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Thread: April is the Cruelest Month

  1. #31
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post

    Judging from the people trying for attention on the other side, it looks like we may see a lurch to the left.
    My DH voted for Trump because he wanted a president who would "drain the swamp." Clearly, as Fox commentator Neil Caputo said, "How can you [Trump] drain the swamp if you’re the one that keeps muddying the water?”

    It seems Bernie is not completely out of the question for a 2020 run, especially since his nemesis Hillary is out of the picture. I think that there's a lot of crossover between people inclined to vote for Bernie vs Trump, despite the huge ideology gap. People are sick of business-as-usual in Washington, and they thought Trump would deliver. If people could understand that Bernie is not a Communist, but a man of the people who can lead in innovative ways (the growth of Burlington VT attests to that), he could actually do pretty well in 2020, in spite of his age.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  2. #32
    Senior Member flowerseverywhere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    I think some will, acting either from patriotism or ambition. Romney appears to be considering it, and he has a goodly amount of experience with being smeared. I'm sure there will be others. It would do my heart good to see Trump taken down in the Republican primaries by Republicans.

    Judging from the people trying for attention on the other side, it looks like we may see a lurch to the left.
    i would register as a Republican just to vote in that primary. And I have always been an independent, voting for Dems and republican as I saw fit. But unless some crazy candidate like Moore or Arpai ran against him I would consider doing that

    have you seen some of the candidates who have thrown their hats in the ring? Arpaio? Surely there are many many fine republicans who are not white supremacists or conspiracy theorists.

  3. #33
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Romney would be a great alternative to Trump at this point. I don't think Ryan will run when he can make a small fortunate on the consulting gig or sitting on boards. I would love to see a democrat win of course.

  4. #34
    Senior Member flowerseverywhere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    Romney would be a great alternative to Trump at this point. I don't think Ryan will run when he can make a small fortunate on the consulting gig or sitting on boards. I would love to see a democrat win of course.

    “Fortunate”. Was that a Freudian slip? He was indeed fortunate that he was able to benefit when his father sadly and tragically died when he was young and received social security survivor benefits. That same program he wants to “reform”. But that fact hasn’t hurt him up until now.

  5. #35
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    Flowers: too funny. I didn't know he benefited from the program he wants to destroy.

  6. #36
    Simpleton Alan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Teacher Terry View Post
    Flowers: too funny. I didn't know he benefited from the program he wants to destroy.
    Does he want to destroy it or does he want to ensure it's preserved for future generations? There's only one correct answer and it's probably not the one most folks here would choose.
    "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein

  7. #37
    Senior Member flowerseverywhere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan View Post
    Does he want to destroy it or does he want to ensure it's preserved for future generations? There's only one correct answer and it's probably not the one most folks here would choose.
    well if you depend on it to help you in old age, or need disability benefits and are truly disabled, then it may be destroyed in your mind. What changes would you like to see that will ensure solvency? Especially for the middle class who may work hard their whole lives and very few will have pensions? Saving a million in an IRA or 401k may be impossible no matter how hard you try if you are making say $75,000 a year, A good income.

  8. #38
    Simpleton Alan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by flowerseverywhere View Post
    well if you depend on it to help you in old age, or need disability benefits and are truly disabled, then it may be destroyed in your mind. What changes would you like to see that will ensure solvency? Especially for the middle class who may work hard their whole lives and very few will have pensions? Saving a million in an IRA or 401k may be impossible no matter how hard you try if you are making say $75,000 a year, A good income.
    I believe latest calculations show SS will be insolvent in about 15 years, so something has to give. The two obvious answers are to raise the minimum age to collect benefits to something closer to the average life span and to increase the earnings cap, which currently captures about 85% of all income in the United States, to one that captures 90% or more of all income. Those two actions would probably put off SS's eventual collapse for another generation or so, especially if we could somehow influence more Americans in the belief that it is their responsibility, not the governments, to finance their long term care and well being.

    The people I know without pensions, which is essentially everyone not a government worker, have not found it impossible to amass significant retirement savings over their working lives, many of them have simply chosen not to prioritize long term security over immediate gratification believing that it's government/society's responsibility to care for them. This is also the reason I could never be a liberal, an ideology which these days promotes dependence on others as a moral imperative, which I think is evil.
    "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein

  9. #39
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    My understanding was that Medicare will be a much harder fix than Social Security.

  10. #40
    Senior Member flowerseverywhere's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Alan View Post
    I believe latest calculations show SS will be insolvent in about 15 years, so something has to give. The two obvious answers are to raise the minimum age to collect benefits to something closer to the average life span and to increase the earnings cap, which currently captures about 85% of all income in the United States, to one that captures 90% or more of all income. Those two actions would probably put off SS's eventual collapse for another generation or so, especially if we could somehow influence more Americans in the belief that it is their responsibility, not the governments, to finance their long term care and well being.

    The people I know without pensions, which is essentially everyone not a government worker, have not found it impossible to amass significant retirement savings over their working lives, many of them have simply chosen not to prioritize long term security over immediate gratification believing that it's government/society's responsibility to care for them. This is also the reason I could never be a liberal, an ideology which these days promotes dependence on others as a moral imperative, which I think is evil.
    all is well and good with your ideas, until a factory closes down and people can’t find jobs, or a company downsizes and a majority of the layoffs seem to be those pesky 50+ agers. Or doing many grueling factory, medical or law enforcement jobs over the age of sixty five.

    but that is why I could never be a conservative. Assuming everyone that needs help is a leech and has made poor choices is evil. Just ask many single women (and some men) who were left with little support from their ex wives or husbands, make less than their peers in the case of women and are trying to juggle kids and jobs alone. There are a lot of those hard workers out there who have gotten the short end of the stick.

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