Lately there has been a lot of talk about how we have become
an entitlement society. The statistics would suggest that out of all the
working age adults, over half, somewhere around 51 or 52%, are receiving some
sort of government help or entitlement. Most of the time when I have heard any
discussion on the subject it has come from those on the right side of the aisle
suggesting that the source of all our ills and problems in this country come
from those who receive so called entitlements because most of them do not pay
any income taxes.
I am taking this somewhat personal because I am one of those
people who don’t pay any income taxes. I receive VA benefits which are non-taxable
and get my health care through the VA system. Does that make me a leech on
society? Yesterday I had a good day; I was able to do some painting, the day
before I could hardly move. Today I am dealing with muscle spasms, making this
writing difficult. This is my reality, some days are good, and many days are
not. But because I am not paying any income tax some famous people, who make
millions of dollars spouting their opinions, have the right to judge me or anyone
else?
I have written emails to various news anchors, mostly leaning
to the right, about what they consider to be an entitlement and apparently,
while they can “bloviate” well, they can’t really give an answer. In all
fairness they probably receive many emails in the course of a day and to answer
them all would be impossible. Only one responded after I had explained my own position,
with a simple “God bless you.” That was someone from Glen Becks show. Otherwise
there hasn’t been nary a boo from them.
I don’t want anyone to take this the wrong way ,because it’s
true that there are many who have taken advantage of the system to get money
that they don’t really deserve, but who are these people to make judgment calls
on those of us who receive some sort of so called entitlements? In fact my
question to you and to them is what exactly determines what is an entitlement?
And is taking many of us off the solution to balancing the budget?
I am generally a conservative libertarian when it comes to
my own political views. I believe in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Live and let live is my philosophy, but I guess I can’t just sit around and be quiet
when it seems that the poor are the ones under attack by those who pay 40K for
a dinner with a politician.
Here is where I think that the real problem lies. The
federal government. It is the biggest entitlement society ever created by
modern man. They have the best of insurance coverage; you won’t see any of them
switching to Obama care, for them and their families, all paid for by your
taxes. The have more paid vacation days than anyone that I have ever heard of
in the private sector, again all paid by your taxes, and even after they leave
office they are paid and still receive medical coverage all on your dime. I’m
not even talking about the staffs and their families or all the various
government departments and all their benefits. If you were to cut back their pay
to a stipend and shut down all the useless departments as well as all the
redundant offices. If you were to stop all the federal funding for all the pork
barrel projects out there and if you were to end the wars and stop the funding
for them, then you would be able to balance the budget.
You are never going to be able to balance the budget on the
backs of the poor, and increasing the taxes on the middle class and even the
rich isn’t going to help any. The tax brackets they are talking about raising
will only pay for about 8 days’ worth of government that’s it. The problem isn’t
the rich; the problem isn’t the poor or the middle class. It’s not those of us
who receive benefits. It’s a federal government that refuses to acknowledge
that the problem is with them. They won’t stop the wars, they won’t stop the
pork barrel spending and they certainly aren’t going to give up their perks or
entitlements. So the solution is that they be forced to cut all their “entitlements”
and benefits then perhaps we can discuss the rest. That’s just my Simple Minded
solution.
AMEN!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen the following before? In some ways it does and does not address some of the topics you have touched on, but I wanted to pass it on to you.
ReplyDelete<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
If you take away all the perks, we might get a few patriots in Washington!
If you support them, there is a chance. If you pay no attention, you get more of the same.
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The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971...before computers, before e-mail, before cell phones, etc.
Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took 1 year or less to become the law of the land...all because of public pressure.
I'm asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise.
In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.
Congressional Reform Act of 2011
1. Term Limits.
12 years only, one of the possible options below..
A. Two Six-year Senate terms
B. Six Two-year House terms
C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms
2. No Tenure / No Pension.
A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
3. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people.
4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
8. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/11.
The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves.
Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.
If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people then it will only take three days for most people (in the U.S. ) to receive the message. Maybe it is time.
THIS IS HOW YOU FIX CONGRESS!!!!! If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just ignore