Displaying 451 To 480 Of 7,446 Comments Hope There’s No Change – A Bipartisan Chorus I like your idea Funk, but I, too, would start way high and negotiate. Who do you know, other than corp, who pays nothing in taxes and gets back millions? NO ONE and that is a travesty » Posted By SueInCa On April 12, 2013 @ 8:59 pm I still say let someone else carry the burden. Why seniors? Raise the current tax brackets for people who are working with salaries over 50,000 and raise the cap for paying into SS, those are far better ways to deal with it than hitting seniors. I know you say 3.50 a month is not much but it opens the door and is a slippery slope to more cuts and eventual privatization which is what they have been planning for years. I still think it is political suicide for them to touch SS. Watch Heist and I think you will come away with a different perspective about SS. » Posted By SueInCa On April 12, 2013 @ 8:58 pm FYI http://www.nationofchange.org/1983-strategy-behind-today-s-social-security-attacks-1365514721 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_for_Leadership http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/ They are all good reads and feed back into the Heist docu and what is going on today and has been for the past 30 some years. » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 8:14 pm It is frustrating Adlib and quite frankly I do not know anyone who would be in the scenario I described personally but I know there are people out there. Quite honestly I am quite sick of this country and the greedy people who live here with us. You don’t even want to know what I would do to fix the economy…..the rich would be screaming and the bankers would wonder who is next? I am just that sick of it all. » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 4:31 pm Sorry I forgot about those other people Sally. You are right » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 4:26 pm I cannot get sick Sally, if I do I have to die and hope the insurance will pay off for the cremation. » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 4:25 pm I agree with most of what you said, but Obama has offered up seniors, which we all know republicans have wanted to give to Wall Street for the longest time, as the sacrificial lambs. It just really irritates me that he could not come up with something else. Defense, most people would agree with that. hit the corporations, most people would agree with that. But no he hit seniors. I find it unforgivable that he put seniors on the chopping block before the others I mentioned. Corporations got off free and clear, how is that the best possible deal? I am really not trying to be obstinate here, but there were clearly other areas to hit without him taking a hit. He just fell right into the GOP’s lap with SS. http://billmoyers.com/2013/04/11/top-5-things-to-know-about-president-obamas-2014-budget/ » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 2:57 pm Ok, let me try it this way, assuming I only have SS and no backup. I get 1602.00 after taxes only, no medicare premiums taken out. I have no money for gas, a movie, clothing, in fact I have to get rid of my car because why pay insurance on a car you cannot afford to fill up? And you are taking away another 3.50 from me? Some people are in this situation and nobody has given a cutoff point for who is poor in this new scenario so how do I survive? And please do not tell me there are programs for the poor because what I see is even that being pulled out from the poor over and over. There are no guarantees that the right will even feed a baby, why would I believe they would feed me? » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 2:05 pm Hey Adlib There is a huge swath of the population that are baby boomers and they are going to get hit. I am sorry but I still do not see where this shared sacrifice comes in. If they raised the cap on the maximum amount of your yearly pay that is subject to ss tax, that would fund it into the next century. So yes, there is a way to fund it without hurting anyone under 100,000 a year. Baby boomers are going to remember too when it comes time for re-election and when and if that group decides to sit it out, it will be disastrous for all parties. And by that I mean Dems are doing a horrible job of explaining this scenario, especially Obama. Not everyone reads your posts although I wish they would. You laid it all out quite well, even if I still disagree. » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 1:47 pm Adlib I respect and appreciate that you have laid this all out for people to understand and I do understand it quite well now. You say it is time for people to walk the walk and share the burden but the only ones being asked is seniors. If, as you say we should be ready to walk the walk then why not share that percentage with us? How about current workers take half of that percentage and pay a higher rate into SS? Why not share the burden? I know people think 3.50 a month is not much but think about it, $1400.00 a month is all you have, and puts you below the poverty line(after taxes and medicare), why are you asking that poor people pay more? Had there been some shared sacrifice, I could have gone along with these cuts to SS but the only ones sharing the sacrifice are seniors, some of who get way less than that average $1400.00. Could they make up the difference over the years with regular increases? No one can say because there has never been a yearly COLA increase for seniors. All the increase numbers are supposition not fact. » Posted By SueInCa On April 11, 2013 @ 11:28 am Chained CPI – Grand Betrayal, Social Security Fix, or Something Else? I think you may be right. » Posted By SueInCa On May 31, 2013 @ 10:48 am Hey BFF good to see you active again, if only for a little bit each day. I hope you are feeling much better and well on your way to recovery. » Posted By SueInCa On May 29, 2013 @ 7:53 pm Funk I do think it is a fait accompli and will happen so there really is no good in crying over it, but this is going to hurt the Democrats. The right is so mind numb they would vote for Mickey Mouse if he said Dems are fascist, nazis etc and on and on. It will also be the one blip in President Obama’s presidency. My thought is Republicans are waiting closer to 2014 so people will be in a snit and the usual suspects on the left will cry in their soup and refuse to vote. » Posted By SueInCa On May 28, 2013 @ 3:28 pm Spandan that is the new name. I read the article when he was explaining but could not remember the name. I just kept calling him Deaniac. » Posted By SueInCa On May 28, 2013 @ 2:54 pm Funk What a great service you have done here. I understand a bit better but I still have some trepidation on the whole thing. That trepidation is that the door is opening and how much easier will it be for them to make changes the second time around, then the third, then the fourth? Also for someone like me, that 3.00 is not going to cause any issues but for a friend of mine? That 3.00 means she buys one less can of tuna or mayo or some other staple. She has family living with her now to make her rent possible(she pays 700.00 which is half) and is still high on her limited income. She has a 401k but no where near enough to last for another 20 years. She is existing and I think that is what bugs me, none of us should have to exist when there are millionaires that prob take SS just because it is there. I still think raising the cap for when you stop paying in is the best way to go but people who make over that cap will scream then too. To me that was the critical mistake. Perhaps no one envisioned that salaries of 110k would be a norm some day but over the years when they saw the wealthy and CEO’s pay jumping so rapidly, it should have been changed. That is my main gripe with this whole thing. I have two incomes and two 401k’s and one pension, we are comfortable, others do not have that and future collectors will be even worse off with pensions being drained or not there at all. A wealthy CEO only pays a bit over $6,000 into SS but when they go to collect, their monthly is based on the average you quoted above. How can that be fair? » Posted By SueInCa On May 28, 2013 @ 2:12 pm desert » Posted By SueInCa On May 28, 2013 @ 1:51 pm House Republicans Ready to Pass “Must Carry” Gun Law for All Americans Good one Adlib. But you know what? It is not far from the truth. » Posted By SueInCa On April 1, 2013 @ 1:45 pm Las Hermanas Mirabal – Las Mariposas You are welcome BFF. I may have another story coming up. PBS Independent Lens is doing a story next week called, Blessed is the Match about a young woman who was safe in Israel but went to Germany to try to free others. I won’t tell you the ending. I am reading the book by Julia Alvarez and it pretty closely follows the movie I saw. I also am going to order the other movie, Tropico de Sangre and a book that Cyrano told me about(see below) and The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa. I have them all put aside on Amazon. » Posted By SueInCa On April 4, 2013 @ 10:11 pm No problem Food, as long as you find the time to read it, that is all I want. I wrote this because I, too am a big women;s rights person and I am always so in awe of people who put their life on the line for their beliefs. » Posted By SueInCa On April 4, 2013 @ 10:04 pm Watson, Now you got me on the Monsanto trail. I was interested but did not follow the story that closely, now I am signing petitions and posting on FB. I just posted a petition about the super worm and compared Monsanto to Dow Chemical in Bhopal lol. Damn you Watson 🙂 » Posted By SueInCa On April 2, 2013 @ 12:48 pm Cyrano I do know the Family and Dominionists have entrenched themselves in there for political gain and to further expand their twisted view of Christianity. I think the closest we come is the Revolutionary War, The Civil War, the fight for Unions, the fight for women’s rights and the civil rights actions. Come to think of it, that is quite a bit for a “civilized” society. » Posted By SueInCa On April 1, 2013 @ 1:56 pm CL These are the types of stories I want to tell. Like you, I had no real understanding of the background of the Dominican Republic but in the space of a week, learned quite a bit. There has been different influences, similar to Haiti which makes sense since they share the Island. I know about our CIA and the Right and their interference in Latin America but the details are sometimes gained from a fictionalized account such as the movie I watched. IMHO the movie was not far off from what actually happened. I am now reading the book and will read some of the others I encountered in this research. » Posted By SueInCa On April 1, 2013 @ 1:51 pm Gay Marriage Undermines Christian Marriage…to the GOP Bourne » Posted By SueInCa On March 29, 2013 @ 7:38 pm As wacky as they are these days, I think you do have a chance. » Posted By SueInCa On March 29, 2013 @ 4:33 pm I know Adlib I just keep hoping for something, anything better. But I am realistic, both parties have their elites with a grip on the top spots and neither you or I would be allowed unless they want us to campaign or give money…..I still think, though that one side is better. Check out the links I provided to Murph above. They are free courses that you can take online with Stanford University. I am taking the course in Democratic Development starting on April 1. » Posted By SueInCa On March 29, 2013 @ 4:31 pm Murph You might be interested in a course I am taking with Stanford Univ for free. It is on Democracy and the professor will be touching on exactly the info you brought up here. The first class is either 4/1 or 4/3 and the link is below https://www.coursera.org/courses Go down to Democratic Development And here is their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Democratic-Development-Democracy-MOOC/547867765245278 There are many courses Stanford offers for free. » Posted By SueInCa On March 29, 2013 @ 4:28 pm Does anyone ever wonder why it took the death of a president to spur the congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill of 1964? LBJ spurred it on by comments he made in his first Joint Session of Congress speech on November 27, 1963…..I still question why a nation of “patriots screaming freedom” would take so long to pass a bill giving all the rights they should have had all along. From the speech: “First, no memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long. We have talked long enough in this country about equal rights. We have talked for one hundred years or more. It is time now to write the next chapter, and to write it in the books of law. And second, no act of ours could more fittingly continue the work of President Kennedy than the early passage of the tax bill for which he fought all this long year. This is a bill designed to increase our national income and Federal revenues, and to provide insurance against recession. That bill, if passed without delay, means more security for those now working, more jobs for those now without them, and more incentive for our economy. As one who has long served in both Houses of the Congress, I firmly believe in the independence and the integrity of the legislative branch. And I promise you that I shall always respect this. It is deep in the marrow of my bones. With equal firmness, I believe in the capacity and I believe in the ability of the Congress, despite the divisions of opinions which characterize our Nation, to act–to act wisely, to act vigorously, to act speedily when the need arises. The need is here. The need is now. I ask your help. I profoundly hope that the tragedy and the torment of these terrible days will bind us together in new fellowship, making us one people in our hour of sorrow. So let us here highly resolve that John Fitzgerald Kennedy did not live–or die–in vain. And on this Thanksgiving eve, as we gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing, and give Him our thanks, let us unite in those familiar and cherished words: America, America, http://www.pbs.org/ladybird/epicenter/epicenter_doc_speech.html » Posted By SueInCa On March 27, 2013 @ 1:43 pm Just an FYI for you on the solidarity symbol, most of the people I know who are using it, have gay family members. I cannot speak for all using it, but the ones I know have good reason to use it and their family members know it is sincere. How could they not with the support they have received over the years? I get this guy’s frustration but he makes a mistake of painting everyone with one broad brush, that is not even close to reality. » Posted By SueInCa On March 27, 2013 @ 12:33 pm CL » Posted By SueInCa On March 27, 2013 @ 12:28 pm Adlib I believe, as you say, a destructive internal war coming but like I said, The Constitution Party is right there to pick these people up. Their platform is perfect for the “lean libertarian” and the evangelicals. I posted a link to their website up in response to Murph’s comments. I just wonder if this match or non-match for the GOP will really give the Dems any long-term headway. It seems to me that Dems, for the most part, will rest on their so-called victory which will be the biggest mistake the party ever makes. I am speaking of congress and the party elite, not the progressive wing or the radical wing. We will never stop changing and moving forward because we know what can happen when you open the door to extremists. The party elite do as well but they are not down in the trenches as we are so they tend to think the war is won. How they can do that with the radical laws and issues going on around them is puzzling to me. It has always been that way, but I have not always felt the party elite were really with the people on the ground in terms of their thought processes and awareness. I think they call it insider Washington…… » Posted By SueInCa On March 27, 2013 @ 12:25 pmComments Posted By SueInCa
I posted this to FB a few days ago and I thought I would add it here as well. I just got through watching the documentary, Heist – How they stole the American dream and I am madder than ever now but I will either get over it or do something about it. I think the time is now, like never before. Anyway I would recommend the docu and here is some stuff as a result of that docu too.
My house payment for 14 more years is: 594.00
My HOA is: 300.00
My utilities are: 200.00
My insurance payment is: 225.00
My grocery bill(conservatively for 2)is:200.00
This all reminds me of the conversations on Pension Plans in 08. The jist of it was that companies and unions did not plan for the long term, just as I mentioned with the salary cap on SS. Pensions are a great thing but you have to make periodic adjustments so that someday down the road, the pension fund is not in trouble. When people are working, the burden of paying a few dollars extra is not bad, when you hit them on set incomes, it can be devastating and like I said, this opens the door a crack.
That is a great site. When I hear people moaning about certain things the President does, I go to the former Deaniac and see what he has to say. By the time I am done, I am calm and do not have to go through all these iterations myself to figure if it is a good thing or bad thing. He has never let me down and never steered me wrong.
Thanks I will look up that book and will watch the interview with Colbert. Thanks for the info. I have an interest in the Latin Americas but had never really delved deep into each country’s history. I learned a lot in the week I took to write this article up.
I am going to start with this class, it is 10 weeks, then I will start taking others. You do not get college credit but it sure would not look bad on a resume.
I urge you again, as I did in 1957 and again in 1960, to enact a civil rights law so that we can move forward to eliminate from this Nation every trace of discrimination and oppression that is based upon race or color. There could be no greater source of strength to this Nation both at home and abroad.
We meet in grief, but let us also meet in renewed dedication and renewed vigor. Let us meet in action, in tolerance, and in mutual understanding. John Kennedy’s death commands what his life conveyed–that America must move forward. The time has come for Americans of all races and creeds and political beliefs to understand and to respect one another. So let us put an end to the teaching and the preaching of hate and evil and violence. Let us turn away from the fanatics of the far left and the far right, from the apostles of bitterness and bigotry, from those defiant of law, and those who pour venom into our Nation’s bloodstream.
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good With brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.”
This is kind of off topic but do you know that when Lee Harvey Oswald was killed, the Greater Dallas Council of Churches refused to have anyone perform a service for him? My my how the Council of Churches has evolved…..
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