Facts and Predictions

Based on facts.

We had intended to make our 130th posting our last, basically because no one else appeared to even care. We, the two of us here on the hill, have passed our 75th and 80ieth anniversaries of our birthdates and, even though that isn't old, being ignored tends to be depressing. We were, and still are, concerned for the future of the country we have defended, in one way or another, for so many years

Before we shut down our computer and go back to our reading, puzzles and working in the flowers there are a few points we wish to restate.
Our politicans, all sides, are no longer just blowing smoke but are now consciously attempting to deceive us all.

(1)-One of the most frequent statements heard on television, by politicians and parroted by newscasters is that; "You can't balance the budget without doing something about entitlements" meaning Social Security and Medicare. Another is; "Entitlements are the biggest drivers of our National Debt". Both are wrong because of a law, passed in 1990, which states that Social Security and Medicare are not to be counted as part of the budget submitted by the President but was to be paid out of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds which are funded by the FICA (payroll) taxes.Surplus money from the payroll tax is invested in Special Government Securities which can be redeemed as needed to pay retiree benefits. That time has come and therein lies the problem. How do they tell the American people that they have used their hard earned savings as, what amounts to, a high stakes slush fund. (More on that later).

(2)-Let's see if we have this right. After months of gridlock and infighting in Washington, D.C. our upright and outstanding Government took us to the brink -- no, not default on our debts -- of a partial shutdown of services, with the implied threat of the withholding of Social Security checks, military pay and Medicare benefits before they finally agreed on a bill raising the Government's debt ceiling along with a minimal cut in Congressional spending.
With the, so called, budget cuts being, as they say, backloaded in order to delay the majority until after the 2016 election there will be no real savings. Even if, when it is finally all over, that Super Committee of Congressmen agrees to a 2.5 trillion dollar cut in spending over the next 10 years and it is passed into law, the Treasury Department will have to borrow about the same amount in the same 10 years in order to redeem the IOUs in the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds. That is the excess funds payed into the Trust Funds by FICA over the years. Now, partly because of the 2 percentage points cut from the payroll tax last December, asked for by President Obama, while extending the Bush era tax cuts, the time has come to begin redeeming those IOUs which means that there will be no cut in our deficit or National debt. If we stay this course our National debt will rise from near 15 trillion dollars to over 20 trillion dollars - nearer 25 trillion dollars. Do we want that for our children and grand children?

(3)- This country, our United States of America, has reached or are fast approaching the point written about by the Frenchman "Alex de Toqueville" in his book published about 1840 as a study of the American People and their Political Institutions.He wrote; "America will be a great country until the people learn that they can vote themselves money from the Public Treasury, after that it will be a war of all against all with each person striving to get the greatest amount of free money possible." (Previously posted Feb. 27, 2011) Are we there yet or how long have we been there?

Unless something changes our minds this will be our last posting. With that in mind, thanks for your time and input. - William