Monday, August 15, 2011

Real ENTITLEMENTS...


49 comments:

Thersites said...

The guy on the right looks and sounds a lot like mr. ducky...

Trekkie4Ever said...

It's so true! Sad, but horribly, horribly true.

Chuck said...

Dead on

(((Thought Criminal))) said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
(((Thought Criminal))) said...

While the cartoon is a cute little populist dig at Congressional perks, it fails the fact check test.

If there were anything even remotely conservative about the far-left communist Tea Party movement this cartoon is supposed to appeal to, there would be a contrast between Mr. Cartoon Retiree's "measly" $14,000 annual Social Security income and the actual amount of money he paid "all his life" into.

If Mr. Cartoon Retiree made precisely the median per capita GDP in income every year he worked from the time he was age 18 in 1964 to the time he retired at age 65 in 2011, and tok the unusual and extraordinary step of paying into Social Security the maximum that he could as an employee every year, Mr. Cartoon Retiree only put $72,594 into the system "all his life."

If Mr. Cartoon Retiree is past his 63rd month of retirement, HE IS A FREELOADER.

That's just Mr. Cartoon Retiree if he had made the average annual income every year from age 18 to age 65 and paid the maximum amount of Social Security taxes on his income that he could.

Most retirees didn't pay anywhere near what Mr. Carton Retiree did over his average income lifetime, and thus are FREELOADERS within the second year of their retirement.

And even earlier if they draw Medicare / Medicaid benefits.

I'm sorry, but America's silver haired welfare children are just going to have to stop pushing that bullshit "I paid all my life" argument and go out and get a damned job already.

Z said...

Beamish, are you okay? We know how you feel. Thanks for sharing again :-)

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Z,

Tell me how I'm wrong, if you can. In 1964, when Mr. Cartoon Retiree was 18 years old, the maximum amount of income that could be taxed for Social Security was $4,800 and the tax rate for Social Security for an employee was 3.125%. Mr. Cartoon Retiree put at the most a mere $150 into Social Security his first year of working.

By 2011, Mr. Cartoon Retiree was making the national average income of $47,200 a year, taxed as an employee on that at the new rate of 4.2%. He paid $1,982 into Social Security his last year of working.

Taking those 48 years of Mr. Cartoon Retiree's average income career as a whole, he paid into Social Security an average of $1512 a year.

Anyway you run the numbers, Mr. Cartoon Retiree is a freeloader within 3 to 6 years of his retirement.

I really don't care to salve and appease the wild-eyed and delusional pro-communist Tea Party's left-wing sense of political correctness by not saying so.

Z said...

Fine, Beamish. I GET it.

And I'll never EVER consider the Tea Party folks remotely COMMUNIST, and you are very well aware of that, so why bother?

I give up! You win. FINE! :-)

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

And I'll never EVER consider the Tea Party folks remotely COMMUNIST, and you are very well aware of that, so why bother?

Well, you win the politeness contest.

Personally, I wouldn't know how to begin in good conscience to not consider a group that is overwhelmingly opposed to ending entitlement programs to not be communists and welfare statists, and I'm going to continue to say so. Especially after their latest offering is a blue state tax attorney / foster care welfare queen and former campaign worker for Jimmy freakin' Carter.

No, there's not a damned reason at all to consider the Tea Party conservative, and further, there's absolutely no reason to be nice about it.

Look at the cartoon again. What's the message? The retiree's free income from the government isn't enough?

Let's raise entitlement payouts for everyone even though they in their lifetimes barely paid for them if they paid for them at all!

Yeah, that's a conservative message.

Not.

Dave Miller said...

Out of curiosity Beamish, what if there are no jobs to be had, or found?

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Out of curiosity Beamish, what if there are no jobs to be had, or found?

That would be something that someone planning on taking Social Security benefits as their sole source of income ought to consider before they quit their job and retire.

I just want the bullshit "I paid in all my life" argument to be discarded as the absolutely absurd nonsense that it is.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

On the ridiculously immeasurable small chance that I'm wrong about calling Mr. Cartoon Retiree and others like him a communist parasite, I went back over my numbers and adjusted Mr. Cartoon Retiree's annual contributions for inflation year by year.

The $72,594 that came out of his 48 years worth of paychecks thus becomes $131,756

At $14,000 a year in payouts, Mr. Cartoon Retiree gets a little grace from this approach and we can say he's paid "all his life" for the first 9 and a half years of his retirement.

Adjusting for inflation gives him credit for 3 and a half more years.

Retire at age 65, and die on average at age 78. 13 years of retirement for Mr. Cartoon Retiree, and he, contributing as much as legally possible for his average income "all his life" can only be said to have paid for 5 to 9 years of it before he's a freeloader.

Medicare and Medicaid payouts shorten that even more.

The idea that the majority of retirees in America have paid into Social Security enough money over enough time to finance their retirement benefits is laughably farcical.

Z said...

"Well, you win the politeness contest."
Yes, it looks like it.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

"Well, you win the politeness contest."

Yes, it looks like it.

I applaud your enthusiasm for politeness. I wish I could share it. But being nice has compounded America's 76 year advance towards communism to the point that even dyed-in-the-wool hardcore communists (aka the Tea Party) are allowed to get away with calling themselves "conservative."

I'm not the one that put the Tea Party behind neo-fascists like Ron Paul and Herman Cain and far left welfare statists like Donald Trump and Michelle Bachmann. I warned against the slippery slope of populism that the KKK wing of the Democratic Party has invested in their "Tea Party Movement." They're not conservative. At all.

I don't mind being in the minority. People who are precisely correct usually are.

Speedy G said...

You need to double your numbers beamish. Employers don't pay matching contributions out of their sense of duty to the federal spending cause. In fact, neither does Mr. Buffet.

Speedy G said...

So at $145,000 contributed and a life expectency after retirement at age 67 of only 8 years... Mr. average only collects $112K, leaving him $33k short of what he would have had if he had simply put all his money under his pillow... short changing his heirs and preventing them from collecting any inheritance.

Speedy G said...

Social Security isn't the problem, beamish. Medicare/Medicaid IS.

Always On Watch said...

Beamish,
I'm sorry, but America's silver haired welfare children are just going to have to stop pushing that bullshit "I paid all my life" argument and go out and get a damned job already.

Mr. AOW and I used to feel that way. We don't now, and you know why. Were it not for Social Security/Medicare, both Mr. AOW and I would be on welfare or living under a bridge. The latter wouldn't last long as Mr. AOW would soon be in a pauper's grave. And I'd still be on welfare as the state would have confiscated all our assets.

BTW, Mr. AOW COULD have been on disability since 1993; he chose not to, but had to work a job paying a little over $14,000/year. Brain damage from the brain surgery.

There is no simple solution to the again of America. Though I don't agree with the author on everything, Never Say Die is a must-read book.

Speedy G said...

...but then you already know all the above info, yet you CHOOSE to dissemble upon it yet again. Why is that Beamish? Does it bother you that self employed people pay twice as much in Social Security taxes as the corporate shills-wage slaves that you would have Americans emulate?

jes' wondrin.

Always On Watch said...

Z,
It's not just members of Congress that get all kinds of perks and outrageous salaries. Check some web sites for what long-term government employees get.

My cousin works for the county; her health insurance premium per month is $65. We the taxpayers are picking up the rest. Nobody in private business or with other health insurance plans can get that kind of benefit unless they're sitting at the top of the mountain.

Always On Watch said...

How to put an end to Social Security/Medicare: Make children responsible for the ailing parents. Of course, then many children would no longer be in the work force or able to have a decent lifestyle of their own, including paying for their children's college education. Catch 22.

What would then exist would be two classes: rich and poor. Goodbye, middle class!

Joe Conservative said...

I think you need to go join your friends over at Rebuild the Dream, Beamish.

They practice no "usurious" interest "Shari'a friendly" finance over there, too.

Z said...

AOW....they're exempt from Insider Trading laws, too.

A close friend was a professor for 43 years here in California.....every time she goes to the doctor now(She's retired), she pays $10.00. TOTAL. That's it. And no premiums. NADA.
$10.00 for every visit. Nothing for hospital stays..it's ALL FREE!
that's rough for me to swallow with my huge premium and $8K deductible to keep that huge premium 'down'.

Always On Watch said...

Z,
that's rough for me to swallow with my huge premium and $8K deductible to keep that huge premium 'down'.

I know exactly what you mean!

My father had to join the union (transit authority) to get any health insurance at all. For his entire working life, he paid only $1/month for health insurance; then, when he retired, after some 20 years, his premium doubled. Big deal! Not.

My father railed against the fact that "the rest of them" (meaning those not in the union) had to pay high premiums. According to Dad, one reason that so many joined the union back then was for that health insurance; then the union tried to get union members to follow the Democratic Party line. Dad would not, but not following that line kept him in trouble with his bosses.

Z said...

AOW "According to Dad, one reason that so many joined the union back then was for that health insurance; then the union tried to get union members to follow the Democratic Party line. Dad would not, but not following that line kept him in trouble with his bosses."

that turns my stomach, that rallying people to follow principles they don't agree with ...disgusting.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

You need to double your numbers Beamish

No I don't. Not while I'm refuting your fellow communists' "I paid in all my life" bullshittery. I only have to count what was actually paid in by the socialist parasite making that stupid argument. The employer that matched his contribution gets nothing out of his employee's retirement. The argument, restated correctly, is - "I expected 2 to 6% of my income to support me through retirement without a hitch." Sorry, lefty. Math don't work that way.

Does it bother you that self employed people pay twice as much in Social Security taxes as the corporate shills-wage slaves that you would have Americans emulate?

Are you not paying attention? I want to end Social Security and replace it with nothing. That means no one would be taxed once, much less double for it. Heck yes it bothers me that people are taxed for "entitlements" atop the taxes they pay to support NASA's latest sock puppet blog creation project.

I think you need to go join your friends over at Rebuild the Dream, Beamish.

That's a cute chart. You should wear it at CPAC's next drag queen contest. Nah, I'd rather stand outside the henhouse and watch you national socialists duke it out with your international socialist siblings.

It's a pastime, since no one more conservative than Obama is going to bother running for President.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

AOW,

The majority of America's "poor" somehow manage to acquire housing with electricity, running water, radios, two or more televisions, heating and air conditioning, cars, clothing and food. They're not exactly starving Ethiopians.

So, while there should be a concern about a shrinking middle class, we shouldn't be confusing not having an Xbox Live subscription with poverty and destitution. This I think muddies the discussion.

It's like the ridiculous cartoon that started this thread. $14,000 a year in free money from the government isn't
"measly" to someone who IS actually poor. I'd have to look up the information to paste it here, but I've seen breakdowns on the costs that federal and state assistance going to unwed mothers, "disabled" drug addicts, etc. And it comes out to over $35000 to $40000 a year. Why bother even trying to work if the government is gonna reward failure and irresponsibility to that tune?

I'm sorry my criticism of the system puts a bad taste in your mouth, but your case is a rare exception to the rule.

Bd said...

You're making the Liberals point. Thanks.

Z said...

Thanks, BD...

Bd said...
You're making the Liberals point. Thanks.

So, there IS a 'lowest level to stupid'...congratulations.

Ticker said...

No one on the Right, Tea Party or other wise has ever said to END SS, that's a damnedable lie of the leftist. They call for REFORM but anything that limits the amount the Left can steal and spend on NON-CONTRIBUTORS is called ending the system. Maybe you should really read the real facts Bemish instead of piling on the BS fiction from the Left.

Bd said...

The middle class is getting screwed by the Plutocratic GOP. Finally you are waking up!

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Ticker,

You misread me. I ***want*** to end Social Security and Medicare and replace it with laughter at all the deadbeats. Anyone not with me is a few miles to my left, like the commies in the Tea Party.

Anonymous said...

Beamish....you make my head hurt.

Anonymous said...

"Why bother even trying to work if the government is gonna reward failure and irresponsibility to that tune?"

Well beamish..it appears we've actually reached that pinnacle, haven't we? When Gov bots actually seem to believe that food stamps and unemployment...actually stimulate the economy....so..who the fook would want to work and be not only productive...but a net contributor?

The whole deal is so shitty and ass backwards that it actually rewards non productive parasites....who want more than xboxes

Z said...

Bd said...
The middle class is getting screwed by the Plutocratic GOP. Finally you are waking up!

AND BD CAN SAY THAT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE....WHAT AMAZING FETES THE LEFT CAN DO.
I'LL BET YOU AGREE WITH ALL THE RIDICULOUS CRAP YOUR HERO'S SAYING ON HIS BUS TOUR, BOTH OF WHICH BUSES COST ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN TOTAL....WHICH WE REPUBLICANS HAVE TO PAY FOR, TOO, THOUGH IT'S SO OBVIOUSLY A CAMPAIGN TOUR.
WHAT SLEAZE AND YOU FALL FOR IT...MAYBE, SOMEDAY, YOU'LL WAKE UP?

MathewK said...

If it's up to sensible Republicans, those who put into SS will get something out of it, while curbing it for those starting now. If it were up to democrats, they'd ruin the whole thing for everyone.

I believe they call it fairness and progress.

(((Thought Criminal))) said...

Beamish....you make my head hurt.

I do?

You mean you woke up in a world where CPAC celebrates homosexuality and former Democrats are running around under a makeshift "Tea Party" banner threatening to take down the Republican Party if they don't raise taxes on "the rich" and leave their entitlements alone, and didn't bat an eye or miss a beat?

I'm waiting for Rod Serling to show up and narrate.

Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul are the faces of conservatism? Really?

Either a bunch of people are miscalling left-wing populism "conservatism," or I've fallen into a parallel universe where conservatives need to be hunted down and killed before they finish fucking up America.

The Tea Party movement is NOT conservative. It's really okay to say so.

Ticker said...

Bemish, stop pissing on my leg and telling me it's raining. I read and comprehend at a very high level. Unfortunately you evidently do not.

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