Ok, so this is going to be short, but I wanted to make this point before it slipped my mind. Obama spent much time in the past couple of weeks trying to push this stimulus package through the legislature. However, it was passed last Friday by the Senate, and Obama waited until today to sign it. Why the delay, you ask? Well, here's my take...

Obama is trying to make a point to the nation. Actually, two points.

• First and foremost, he is again trying to prove that he is the one and only...President. As he told GOP leaders in late January, "I won, I'm the president". Since his election, Obama has been caught in between a rock and a hard place; namely, the democratic party and the people of this nation. The Democrats want Obama bow to the party platform, and forgo the "bi partisan" mask. The citizens of the nation want the new president to deliver on all of the numerous promises made throughout the campaign trail. Yet, Obama is attempting to try and rise above the party lines and the wishes of the citizens as if to prove that he is the president and he now "has the power". Unfortunately, whatever his intentions are, so far he is failing. Geithner, Daschle, Gregg, and the new "stimulus" bill have all cast poor shadows on the newly elected leader. Hopefully, he will realize the fact that he isn't completely matching up to demands and attempt to change his direction for the future. Only time will tell for Barack Obama. History has vindicated less.



• The second point he is trying to make is a little less obvious. Coming into the oval office at such a difficult time economically and socially, Obama has taken the reigns of government and is slowly turning its head in a new direction. He promised "hope" and "change", which, ironically, were two words that ushered in the Communist revolution in Russia. Despite being in office only a short time, Obama has already succeeded in passing the largest spending bill in the history of this nation. "Hope and "change" are words with good connotations, but as my worthy colleague has pointed out in his article, they have very abstract meanings. These are hardly words by which to run a presidency. Obama knows this, and so while he keeps the slogans running, he is slowly unmasking his real agenda for America.

Thus, I make a challenge. I know the President will most likely never read this article, but I challenge him anyway.

President Obama, I challenge you to lay out in simple layman's terms what your plan and direction is for this country. I challenge you to not use any abstract words or phrases in your speech, and I challenge you to then act on your promise and bring about the "change" we can "believe in".

Until then, I'm not gonna hold my breath.

-Cheers

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“Social Security is truly a test of our values as Americans. Social Security is a fundamental promise that lifts half of our seniors out of poverty and helps millions of disabled Americans, widows and orphans. We owe Americans a better debate than we're having today. It's about time we do everything we can to keep the promise of Social Security.” ~John Kerry~

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Everybody knows what Social Security is right? Instituted by FDR and shortly thereafter blown completely out of proportions.... It's the idea that people should be able to retire earlier because their cost of living will be paid by the government... Actually, scratch that. It's paid by the tax-payer, not by the government. And thus, the government went on its merry way with this socialistic program, completely ignoring the disasters looming on the horizon. "What disasters?" you innocently ask... Well, what you are about to see is highly explosive. I am not responsible for any and all heart-attacks that may be sustained when reading this blog...

Alright, so when most people look at social security, they just see the pay-out side, ie. they only see the side of the SS machine that is spitting out the dough. The side that is consuming tax-payer money is hidden for the most part. What most officials in Washington are trying to ignore at the moment is the fact that there is not enough money entering the machine to supply the needs of those on the other side.

One way to process it is to look at the demographics. The average worker is expected to be most productive in their 48th year of living. The largest year of the baby boom generation was 1961. If you add those 48 years onto 1961, you get 2009, which is the year we are currently experiencing. Thus, you can see that whatever the problem is, it's only going to get worse. Birth rates have been steadily declining since 1961, so at least in terms of demographics, there are less workers now than there were "back in the day". On top of this, the retirement age is decreasing from 74 years old in 1910 to 62 years old in 2002. This is a problem for the SS machine, because there is less money being paid in social security taxes.

Now, this is where it gets scary. The problem is that more and more people are retiring. Combined with Medicare/Medicaid, Social security presents the greatest black hole of money in this economy. You have heard of the national debt, correct? It's estimated at around 11 trillion (yes, Trillion... with a "T") at the moment. However, this is not even close to the real story. If you throw in the unfunded liabilities the government owns in terms of Social Security and Medicare, you end up with different numbers.

The numbers I want you to look at are those along the far right: the Total Federal Obligations column. What's that number at the top? $65.5 TRILLION ($65,500,000,000,000). Divided among every person in the United States (including those under the age of 18), this comes out to a staggering $218,000 per person. This $65.5 Trillion is actually more than the entire WORLD GDP.

Folks, this is a huge problem, and one that needs to be addressed. Policy makers in Washington need to open their eyes to the truck that is racing towards them. Debt can only live so long... After that, it begins to collapse like a hot-air balloon with a gaping hole. This funnel of funds needs to be closed off from the national budget before it consumes the entire American monetary system. Enact the FairTax, balance the trade deficit, and destroy Social Security and nationalized healthcare before it becomes so cheap that nobody can afford it.

It seems as if policy makers in Washington indeed are only looking out for number 1, and forgetting the true reason that they ever got elected in the first place. This needs to be stopped, and it needs to be stopped now.

Friends, Americans, Countrymen, lend me your ears.
I have come to bury the monster of social security, not to praise it.
The evil that men in Washington do lives after them,
The good is oft interred with their bones.
So let it be with this program! The noble senator
Hath told you this monster was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously will the monster answer for it!

~Let not Debt overtake those with a voice.~


-Cheers

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