"Dave Heil" wrote:
Lucky I failed to point that out because it simply isn't
true. When Social Security began, where did the
money to pay retirees of its early years come from?
It didn't come from those folks because they never
paid much in. It came in advance from the coffers
of government. (snip)
You really need to study up on Social Security, Dave. You have to pay so
much into the system before you're eligible to collect a dime. When Social
Security first started, people were not able to collect for several years
(how many years depended on how much they were able to pay into the system
each year). With the additional interest from that money, the system was
supposed to pay for itself. Of course, there was no interest after the money
was spent elsewhere.
You've got a problem comprehending simple math.
There are too few workers contributing to the system
and too many retirees drawing from it.
Oh, I understand math very well. You just don't understand the Social
Security system, which is why your math is flawed.
Everybody wants high wages for any kind of work.
High wages lead to high prices for products and
services. (snip)
Nobody, other than you, is talking about "high" wages, Dave. What I'm
talking about is "decent" wages that have not been artificially reduced by a
created workforce glut. Today, even a two income family would have a hard
time getting by on the minimum wage. They certainly wouldn't be able to put
much money aside for their future so you can kill off that Social Security
system you dislike so much. While you're traveling around town, take a good
look at those minimum wage, or near minimum age, workers. A growing number
of them are middle age or older (not young kids). Many were pushed out of
decent paying jobs by industry moving overseas and a growing glut in the
workforce here. How are these people going to provide for their families and
still put away money for the future?
Both the Democrats and Republicans support continued
immigration because they can read the writing on the wall.
Both parties support immigration because it provides direct benefits to
them and/or their financial supporters. It provides no benefit to the
American worker or American families. Indeed, it harms both of those.
Only if in objecting they raise an alarm only over Hispanic,
Asian and African immigrants.
They're the primary immigrants today, Dave. When talking about
immigration, who would you rather I talk about - Aboriginal Australians?
Those holes in your knowledge base are gaping ones. My
wife worked on the local economy in Finland in the mid-
1990's. She paid 42% of her income in income tax. Her
overtime was taxed at 50%. We paid 21% in Value
Added Tax on most items and 17% VAT on food items.
We just got back from a trip to Finland. The same dish-
washing liquid we buy here is double the price there. A
1.5 liter Pepsi sells for the price we pay for 3 liters. A half
liter bottle of Scotch sells for $13.00 A tiny washing
machine which would hold no more than half what our
American machine holds runs $500.
And I've lived in Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and the UK) almost
half of my adult life and worked for European companies for much of that
time. While prices may be that high in Finland, what you say certainly is
not the case throughout Europe. Taxes were never even close to that high and
neither was the sales tax. As for your dishwashing liquid, I'm sure your
imported liquid was fairly expensive, as are all imported products in any
country. We paid more for our imported tea, but that doesn't mean there
wasn't cheaper local brands on the store shelves. And, finally, if you paid
that much for a washing machine, you got ripped off. We paid that much for
stackable washer/dryer sets in both Germany and the UK. Either Finland has
extraordinary prices or you need to learn how to shop better on the European
economy.
The cheapest car on the market, a Russian Lada (a Fiat clone)
is $20,000. (snip)
Nonsense. Throughout Continental Europe, you can buy a BMW 315 or 318 for
that price. The Fiat "duck" is only about $4,500 (my wife wanted one). While
we were in Germany, we purchased a darn fast, and darn comfortable,
French-made Citroen BX-19GT for less than $16,000 (loaded, with even air
conditioning for those trips to Southern Europe).
Why not just quit whining, Dwight?
Why not just quit listening, Dave?
Dwight Stewart (W5NET)
http://www.qsl.net/w5net/