Originally Posted by tonyafd

Excessive greed is the CEO that found a new way to cheat hard working rank and file workers out of a decent pension through creative new accounting techniques. Excessive greed is getting an auditing company to misrepresent your financial status. Excessive greed is corrupting companies that rate your bonds. Excessive greed is bundling low quality mortgages into packages called securities and then buying securities that protect you against their failure. Excessive greed is Enron.

I didn't get mine yet. I'm still working. If they take away my pension and S.S. I will be screwed.

Excessive greed is the GOVERNMENT that found a new way to cheat hard working rank and file workers out of a decent pension through creative new accounting techniques. Might I add that the same GOVERNMENT, took the money under the ruse of returning it someday as a retirement income. Talk about CREATIVE ACCOUNTING Techiques! Had the money for Social Security been invested at even a small interest rate and not touched for any other reason other than to pay out as Social Security, maybe you wouldn't be in fear of being screwed! Better yet, maybe you shouldn't be forced to pay into a system that is claiming to have your best interest at heart. Leave your money alone and let you prepare for retirement using your own creative, survival instincts.
The GOVERNMENT doesn't need an auditing company to come and misrepresent the financial status of this country. In Washington DC, the elected officials don't give a hoot about their constituents. It is spend, pad their own retirements and healthcare, spend some more, defund our defense, and spend some more. Oh, then when they run out of OUR MONEY to spend, they just RAISE OUR TAXES.
If that ain't GREED, I don't know what is!

Originally Posted by KatzPajamas

Excessive greed is the GOVERNMENT that found a new way to cheat hard working rank and file workers out of a decent pension through creative new accounting techniques. Might I add that the same GOVERNMENT, took the money under the ruse of returning it someday as a retirement income. Talk about CREATIVE ACCOUNTING Techiques! Had the money for Social Security been invested at even a small interest rate and not touched for any other reason other than to pay out as Social Security, maybe you wouldn't be in fear of being screwed! Better yet, maybe you shouldn't be forced to pay into a system that is claiming to have your best interest at heart. Leave your money alone and let you prepare for retirement using your own creative, survival instincts.
The GOVERNMENT doesn't need an auditing company to come and misrepresent the financial status of this country. In Washington DC, the elected officials don't give a hoot about their constituents. It is spend, pad their own retirements and healthcare, spend some more, defund our defense, and spend some more. Oh, then when they run out of OUR MONEY to spend, they just RAISE OUR TAXES.
If that ain't GREED, I don't know what is!

I don't know how any honest person could dispute this as being a huge part of the economic problems we have right now.

Chances are that if most people were left to invest whatever money they wanted out of their paychecks for retirement for their working career, they would not do it - and would find themself with absolutely nothing.

Originally Posted by buggyone

Chances are that if most people were left to invest whatever money they wanted out of their paychecks for retirement for their working career, they would not do it - and would find themself with absolutely nothing.

President Bush had a plan where a portion of the money that was deducted from a paycheck for Social Security could be designated by the wage earner to be deposited into an approved private pension plan that would be invested toward his retirement with conceivable higher earning potential than his projected Social Security payment with the added benefit of it now being his personal property that could be passed on to his heirs instead of all his deductions just dying with him.

This would be at the wage earner's discretion and the system would have allayed the fears you have while giving the wage earner more control over his future.

President Bush was demonized by the Democrat establishment, who's false claims were echoed by the lamestream media who misrepresented and virtually lied about his plan in one of the biggest examples of media malpractice evidenced in our lifetimes.

Originally Posted by buggyone

Chances are that if most people were left to invest whatever money they wanted out of their paychecks for retirement for their working career, they would not do it - and would find themself with absolutely nothing.

Social Security began in 1935. What were people doing for the 159 years between 1776 and 1935?
Who is the government to make the judgement call that most of Americans wouldn't invest/save for their own retirement. Somewhere around 2% of Americans are entirely dependent on the government for all their needs and about 8% recieve some kind of aid. Why should the other 92% be perceived as not able to take care of their own needs for retirement when they are able to take care of their needs now? We are not stupid! The instinct to survive is possibly the strongest instinct controlling our every move....Give me a break.

Originally Posted by KatzPajamas

Excessive greed is the GOVERNMENT that found a new way to cheat hard working rank and file workers out of a decent pension through creative new accounting techniques. Might I add that the same GOVERNMENT, took the money under the ruse of returning it someday as a retirement income. Talk about CREATIVE ACCOUNTING Techiques! Had the money for Social Security been invested at even a small interest rate and not touched for any other reason other than to pay out as Social Security, maybe you wouldn't be in fear of being screwed! Better yet, maybe you shouldn't be forced to pay into a system that is claiming to have your best interest at heart. Leave your money alone and let you prepare for retirement using your own creative, survival instincts.
The GOVERNMENT doesn't need an auditing company to come and misrepresent the financial status of this country. In Washington DC, the elected officials don't give a hoot about their constituents. It is spend, pad their own retirements and healthcare, spend some more, defund our defense, and spend some more. Oh, then when they run out of OUR MONEY to spend, they just RAISE OUR TAXES.
If that ain't GREED, I don't know what is!

I made a legitimate points. You screwed them up to suit your own purposes.

Originally Posted by RichieLion

President Bush had a plan where a portion of the money that was deducted from a paycheck for Social Security could be designated by the wage earner to be deposited into an approved private pension plan that would be invested toward his retirement with conceivable higher earning potential than his projected Social Security payment with the added benefit of it now being his personal property that could be passed on to his heirs instead of all his deductions just dying with him.

This would be at the wage earner's discretion and the system would have allayed the fears you have while giving the wage earner more control over his future.

President Bush was demonized by the Democrat establishment, who's false claims were echoed by the lamestream media who misrepresented and virtually lied about his plan in one of the biggest examples of media malpractice evidenced in our lifetimes.

It was such a good idea that a the Republican House and Republican Senate wouldn't touch it.
What would have happened in 2008?

Originally Posted by tonyafd

It was such a good idea that a the Republican House and Republican Senate wouldn't touch it.
What would have happened in 2008?

RichieLion made a legitimate points. You screwed them up to suit your own purposes...?

Where the Right Went Wrong - Pat Buchanan

Retirement Heist - Ellen E. Schultz

The Price of Loyalty - Ron Suskind

The Great U-turn - Paul Krugman

Recommended Videos
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU[/ame]
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This is recommended for those of you who constantly ignore the facts, and respond to my posts without responding to what I have actually said.

Originally Posted by KatzPajamas

RichieLion made a legitimate points. You screwed them up to suit your own purposes...?

I won't dignify remarks that are not well thought out.

Originally Posted by tonyafd

I won't dignify remarks that are not well thought out.

Great advice! Wish I'd known it prior to posting #53...Thanks!

Originally Posted by KatzPajamas

Great advice! Wish I'd known it prior to posting #53...Thanks!

I'm talking about your remarks

Originally Posted by tonyafd

I'm talking about your remarks

Duh...Again, thanks for the enlightenment!

After reading all this it came to me that the overwhelming opinion about The Villages is that it is a great place to live, even for those on the right. And furthermore the overwhelming political leaning is moderate or left. I have to believe that the number of happy moderates sets the back drop and tone for the wonderful place The Villages has become.

Therefore I must surmise that if the USA as a whole was left leaning and moderate like The Villages it too would be a wonderful place to live. Not saying it is not a wonderful place, just could be more like TV!

JHW

Originally Posted by John_W

After reading all this it came to me that the overwhelming opinion about The Villages is that it is a great place to live, even for those on the right. And furthermore the overwhelming political leaning is moderate or left. I have to believe that the number of happy moderates sets the back drop and tone for the wonderful place The Villages has become.

Therefore I must surmise that if the USA as a whole was left leaning and moderate like The Villages it too would be a wonderful place to live. Not saying it is not a wonderful place, just could be more like TV!

JHW

WOW that's a real stretch John W.

I don't know who or what wound Tony up but he has been on a roll. I listened to his laments about conservatives philosophy of "I got mine the heck with you" which was a familar refrain from my very Democratic Dad. But if one reads between the lines what you see is an entitlement mentality. This populist chant can get a lot of votes as does the claim of greedy rich people. I mean who would be in support of a billionaire except maybe a synchophant ?

Key words, rich bankers, insurers, corporations politicians......are easy targets and there is no way you can win when defending them. You have the same problem with fringe groups because if you attempt to have an intelliegent dialogue it wouldn't get off the ground because the left will immediately shout you down with name calling. You witnessed it here on this thread.

Unlike many of you my neighbors and I do have poltical discussions not in length but a few minutes here and there.

Frankly I beleieve we need to speak up more because political correctness has hampered our ability to deal effectively with some very serious issues and the minority has become the majority because of it