It's official. You're on your own

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/michael-collins/33155/its-official-youre-on-your-own

Some of us have known this for a long time. Some of us just found out and some will find out very soon. There are few, if any, elected officials who really care about our interests unless we're one of the few thousand ultra rich who control Congress and the White House.

The Obama-Republican tax plan was just approved in the United States Senate. It will become law soon. What did we lose?

The Senate put the Social Security system at risk with a 33% cut to employee payroll taxes, from 6.2% to 4.2% of wages. Social Security is doing well with a $2.5 trillion surplus. But this major change begins the starvation of the system. Those who voted in favor will turn around sometime soon and say that Social Security is faltering. Of course, their cynical actions will be at fault. They'll conveniently avoid mentioning that.

The Obama-Republican plan keeps the tax rate on investment income (capital gains) well below the rates for income taxes and below the capital gains rates in 2000. Wall Street ruins the economy with their shady deals then gets more tax breaks on their shady stock deals.

The wealthiest citizens get an extension of the "temporary" Bush era tax cuts.

More at the link --

[AlabamaLibrul]

1. Bush-Obama tax cuts: pt. II - a perfectly appropriate name for the continuation of the (R) policy

end of transmission

[Bragi]

2. Pairs nicely with the Bush-Obama Afghanistan war /nt

[me b zola]

4. And as morning joe stated

The republicans will then label the deficit the "Obama deficit". Jesus God, we are screwed.

[AlabamaLibrul]

6. This is the problem when Dems acquiesce to pukes,

It is not, per se, the issue of acquiescing to them alone . If they took responsibility for all sides of their policies, great. Maybe people would figure it out if they actually stood up for what they vote for.

What will really happen, though, is they will certainly shout from the rooftops about how the tax cuts created jobs (HA!) if we get an uptick in employment, but they get to shift blame for the deficit issue of a $3x BILLION estate tax break for the Walton family on the Dems.

Because the Dems are all "tax and spend".

[hobbit709]

3. It's been YOYO time for years.

[DirkGently]

5. Yep. They're going to take OUR SS payments, and buy wars and tax cuts with them.

[rfranklin]

7. They already did that in case you didn't notice....

And the Treasury gave the SS Trust Fund bonds ("worthless IOUs" in Rove speak) which the wealthy Republicans are now welching on.

[DirkGently]

14. We're moving toward a complete conversion of SS to a tax-funded general "spending" model (to be cut)

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. THAT is key, and few are really getting that point!

[SidDithers]

8. The Social Security payroll cut is guaranteed by the general...

If they didn't care, they would have let the cuts expire, along with the unemployment extension.

Sid

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dixiegrrrrl]

20. However...this means, for the first time,

the Soc. sec. fund and the general fund are not being kept separate.
It means money may be going from the general fund into the Soc. Sec. fund to make up for any of the shortfalls that they have just created.

The Soc.sec. fund is supposed to be independent of the general fund.

Once that door is open, it can lead to the general fund TAKING money legitimately out of the Soc. sec. fund.
THAT is one of the issue that people are being concerned about.
If the Soc. Sec. fund becomes dependent on the general fund, what is to stop Congress, in the near future,
from deciding, in their next budget, that the general fund cannot afford to pay into Soc. Sec????

[hfojvt]

30. thank goodness the President cares about the unemployed

"The unemployment number is now at 6 percent, which should serve as a clear signal to the United States Congress we need a bold economic recovery package so people can find work. (Applause.) That 6-percent number should say loud and clear to members of both political parties in the United States Congress, we need robust tax relief so our fellow citizens can find a job. (Applause.)" May 6, 2003



Just like his predecessor, Obama is only proposing and promoting tax cuts for the rich because he cares so much about the unemployed.


BTW, I will sell you the bridge from Kansas to Missouri on Highway 92 for a mere $100.

[ileus]

9. I wouldn't have it any other way.

F them....F all of them.

I'll continue to go to work, come home to my family.

[closeupready]

10. Any Democrat who votes for this will likely not get my vote, just as with the IWR.

n/t

[leeroysphitz]

23. +1

[glinda]

25. Me too. I am really pissed off about this. SS was one of the only things we ever had.

And we worked for it.

[Poboy]

12. recommend

[reformist2]

13. Tax cuts for the rich have been paid for by $2.5 trillion taken from SS.

If and when SS is ever threatened, we should demand repayment in the form of higher taxes.

[glinda]

26. WRight. hahaha. I say take all of their assets.

[NNN0LHI]

15. If people have just figured this out that shows we are a country made up of mostly imbeciles

I knew it was every man for himself when I was laid off for almost 2 years straight and my neighbors were all out buying imported versions of what I had produced before I was laid off.

That kind of opened my eyes.

And hell, that occurred back during the 1980's when Reagan was president so this is not a new phenomena to me.

Don

[treestar]

17. We got a tax cut, the unemployed got an extension

WTF? This is taking self pity too far. Boohoo, we're on our own, except for all the spending the government has done in the past two years to attempt to help.

[WingDinger]

18. Wrote a song about it, and it goes like this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x20579


On our own, is all we need.

[RandomKoolzip]

19. This is how the right has always wanted things.

This is why populations who are still in love with childhood notions of the Wild Wild, lawless West, peopled by big, dumb, tough cowboys, should not be participants in deciding how the rest of the county, especially urban areas in the 21st century, lives their lives. Because this is the kind of social fabric you end up with: one where the rich prosper and the poor swell in numbers then die...a libertarian's wet dream, IOW. Frankly, the US would benefit from splitting up - I'm not sure how, bit it is obvious that there are parts of this country who do not see the need for a social safety net, and honestly, those people should not be allowed to decide whether the rest of us have one or not. Let them make the fucking laws for their OWN damn country.

[infidel dog]

24. Couldn't agree more

Imagine a european-style social democratic state consisting of the Northeast, the Great Lakes region and the Pacific states, especially the territories west of the Cascades. Perhaps a narrow corridor across the northern Great Plains and Mountain states would give territorial integrity. A reasonable exchange of populations would increase the already undeniable cultural and educational superiority of the new state, leaving the Amerikan plutocratic-theocratic-fascist nightmare nation to fiddle in its own waste...Well, I can dream, can't I?

[RobinA]

32. Yeah, That Damn

Lincoln. Should have let the south go when he could. We've been paying for that ever since. People could have decided what nation they wanted to live in and everyone could have the nation they want.

[COLGATE4]

34. K&R

[JanMichael]

41. Horsecrap. Stop lumping all areas into "good" and "bad".

Fun Fact - Portland is almost always heads above Charlotte in Hate Crimes as reported by the FBI. Crazy eh? In 2009 Portland had a hefty 35 incidents and Charlotte (bigger by 200k and 35% AA while Portland is like 4% AA) had 9. Huh? Oh and almost half (15) of the Portland incidents were attacks on gays. Nice job guys.

I've lived in CA, FL, NC, CO, KS and Poland. There are shitheads and decent folks in all. NC compared to places I've lived before, while having its own share of A-holes, is pretty damned decent.

Plus Chapel Hill (the oldest Public University in the USA) is still called "Commie Hill" by Reich-wingers. Asheville is a hippie mecca. All of the major metro areas voted Obama (and all are mostly disappointed now but alas)...

[femrap]

21. Change for the worse. nt

[sarcasmo]

22. Kick.

[Rex]

27. We were on our own after the Reagan Era. We were fucking robbed

and left to bleed to death in the GWB Era. Anyone left now depending on the govt is soon to be assout.

[slipslidingaway]

28. knr nt

[Raine]

29. I realized this during the Raygun years

but thought there might be somewhat of a safety net left but obviously there isn't anything. It's best not to have an illusion that there is any help out there whatsoever.

[BrklynLiberal]

31. uncle. I give up...

:cry:

[Pacifist Patriot]

33. I look at my children and want to cry....

I hate thinking this way, but with an ever-widening income gap and a coming struggle over basic subsistence resources, I see a revolution looming on the horizon and it won't be pretty. I know some people think I'm being melodramatic, but when enough people are desperate and don't see any other way out....

[area51]

38. I feel similarly,

that there will be a revolution at some time, but probably not within my lifetime. I don't know the age of your children, but if they're older, encourage them to try to emigrate out of this country to a first-world country with health care as a basic human right. I've lost hope that this country will ever transition to a civilized country.

[Pacifist Patriot]

39. My 14 and 10 year olds want to move to England.

Granted, it's because they both fancy themselves goalkeepers in the Premier League some day. My 7 year old just wants to move wherever a club will sign him to play professional soccer. It's good to have dreams. :)

[lonestarnot]

35. Done.

[ElboRuum]

36. It's unofficial, we've been on our own for decades n/t.

[Zanzobar]

37. It's official. You always were.

[autorank]

40. Donnachaidh , thanks for posting

Apparently some people forgot that Social Security is the third rail of American politics.

As a result of the Gingrich conversion of AARP, they endorsed this plan. That took out communication
to 40 million seniors. It was a cake walk. But people will get the message just as they do on other
issues and there will be Hell to pay.