Best Thing Iv'e Heard Yet .... From a Senior Citizen around 80 years of age. They arent useless yet members.

The Fix
There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg , Florida Times Paper.

The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?"
I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's Economy. Instead of giving Billions of Dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan.
You can call it the " Patriotic Retirement Plan " :

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force.

Pay them all $1 million dollars apiece severance for early retirement with these following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings- Unemployment fixed.

2) They MUST buy a new AMERICAN Car. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.

3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - - Housing Crisis fixed.

It Can't get any Easier than that !!

P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress PAY their taxes ..

Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed Pronto!

Now don't YOU think this would work, Please pass this on to anyone you can think of who would also agree on this kind of plan...Don't forget to go up top and vote...

WheelBrokerAng

 

Haha made me smile today

 

Maybe I should change my vote...

1) They MUST retire... What about those who retire & work the same job as contractor while collecting their pension. (Double-dipping)

2) Would that be a Chevy made in Bolivia, or a Honda made in Ohio??

Congress pay taxes? Congress use the same health care as us mere mortals? Are you joking???

 

I've got lots to say about balancing the budget, erasing the national debt, etc., but I thought this type of political discussion was not allowed, even in the "off topic" section. Please tell me if I've misunderstood.

 

This is a fact that I wish I had some say to make happen...Just read the facts 1,2 & 3...Just the facts with The Fix...

 

OK, I'll bite.

1. "Instead of giving Billions of Dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses"
   Which compaines? Which parties and unearned bonuses? What 40 billion, specificly, are you refering to?
2. A GOV'T MANDATE forcing people to retire? How does the gov't have the authority to impose this? Libertarians may object.
3. My doctor is over 50. I would prefer that he not be forced to retire. I am an engineer in an avionics company. My boss is over 50, and I definitely don't want him to retire. Most of the senior engineers and project managers are over 50. Losing them would devestate this company. The guys between 50 and 65 are the ones with the greatest concentration of knowledge. I assume this to be the case with most knowledge workers.
4. A GOV'T MANDATE forcing people to buy a house? How does the gov't have the authority to impose this? Libertarians may object. People (like me) who would prefer to spend our retirement in a more mobile fashion may object too.
5. Define 'American car'. Is my Ranger (40% made in Mexico) 'American'? How about my Accord (made in Georgia, I think)? Or are you refering to only GM and Chrysler. Oh, ya and...
6. A GOV'T MANDATE forcing people to buy a car? How does the gov't have the authority to impose this? What if I live in NYC and don't want/need a car?

Sorry, this just looks like one of things that folks talk about over a beer so they can say "Boy, isn't my [President/senator/congress/mayor/neighbor/insert you choice here] an idiot for not seeing how simple this is," when it really isn't that simple.

Personally, if we could just get the gov't to reduce it's size, say 5%, and adjust it's tax policy to support that (or reduce the taxes 5% and adjust the gov't to fit in that, either way works for me), I would be happy. I doubt more gov't mandates and spending are going to fix much, else it would already be fixed.

 

It is an understatement to say that the people of the US are in the gravest financial condition.

The US government site below details "military" contract awards to various states, including California.

governmentcontractswon.com/department/defense/california_counties.asp

It's a bit out of date in that the latest data is 2009, but you can just tack on an appropriate number of billion for each state for a more up-to-date estimate.

The link above to California's statistics is quite telling. California's 59,853 "defense" contract companies probably receive by this time at least 47 billion taxpayer/borrowed dollars, yet, as we all well know, the California state government is in terrible financial condition. Many other states are in similar condition.

The military-industrial complex that Eisenhower described is very smart. Almost every state in the nation is economically dependent upon those "military" dollars. For example, imagine how many California taxpayers are employed by those forty-seven thousand million taxpayer dollars.

And the above does not take into account the direct military employees at the myriad of military bases in California, and the businesses that surround those bases that financially benefit directly from those bases (apartment buildings, restaurants, you name it).

Heaven forbid that peace break out all over the world, because the "peace dividend" will definitely not be as pretty as many imagine. Likely millions of some of the last high-paying jobs in the US will disappear.

But don't worry. War corporations and their employees/voters and their well-paid lobbyists won't allow their government-fueled gravy train to run out of fuel. Peace isn't going to break out,. No peaceniks will get elected in the US. Because of the potential for the many job losses I described above, only warmongers will be elected to congress and the presidency -- warmongers who will only cut education, healthcare, infrastructure, environmental, occupational health and safety, pensions already promised to many government workers, and other "public sector" agencies. Even though those "private” sector war corporations and their millions of employees and their spin-offs are every bit as much addicted to taxpayer money as the "public" sector, because of their irresistible political influence, their taxpayer funding will not be cut.

Let’s assess the old adage -- "never underestimate the intelligence of the American voter".

I think that Americans understand very well the ever-increasing grip, or influence, of the military-industrial complex on every single facet of their nation. They're perfectly willing to "give in" to it, as long as it keeps them and their economy "in good shape" (meaning almost entirely that they've still got their good-paying job at NASA or Lokheed Martin, Boeing, etc., etc. or one of their spin-offs). And, ultimately, they really don't give a crap who they, or the company they work for, or their government, kills in order to maintain their job and their lifestyle.

They also know that the entire middle east invasion, and subsequent occupation of Eyeraq and Afghanistan, as well as the “secret” war in Pakistan, were/are all about keeping pump prices low in the US, not spreading freedom and democracy. Every single bit of that "spreading freedom" and "they hate our freedom" malarkey is merely a desperate narrative that puts an increasingly thin, increasingly transparent veneer of justification on keeping one's job in the war-economy and, of course, keeping pump prices low.

What American voters are politically incapable of grasping is that if they spent on renewable energy in their own country the amount that they're spending in just one year on a military to keep pump prices low, they wouldn't need a military to keep pump prices low., because the US would be free of middle-eastern energy forever. In short, there is no “political will” to do that, because nobody wants to “threaten the delicate recovery”. But the "recovery" will never come, folks.

If American voters truly want to save their country from an economic disaster, they must first and foremost outlaw any and all secrecy in their government (sunshine is the best disinfectant); stop wasting wealth on "defense"; stop allowing multi-national corporations to export good jobs; stop allowing corporations and their wholly-owned banks and “Federal” Reserve to decide what the best economic system is for the US.

But, in the end, the Golden Rule must rule America, not forever raising the debt limit. If voters really don’t care what happens to their fellow voters in every state of the nation, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, will save America from itself. And if “protectionism” is the only thing that will ensure citizens a decent way to make a living and then retire comfortably, then protectionism it must be. Chaulk up to experience the disaster called "globalization".

(BTW, in case you don't know, the actual US "national security" budget is $1.2 trillion.

http://

original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2011/03/01/the-real-us-national-security-budget/ )

 

After reading the above posts over two or three times..I must say that they were good.
Remember ..no direct links like we used to have before and no getting to ranty and radical..
I knew that would be a good poll..that's why I put it in here...

Thanks everyone..

 

At this critical crossroad in US history, one ***** for posterity.

Comon Tony...I see you hiding in here again..come OUT!

You know there is no bumping in the forums so I shall take that out..but otherwise ..Thanks For Your Comment.

 

And YES my fellow and womeno members...I did send this off to the O'Bombers office and of course ( recieved no return mail ..alto I now think my phones are bugged...) even my Vonage and Skype.