Spending is the real issue, not tax cuts...

So how much did we borrow to operate the Obama wars? Originally Posted by The2Dogs

Selective outrage over spending?

Who do you think spent the most...Bush or Obama?

Wasn't it LBJ who decided to just toss SS into the bottomless pit of the "General Fund", so he would have more to spend on his "Great Society" Programs.

I'm 70. It would shock many of you how much I get a month.

But then, I paid in a shit load for years, and years.

Of course, it gets thrown into the same pile as my personal income tax. Since I "short form", I'm giving 39 % of it right back to the Government.

My attitude is, as long as the Government can print money, I"ll take it. Originally Posted by Jackie S

The amount you're receiving wouldn't shock me because every year of my working life, except when I was in the military for 2 years, I paid the maximum into SS and now I get back about double what the average SS recipient receives.

But I only pay taxes on 85% of my SS income. 39%?? Jackie, you make too much money. lol.

So how much did we borrow to operate the Obama wars? Originally Posted by The2Dogs

How much are we borrowing for the Trump wars?

The amount you're receiving wouldn't shock me because every year of my working life, except when I was in the military for 2 years, I paid the maximum into SS and now I get back about double what the average SS recipient receives.

But I only pay taxes on 85% of my SS income. 39%?? Jackie, you make too much money. lol. Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX

Jackie is giving his marginal tax rate, not his average tax

Jackie is giving his marginal tax rate, not his average tax Originally Posted by WTF

so what if its the marginal rate? its the rate applied to the social security receipts

speedie is right however when he mentions 85% of social security being taxable when other income reaches a certain level

if one is in the top bracket, tax on gross social security (you even pay tax on the medicare premium withheld) is 39.6% x 85%

it can even be more than that as social security income can cause less deductions if you itemize and even cause you to owe 3.8% on any investment income

Spending is the real issue, not tax cuts...

Why does it have to be one or the other? Tax cuts boost the economy and when the economy is booming more tax revenue is coming into the government. The problem with spending is the congress. They have the mindset that the pool of money is bottomless and thus can justify any amount of frivolous spending. In many cases the left whines about cuts to programs when in reality it is not a cut but a reduction of the increase. It's a political game both sides want to play.

Social security does need to be reformed but it seems everyone on both sides if the isle want to play bullshit political games. Many of us have paid the max into SS for most of our life and would be much better off if the money had been invested in a mutual fund or some other type of investment. This is our money and we should be able to pass it on to our heirs when we die. We all know of people that collect one or two SS checks and pass away. All the money they paid in is gone.

I believe in increasing our military budget but with better oversight for the spending. The military like any part of the government waste money on stupid shit. We've all heard of the $600 dollar hammer or toilet seat etc. A lot of the waste is do to congress and the pet projects of congressmen and senators trying to bring the funds back to their state or district regardless of the need or usefulness of a particular piece of equipment. In some cases it is for equipment that the military doesn't even want. All that said I believe we should have the best military in the world bar none. Whether you like it or not we are the protectors of freedom throughout the world. We make our share of mistakes but most countries look to us first for leadership and might that keeps the world for going to hell sooner rather than later.

Ok Bud. A couple of things.

It would be cheaper to give everyone back their SS and Medicare inputs and let them fend on their own. On AVERAGE , people take out way more than they pay in. Thay is just a fact Bud. Yes if you die at 67 , you pay in more than you take out unless you hit Medicare for a large amount before passing.

If you think the spending problem in the Defense department is hammers, you are as dumb as a fucking hammar. We spend more on Defense that damn near all countries combined. That is not a hammar problem. That is a chickenshit problem that prople like you have to justify this huge overspending we have in this regard.

Maybe companies that profit from say our Naval presence keeping shipping lanes open, do NOT pay that cost. They should on the form of taxes. Not cut thier fucking taxes over some dogma of this spend more than we take in.

Spending is the real issue, not tax cuts...

Why does it have to be one or the other? Tax cuts boost the economy and when the economy is booming more tax revenue is coming into the government. The problem with spending is the congress. They have the mindset that the pool of money is bottomless and thus can justify any amount of frivolous spending. In many cases the left whines about cuts to programs when in reality it is not a cut but a reduction of the increase. It's a political game both sides want to play.

Social security does need to be reformed but it seems everyone on both sides if the isle want to play bullshit political games. Many of us have paid the max into SS for most of our life and would be much better off if the money had been invested in a mutual fund or some other type of investment. This is our money and we should be able to pass it on to our heirs when we die. We all know of people that collect one or two SS checks and pass away. All the money they paid in is gone.

I believe in increasing our military budget but with better oversight for the spending. The military like any part of the government waste money on stupid shit. We've all heard of the $600 dollar hammer or toilet seat etc. A lot of the waste is do to congress and the pet projects of congressmen and senators trying to bring the funds back to their state or district regardless of the need or usefulness of a particular piece of equipment. In some cases it is for equipment that the military doesn't even want. All that said I believe we should have the best military in the world bar none. Whether you like it or not we are the protectors of freedom throughout the world. We make our share of mistakes but most countries look to us first for leadership and might that keeps the world for going to hell sooner rather than later.
Originally Posted by Budman

Governor Brownback in Kansas has proved your post to be full of errors.

Governor Brownback in Kansas has proved your post to be full of errors. Originally Posted by bamscram

Ekim knows all about Kansas politics

Ok Bud. A couple of things.

It would be cheaper to give everyone back their SS and Medicare inputs and let them fend on their own. On AVERAGE , people take out way more than they pay in. Thay is just a fact Bud. Yes if you die at 67 , you pay in more than you take out unless you hit Medicare for a large amount before passing.

No shit Sherlock. How about when people retire they only get back the principle invested in their 401 or any retirement fund. SS was never meant to be part of the general fund. If the amount of money most pay into their SS was invested over the their lifetime we would not be withdrawing more than we paid in. Since we are required to pay into this SS scheme then don't blame the retiree's for the current situation. The fucking congress needs to reform SS but they won't because they would lose the ability to spend the money. You act like it is an entitlement equivalent to welfare. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you think the spending problem in the Defense department is hammers, you are as dumb as a fucking hammar. We spend more on Defense that damn near all countries combined. That is not a hammar problem. That is a chickenshit problem that prople like you have to justify this huge overspending we have in this regard.

Maybe companies that profit from say our Naval presence keeping shipping lanes open, do NOT pay that cost. They should on the form of taxes. Not cut thier fucking taxes over some dogma of this spend more than we take in. Originally Posted by WTF

I never said hammers and toilets were the are the only problem. It is a symptom of the overall attitude of the government which is "who gives a fuck what it cost we have unlimited money". If they are willing to overpay for a toilet seat then what makes you think they are not drastically overpaying for really big ticket items? Air force one comes to mind. Didn't Trump get that cost reduced?

The problem with cutting spending is that it takes a lot of money to get elected and the people who put up the money want to be paid in some fashion. We are buying tanks the army does not want, planes the air force doesn't need and ships the navy can't use.

Ekim knows all about Kansas politics Originally Posted by cptjohnstone

You know about nothing ekim.
Stupid fucking lemming. I don't live in Kansas.

The problem with cutting spending is that it takes a lot of money to get elected and the people who put up the money want to be paid in some fashion. We are buying tanks the army does not want, planes the air force doesn't need and ships the navy can't use. Originally Posted by BigLouie

The big kicker in that is employment. The people building those Tanks, Planes, and Ships are some of the most skilled Crafsmen in the Labor Force.

I agree, there is a tremendous amount of waste in the entire "Military Industrial Complex".

Historically, the US policy in building large Capital Munitions was you start the next project so you keep a skilled workforce on hand at all times. This is basically what the huge Shipyards who build our Aircraft Carriers and Submarines do. The workforce who build these know how to build them. They don't start from square one on each Project. You need to keep that Workforce employed.

Or, maybe you don't. It's like the sign that says...."in case of Fire, break glass".
What if you break the glass and find a note that says......"go find someone to build a firehose and valve".