The U.S. isn't the only place that's facing a major pension fund crisis. The Christian Science Monitor has this alarming report:
People's retirement savings are a convenient source of revenue for governments that don't want to reduce spending or make privatizations. As most pension schemes in Europe are organised by the state, European ministers of finance have a facilitated access to the savings accumulated there, and it is only logical that they try to get a hold of this money for their own ends. In recent weeks I have noted five such attempts: Three situations concern private personal savings; two others refer to national funds.
The most striking example is Hungary, where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it). In this extortionate way, the government wants to gain control over $14bn of individual retirement savings.
The article goes on to detail other pension grabs in Bulgaria, Poland, France and Ireland. Obviously, this is a cautionary tale for America. If fiscal austerity becomes a real issue in the U.S. the way that it's been reaching critical mass in Europe -- don't think that U.S. lawmakers regard your either your personal wealth or money they might owe you as sacrosanct. Government has a habit of looking out for itself. "Thou Shalt Not Covet/Thou Shalt Not Steal" (oops - The Ten Commandments are banned by Socialists - for a reason don't ya know?)
#1
When Bernanke gets through debasing the dollar, he won't need to confiscate anyone's retirement savings, not directly anyway, but it will amount to the same thing.
#2
Closer to home, New Jersey is trying to figure out a way to collect (confiscate/steal) on all those unredeemed gift cards folks have. They have already lost in at least one round in the courts, but they haven't tossed in the towel yet.
#3
I understand Russia confiscated about 99% of everyone's retirement funds a while back. They had police out with rifles on every street corner until people calmed down.
#5
At the rate we are going, Obama will seize all retirement assets after he is declared emperor in mid-2012.
He lost Congress. There's no one to declare him emperor unless he puts the crown on his own head, like Napoleon... but Napoleon had the love of the army.
#6
Another method of savings or pension seizure we COULD possibly see in the US is a "needs based" Social Security System. I fear this much more than some of the Euro schemes.
#8
Another method of savings or pension seizure we COULD possibly see in the US is a "needs based" Social Security System. I fear this much more than some of the Euro schemes.
I've been predicting that one for years, Besoeker. I have long assumed that by the time Mr. Wife retired, our Social Security payout would be reduced by $1 for each $1 in private pension payout or retirement savings redeemed. And since I worked for pay one year less than needed to receive SS on my own account, my withholdings were functionally donated to current retirees.
Social Security was originally intended as a safety net for the poorest of the poor in their final years. There is no way, given the ratio of young workers to retirees, never mind the current financial situation, that we would long be able to afford it being anything else, no matter what promises were made.
#10
New Jersey wants to take any gift card that was purchased but not used if older than 3 years. Talk about theft!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/04/2011 15:21 Comments ||
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#11
New Jersey wants to take any gift card that was purchased but not used if older than 3 years. Talk about theft!
So spend the silly things, or regift them to someone who will. Or give them to charity. Surely someone can use socks from Target or printer ink from Best Buy... or lunch at that terrible restaurant you wouldn't be caught dead in.
#12
Social Security was originally intended as a safety net for the poorest of the poor
When Social Security was first enacted, average life expectancy was around 60 years old, and the Baby Boom was not even a gleam in several million fathers' eyes.
Someone said that Social Security "was meant to be a floor, not a whole house". Now we have had two generations expecting, to some degree, that Uncle Sugar will take care of everything. The culture has eroded people's work and savings ethics, and the politicians don't have the will to make changes to the system because too many people scream about changes.
#13
Hmmm...during California's on-going fiscal crisis, it was disclosed that 5 retired chiefs of police were raking in pensions of over $500,000 per year. And Los Angeles Police Protective League donut-dunkers get pensions equalling 90% of their wages for the last 5 years of service. Police costs approach one-third of city budget, even with declining crime rates.
Face it: many pension plans are unfunded because the benefits' package is the product of EXTORTION, with cops being the worst thieves. Any public referendum proposition viz dealing with past EXTORTION, will produce over 95% support. Reminder: government court-officers form less than .18% of the population. The 99.82% majority can step on them at will.
#14
where last month the government made the citizens an offer they could not refuse. They could either remit their individual retirement savings to the state, or lose the right to the basic state pension (but still have an obligation to pay contributions for it).
My guess is Obama is watching this very carefully...
#15
as Dr. Steve said the other day - If the POTUS and Congress tried this - it would cause a rebellion with real violence.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/04/2011 19:01 Comments ||
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#16
The new congress will start shortly. These people know who put them there. I am beginning to be more optimistic. Why, because the media and Dem's are warning the new guys not to change anything. Bluster and bluff is all they got. O however is is his own world. Executive order will be his way around this road block. He is boxed in and doesn't have a clue. He will be stopped or marginalized.
#17
"So spend the silly things, or regift them to someone who will. Or give them to charity."
Or (if they're to someplace national, like Starbucks or LL Bean; won't work for a one-location local business) trade unwanted/unused gift cards to Plastic Jungle for either cash or Amazon credit. I've had good luck with them.
A $50 gift card got me $44 in Amazon credit, which allowed me to buy something for my house that I needed but didn't have the money to pay for. (Had enough to pay half, however - the credit covered the rest.)
All done over the internet; P.J. even provided the envelope label for me to print and use to mail them the card.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/04/2011 19:22 Comments ||
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Out here there was a sort of gift card bill of rights or something. Apparently enough people do not care for or understand expiration dates, which must be a hootin' surprise every glass of milk. Still, that money was spent at/in a business and its the business' money not the gov's; gov got/gets the sales tax.
We hate to cast more clouds over an already-cloudy New Year, but it has come to our attention that you -- yes, you -- owe the state some dough.
You, who bought the Xbox Kinect on eBay for $360? You owe California about $36.
And you, who bought the Barbie dune buggy on Amazon for $200? You owe California about $20.
And so it goes. Online, catalog and other out-of-state purchases are not tax-free, despite the popular wisdom. For every purchase where you weren't charged California sales tax -- and that's likely a lion's share of the shopping you did on eBay, Amazon and the like -- you are legally required to pony up the tax directly to the state of California. There's even a handy dandy line on your state income tax form that allows you to come clean.
Thing is, a huge number of us -- er, of you -- fail to do so. And that means more than $1.1 billion in taxes owed to the state of California have gone unpaid in 2010, according to the Board of Equalization's most recent estimates:
* That translates to $795 million owed by consumers, and $350 million owed by businesses,
* For an average unpaid tax of $61 per household, and $102 per business,
* By 13.1 million households and 3.4 million businesses.
The state is sending letters to 90,000 California businesses and individuals that owe unpaid taxes, saying they may also owe a fee as of Jan. 1.
WHAT?!
See, if a merchant doesn't have an actual, physical presence in California, it doesn't have to collect sales tax on behalf of California. But that doesn't mean you, the consumer, don't have to pay, the Board of Equalization says.
"We understand we have an education issue here," said Anita Gore, spokeswoman for the Board of Equalization, urging consumers to keep track of their online shopping receipts. "We know it's something people need to be notified about. But it's been the law since 1935." I can actually understand the idea and do think that states should get tax for items they would normally collect at a store front, but this is kinda ridiculous. More details at link.
#1
Louisiana law is pretty much the same. DSoesn't seem unreasonable to me - but highly uneven in practice.
Question: what if you order from Amazon for delivery to a state other than your own? (The La tax is a 'use' tax, assessed on things bought out-of-state for use in the state, whether by catalog, via internet or in person.
#2
Sales / use taxes on items bought by mail or over the internet are the law in most all states that collect such for regular retail sales. This is not unique to California.
Nancy Pelosi's final days as Speaker of the House were spent at the exotic Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka'upulehu in Kona on the island of Hawaii.
Escorted throughout her trip by a mini security motorcade that included Secret Service and Hawaii County Police officers, Pelosi was seen at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Kailua-Kona, where she received Communion. Parishioners greeted her warmly, Hawaii Reporter was told. Two police SUVs were on guard outside the hotel during her weeklong stay.
Pelosi, who traveled to Hawaii by private plane, spent the holidays in Kona last year at the same hotel in an elaborate suite that reportedly rents for $10,000 a night.
Congratulations, taxpayers! You're now officially funding pro-Obamacare propaganda:
Try typing "Obamacare" into Google, and you'll find that the first entry is now the Obama administration's www.healthcare.gov. If you don't particularly like that result, you'll probably hate the fact that you're paying for it.
You'll get the same paid-for result if you type in "Obamacare facts," "Obamacare summary," "Obamacare info," "Obamacare overview," "Obamacare questions," "Obamacare explanation," "Obamacare basics," "Obamacare pros and cons," "Obamacare and elderly," and even "Obamacare and abortion." For each of these search terms, and many others, the Obama administration's site comes up first, as a paid entry. But it doesn't come up if you type in "ObamaCare repeal."
Politico's Ben Smith, in a post entitled "HHS Buys 'ObamaCare,'" quotes an official from Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who confirms that this clear attempt to influence what Americans read about Obamacare does, indeed, represent your tax dollars at work: 'We are using a bunch of search term[s] to help point people to HealthCare.gov. [It's] [p]art of our online efforts to help get accurate information to people about the new law (i.e. [we] also use Facebook, Twitter, blogs and webcasts),' an HHS official confirmed by e-mail."
Just remember kids. He who controls the narrative controls the world!
DarthVader, I altered the above to blockquote instead of italics, because that's what your link used.
#1
This is truly classic. Up your ante, raise your taxes so we can pay for the drugs to keep Pelosi alive into her 90s. Obamacare, Obamamoney, i need to get me some of that! play Obama Poker and learn that it doesn't pay to do well in America any longer. http://www.obama-poker.com
Posted by: Andrew Jackson ||
01/04/2011 22:07 Comments ||
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Last year Obama flew in Air Force One 172 times, almost every other day.
How does this compare to his predecessors? We need perspective before we get upset.
At an Air Force-estimated cost of $181,757 per flight hour (not to mention the additional travel costs of Marine One, Secret Service, logistics and local police overtime), that's a lot of frequent flier dollars going into the president's carbon footprint.
We are privy to some of these numbers thanks to CBS' Mark Knoller. According to Knoller's copious notes, during the last year Obama made 65 domestic trips over 104 days and six trips to eight countries over 22 days. Not counting six vacation trips over 32 days. He took 196 helicopter trips, signed 203 pieces of legislation and squeezed in 29 rounds of left-handed golf.
#1
W didnt play much golf during his terms as Prez. because it was more important to tend to the jobs at hand. AND, the game tends to alienate one from the unwashed masses.
Posted by: Herb Thavith2876 ||
01/04/2011 9:41 Comments ||
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#2
How does this compare to his predecessors? We need perspective before we get upset.
Here's a quick "perspective." The bugger is a bloody, lazy fu**-OFF! How's that?
#3
Here's a quick "perspective." The bugger is a bloody, lazy fu**-OFF! How's that?
That answers a different question. My point is -- and I have no idea what the facts are here -- if President George W. Bush flew 168 times during the same period, then that's not the thing we should condemn his successor for. If President Bush flew more, but his flight cost was significantly less, after accounting for differences in fuel costs (which have been all over the map for quite some time), then the reason for the flight cost differential might be cause for differentiation.
Given the damage he causes when he does decide to work, it seems a good thing that, as you say, "The bugger is a bloody, lazy fu**-OFF." I'd consider it a good deal to help him be more so. ;-)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
We hate to cast more clouds over an already-cloudy New Year, but it has come to our attention that you -- yes, you -- owe the state some dough.
Congratulations, taxpayers! You're now officially funding pro-Obamacare propaganda:
