What do you call an EPA budget cut of 31%? A nice start...
Under the March proposal, the EPA was due to absorb a 31 percent funding cut. If enacted, that plan would discontinue funding for programming, research and diplomatic efforts related to climate change, end more than 50 EPA programs and cut 3,200 of the agency's 15,000 jobs.
If they were focused more on their core mandates like superfund, NOT dumping gallons and gallons of toxic water into rivers, and serving as an industry watchdog, they likely would not be in the situation they are.
Sorry but CO2 is NOT a toxin and does not need to be EPA controlled.
Nice start President Trump! Don't STOP!
On a related topic, Trump's confirmations are being stalled by Democrats. Trump should announce that any agency without Trump confirmed heads come budget approval time, get NO funding period. If the confirmations are so unimportant the the Democrats can't be bothered to work the process, those departments must not be important either and should be done away with / unfunded. That might focus some minds and/or save more money...
Showing posts with label government overreach. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government overreach. Show all posts
Monday, May 22, 2017
Monday, September 7, 2015
The speech I wish the next Republican President would give...
Good evening citizen of the United States. Let me first say thank you for allowing me into your homes tonight. I truly believe that what I am about to share with you will benefit all Americans and the country and will be an important step in getting our country back on the right coarse for all citizens of this great land.
As citizens of these United States, we all have suffered under the burden of a farce, a fallacy, a Ponzi scheme of enormous size that has negatively impacted our economy for generations. This crime that has been perpetuated against us is known as the Social Security System. I am here to tell you that this crime will end. You will no longer be forced to contribute to a bankrupt and corrupt system that promises too much and delivers too little. If today's social security system were run by private businesses, the executives of those companies would be in jail! Why should this be permitted to continue simply because it is done to you by your Government instead of by a private company?
Despite what you may have heard and will likely hear starting tomorrow, the Social Security fund is broken and broke! There is NO money in it. It is true that at least for today and the near future, contributions to the Social Security fund exceed the monies paid out to recipients but and this is a big but, there is no money in the fund because your Government has been spending it for years to fund other programs. As dollars go into the fund, the Government takes them out and puts in I.O.U.s instead. Now if you trust your Government to be there tomorrow [and the day after] those I.O.U.s are nearly as good a cash BUT it is not cash and it is money that the Government will have to pay back, not at our leisure but when the demand for payments exceeds the amount coming in. This will likely mean deep cuts to other programs and / or tax increases and / or means testing to those that are and will collect Social Security. Again, over promised and under delivered. In addition, with the Government controlling this program, we tell you how much you have to put in, how long you have to wait to start receiving payments, and how those funds are managed. You are not children, you are adults. This is your money and you should own and control it.
My plan for the shuttering of the Social Security System is as follows:
First off, if you work and contribute to Social Security, December 31st of this year will be the last day that any FICA taxes are removed from your paycheck. Come January 1st of next year, those payroll funds are yours to keep. Your employer will also no longer have to match your FICA taxes after December 31st as well.
There are basically 4 groups of people in regard to Social Security; these groups are a) those already receiving payments (or will receive payments by January 1st of next year), b) those that are fully vested in Social Security but do not yet receive payments, c) those that are not yet fully vested but have made contributions, and d) those that have made no contributions yet (and won't have by December 31st of this year).
Let me allay any fears group (a) might have, if you currently receive Social Security payments, those payments will continue! Your payments will NOT stop. We made a commitment to you and the Government will keep that commitment. For you, nothing will change. Your schedule of benefits and payments will continue uninterrupted.
For those in group (d), those that have never been assessed any FICA taxes, if you still have not made any FICA contributions as of December 31st, nothing will change. You will not ever be forced to pay anything into the Social Security System. You will never be forced to contribute money into an underfunded, under performing system. I strongly encourage you to open an IRA account, if you don't already have one and start contributing money to it today. We will be making adjustments to the IRA rules to make it easier to contribute and to allow you to contribute much more. More details on these enhanced IRA rules will be coming in the weeks ahead.
To those in group (c), those that have paid FICA taxes but are not yet vested. You will not ever receive any Social Security payments. You are not vested in the system and will not ever be. It is strongly recommended that you start an IRA account as soon as possible if you don't already have one and start contributing to that account. As I stated earlier the rules for IRA accounts will be expanded giving you more freedom and options. If you already have an IRA, you are already setup for what I am about to tell you. If you do not have one, it is strongly recommended that you open one before the end of this year. Shortly after the new year, the Government will credit your IRA account with the sum of all of your FICA tax payments as well as those made on your behalf by your employer(s). Next year all FICA tax payments made by you or for you will be yours, in your IRA to own and manage. The Government should never have been taxing your wages at the point of a gun and making poor investment choices with your money. I apologize.
To those in group (b), those that are fully vested but have not yet started receiving payments (come January 1st), you have a choice to make. You can elect to be treated as part of group (c) or group (a). You can elect to have all of your [up to December 31st] FICA taxes as well as those of your employer(s) deposited in an IRA account of your choosing or you can elect to receive Social Security payments based on your December 31st (of this year) payment schedule. We will honor either decision you make.
We understand that there are some individuals that do not fall into any of these groups, we will be making a phone number and web site link available for you and anyone else that has questions about these changes, where you can get more information. In addition we will be posting the text of this speech, the details of the plan, and any additional updates or releases to a web site where everyone can access this for your self.
As soon as I am finish [if not already] you will hear from people that will tell you this is a bad plan and a bad idea. That I am wrong about the system being insolvent and that shutting it down is too hard, too complicate, and there is not enough time to make this all happen by year end.
To them I say no. You are the one that is wrong. You are the one that is insisting that we continue with a program that was designed and implemented wrong from the very start and that this very program when managed by individuals and companies, those people are arrested and charged with crimes. It ends now. We will honor our commitments to those that are already in the system and we have a plan for the orderly shutting down of this system and we will do it.
Others will say that we can not afford to do this. That we can not afford to pay back all of the FICA taxes collected to all those currently involved in the system. That the system will collapse under the weight of no new funds coming in. To them I say, you are partially correct. That is exactly why the Social Security system is also called a Ponzi scheme and that it is illegal when not done by the Government. We are already carrying the liabilities for repayment. The fund is already full of I.O.U.s. We will just be more honest in how that liability is carried on the Government ledger.
A partial privatization (15% of contributions) was suggested by a prior administration. It was misconscrewed and lied about in the press and by ideologs. We are now that much farther down the road to a Social Security collapse. Continuing down that road will only lead to harsh, rushed changes. This solution ends the problem once and for all and puts control of retirement back where is belongs, with individuals and with families. You are adults and the Government is not and should not be acting as your parent forcing you into an immoral system. Again, this ends now.
Thank you and good night.
As citizens of these United States, we all have suffered under the burden of a farce, a fallacy, a Ponzi scheme of enormous size that has negatively impacted our economy for generations. This crime that has been perpetuated against us is known as the Social Security System. I am here to tell you that this crime will end. You will no longer be forced to contribute to a bankrupt and corrupt system that promises too much and delivers too little. If today's social security system were run by private businesses, the executives of those companies would be in jail! Why should this be permitted to continue simply because it is done to you by your Government instead of by a private company?
Despite what you may have heard and will likely hear starting tomorrow, the Social Security fund is broken and broke! There is NO money in it. It is true that at least for today and the near future, contributions to the Social Security fund exceed the monies paid out to recipients but and this is a big but, there is no money in the fund because your Government has been spending it for years to fund other programs. As dollars go into the fund, the Government takes them out and puts in I.O.U.s instead. Now if you trust your Government to be there tomorrow [and the day after] those I.O.U.s are nearly as good a cash BUT it is not cash and it is money that the Government will have to pay back, not at our leisure but when the demand for payments exceeds the amount coming in. This will likely mean deep cuts to other programs and / or tax increases and / or means testing to those that are and will collect Social Security. Again, over promised and under delivered. In addition, with the Government controlling this program, we tell you how much you have to put in, how long you have to wait to start receiving payments, and how those funds are managed. You are not children, you are adults. This is your money and you should own and control it.
My plan for the shuttering of the Social Security System is as follows:
First off, if you work and contribute to Social Security, December 31st of this year will be the last day that any FICA taxes are removed from your paycheck. Come January 1st of next year, those payroll funds are yours to keep. Your employer will also no longer have to match your FICA taxes after December 31st as well.
There are basically 4 groups of people in regard to Social Security; these groups are a) those already receiving payments (or will receive payments by January 1st of next year), b) those that are fully vested in Social Security but do not yet receive payments, c) those that are not yet fully vested but have made contributions, and d) those that have made no contributions yet (and won't have by December 31st of this year).
Let me allay any fears group (a) might have, if you currently receive Social Security payments, those payments will continue! Your payments will NOT stop. We made a commitment to you and the Government will keep that commitment. For you, nothing will change. Your schedule of benefits and payments will continue uninterrupted.
For those in group (d), those that have never been assessed any FICA taxes, if you still have not made any FICA contributions as of December 31st, nothing will change. You will not ever be forced to pay anything into the Social Security System. You will never be forced to contribute money into an underfunded, under performing system. I strongly encourage you to open an IRA account, if you don't already have one and start contributing money to it today. We will be making adjustments to the IRA rules to make it easier to contribute and to allow you to contribute much more. More details on these enhanced IRA rules will be coming in the weeks ahead.
To those in group (c), those that have paid FICA taxes but are not yet vested. You will not ever receive any Social Security payments. You are not vested in the system and will not ever be. It is strongly recommended that you start an IRA account as soon as possible if you don't already have one and start contributing to that account. As I stated earlier the rules for IRA accounts will be expanded giving you more freedom and options. If you already have an IRA, you are already setup for what I am about to tell you. If you do not have one, it is strongly recommended that you open one before the end of this year. Shortly after the new year, the Government will credit your IRA account with the sum of all of your FICA tax payments as well as those made on your behalf by your employer(s). Next year all FICA tax payments made by you or for you will be yours, in your IRA to own and manage. The Government should never have been taxing your wages at the point of a gun and making poor investment choices with your money. I apologize.
To those in group (b), those that are fully vested but have not yet started receiving payments (come January 1st), you have a choice to make. You can elect to be treated as part of group (c) or group (a). You can elect to have all of your [up to December 31st] FICA taxes as well as those of your employer(s) deposited in an IRA account of your choosing or you can elect to receive Social Security payments based on your December 31st (of this year) payment schedule. We will honor either decision you make.
We understand that there are some individuals that do not fall into any of these groups, we will be making a phone number and web site link available for you and anyone else that has questions about these changes, where you can get more information. In addition we will be posting the text of this speech, the details of the plan, and any additional updates or releases to a web site where everyone can access this for your self.
As soon as I am finish [if not already] you will hear from people that will tell you this is a bad plan and a bad idea. That I am wrong about the system being insolvent and that shutting it down is too hard, too complicate, and there is not enough time to make this all happen by year end.
To them I say no. You are the one that is wrong. You are the one that is insisting that we continue with a program that was designed and implemented wrong from the very start and that this very program when managed by individuals and companies, those people are arrested and charged with crimes. It ends now. We will honor our commitments to those that are already in the system and we have a plan for the orderly shutting down of this system and we will do it.
Others will say that we can not afford to do this. That we can not afford to pay back all of the FICA taxes collected to all those currently involved in the system. That the system will collapse under the weight of no new funds coming in. To them I say, you are partially correct. That is exactly why the Social Security system is also called a Ponzi scheme and that it is illegal when not done by the Government. We are already carrying the liabilities for repayment. The fund is already full of I.O.U.s. We will just be more honest in how that liability is carried on the Government ledger.
A partial privatization (15% of contributions) was suggested by a prior administration. It was misconscrewed and lied about in the press and by ideologs. We are now that much farther down the road to a Social Security collapse. Continuing down that road will only lead to harsh, rushed changes. This solution ends the problem once and for all and puts control of retirement back where is belongs, with individuals and with families. You are adults and the Government is not and should not be acting as your parent forcing you into an immoral system. Again, this ends now.
Thank you and good night.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Operation Choke Point - your government at work (for your own good)...
Guidelines designed to discourage banks from doing business with illegal and heinous operations involving things like human trafficking and child pornography are now being applied to legal and legitimate businesses which are deemed “high risk.”
“Our hands are tied by it,” a regional manager with Heritage Credit Union told Hawkins Guns owner Mike Shuetz of federal regulations which forced the institution to close Shuetz’s bank accounts in November.
Operation Choke Point was designed by the government to systematically cut off banking services and payment processing to gun and ammo businesses. This was done in part by adding these businesses to the "high risk" banking category and by pressuring banks and credit unions with additional audits and oversight if their portfolios contain these types of businesses.
Government by regulation, death by a thousand cuts...
“Our hands are tied by it,” a regional manager with Heritage Credit Union told Hawkins Guns owner Mike Shuetz of federal regulations which forced the institution to close Shuetz’s bank accounts in November.
Operation Choke Point was designed by the government to systematically cut off banking services and payment processing to gun and ammo businesses. This was done in part by adding these businesses to the "high risk" banking category and by pressuring banks and credit unions with additional audits and oversight if their portfolios contain these types of businesses.
Government by regulation, death by a thousand cuts...
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