I attended U.S. Rep. Paul Broun's town hall meeting in Columbia County on Monday. What I learned was that intolerance and absence of critical thinking are inversely proportionate to one's level of intelligence.
The chorus of "no government" is a specious submission. Most audiences at these meetings have a high population of near- or in-retirement people, and most of them are collecting, or looking forward to collecting, their Social Security earnings and perhaps other earnings as well. They should well remember that Social Security is a government-ordained program. If legislation were enacted to repeal Social Security, no doubt the country would go up in arms, including those who say "no government"! Medicare sprang from a need to make health care more affordable. Those who have Medicare had the option of getting private insurance. How many sexagenarians who cry "no government" would do away with Medicare, a government-sponsored program? ...
I do see a Hitlerian thread in all this fracas. People today would decry Hitler's path of genocidal horror, yet I see no difference between the white race of 1940 Germany and today's American followers who are nationalistic and, quite frankly, tribalistic. The Nazi ideology was one of exclusion and, while the open language was about illegal aliens, the closeted feelings are about anyone who isn't white or who doesn't agree with them.
I add one more thought: Broun spoke of the need to curtail the profits of Wall Street executives. With this I heartily agree, but I would extend that curtailment to the pay, pensions and health care of legislators as well. Why else would someone such as Broun give up one's presumably successful medical practice to pursue a career in government?
Sameera V. Thurmond
Augusta
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Social Security is funded by those who worked and paid into it - of course they want their money back Sameera. Most would rather keep their own money from the begining and keep the government out of their wallets. I am capable of working and saving money for my own retirement and don't need some government program doing it for me. If private enterprise stole money from one division for others as has been done with Social Security, this same government would arrest the leaders of the companies and haul them into federal courts - as they should. We need LIMITED GOVERNMENT, one that provides for opportunity not enabling. Some individuals are now paying in excess of 50% in taxes for every dollar earned. Sure, they are rich and have excelled in life far greater than I probably ever will but the way this administration is spending and taxing, especially spending, is completely out of control and MUST be stopped. Senior citizens see the care they receive from medicare now, they no we don't need any govt. health care program.
Sameera - What you do not seem to understand is that Social Security is not free money. People who work pay into social security so that when they reach retirement age, they have an income. For most people it is mandatory. I, and I am sure there are many people who believe as I do, would rather not pay into Social Security. In fact, if I could get all the money my husband and I paid into this system back right now so I could put it into a plan I choose, I would do so. Just as Social Security is full of fraud and waste, so is Medicare. I would rather not pay into Medicare, also something funded by people who work, and choose my own health care plan when I reach retirement age. Unfortunately, there are too many people who believe the government (meaning the people who work) owe them something. They do not wish to work but want everything that the people who do work have. Sorry, that is not the way it works. The people you are talking about have worked hard all their lives. Now there is the possibility they will have to fund another program for others who refuse to work. I'm sorry, I would be angry also. Get an education and get a job.
Yup, that private retirement plan sure has worked out well in the last couple of years, hasn't it?
This RACIST comment is horribly offensive:I do see a Hitlerian thread in all this fracas. People today would decry Hitler's path of genocidal horror, yet I see no difference between the white race of 1940 Germany and today's American... Is everything always about "black and white" Sameera? And, I find this RACIST comment extremely offensive:...the closeted feelings are about anyone who isn't white or who doesn't agree with them. AGAIN, Sameera, is everything about black and white? I see no reason for the ACES to print this very racist LTE.
You got that right, Retired Army. If we'd listened to 'W' and put money in the stock market instead of Social Security, we'd have less government. Of course we'd also be trying to make Mulligan stew in a paint bucket without getting lead poisoning.
tribalistic?...lol kinda like the pot calling the kettle black.............."the closeted feelings are about anyone who isn't white or who doesn't agree with them."...Yes I am certainly getting that impression of you from your letter,Just change white to black.
I just want to be the first to thank President Obama for keeping us safe and the economy is turing around. We knew it would be a slow process taking 2 to three years just in time for re-election. The Feds expressed confidence in the measures that our president have put into effect. We are going to be patient and give his plan time to work. With health care reform, the president will be 3 for 3. Good batting average. He really inherited a mess. If he turn it around he will be the best president ever in our country. We are very proud of his 27/7 efforts. I knew he could do it. A real tiger in the whitehouse. What a lovely first family for our country. HELLO! HELLO!
Jack234, I think it is safe to assume that you've never comprehended a basic college-level economics course. Less kool-aid and more individual thought, please.
social security was designed to provide benefits at the age of 65
when the avg life expectancy was 63. thats a govt you can trust.
anyone that wants i will sell you a policy for 100 grand that will pay you a million a month when you reach age 200.
dashiel, you obviously don't understand private investment returns. You might want to keep quiet so people won't know the limits of your knowledge.
The letter writer makes a few good points. I have often asked why would a guy as anti govt as Broun want to be a part of it. You see he gets the power, prestige, and money and doesn't have to work. He just says I vote no and have no solutions because govt isn't the solution. Well if govt isn't the solution why do you fight so hard to be a part of govt?
A wonderful LTE. Right on the money. Thank you.
Of course the letter writer is accurate, but some people are unusual in their behavior and their thinking. For example, Thomas Jefferson wrote brilliant articles promoting Individual Rights and Individuals Freedoms for All Men, but had personal slaves and "creeping" with the domestic help. He said one thing, but lived his life another. He had a great theory but could not practice it in his daily life. The small government croud is exactly the same, and just like Jefferson, they will only come to their senses and TRUTH on their death bed.
Actually, Retired Army, My private retirement plan is doing quite well, thank you. I learned to be thrifty years ago and to save for a rainy day. That rainy day hasn't come yet but the money keeps getting saved and the interest keeps adding up. But then again, I had some very good financial advice years ago and my interest rates are pretty high.
What a simplistic portrait of those who oppose health care deform. Classic rhetoric, though. When all else fails, compare your political opponents to Hitler. Nobody (I know) is saying we don't need any gov't--they are saying we need less gov't. The problem with the left is that it wants to make gov't programs into a nice, comfortable hammock rather than a safety net. The logical upshot of this is that people forgo their personal responsibility to take care of themselves and look to a benevolent state to do it for them. It is a temptation to everyone and evidence of that mentality is all around us. However, that mentality only leads to cultural, economic and societal decline. Exhibit A would be the former USSR. Exhibit B would be most of the soft-socialist states of Western Europe where 10% unemployment is the norm and the cultural decline is precipitous. When we are relieved/robbed of the necessity of taking care of themselves, we become simple wards of the state, largely incapable of (and without incentive to) work hard and accomplish anything. Socialism is the ultimate unsustainable form of gov't.
Justus - Are you saying that Thomas Jefferson had domestic help crawling all over him? Whatever for? Give me a break - it was 200+ years ago. And please learn to spell, crowd - W not U. You are making yourself look ignorant.
Most people who know 1930's German history understand that Hitler rose to power due to heavy recession in Germany. So I really find it a bit funny when the Cluster Fox and Limbaugh say that our government is like Nazi Germany, when the angry mobs are really how the Nazi movement got started in the first place. Yavol, Herr Commandant!
Niko - actually, the "angry mobs" of Germany were Nazi-backed thugs - much like the purple-shirts backing Obama.
Amen to that Jesus!
justthefacts, If you investment wizards know so effing much why aren't you rich like your idols on Wall Street? Your free investment advice is as worthless as your politics.
health care? Vaccinations, starting in infancy. Court-Ordered Chemotherapy for children or parents loose custody and/or go to jail? Where were all you protesters when government eavesdropping was approved? http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0710/p02s05-uspo.html Why did the CDC come out and say two flu shots will probably be necessary, after the pharma company doubled their production? How come the human trials for the swine flu shot are being done NOW? Doesn't it scare you that the CDC is pushing a vaccine that hasn't been tested on humans? And there will be no long term effects studies until after the shot is given to the public? The public becomes the test study. Do you want your kids to be given a shot not tested? You and your children will be the long term test subjects. Stop arguing about the talking points of both pro and con health care reform and take some action that might actually make a difference. Look into the swine flu vaccine not being tested and think for yourself and family if you want to be the test subjects.
I see Sameera doesn't understand that Social Security is a system that I paid into for 50 years and that, IF CONGRESS HAD NOT STOLEN THE MONEY, the interest gained would be quite adequate to fund my payments and that of others. Now she, and other liberals, want myself and the other working people to fund EVERYONE'S healthcare to the same level that I, and others who PAY FOR INSURNACE, receive. I am sorry Sameera, but I do not believe that those who do not contribute to the system, and who do not even contribute to their own upkeep, and illegal aliens, should get the same benefits and the same helathcare that I get. If they wanted excellent healthcare, like I receive, and if they wanted a good Social Security check, then they should have considered actually working, paying for insurance, and contributing to the sytem. Maybe it's d, hard, tough love, but I do not think people who work and paid for the system should have to lower their standards of living and healthcare to be the same as welfare queens and illegal aliens.
Sameera V. Thurmond is obviously one of those people with some minute degree of education attempting to address a subject far beyond his (or her?) very abbreviated knowledge. The content of Sameera's letter demonstrates pure ignorance and is absurd.
Well Grinder, maybe she is one of Strom's relatives!
today is tax freedom day. you have worked until august 13 for the parasites. that includes all taxes and your share of the debt produced this year. that is unless you are a parasite.
When you have no good counterpoints, the best rebuttal is to attack your opponent's presumed education. Make a claim that cannot be proven true or false, but that diverts the discussion away from the weakness of your argument. --Partisan Politics 101
This health care "debate" seems to bring out the undercurrent of xenophobia that has been building for two years now. The Republican Party is steadily revealing itself as the "They are Not Like Me" party. It's following in the footsteps of scare-tactic Nativist movements like the Know Nothings of the 1850s. It is just another version of the war of the Haves versus the Have Nots, and right now the Haves are scared, desperate, and dangerous. The next ten years promises to be a tough time for this country.
dashiel, didn't give any advice at all. Good luck living on your $1200 a month ss check (until it runs out). I will be living far better on my investments. And, yea, compared to most, probably you, I am rich.
Fish, exactly what Sameera (??) was doing in her letter.
Fellow upholders of Article II of the Constitution - the General Welfare- as you know Social Security is indeed no Ponzi Scheme as there will always be moneys for it from generation to generation. T'is an exiguous matter to improve. That purveyor of scare remarks doesn't fathom that those people he contemns would work had they the choice. That's Pres. Ronzo's welfare queen big lie! Ah, the Golden Rule: I delight so in giving the reactionaries what they would that we do unto them as they do unto us- be invective! Selah.