Comments on Pragmatic Pundit: Social Security--A Modest Proposal

Admitedly, the Pragmatic Pundit has been called wo...

2008-11-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

Admitedly, the Pragmatic Pundit has been called worse in the past (by his wife, brother, friends, etc)! Hey, remember, he puts this out there, to bring some levity to the situation here. There's no reason for name calling.

:)

You are a know-nothing idiot.

2008-11-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

You are a know-nothing idiot.

The issue is that we are spoiled. I said it. Too...

2008-11-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

The issue is that we are spoiled. I said it. Too bad no politician ever would. The problemd with democratically elected leaders is that they have to be elected. Obviously we can't do without... but if you required the budget to be balanced as a LAW... tough decisions would have to be made. All that happens in this country is that they buy your vote.

"What about all those welfare queens, taking tons ...

2008-11-21T07:34:00.000-08:00

"What about all those welfare queens, taking tons of money from the government, so they could live in that swanky 2 room apartment downtown, with 6 kids, in the "lap-of-luxury" 300 square foot apartment with no heat? This whole situation is their fault, right?"

AH YES it is their fault and with six kids in 300 sq feet they would not need heat.

As for stock market performance...NON ISSUE there are thousands of other places to invest ranging from bank accounts to bonds to real estate. And before some JACK A$$ complains about that market there would be NO BUBBLE if people had to have 20% DP in the first place because the market could not churn fast enough to create the foam pop. This countries problems are all fixable but the people will have to realize that spending their wealth of crap (cell phones for preteens? ipods that cost more than a kid makes in 3 years of mowing grass (if you can find a kid that will mow your grass))

How about some "personal responsibility"? Do away...

2008-11-21T07:21:00.000-08:00

How about some "personal responsibility"? Do away with SS and MEDI. Make people responsible for their own future. If they don't want to save for their own retirement then they will have to work until they are dead right? The good news is that octogenarians are more likely to drop dead at work then live for decades in their subsidized housing AND THE QUALITY of life that they would have as productive citizens would be EXPONENTIALLY better.
Those of us who have fiscal discipline will continue to save and invest and work and take care of ourselves by eating right and exercise so that we can retire when we want be it 65 or 45 or even less. The problem becomes one where the GOVERNMENT looses tax revenue on those of us who decide we can live comfortably not chasing 5000 sq foot homes in BMWs/Cadi etc.
I think the Brits have coined the term YAWNs (Young and Wealthy but Normal). We just want to be left alone to enjoy our lives and not be wage slaves to people who have pissed away their wealth and lives.

Have you been reading the newspapers? Listening to...

2008-11-21T06:48:00.000-08:00

Have you been reading the newspapers? Listening to the radio? Watching the evening news?

If this plan had been in place, retirement savings would have been tanked.

Where's you 401K? About 1/3 the value it had 6 months ago. Nope, privatizing the SS System is DOA.

I take it that you're kidding here. Old people in...

2008-11-21T06:35:00.000-08:00

I take it that you're kidding here. Old people in the streets....

I think there's some merit here, however. However, how do you intend on solving medicare?