.
Most spending is LOCKED in stone. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are untouchable and mathematically MUST destroy the country. They are at least half of the budget. Anyone who tries to reform these will immediately be demagogued by the other party and would be voted out anyway. As long as we have a popular democracy, those programs are untouchable.
Like a machine gone mad, the system will spiral out of control. A military dictatorship will be installed, with old people getting tiny doles and doctors being drafted and forced to serve.
This is all a certainty, just as 2 + 2 = 4.
"The trap got sprung in 1983, when Social Security went bankrupt. That was the year Reagan â?? President Tax Cut â?? signed a new law for funding Social Security. The new law imposed income taxes on Social Security payments. It also scheduled a series of increases in the wage base subject to FICA taxes.
That emergency measure deferred the day of reckoning until now. The law was passed in the first year of Reagan’s massive deficits: over $200 billion in 1983 dollars, meaning close to $500 billion in today’s money. That was the end of the Republican Party’s commitment to a balanced budget.
Bill Clinton benefited politically from balanced budgets, 1998â??2001, but only by means of a statistical trick: using Social Security’s net income after payouts as net revenue for the government, and then burying the liabilities in the government’s off-budget accounts. This has been common practice ever since the Johnson Administration.
That game of political deception will end this year. This year marks the year â?? like 1983 â?? when receipts from FICA taxes will not cover outlays in the program. The flow of funds will henceforth move from the general fund to the Social Security Administration."
[/quote]
HH, you are absolutely correct. Nice to see a quality post from you for a change. The current system is, indeed, “locked in” both legislatively and ideologically. There is simply no way that people in this country, who for generations have been raised on entitlements (even the elderly), are going to give that up in favor of high-minded libertarian principles which the vast majority cannot even comprehend.
And great article linked at the bottom. I had already read it on LRC. Gary North always knows what he is talking about.
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
Give it time. Eventually a leader will emerge. In the mean time, I will just sit back and watch in wonder as loosely affiliated bands of politically disenchanted voters wreak havoc on a party of decadent, opportunistic, social predators who have gotten too fat to defend themselves.
With leadership and bureaucracy comes expense, corruption, and a whole mess of other problems. With no leadership, there is no one for the opponent to smear, and no one to negotiate with or appeal to. It’s beautiful. [/quote]
What “havoc” have they wreaked? Can you name the establishment politicians who have been ousted in favor of populists? Have any of the following individuals been elected recently: Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan, Peter Schiff, Harry Browne (deceased), Ross Perot, Jim Trafficant, etc…? No? Wake me when it happens. But don’t hold your breath.
Many of you are proving yourselves to be quite the gullible serfs on threads like these. If there is one truth to politics and life, it’s that mass movements almost never succeed. Too many idiots, too much shouting, not enough direction. All talk, little action.
If you want to see real change in your lifetime, then you need to undermine the system from within. Work your ass off to become a multi-millionaire and then have the courage and fortitude to risk your fortune and your life to take a stand against the establishment. If your net worth isn’t above 5 mil, you are worthless and your opinion is worthless and you are incapable of influencing anything. America is a corporate state. Learn how the game is played before opening your mouth.
