Coffee Table
Lets try this. Click on the comments and talk about whatever is important to you today. Gather round the Coffee Table and discuss.
posted by Ron at 7:40 PM
Real America
The only thing we have to fear is fear its self. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
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- Name: Ron
- Location: Roswell, New Mexico, United States
A radio broadcast veteran, a father of 2, a son, a brother,a friend and a child of God.
8 Comments:
Ok, I will bite. Social Security is the topic, at least in a limited way. I always wondered just when did SS become a retirement plan? I fully agree with the principle of it being a social safety net, but somehow it has morphed into a retirement plan.
And a lously one at that. My opinion on the recent administration's proposal to 'privatize' or 'personalize' (I don't give a rat's petoot what you call it) is that the proposal doesnt go far enough.
Here is what America needs: A government sponsered personal retirement plan. One that is yours and yours only and one that lasts your lifetime. Make it transferrable to your heirs if you keel over, just like the rest of your assests, unlike the current SS.
Here is how it can work: The current proposals floating around are that you can peel off about a third of SS taxes into a private account. Not good enough. With a personal retirement plan (PRP), I propose to allow someone to take that 1/3 of SS taxes and put it into the PRP. Then one should be allowed to add whatever money one wishes. This money should be taxable in the year it was added to the account, yet not taxable at the time of retirement. The profits made over a life time should be taxed, but not one's seed money, because that has already been taxed. This point is debateable tho. I think if the profits were not taxable upon retirement, then a whole lot of people would pump a lot more money into it. A PRP would free alot of people from being wedded to undesireable job because of their 401k plans which are not transportable, even tho a PRP won't have matching funds. Can't you do this now with IRA's? Sure, but Joe Six-Pack usually doesnt have the money, the knowledge, or the gumption to set up one. This way, a government mechanism of a PRP would already be in place with all the paperwork already being handled. All he has to do is to is send a check to his account. Now, remember, 2/3 of his SS taxes still go to the gov, so that in case of disablity he would still get SSI, and some kind of retirements benefits. Right now under SS if a person keels over and his kids are over 21, all the SS taxes he paid vanish, nada, zip. This way, they have a means of getting the persons money.
More later, if you are interested, on how to administer a PRP. The main point is not to screw around with half-hearted measures, but to go the full Monty.
I came across this interesting link about Godwin's law concerning the probability of invoking Nazism or facism in internet conversations and for that matter, real life political discussions. Essentially, it says that the longer a discussion goes on the probablity that one side or the other will invoke Nazism or facism equals one. It is then time end the conversation. It also shows how one can have fun by playing a game of Six Degrees of Godwin's Law in a conversation, by picking any topic and steering it in six threads, or thought patterns, to get some one to invoke Godwin's Law.
As they say, read the whole thing:
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/usenet/legends/godwin/
copy and paste
also, Godwin's interview in wired.com about meme/counter meme is both funny and informative.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.10/godwin.if_pr.html
The six degrees is a good one. It gets used for "Bill Clintons fault" all the time. I even started a game on the show awhile back. The six degrees of Bill Clinton.
Fascist stuff. We should know what it is and make the comparisions reasonablely but it CAN be an issue. Especially in periods of extreme nationalism. I think ending the conversation when it is brought up is dangerous. Are there enough comparisons to cause concern. I think we are certainly at the nip it in the bud stage at least.
Oh, and personal retirement accounts? We have those. They are called IRAs. A Roth can compound tax free.
Both the IRA and the Roth accounts are too restrictive, and they involve a degree of financial sophistication, wereas a PRA mechanism that is set up for joe six-pack essentally at birth along with his social security account, where all he has to do is check off a box and an amount with his employer, or for that matter just send a check, along with a percentage of his SS taxes, would make life a whole lot easier for anyone financially challenged. Just trying to make things easier for the little guy.
I think Godwin's Law is a good one, and I fully agree with the point that once the Nazi and fascist comparison card is played, the usefulness of the conversation is over. The conversation then veers from the topic and begins an endless discussion of what is fascism and whatis not, and the original discussion of the topic is left in the dust. For example, the Roswell City Council banned smoking without a vote from the people. Now, the debate over if the smoking ban is a good or bad thing gets lost if I state, well, the council is a bunch of little Nazis imposing their will on the people of Roswell for they did not get a chance to vote! The issue get lost and we then argue (well, maybe not you but some rabid anti smokers would) over if the Counicil is fascist or not. Geez.
OK, that's one. Is there more? Is it rather common or is it more of an abberation? I think that's what ultimately will determine if they are facists or not.
Bob will always look for a way out, isn't that the republican line
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