Harry Reid Shopped in Green Valley
in [Las Vegas]
|
From: Walt on 12 Aug 2010 20:50 In article <3d0c2303-875f-4d79-aad1-46bcfe4d372f(a)c10g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>, "Double Down Now!" <double.down.now(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > Doesn't Nevada have a LOT of retirees on Social Security? > > http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/nevada-wonk/2010/aug/12/sharron-angle-privati > ze-meant/ Social Security in its current form will eventually collapse under the sheer weight of retiring Baby Boomers. It's a Ponzi scheme. Payments to current retirees come from SS taxes paid by current workers. The "trust fund" contains nothing but IOU's the government wrote to itself. It's possible there's still time to avoid total calamity by weaning us off the current system and toward a plan that actually saved each individual's SS taxes (plus the employer's share) in his or her own separate retirement account, where it could be invested in relatively safe things like bonds or whatever. No plan is perfect, but anything's better than what we have now. Do I see it happening? Hell no, we'll just keep playing the same Republican vs. Democrat game until the lights go out.
From: octoad on 12 Aug 2010 22:11 "Walt" <none(a)none.void> wrote in message news:none-9CC7BE.20500012082010(a)news.eternal-september.org... > In article > <3d0c2303-875f-4d79-aad1-46bcfe4d372f(a)c10g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>, > "Double Down Now!" <double.down.now(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > >> Doesn't Nevada have a LOT of retirees on Social Security? >> >> http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/nevada-wonk/2010/aug/12/sharron-angle-privati >> ze-meant/ > > Social Security in its current form will eventually collapse under the > sheer weight > of retiring Baby Boomers. It's a Ponzi scheme. Payments to current > retirees come > from SS taxes paid by current workers. > No plan is perfect, but anything's better than what we have now. Yes, current retirees depending on Social Security would surely be doing far better than they are now (receiving regular monthly checks of the same amount) if the plan had been "privatized" a few years ago and was subject to the big stock market crash, flash crashes, and wild market fluctuations that have happened since then. Since the vast majority of retirees have vast and extensive knowledge of stock market manipulations by hedge funds, the 70% of stock trading that occurs in unregulated and secret dark pools, and the majority of on-exchange trading that occurs within nanoseconds (known as flash trading), surely they would be well equipped to get in there and play the market and receive better results for themselves than the 0% increase in value seen in the S&P 500 in the last 10 years. And since the long term future of the US economy is so bright, now that China and other Asian economies are on the decline, with the huge increase in manufacturing seen in this country over the last 30 years, and because of our stellar educational system that no other country can match, its an absolute gimme that telling seniors to invest every single retirement penny in the stock market is the right thing to do. No one can doubt that they could do better going that route than depending on a program that invests its money in steady, dull old Treasury bills. Just ask Bernie Madoff's clients. The only segment of society more corrupt, more complex, less efficient, less productive, and less understandable to the average senior citizen than government is Wall St. Anyone who thinks Wall St is more trustworthy or more reliable is out of their minds. O
From: Walt on 12 Aug 2010 23:45 In article <i429d5029gq(a)news4.newsguy.com>, "octoad" <davko58(a)sonic.net> wrote: > "Walt" <none(a)none.void> wrote in message > news:none-9CC7BE.20500012082010(a)news.eternal-september.org... > > In article > > <3d0c2303-875f-4d79-aad1-46bcfe4d372f(a)c10g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>, > > "Double Down Now!" <double.down.now(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > > > >> Doesn't Nevada have a LOT of retirees on Social Security? > >> > >> http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/nevada-wonk/2010/aug/12/sharron-angle-priv > >> ati > >> ze-meant/ > > > > Social Security in its current form will eventually collapse under the > > sheer weight > > of retiring Baby Boomers. It's a Ponzi scheme. Payments to current > > retirees come > > from SS taxes paid by current workers. > > > No plan is perfect, but anything's better than what we have now. > > Yes, current retirees depending on Social Security would surely be doing far > better than they are now (receiving regular monthly checks of the same > amount) if the plan had been "privatized" a few years ago and was subject to > the big stock market crash, flash crashes, and wild market fluctuations that > have happened since then. > > Since the vast majority of retirees have vast and extensive knowledge of > stock market manipulations by hedge funds, the 70% of stock trading that > occurs in unregulated and secret dark pools, and the majority of on-exchange > trading that occurs within nanoseconds (known as flash trading), surely they > would be well equipped to get in there and play the market and receive > better results for themselves than the 0% increase in value seen in the S&P > 500 in the last 10 years. > > And since the long term future of the US economy is so bright, now that > China and other Asian economies are on the decline, with the huge increase > in manufacturing seen in this country over the last 30 years, and because of > our stellar educational system that no other country can match, its an > absolute gimme that telling seniors to invest every single retirement penny > in the stock market is the right thing to do. > > No one can doubt that they could do better going that route than depending > on a program that invests its money in steady, dull old Treasury bills. > Just ask Bernie Madoff's clients. > > The only segment of society more corrupt, more complex, less efficient, less > productive, and less understandable to the average senior citizen than > government is Wall St. Anyone who thinks Wall St is more trustworthy or > more reliable is out of their minds. I expect better from you than to delete what I actually said, which is... "It's possible there's still time to avoid total calamity by weaning us off the current system and toward a plan that actually saved each individual's SS taxes (plus the employer's share) in his or her own separate retirement account, where it could be invested in relatively safe things like bonds or whatever. No plan is perfect, but anything's better than what we have now." I said it could be "invested in relatively safe things". I said nothing about "playing the market". If all the SS taxes I paid over the past 35+ years, plus my employer's share, had been invested in a *diversified* portfolio of bonds, stocks, precious metals, etc., they would have provided a pretty nice nest egg for retirement. But in reality, what do I actually have to show *right now* for my and my employer's SS "investment"? Zero return and 100% loss of capital. You can't do any worse than that. All that's left is the hope that when it comes time for me to collect SS, there will still be enough workers to pay taxes and ensure that my and everyone else's SS checks won't bounce. The point is, SS is not a retirement plan. There's no SS trust fund or "lock box". It's just a redistribution of income from current workers to current retirees. As more and more Baby Boomers retire and live longer, the burden on workers increases until it reaches a breaking point. Of course, at that time SS will be declared "too big to fail", so it will be bailed out by monetizing the debt, i.e., printing more money. Speaking of monetizing the debt, it seems the federal government is now overtly bailing out states with budget deficits. They are in effect adding these state operating deficits to the federal deficit and financing those deficits by borrowing or printing money, something the states are not allowed to do on their own. We slide yet further down the slippery slope.
From: dr. Baf on 13 Aug 2010 00:00 > > "Walt" <n...(a)none.void> wrote in message > > Speaking of monetizing the debt, it seems the federal government is now overtly > bailing out states with budget deficits. They are in effect adding these state > operating deficits to the federal deficit and financing those deficits by borrowing > or printing money, something the states are not allowed to do on their own. We slide > yet further down the slippery slope.- Hide quoted text - > People don't realize China doesn't want to buy our debt anymore, so guess what, the Federal Reserve is now buying it from the Treasury with funny money. dr. Baf
From: Zag on 13 Aug 2010 09:00
On Aug 12, 9:11 pm, "octoad" <davk...(a)sonic.net> wrote: > "Walt" <n...(a)none.void> wrote in message > > news:none-9CC7BE.20500012082010(a)news.eternal-september.org... > > > In article > > <3d0c2303-875f-4d79-aad1-46bcfe4d3...(a)c10g2000yqi.googlegroups.com>, > > "Double Down Now!" <double.down....(a)hotmail.com> wrote: > > >> Doesn't Nevada have a LOT of retirees on Social Security? > > >>http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/nevada-wonk/2010/aug/12/sharron-angl.... > >> ze-meant/ > > > Social Security in its current form will eventually collapse under the > > sheer weight > > of retiring Baby Boomers. It's a Ponzi scheme. Payments to current > > retirees come > > from SS taxes paid by current workers. > > No plan is perfect, but anything's better than what we have now. > > Yes, current retirees depending on Social Security would surely be doing far > better than they are now (receiving regular monthly checks of the same > amount) if the plan had been "privatized" a few years ago and was subject to > the big stock market crash, flash crashes, and wild market fluctuations that > have happened since then. > > Since the vast majority of retirees have vast and extensive knowledge of > stock market manipulations by hedge funds, the 70% of stock trading that > occurs in unregulated and secret dark pools, and the majority of on-exchange > trading that occurs within nanoseconds (known as flash trading), surely they > would be well equipped to get in there and play the market and receive > better results for themselves than the 0% increase in value seen in the S&P > 500 in the last 10 years. > > And since the long term future of the US economy is so bright, now that > China and other Asian economies are on the decline, with the huge increase > in manufacturing seen in this country over the last 30 years, and because of > our stellar educational system that no other country can match, its an > absolute gimme that telling seniors to invest every single retirement penny > in the stock market is the right thing to do. > > No one can doubt that they could do better going that route than depending > on a program that invests its money in steady, dull old Treasury bills. > Just ask Bernie Madoff's clients. > > The only segment of society more corrupt, more complex, less efficient, less > productive, and less understandable to the average senior citizen than > government is Wall St. Anyone who thinks Wall St is more trustworthy or > more reliable is out of their minds. > > O Co-sign |