Don’t blame Social Security

This letter is right on the mark, I couldn't have said it better. The Republican mantra is the same as the NRA leadership, lie and scare people into unrational actions. That political party won't exist in 10 years if they don't wake up.

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Tell the dems AND reps to shut down the federal reserve so our hard-earned dollars stop loosing their purchasing power. They are BOTH responsible for our economic woes.

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Archie Pearson for President in 2016.

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The fact is that the people who "own" the Republican party need a certain percentage of the population to be in poverty to keep wages artificially low. First, this country had slavery, then we had pre- union workers, now it's illegal immigrants (who seem to have no problem finding jobs with these business owners). This country's prosperity has always been on the back of a low paid worker. Next, we will keep seniors from retiring (by pulling their Social Security benefits) to keep the unemployment rate high so that wages stay low.

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You got that SO right, mnsotn.

However, this is good. I hope the Republicans continue entrenched in their 19th Century fog.

They are going to get their heads handed to them for the next 20 years, until some bright young white swells figure out that this is the 21st Century and begin to deal with reality.

Let them have Kansas. And all the rest of the empty states. It will only confuse them more.

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It was the Republicans who ended slavery in this country - just sayin'

Ok - ready, set, hit your disagree...

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We wonder why our politicians can't work together from different parties. Because of generic bandstanding with weak statistics and stereotypes aimed at the opposing party.

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Completely agree - Integrity. The American people get totally played the second we get divided into our red & blue teams.

It's really quite pathetic that so many people can't see through the smoke screen. The easiest way to keep us "under control" is to keep up the sham of Democrats vs. Republicans fighting with each other while both parties continue to rob us blind.

The writer of this letter just did his part to propagate the myth.

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JReader the Republican Party of today is the exact polar opposite of the Republican Party of Lincoln. I do not even think Ronald Reagan could win the Republican Party Nomination if running today as he would be considered to liberal.

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JV,

Both parties have changed over time. I personally don't look at Bill Clinton and Barak Obama as the same type of Democrats. To me, Clinton is much more the centrist especially compared to Obama.

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Yup, the Lincoln Republicans were the radicals of their time, the wild-eyed liberal abolitionists wanting to upset the status quo.

And, the Democrats were the Southern appeasing, Fugitive Slave Act-endorsing, backward thinking conservatives.

My, my. How times have changed.

And now, President BARACK Obama has added 11 million more votes to the Democrat's margin of victory.

It just keeps getting better and better.

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I'm not sure where you got your numbers on S.S.,look at what you pay into the system and what you will draw out based on average life expectancies. Social Security was started when the average life expectancy was the same as when you could start drawing-62. Currently that is a 13-15 year spread, the government is not earning interest on the money you pay in , it is paying interest on it's negative balance. Social programs make up 2/3 of the governments budget -not the military. You are told don't feed the bears at Yellowstone Park because they will not learn to fend for themselves. How many people do you know receiving government benefits that could be doing something constructive instead of receiving a handout? Who is doing who an injustice?

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If you want to continue to believe that "bush" and the wars are the cause of our defecit -go ahead. Social programs and yearly negative budgets of over a trillion dollars per year are what's destroying us,the wars are pretty much over with ,using your philosphy we would be in the black. We have a president who hasn't passed a budget in 4 years with over trillion dollar deficits each year, you call that responsible? He proposes cutting nothing but wants to expand welfare programs more. Tax the rich? You gained 85 billion per year on a 5% increase ,you could tax 50% more and not balance the budget.

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This president has done more to divide this country more than any person in history. He constantly says anyone that disagrees with him just doesn't understand, when has he taken credit for anything being wrong. He railed against the republicans for raising the debt ceiling when he was a senator , but now he doesn't even want a ceiling. Basically the economy will get better when we start looking out for ourselves instead of looking for the next handout . I believe in charity and helping those in need, i do quite a bit,but anytime you give out benefits to able bodied people with out nothing in return , they become like bears in the wild looking for a free garbage dump.

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I consider myself a republican , I don't believe I am racist or insensitive. I believe you can attain alot more using your own talents and will, instead of blaming everyone else and waiting for a check. The economy will collapse at it's current rate, the government has a spending problem, doesn't matter what your tax rate is if you spend more than you take in. The democrats love to spend peoples money in exchange for votes. They may mean well , but you have to spend within your means. I don't doubt democrats are good people , social programs have their place ,but you have to adjust according to the budget. History has proven that government is not good at managing money -Democrat or Republican.

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I consider myself a republican , I don't believe I am racist or insensitive. I believe you can attain alot more using your own talents and will, instead of blaming everyone else and waiting for a check. The economy will collapse at it's current rate, the government has a spending problem, doesn't matter what your tax rate is if you spend more than you take in. The democrats love to spend peoples money in exchange for votes. They may mean well , but you have to spend within your means. I don't doubt democrats are good people , social programs have their place ,but you have to adjust according to the budget. History has proven that government is not good at managing money -Democrat or Republican.

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The reason the republican party seems so extreme these days is because of the measures they see needed to bring the defecits in line. It is not a simple fix anymore and will require extereme changes , burying ones head in the sand and saying it will get better only makes it worse. The sooner we get started actually making the changes , the less severe they will be. I believe we need a two or more party system to keep things balanced,just for kicks , do you democrats believe that if you controlled both houses and the prseidency that things would be better. You actually did the first 2 years of Obama's first term. What did you get out of that? Hope you enjoy your government run healthcare. I prefer to be in charge of my own affairs and make my own decisions.

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A lovely soliloquy, deerhunt. Been spending a little too much time alone in the woods?

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Deerhunt, 53 cents out of every dollar of discretionary spending goes to the military. Now tell me that these wars haven't caused much of our deficit problems.

You may call yourself a Republican, congratulations. It is too bad that Republican doesn't call itself Middle America. When you are owned by the richest of corporations and your main objective is to make sure that as much money ends up in the hands of the least amount of people at the top, I don't see how that betters America. I'm not saying that the abundance of Welfare is something to be proud of, either, but at least when you give someone welfare, it goes back into the economy, not stored in an offshore bank account. \

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MCW, Only discretionary spending isn't the big driver of our defecit. That'd be spending on entitlements and interest on the debt already incurred.

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We can't do much about the debt other than pay for it. Let's eliminate Social Security, including the payroll taxes immediately. I don't want to continue paying for your retirement plan that will be dried up when I am 65.

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Republicans speaking on the House floor have been holding up a graph showing the debt projected into the future. What they don't show is the breakdown of what drives it. For that, look up this graph - "Tax Cuts, Wars Account for Nearly Half of Public Debt by 2019.

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About 18% of the debt is owed to the Social Security trust fund. It sustains itself so well it became a handy source of cash for everything else. All the “pay of the debt” talk focuses on debt to foreign countries. Those most anxious to pay are just fine with ending or "fixing" Social Security and defaulting on our own citizens. That’s insane.

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