Nancy Pelosi's Remarks at the 2010 Legislative Conference for National Association of Counties 3-9-10
“But we have to pass the (health care) bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."
Typical DC! They always think that Americans are so stupid that they cannot possibly understand proposed legislation. They always know what is best for us...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Another potential nail in the coffin of liberty
Sunday, March 7, 2010
0
Ever wonder what the face of tyranny looks like? Want to hear what the complete demise of the Declaration of Independence and similar Charters of Freedom sounds like? Here it is:
I took the time to watch this entire piece and piece together a few thoughts. Below is a timeline of my comments as I watched the video. My comments are in red.
4:45 ....Executives knew that most workers would not contribute to the tax-sheltered plans that were set up specifically for this purpose. Oh really? Guess they got that one wrong, eh?
5:09 ...Companies expanded 401(k) plans "at the EXPENSE of defined benefit plans"...Yes, to decrease said EXPENSES! i.e. to make the company stronger thereby insuring that some jobs would be salvaged.
5:17 ....She is now using 401(k) and Pension interchangeably.
5:43....POTUS has a plan to take 3% of employees pay and place it into a 401 (k)....Personal Mandate?
5:49...Now shes says "voluntary"....This is making almost no sense.
5:48...Households under 65K get $1000 from the govt. (i.e. taxpayers)
7:10.....getting into "flaws" with 401(k) plans....first up 3% is not enough (no shit sherlock, this is one reason Obama's plan would fail, not 401(k)'s)
7:23...Flipping now to the middle to upper class workers....what happened to those making under 65K?
7:31..."People tend to not save much more than 3%"....And why is it that those of us who save more should be forced to cover them too??
7:39..."People tend to spend their retirement accounts before they retire".....Yes. That is their friggin right and most people I know do not take that decision lightly. They are fully aware of the consequences.
7:48..."These accounts are managed by "for profit" companies"........Thank Goodness! Especially if they have a percentage arrangement. Although, some of us have invested the time in managing this for ourselves.
8:18..."Brokerage fees are quite large." Fact: these fees are miniscule in comparison to the amount of capital that is currently taken from you by the federal government!
8:20..."Brokerage fees are hidden." Really? Only if you cannot read a flipping contract.
8:48..."Even if your account makes it to retirement." You will blow it on vacations, remodeling, etc. YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO SPEND IT WISELY.
9:15...Another contradiction....now 401(k)'s must be managed by workers "on their own". See 7:48.
9:19...Most people are too stupid to do it themselves.
9:55..."Most folks buy high and sell low. Which is the opposite of what they should do." YA THINK?
10:12..."People cannot time when they are old. If the market is down when you retire, you can do nothing to protect yourself"...FALSE. Obviously, Teresa needs some financial education of her own.
10:40...."In a nutshell" the current 401(k) system has nothing wrong with it except that it is VOLUNTARY, COMMERCIAL, and INDIVIDUALIZED. In other words this lady is a complete and total communist. She thinks it should be MANDATED, NATIONALIZED, AND COLLECTIVIST. Like say, Venezuela?
10:52...."401(k) system has failed".....I imagine there are a few million folks who just might disagree with your diagnosis there.
11:05...Retirement-usa.org heralded as a great organization....I would call it an aberration of liberty.
11:33...."Pensions should be universal and mandated"....sounds eerily similar to another program that the majority of Americans are opposed to...
11:53...."Employers should contribute as well"...because you deserve more of your employers money for the same amount of work.
12:05 ...."Remove tax breaks on retirement savings for those in the top brackets"....i.e. Steal money from the Productive, successful people and give it to someone else...what a great incentive to better yourself!
12:23....Contradiction again...the retirement savings should be pooled and "professionally" managed. Supposedly by the same people she was criticizing at 7:48
12:41....People should not invest in themselves by learning about their own stake in finance. They should stick to the one job they know. (x-ray techs, etc.) Sounds familiar, say like in the Soiet Union or perhaps the caste system of India?
13:10...."Obama's plan only helps the mutual fund industry. They have gotten rich off of the expansion of 401(k) programs." Okay, now I am thinking she is against universal health care because after all it would only benefit insurance companies.
13:20....Again with the high fees....Except that right now this system is VOLUNTARY and her plan changes that little fact.
14:14....Okay, you just took care of that problem.
14:50...."All workers would contribute 5% of their pay every pay period." Because of course, the government will do a much better job at growing your account than you ever could. Plus those of you who may take the time to learn about how to manage your retirement accounts have to sacrifice on behalf of those who slack. This so reminds me of the Grasshopper and the Ant Revisited.
15:05...I can only imagine the joy with which employers (you know, the guys that create jobs) will meet a 2.5% labor cost increase. Gee, I wonder what that would do to prices?
15:24..."$600 to everybody who has a GRA." And just where do you think that money will come from? This has to be the weirdest math problem I have ever heard. (FYI $600 is 3% of $20k)
15:50 ..."Quasi-government agency?" You mean like, oh I don't know, The Fed?
15:55...Oh yes, the infamous not-for-profit angle.
15:57..."Publicly accountable trustees." Like say the SSA, or Fannie Mae?
16:07..."Hiring money managers"....you mean like the professionals you so detested at 7:48?
16:14..."Managers would be the best managers possible." Because of course the best managers possible will want to work for a not-for-profit, quasi-government organization.
16:48...complete nationalization of the retirement investment industry. Lots of jobs lost there too madame.
16:58..Oh, I would bet the boys on Wall St. would be so happy to help you after you cost them billions!
17:04....Wow! She can now predit how long people are going to live!
17:31..."Indexed to inflation. " Just like the guaranteed SS COLA (that Congress witheld in 2008)?
17:50...She can guarantee a 6% return. Amazing, what a soothsayer this woman is.
17:55...She keeps mentioning the 25% loss in these accounts in 2008. Of course, at this point in time she would have had no idea that anyone who stayed in the market would have realized a return of almost 43% in the second half of 2009. IT'S CALLED THE FREE MARKET AND IT IS NOT RISK AVERSE.
18:34....I was waiting for this. All of this is really about one thing. The redistribution of wealth.
19:06..."One of the fasted growing tax breaks in the federal system." How can this be if only 50% of workers are even in these types of plans?
19:24..."US Treasury was denied $110B? " It's not their money in the first place. It belongs to the people who earned it and who are working within the law to save for their retirement.
19:43..."Someone who makes $20k gets nothing from this tax break because they don't even pay income taxes." AS IT SHOULD BE. If you don't pay taxes, why the hell should you get a tax break??
19:52..."Someone making $200K can get up to $7K in a federal subsidy" It makes perfect sense! It is what is called property rights! You have no right to what that individual earns.
20:19 Another contradiction. In the beginning we were in a Depression. Now we are in a Repression. Although in fairness, I believe she misspoke at the beginning.
20:29..."Construct a retirement reform that truly supplements SS". How about doing the opposite? Doing away with all these Ponzi type arrangements and letting people have control of their own destiny? It's called FREEDOM.
Although this video was produced in April 2009, this movement has not gone away. The organization RetirementUSA is a serious threat to personal liberty. This organization is comprised of weakened unions such as the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and a host of academic elites. In short, it is a collectivist think tank. Learn more about this nemesis of personal liberty and individual rights here.
I took the time to watch this entire piece and piece together a few thoughts. Below is a timeline of my comments as I watched the video. My comments are in red.
4:45 ....Executives knew that most workers would not contribute to the tax-sheltered plans that were set up specifically for this purpose. Oh really? Guess they got that one wrong, eh?
5:09 ...Companies expanded 401(k) plans "at the EXPENSE of defined benefit plans"...Yes, to decrease said EXPENSES! i.e. to make the company stronger thereby insuring that some jobs would be salvaged.
5:17 ....She is now using 401(k) and Pension interchangeably.
5:43....POTUS has a plan to take 3% of employees pay and place it into a 401 (k)....Personal Mandate?
5:49...Now shes says "voluntary"....This is making almost no sense.
5:48...Households under 65K get $1000 from the govt. (i.e. taxpayers)
7:10.....getting into "flaws" with 401(k) plans....first up 3% is not enough (no shit sherlock, this is one reason Obama's plan would fail, not 401(k)'s)
7:23...Flipping now to the middle to upper class workers....what happened to those making under 65K?
7:31..."People tend to not save much more than 3%"....And why is it that those of us who save more should be forced to cover them too??
7:39..."People tend to spend their retirement accounts before they retire".....Yes. That is their friggin right and most people I know do not take that decision lightly. They are fully aware of the consequences.
7:48..."These accounts are managed by "for profit" companies"........Thank Goodness! Especially if they have a percentage arrangement. Although, some of us have invested the time in managing this for ourselves.
8:18..."Brokerage fees are quite large." Fact: these fees are miniscule in comparison to the amount of capital that is currently taken from you by the federal government!
8:20..."Brokerage fees are hidden." Really? Only if you cannot read a flipping contract.
8:48..."Even if your account makes it to retirement." You will blow it on vacations, remodeling, etc. YOU ARE TOO STUPID TO SPEND IT WISELY.
9:15...Another contradiction....now 401(k)'s must be managed by workers "on their own". See 7:48.
9:19...Most people are too stupid to do it themselves.
9:55..."Most folks buy high and sell low. Which is the opposite of what they should do." YA THINK?
10:12..."People cannot time when they are old. If the market is down when you retire, you can do nothing to protect yourself"...FALSE. Obviously, Teresa needs some financial education of her own.
10:40...."In a nutshell" the current 401(k) system has nothing wrong with it except that it is VOLUNTARY, COMMERCIAL, and INDIVIDUALIZED. In other words this lady is a complete and total communist. She thinks it should be MANDATED, NATIONALIZED, AND COLLECTIVIST. Like say, Venezuela?
10:52...."401(k) system has failed".....I imagine there are a few million folks who just might disagree with your diagnosis there.
11:05...Retirement-usa.org heralded as a great organization....I would call it an aberration of liberty.
11:33...."Pensions should be universal and mandated"....sounds eerily similar to another program that the majority of Americans are opposed to...
11:53...."Employers should contribute as well"...because you deserve more of your employers money for the same amount of work.
12:05 ...."Remove tax breaks on retirement savings for those in the top brackets"....i.e. Steal money from the Productive, successful people and give it to someone else...what a great incentive to better yourself!
12:23....Contradiction again...the retirement savings should be pooled and "professionally" managed. Supposedly by the same people she was criticizing at 7:48
12:41....People should not invest in themselves by learning about their own stake in finance. They should stick to the one job they know. (x-ray techs, etc.) Sounds familiar, say like in the Soiet Union or perhaps the caste system of India?
13:10...."Obama's plan only helps the mutual fund industry. They have gotten rich off of the expansion of 401(k) programs." Okay, now I am thinking she is against universal health care because after all it would only benefit insurance companies.
13:20....Again with the high fees....Except that right now this system is VOLUNTARY and her plan changes that little fact.
14:14....Okay, you just took care of that problem.
14:50...."All workers would contribute 5% of their pay every pay period." Because of course, the government will do a much better job at growing your account than you ever could. Plus those of you who may take the time to learn about how to manage your retirement accounts have to sacrifice on behalf of those who slack. This so reminds me of the Grasshopper and the Ant Revisited.
15:05...I can only imagine the joy with which employers (you know, the guys that create jobs) will meet a 2.5% labor cost increase. Gee, I wonder what that would do to prices?
15:24..."$600 to everybody who has a GRA." And just where do you think that money will come from? This has to be the weirdest math problem I have ever heard. (FYI $600 is 3% of $20k)
15:50 ..."Quasi-government agency?" You mean like, oh I don't know, The Fed?
15:55...Oh yes, the infamous not-for-profit angle.
15:57..."Publicly accountable trustees." Like say the SSA, or Fannie Mae?
16:07..."Hiring money managers"....you mean like the professionals you so detested at 7:48?
16:14..."Managers would be the best managers possible." Because of course the best managers possible will want to work for a not-for-profit, quasi-government organization.
16:48...complete nationalization of the retirement investment industry. Lots of jobs lost there too madame.
16:58..Oh, I would bet the boys on Wall St. would be so happy to help you after you cost them billions!
17:04....Wow! She can now predit how long people are going to live!
17:31..."Indexed to inflation. " Just like the guaranteed SS COLA (that Congress witheld in 2008)?
17:50...She can guarantee a 6% return. Amazing, what a soothsayer this woman is.
17:55...She keeps mentioning the 25% loss in these accounts in 2008. Of course, at this point in time she would have had no idea that anyone who stayed in the market would have realized a return of almost 43% in the second half of 2009. IT'S CALLED THE FREE MARKET AND IT IS NOT RISK AVERSE.
18:34....I was waiting for this. All of this is really about one thing. The redistribution of wealth.
19:06..."One of the fasted growing tax breaks in the federal system." How can this be if only 50% of workers are even in these types of plans?
19:24..."US Treasury was denied $110B? " It's not their money in the first place. It belongs to the people who earned it and who are working within the law to save for their retirement.
19:43..."Someone who makes $20k gets nothing from this tax break because they don't even pay income taxes." AS IT SHOULD BE. If you don't pay taxes, why the hell should you get a tax break??
19:52..."Someone making $200K can get up to $7K in a federal subsidy" It makes perfect sense! It is what is called property rights! You have no right to what that individual earns.
20:19 Another contradiction. In the beginning we were in a Depression. Now we are in a Repression. Although in fairness, I believe she misspoke at the beginning.
20:29..."Construct a retirement reform that truly supplements SS". How about doing the opposite? Doing away with all these Ponzi type arrangements and letting people have control of their own destiny? It's called FREEDOM.
Although this video was produced in April 2009, this movement has not gone away. The organization RetirementUSA is a serious threat to personal liberty. This organization is comprised of weakened unions such as the SEIU and the AFL-CIO, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and a host of academic elites. In short, it is a collectivist think tank. Learn more about this nemesis of personal liberty and individual rights here.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Just in case you don't watch C-Span 24/7...
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
0
Reconciliation. The Dems were against it before they were for it. Something that was so horrible when they were in the minority is now so vital. Hey, don't take my word for it:
So what's the deal Harry? Chuck? Hillary? Max? Chris? Mr. President?
But they American people want this version of health reform passed! Right?
Polling Data from Real Clear Politics
RCP Average Oppose +9.5
- Rasmussen Reports Oppose +8
- Ipsos/McClatchy Oppose +6
- USA Today/Gallup Oppose +7
- POS (R) Oppose +12
- Newsweek Oppose +9
- Pew Research Oppose +12
- ABC News/Wash Post Oppose +3
- Quinnipiac Oppose +19
All information is available here.
It's still about the debt
Today I read that California's unemployment insurance is completely insolvent and has already racked up about 7.5 Billion in IOU's to the federal government. One would have to think that at some point Uncle Sam is going to tell the Golden State to jump off of it's own bridge. Well at least their ex-governor has announced that he is going to run for re-election and save them all. Miraculously he says he will do it "without raising taxes unless voters approve them" and as a special bonus he will "reduce state government". Oh, and while he's at it, he is going to stop climate change and give everyone a hybrid vehicle.
Now that would be amusing if California was not the world's 8th largest economy! Setting aside the fact that 26 of the 50 states already have insolvent unemployment insurance trust funds, let's not mess with something as sophomoric as transition and get right to my rant of the day.
We have a serious white elephant in the corner: the incredible amount of debt that our federal government has accumulated over the years. More specifically, the interest accumulation on that debt. Just like the credit card companies that are now creeping up the interest rates, (somewhat due to the ridiculous CARD act) the holders of our debt (a.k.a. US Treasuries) will at some point demand a higher interest rate. Because, let's face facts, our credit worthiness is not that attractive. Why would they do such a thing you ask? Don't they need our dollars and especially our consumer markets? Well...
Now that would be amusing if California was not the world's 8th largest economy! Setting aside the fact that 26 of the 50 states already have insolvent unemployment insurance trust funds, let's not mess with something as sophomoric as transition and get right to my rant of the day.
We have a serious white elephant in the corner: the incredible amount of debt that our federal government has accumulated over the years. More specifically, the interest accumulation on that debt. Just like the credit card companies that are now creeping up the interest rates, (somewhat due to the ridiculous CARD act) the holders of our debt (a.k.a. US Treasuries) will at some point demand a higher interest rate. Because, let's face facts, our credit worthiness is not that attractive. Why would they do such a thing you ask? Don't they need our dollars and especially our consumer markets? Well...Although China is giving it a run for the money, Japan is the largest single holder of US Treasuries. Between the 2 countries , they own just over 50% of all of our bonds. Has anyone noticed what Japan's debt to GDP ratio is lately? I can tell you, it is not great. So, what is one of the first things you do when you owe somebody money? You call all your friends that you have lent money to and say "hey, I need that $10 I loaned you." Japan is in a financial crisis that has been exacerbated deeply by... wait for it...
YEARS OF STIMULUS SPENDING
Yep. Just like the history shows with FDR and the depression of the early 20th century (still cannot figure out why it is called "great") government's overspending and overinfluencing the free market only makes matters worse. The comparison to FDR was a critical selling point which helped put President Obama into office. However, only the whitewashed, romantic version of FDR was utilized for this purpose.
So what to do you ask? The old cliche about being stuck in a hole... Unfortunately, that may mean banging ourselves in the head with the shovel. Our elected "representatives" (the same one's who are telling us how much we need national health care, even though most of us are dead set against it and have repeatedly told them so) are obviously not going to stop digging. Withholding money from people who are hurting is just not that popular. It also does not get you campaign contributions from large corporations and Carribean vacations on behalf of powerful congressional caucuses.
We need a new way forward. I continue to ask what would prevent Congress from imposing a lobbying ban on themselves? Why would they even need to legislate it. Show some honor and self-govern. I believe there was even once a document written about that.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Hey! No "Zamboni"ing under the influence!
Friday, February 26, 2010
0
The Canadian women have won the gold medal in Olympic ice hockey again! Congratulations ladies! Toss back a few, smoke some cigars, pop the Cava. You have earned it. Enjoy your moment in the sun. Just make sure to have a designated driver!
Don't get pulled over Colleen!
Looking forward to the possibility of a USA v. Canada gold medal game on Sunday.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Bernake Truth or Dare.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
0
Is this a dare?
"We would welcome a review by the GAO of the Federal Reserve’s management of all facilities created under emergency authorities. In particular, we would support legislation authorizing the GAO to audit the operational integrity, collateral policies, use of third-party contractors, accounting, financial reporting, and internal controls of these special credit and liquidity facilities." --Ben Bernake 2/23/10
Is Bernake actually inviting the government to audit the Fed? Interesting tactic.
"We would welcome a review by the GAO of the Federal Reserve’s management of all facilities created under emergency authorities. In particular, we would support legislation authorizing the GAO to audit the operational integrity, collateral policies, use of third-party contractors, accounting, financial reporting, and internal controls of these special credit and liquidity facilities." --Ben Bernake 2/23/10
Is Bernake actually inviting the government to audit the Fed? Interesting tactic.
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