Maher Real Time Interview 10-10-08

[LunaSea]

Run time: 06:01 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tf531LEztlA   Posted on YouTube: October 11, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 12, 2008 By DU Member: LunaSea Views on DU: 2217

 
Former US Comptroller General David Walker comments on economy.

[2Design]

1. I get tired of people saying we have to reform SS

They have blown so much money on a dumb ass war
We need health care like the rest of the countries on the globe who are not 3rd world
We need to take care of our infrastructure

Congress or government employees should only be allowed the same insurance benefits given to the rest of us. I don't want to pay for their care if they are unwilling to help pay for mine. That is so BS

[digidigido]

2. I agree, return to Clinton's tax policy, restore the death tax, and cut defense budgets first

and while there are many ways to deal with getting this country on a sounder footing, probably the single most helpful
would not be electing Republicans, I'm not sure what the % is but from Reagan onward they have created massive debt,
and somehow managed to convince people that they are fiscally responsible.

[LaloBorges]

3. Agree with what you have stated

This guy is going to get invited to Fox after this. What a bunch of bull, Bill Maher caught him the first time but allowed him to continue after that.

This guy did not say anything that is helpful, and yes...what kind of change in SS? You want to invest it in the stock market? He sounded like a parrot from the McCain camp.

[freedom fighter jh]

4. Social security *does* need to be changed.

Retired people who depend on social security are struggling because they are on a fixed income. Yet working people's contributions continue to go up. What's going on?

I get about half my income from my own business, the other half from part-time employment. From my own business, I have to contribute 15% of my income to social security tax. For the other part, I have to contribute only about 7.5%, but my employer contributes the same. That is huge. Why are these contributions not enough to support our elderly comfortably? I don't know the details, but my guess is that our social security contributions are going elsewhere. Social security tax is regressive: Since there is a cap on the tax, people with lower incomes pay a greater percentage of their income to it. Using this regressive tax for anything other than its intended purpose is an outrage, and I don't know why more people aren't screaming about it -- probably only because there are too many other outrages that need to be screamed about.

If by "reform" you mean the kind of soc sec reform that Bush tried to push through, then I agree with you. That would only have made the problem worse.

[Gator_Matt]

6. Government can use SS money like petty cash

That's my understanding. The gov't uses SS money as an extra source of funds. It's not like it's money sealed in a vault used only for what it is intended. It's disgraceful.

[trthnd4jstc]

5. He is right that several things have to improve in our nation. Please listen to this clip. n/t

[nichomachus]

7. There is no problem with Social Security

All the bullshit about the increasing number of retirees straining the system is just crap. The actuaries aren't stupid. They anticipated that and built it into the system. It wasn't a freaking surprise. Yet, the lie has been repeated so often that about 99.9 percent of people believe it.

If the politicians would just stop stealing Social Security money -- as they just did with the corporate giveaway -- things would be just fine for the next hundred years.

[Raster]

8. Agreed. Also go back to contribution rates pre-Raygun.

Today someone that makes $90,000.00 contributes the same as someone that makes $900,000,000.00! There is a cap--Go Fuck Yourself Ronnie Raygun--at $90,000.00 of earning. Eliminate the cap. All wages should be subject to the Social Security Tax.

And speaking of tax: IMMEDIATELY we should go back to the income tax rates pre-Raygun. Multi-billionaire Warren Buffet has noted many times that he pays a lesser percentage of income tax than his secretary. We need to re-institute a sliding scale of taxation that puts the burden on the most wealthy, as it used to be before the wealthy put their sock puppets in office and they rewrote the tax code to THEIR BENEFIT.

It is time for all Americans to do research, to read, to ask questions. We--our country--is primarily in the financial mess we are in because we allowed others--the rich and powerful--to make the decisions. Time after time we have turned against out best interests to support policies that make it easier for the wealthiest among us to shirk their fiscal responsibilities and force us--you and me--into paying their bills.

We need to understand that certain "truths" are BULLSHIT, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. Trickle down economics does not work! It is a complete and total sham. It basically says that if we give the rich and the powerful all the benefits and tax breaks that eventually it will trickle down to the rest of us. NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH! This is just one example--and there are many others--of the rich and powerful enticing the ordinary citizens of this country to vote against their best interests. And one of they ways the enticement works is to dangle the "this could be yours someday" carrot at the end of the stick. GET A FUCKING GRIP! You will NEVER be part of the rich and powerful! The only purposes you serve to them are: (1) as hosts for their PARASITICAL financial practices; and (2) as state props to "legitimize" their immoral actions.

Wake Up, America!:kick:We Can Do Better!