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> <channel><title>Comments on: Morning Bell: The Recession Did Not Create Our Entitlement Crisis</title> <atom:link href="http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/</link> <description>The Foundry promotes conservative policies and principles by offering the best in public policy research with the day’s current events. The Foundry is published by The Heritage Foundation.</description> <lastBuildDate>Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:54:16 +0000</lastBuildDate> <generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1</generator> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <item><title>By: Mary GS, Atlanta GA</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32700</link> <dc:creator>Mary GS, Atlanta GA</dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 15 May 2009 17:49:49 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32700</guid> <description>Enough of this insanity. This administration is DESTROYING our nation with its economic policies. Prior to the democrats taking Congress in &#039;06 our economic indicators (GDP, employment and interest rates) were all healthy. Dems took billions of dollars out of the economy starting with the AMT. We have been in a downturn since. Is anyone investigationg the run on banks on 9/17/08? The United States is being systematically attacked by the left. Our representatives need to gather together and speak out against what is happening to our Nation. Count the military votes, investigate Congressional members Barney Frank, Chris Dodd; Fannie Mae &amp; Freddie Mac... The Republican constituents demand accountability. This administration is exploiting the powers granted in the Constitution of the United States (there is no power given the President regarding private business????). ENOUGH! This administration must be held accountable. Their policies are ruining our Nation.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Enough of this insanity. This administration is DESTROYING our nation with its economic policies. Prior to the democrats taking Congress in &#8216;06 our economic indicators (GDP, employment and interest rates) were all healthy. Dems took billions of dollars out of the economy starting with the AMT. We have been in a downturn since. Is anyone investigationg the run on banks on 9/17/08? The United States is being systematically attacked by the left. Our representatives need to gather together and speak out against what is happening to our Nation. Count the military votes, investigate Congressional members Barney Frank, Chris Dodd; Fannie Mae &amp; Freddie Mac&#8230; The Republican constituents demand accountability. This administration is exploiting the powers granted in the Constitution of the United States (there is no power given the President regarding private business????). ENOUGH! This administration must be held accountable. Their policies are ruining our Nation.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Brother Dave  Annapolis, MD</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32488</link> <dc:creator>Brother Dave  Annapolis, MD</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 15:48:35 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32488</guid> <description>To Moderator:  Forgot to add my location.  It is Annapolis, MD.  Thank you.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>To Moderator:  Forgot to add my location.  It is Annapolis, MD.  Thank you.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Brother Dave</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32486</link> <dc:creator>Brother Dave</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 15:46:48 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32486</guid> <description>Has anyone talked about applying the new govt. stakes in Fannie and Freddie to establish real vs. fake funding of Social Security? A case may be made to link home financing needs of younger Americans with the retirement needs of older Americans.  A 30-year mortgages seems a good fit.
Let private firms originate and underwrite the loans, while Soc. Sec. owns them.  It would at least be a start to fund this entitlement with real money vs. bogus govt. IOUs.  Of course, all funds would have to be safely and permanently walled off from Congress.I thought I even heard Larry Summers mention it (once) a number of months ago but now that he is on the reservation, not surprising that was the end of it.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Has anyone talked about applying the new govt. stakes in Fannie and Freddie to establish real vs. fake funding of Social Security? A case may be made to link home financing needs of younger Americans with the retirement needs of older Americans.  A 30-year mortgages seems a good fit.<br
/> Let private firms originate and underwrite the loans, while Soc. Sec. owns them.  It would at least be a start to fund this entitlement with real money vs. bogus govt. IOUs.  Of course, all funds would have to be safely and permanently walled off from Congress.</p><p>I thought I even heard Larry Summers mention it (once) a number of months ago but now that he is on the reservation, not surprising that was the end of it.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Mike Sheahen, Hickory, North Carolina</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32424</link> <dc:creator>Mike Sheahen, Hickory, North Carolina</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 05:00:56 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32424</guid> <description>Since the responses of others have appeared but mine has vanished, I will give my response again.Ok, from the article above, evidently it may help to point out the fact that the Left never has, doesn&#039;t now, and never will &quot;listen&quot; to the facts, certainly not without attacking and labeling anybody and everybody who speaks them as “Right-wing extremists” and “enemies of the state”, etc, or do anything else which is contrary to their Leftist Marxist Communist/Socialist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing agenda.Of course that&#039;s because there&#039;s too much “stinkin’ thinkin’” and “class warfare” demagoguing and pandering for the Left to do to get and keep themselves in votes and ever more power and money at the expense of the people, instead of actually listening, much less accepting and acting according to, any facts which would derail their vote-buying Leftist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing gravy train and agenda.To put it another way, no matter how government elitists and statists may deny this this, it really is as simple as 2 - 2 = 0, not 4, as in: Government elitists and statists, including Leftists, getting to subtract (-) away from us our freedoms and control of our resources and security, always has, always does, and always will equal (=) zero (0), as in the people end-up being and holding the losing number!Or, as Thomas Jefferson put it, &quot;As government grows, liberty decreases&quot;, and, as even Alexis de Tocqueville put it, &quot;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&quot;.So also the choice we, the people, face is simple (notice I didn&#039;t say &quot;always easy&quot;): Either we stand and fight to defeat the government elitists and statists in order to save what remains of our freedoms, resources, and security, in our (U.S.) America which is the last best hope of mankind, or else, as history repeatedly shows and proves, we certainly shall end-up proving again that &quot;as government grows, liberty decreases&quot;,  and how &quot;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&quot;.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Since the responses of others have appeared but mine has vanished, I will give my response again.</p><p>Ok, from the article above, evidently it may help to point out the fact that the Left never has, doesn&#8217;t now, and never will &#8220;listen&#8221; to the facts, certainly not without attacking and labeling anybody and everybody who speaks them as “Right-wing extremists” and “enemies of the state”, etc, or do anything else which is contrary to their Leftist Marxist Communist/Socialist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing agenda.</p><p>Of course that&#8217;s because there&#8217;s too much “stinkin’ thinkin’” and “class warfare” demagoguing and pandering for the Left to do to get and keep themselves in votes and ever more power and money at the expense of the people, instead of actually listening, much less accepting and acting according to, any facts which would derail their vote-buying Leftist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing gravy train and agenda.</p><p>To put it another way, no matter how government elitists and statists may deny this this, it really is as simple as 2 &#8211; 2 = 0, not 4, as in: Government elitists and statists, including Leftists, getting to subtract (-) away from us our freedoms and control of our resources and security, always has, always does, and always will equal (=) zero (0), as in the people end-up being and holding the losing number!</p><p>Or, as Thomas Jefferson put it, &#8220;As government grows, liberty decreases&#8221;, and, as even Alexis de Tocqueville put it, &#8220;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&#8221;.</p><p>So also the choice we, the people, face is simple (notice I didn&#8217;t say &#8220;always easy&#8221;): Either we stand and fight to defeat the government elitists and statists in order to save what remains of our freedoms, resources, and security, in our (U.S.) America which is the last best hope of mankind, or else, as history repeatedly shows and proves, we certainly shall end-up proving again that &#8220;as government grows, liberty decreases&#8221;,  and how &#8220;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&#8221;.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Barb -mn</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32414</link> <dc:creator>Barb -mn</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 01:48:50 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32414</guid> <description>I agree with Brad Raffensperger, no entitlements to any citizen but what&#039;s in the constitution. It is time to reform government at all levels, to their rightful place.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I agree with Brad Raffensperger, no entitlements to any citizen but what&#8217;s in the constitution. It is time to reform government at all levels, to their rightful place.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Scott Haltom Houston, TX</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32410</link> <dc:creator>Scott Haltom Houston, TX</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 01:27:29 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32410</guid> <description>Everyone tells us to wake up to what is going on. Well, most of us are awake. Our representatives don&#039;t seem to do a lot. What are we supposed to do. I e-mail my reps all the time but, all I get are &quot;canned&quot; replys. Rush, Sean and Michael have it right but, no one has a suggestion as to what to do. What about some organization? What about something proactive? Some states are challenging in court. What about class action suits? Lets do something. I am willing to throw my member on the table. I will try and organize locally. For God&#039;s sake lets do something. I welcome suggestions.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Everyone tells us to wake up to what is going on. Well, most of us are awake. Our representatives don&#8217;t seem to do a lot. What are we supposed to do. I e-mail my reps all the time but, all I get are &#8220;canned&#8221; replys. Rush, Sean and Michael have it right but, no one has a suggestion as to what to do. What about some organization? What about something proactive? Some states are challenging in court. What about class action suits? Lets do something. I am willing to throw my member on the table. I will try and organize locally. For God&#8217;s sake lets do something. I welcome suggestions.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Vicki, Oregon</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32395</link> <dc:creator>Vicki, Oregon</dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 14 May 2009 00:01:00 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32395</guid> <description>Removing the cap on income taxed for Social Security will assure it&#039;s solvency. If Warren Buffet can get full SS benefits, he can pay taxes on ALL of his income, not just the first $160,500! That goes for all the other fat cats out there too.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Removing the cap on income taxed for Social Security will assure it&#8217;s solvency. If Warren Buffet can get full SS benefits, he can pay taxes on ALL of his income, not just the first $160,500! That goes for all the other fat cats out there too.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Mike Sheahen, Hickory, North Carolina</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32394</link> <dc:creator>Mike Sheahen, Hickory, North Carolina</dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 23:59:04 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32394</guid> <description>Ok, evidently from the article above it may help to point out the fact that the Left never has, doesn&#039;t now, and never will &quot;listen&quot; to the facts, certainly not without attacking and labeling anybody and everybody who speaks them as “Right-wing extremists” and “enemies of the state”, etc, or do anything else which is contrary to their Leftist Marxist Communist/Socialist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing agenda.Of course that&#039;s because there&#039;s too much enmity, envy, &quot;class warfare&quot; instigating, government dependence instilling and government dependants creating demagoguing and pandering for the Left to do to get and keep themselves in votes and ever more power and money at the expense of the people, instead of actually listening, much less accepting and acting according to, any facts which would derail their vote-buying Leftist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing gravy train and agenda.To put it another way, despite how government elitists and statists may so arrogantly deny this, it really is as simple as 2 - 2 = 0, not 4, as in: Government elitists and statists, including Leftists, getting to subtract (-) away from us our freedoms and control of our resources and security, always has, always does, and always will equal (=) zero (0), as in the people end-up being and holding the losing number!Or, as Thomas Jefferson put it, &quot;As government grows, liberty decreases&quot;, and, as even Alexis de Tocqueville put it, &quot;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&quot;.So also the choice we, the people, face is simple (notice I didn&#039;t say &quot;always easy&quot;): Either we stand and fight to defeat the government elitists and statists in order to save what remains of our freedoms, resources, and security, in our (U.S.) America which is the last best hope of mankind, or else, as history repeatedly shows and proves, we certainly shall end-up proving again that &quot;as government grows, liberty decreases&quot;,  and how &quot;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&quot;.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ok, evidently from the article above it may help to point out the fact that the Left never has, doesn&#8217;t now, and never will &#8220;listen&#8221; to the facts, certainly not without attacking and labeling anybody and everybody who speaks them as “Right-wing extremists” and “enemies of the state”, etc, or do anything else which is contrary to their Leftist Marxist Communist/Socialist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing agenda.</p><p>Of course that&#8217;s because there&#8217;s too much enmity, envy, &#8220;class warfare&#8221; instigating, government dependence instilling and government dependants creating demagoguing and pandering for the Left to do to get and keep themselves in votes and ever more power and money at the expense of the people, instead of actually listening, much less accepting and acting according to, any facts which would derail their vote-buying Leftist government elitist and statist power and money-grabbing gravy train and agenda.</p><p>To put it another way, despite how government elitists and statists may so arrogantly deny this, it really is as simple as 2 &#8211; 2 = 0, not 4, as in: Government elitists and statists, including Leftists, getting to subtract (-) away from us our freedoms and control of our resources and security, always has, always does, and always will equal (=) zero (0), as in the people end-up being and holding the losing number!</p><p>Or, as Thomas Jefferson put it, &#8220;As government grows, liberty decreases&#8221;, and, as even Alexis de Tocqueville put it, &#8220;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&#8221;.</p><p>So also the choice we, the people, face is simple (notice I didn&#8217;t say &#8220;always easy&#8221;): Either we stand and fight to defeat the government elitists and statists in order to save what remains of our freedoms, resources, and security, in our (U.S.) America which is the last best hope of mankind, or else, as history repeatedly shows and proves, we certainly shall end-up proving again that &#8220;as government grows, liberty decreases&#8221;,  and how &#8220;The American Republic will fall when the politicians learn they can bribe the people with their own money&#8221;.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Andrew Schlessinger, Arizona</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32385</link> <dc:creator>Andrew Schlessinger, Arizona</dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 23:07:54 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32385</guid> <description>The real problem with the welfare system is not that it attempts to help those who can&#039;t help themselves, rather it makes the government the first stop instead of personal and extended family responsibility.First, with regards to Medicare and Medicaid, the person is responsible for their own health and well being.Second, (Medicare/Medicaid)the extended family is the safety net for the individual/family.  First parents and siblings, then cousins, uncles and aunts; this is a collaborative effort.  between them all much more can be accomplished than what currently is.Third, with regards to Social Security, Mr. Raffensperger is correct.  We should phase out Social Security entitlements, say for everyone under 45.  Instead, people and their families are responsible for their own retirement.  The Return on Investment is many times greater for private investments than for the government.Finally, only after everyone in the family has exhausted those resources should the government look to step in.  If the government can confirm that all familial resources have been exhausted, to include selling of assets, having family members move in, getting second jobs, etc., then and only then should the government look to take resources from strangers to help the individual.Some may see this as cold-hearted.  But this policy is actually a very concerned, loving, and logical approach to the problems we face with regards to welfare.  It promotes self-sufficiency, reduces the government footprint (especially the budget) and fosters the American can-do attitude.</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The real problem with the welfare system is not that it attempts to help those who can&#8217;t help themselves, rather it makes the government the first stop instead of personal and extended family responsibility.</p><p>First, with regards to Medicare and Medicaid, the person is responsible for their own health and well being.</p><p>Second, (Medicare/Medicaid)the extended family is the safety net for the individual/family.  First parents and siblings, then cousins, uncles and aunts; this is a collaborative effort.  between them all much more can be accomplished than what currently is.</p><p>Third, with regards to Social Security, Mr. Raffensperger is correct.  We should phase out Social Security entitlements, say for everyone under 45.  Instead, people and their families are responsible for their own retirement.  The Return on Investment is many times greater for private investments than for the government.</p><p>Finally, only after everyone in the family has exhausted those resources should the government look to step in.  If the government can confirm that all familial resources have been exhausted, to include selling of assets, having family members move in, getting second jobs, etc., then and only then should the government look to take resources from strangers to help the individual.</p><p>Some may see this as cold-hearted.  But this policy is actually a very concerned, loving, and logical approach to the problems we face with regards to welfare.  It promotes self-sufficiency, reduces the government footprint (especially the budget) and fosters the American can-do attitude.</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> <item><title>By: Jim@Redding,CA</title><link>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/05/13/morning-bell-the-recession-did-not-create-our-entitlement-crisis/#comment-32381</link> <dc:creator>Jim@Redding,CA</dc:creator> <pubDate>Wed, 13 May 2009 22:29:36 +0000</pubDate> <guid
isPermaLink="false">http://blog.heritage.org/?p=6679#comment-32381</guid> <description>The REAL DRAIN on Social Security is the
HANDOUT given to so-called &quot;disabled&quot;
people (alcoholics, all drug addicts, and
others - like illegal aliens) who collect
SSDI far in excess of the normal SS bene-
fits received by actual retirees like my-
self. &quot;Far in excess&quot; means more than 3
times the amount I get after actually working for a living.  It never ceases to
amaze me that most prople don&#039;t even know
about this rip-off to our retirement sys-
tem that has been going on for decades.
THIS IS THE REAL REASON THAT SOCIAL
SECURITY IS GOING BROKE!!!</description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The REAL DRAIN on Social Security is the<br
/> HANDOUT given to so-called &#8220;disabled&#8221;<br
/> people (alcoholics, all drug addicts, and<br
/> others &#8211; like illegal aliens) who collect<br
/> SSDI far in excess of the normal SS bene-<br
/> fits received by actual retirees like my-<br
/> self. &#8220;Far in excess&#8221; means more than 3<br
/> times the amount I get after actually working for a living.  It never ceases to<br
/> amaze me that most prople don&#8217;t even know<br
/> about this rip-off to our retirement sys-<br
/> tem that has been going on for decades.<br
/> THIS IS THE REAL REASON THAT SOCIAL<br
/> SECURITY IS GOING BROKE!!!</p> ]]></content:encoded> </item> </channel> </rss>
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