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| Economy |
| It Takes A Pillage |
| 2010-07-03 |
| Argentina nationalized private pension funds in 2008 under the guise of shielding them from the economic meltdown. But the funds have been used by lawmakers. That couldn't happen here, could it? Socialist President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said the state was protecting private retirement from "policies of plunder." By moving tens of billions from the private sector and placing it in the public fisc, she claimed to be providing "an example" for others to follow as the global financial crisis heated up. The Argentine Congress, making a promise it didn't intend to keep, said it would make sure the money would be used for pensions. Instead, it was used for government spending. Nearly $30 billion was stolen from the citizens of Argentina by the government that was supposed to protect them from thieves. Democrats have been casting a similar greedy eye on Americans' pensions since at least the 1990s, though they typically kept their ambitions quiet. But in January, the lid on envy began to boil over.
The selling point for these plans would be much like the fiction that was peddled in Argentina: The funds would go into a pot that the government would protect from economic decline before they are distributed to retirees. That sounds a lot like the mythical Social Security lockbox, in which Washington seizes a portion of Americans' private income, then uses what it doesn't pay out in Social Security benefits to finance the general budget. So it not only can happen here, it does happen here. It just hasn't yet spread to the private retirement accounts that Americans put their money in after Washington has taken a significant chunk of their paychecks to fund the crashing Social Security program. But it will, if we keep electing the same class of candidates that have created the problems plaguing us today. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 It was only after hubby #2 that she lost interest in making my life hard. Awwwww, she just You may quote me on that. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2010-07-03 17:24 |
| #5 heh, Bad is right. My ex is on Husband #4. It was only after hubby #2 that she lost interest in making my life hard. Guess it's a "who's currently on my list" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-07-03 15:59 |
| #4 If the law student ever had a relationship with a psycho, which the left and liberalism mostly closely resembles, he would know a divorce is not enough. She'll come by at odd hours, tear filled, puffy eyes, begging you to take her back or she'll do something desperate. She'll bring the cops to your door because you failed to fulfill some obscure part of the divorce decree to her satisfaction, except, she'll tell the police you threatened her. She and her lawyer will drag you into court to try to get you to pay her credit card bills, her auto repair bills or her insurance bill; not that that is in the decree, just so her lawyer can collect fees from you. The fun is infinitely varied and literally never ends. No, a divorce is not enough. Like a case of herpes, you are stuck with this crazy individual for the rest of your life until she decides you aren't stuck with her. Your best hope, outside of someone else shooting or stabbing her, is that she finds someone else she can make even more miserable than you. |
| Posted by: badanov 2010-07-03 15:36 |
| #3 Here's the Divorce decree from liberalism and tyranny. Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al: We have stuck together since the late 1950's or the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce.... I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course. Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way. Here is a model separation agreement: Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes. We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and biodiesel. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell (You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them). We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood . You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security. We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N.. but we will no longer be paying the bill. We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find. You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep The Battle Hymn of the Republic and the National Anthem. I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute Imagine, I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, Kum Ba Ya or We Are the World. We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag. Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you which one of us will need whose help in 15 years. Sincerely, John J. Wall Law Student and an American P. S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you. P. P. S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country |
| Posted by: HammerHead 2010-07-03 15:19 |
| #2 The Argentines have already had at least one Reign of Terror: 10,000 Desaparecidos in the 1970s. The govt took a leaf from the Nazi's playbook, "Nacht und Nebel" (night and fog) in which people just disappeared, hence the term "Desaparecidos" |
| Posted by: mom 2010-07-03 11:16 |
| #1 Do they want a French Revolution? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2010-07-03 01:21 |