> 60% of the Federal Government spending is for SS, Medi-care/aid, and welfare. This consumes 100% of tax revenue.

Fy2009spendingbycategory2.png

About 51% actually. But that includes a lot of "other mandatory spending"

Medicare, medicaid, social security and welfare consume about half the spending. That's a fair statement.

Otis Fudfuqer wrote:

You are right.

We need to lift the wage cap on social security.

Medicare and social security needs to have some means testing.  Warren Buffet doesn't need his social security check.

Though it is but a small part, to be honest it would have very little impact, we need to completely close down the Department of Education and the Department of Energy for starters.

They need to do all of the following:
- Remove the income cap
- Raise the benefit age
- Slash the benefit amount (including current people on benefits.)
- Means test it
- Allow people to completely opt out of the program in order to start phasing out the ponzi scheme.

wrote:

[image]Fy2009spendingbycategory2.png[/zwg]

About 51% actually. But that includes a lot of "other mandatory spending"

Medicare, medicaid, social security and welfare consume about half the spending. That's a fair statement.

Interesting graph. 

Amazing that we spend that much on NASA.  Unless they find aliens or Yoda in the next couple of years, they've not really impressed me lately.  Leave space for the philosophers and religious nuts to argue about, if it means we can cut some spending.

Also--on soc. security.  Aren't there offsetting inflows that basically neutralize any effect on the budget?  I remember seeing that this was the first year ever where SS will begin to run a deficit.  Don't mean to imply that SS is stable for the long term.  It's definitely going to be a drain on all of us.

wrote:

They need to do all of the following:
- Remove the income cap

I agree/

- Raise the benefit age

We are all living longer (curses be to medical science) and should work longer.  If you think that is unfair than fund your own retirement system so you can retire when you want to.
Social security is a bottom safety net.

- Slash the benefit amount (including current people on benefits.)

Bot on the bottom but on the top.  The average is something like $1,100/month so let's leave that alone.  Others will receive $2,500 or more and those should be cut back.

- Means test it

Absolutely.

- Allow people to completely opt out of the program in order to start phasing out the ponzi scheme.

I disagree with you here. 

You can't trust everyone to manage their own retirement half the country would end up on the dole and I would be paying for it anyway.

wrote:

You can make it so that people have to prove that they are saving for their retirement on their own (ex: if they are saving at least x% of their income each year into an IRA or 401k, then they don't have to pay into SS.  This complements the "means testing" part well too -- since people who have the savings won't be getting SS -- so don't take their money away for a SS payroll deduction while they are trying to stash money into their IRAs.)

I will buy into that as long as they fix it so they don't end up on the public dole at taxpayer expense.

As far as the budget goes I would immediately remove all troops from the middle east.  Every single one of them tomorrow.

Cut our military in half.  50% cut phased in at 10% per year.

Jerk Ass wrote:

Understood, but it begs some context, right?  Do you have a source for this?  I'd be interested to see it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Unite … ral_budget

All incumb taxes collected from everyone east of the Mississippi River for 2010 will go to servicing JUST THE INTEREST on Opiez National Debt.

Are you fuq?   

Otis Fudfuqer wrote:

I will buy into that as long as they fix it so they don't end up on the public dole at taxpayer expense.

As far as the budget goes I would immediately remove all troops from the middle east.  Every single one of them tomorrow.

Cut our military in half.  50% cut phased in at 10% per year.

Again, agree on all but possibly the first sentence.  I'm a socialist by the way.

wrote:

You need to do all of the following:
- Log the fuq off
- Kill yourself
- Fuq the body

Let me guess about your personal finances... you have multiple credit cards with large balances, perhaps at high interest rates, and perhaps have charged off CCs or bankruptcies in your past.

wrote:

You need to do all of the following:
- Log the fuq off
- Kill yourself
- Fuq the body

Then how the hell would you propose solving the problem?  Letting the deficit blow up to the point where nobody has faith in US govt debt or the US dollar?  The system will collapse.

wrote:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_United_States_federal_budget

Well, there's your problem right there:

$1.061 trillion ? Individual income taxes
$222 billion ? Corporation income taxes

I guess the corporations can afford better lawyers and lobbists than the public.

Again, there is the obvious answer here:

ELININATE ALL THEEE PROGRAMS.

Very simple. My taxdollars should not be used to prop up other people's lives. Get rid of this ridiculous welfare state.