Comments for Questions for America

Comment on Why isn’t the the government testing for Mercury etc…, from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? by Ken Hill

Ken Hill — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:07:34 +0000

Perhaps some can remember when mercurochrome and merthiolate were standard items in the home medicine cabinet and in doctor’s offices.

Comment on Why isn’t the the government testing for Mercury etc…, from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico? by Ken Hill

Ken Hill — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:12:29 +0000

First it was asbestos, now it is lead in older homes. Lawyers made fortunes on asbestos, government is cashing in on lead. Mercury will be perhaps the next panic when lead has ceased to produce big bucks. How did we survive these things back 60 years ago and since then?

Comment on New Mortgage Rules by Ken Hill

Ken Hill — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:30:09 +0000

As so often happens, rules create as many problems as they solve. Seller financing is now punishable by fines of $25,000. If the seller is Federally licensed, no such penalty. So one way for folks to sell and buy houses is now gone. Helps neither buyers nor sellers.

Comment on Ross Douthat on Class and Generational Conflict by Jon A Firebaugh

Jon A Firebaugh — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:49:02 +0000

Ross Douthat: “This isn’t just a corporate welfare problem. The same pattern is at work in our entitlement system, which is lurching toward bankruptcy in part because of how much Medicare and Social Security pay to seniors who could get along without assistance. Instead of a safety net that protects the elderly from poverty, we have a system in which the American taxpayer is effectively underwriting cruises and tee times.”

Now that’s pure unadulterated BS. Social Security at least was enacted initially as an “annuity” type of program. You pay your money in and you have an income later. As a matter of fact, people with earned income over a certain amount will pay income tax on their SS benefits, in esseance paying a portion of their benefits back into the system. SS was never meant to pay out only to those in poverty. There are other programs that are “safety nets”, but SS was conceived basically as a “forced savings”.

Does Douthat see himself as the authority on where the line gets drawn? Who decides where the cutoff is?

Comment on Profound Obama Gulf Spill Mash Up: Rolling Stone and The New York Times by Fec

Fec — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:10:28 +0000

Thanks. At the very least, Salazar should be replaced.

Comment on History Repeats? by charlie jr

charlie jr — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:13:04 +0000

if the recovery is strong, why are 6 states in the US with budgets larger than Greece more upside down than that country?

Comment on North Carolina Tax Refund Delays? by Mike Cannon

Mike Cannon — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:26:02 +0000

Well I dont know what Ken Lay is talking about as far as there being no delays. I filed my taxes in Jan 2010 and still did not get my refund which is not big enough to make a dent in their budget. Not sure who they paid these refunds to unless they are state officials and their families. Lots of people I know filed around the same time and still have not received their refund..

Let us tell Raleigh that we do not have the money to pay our taxes and we will pay it as soon as we can afford it. Think that will work?? NOT! What makes them think it’s OK for them to hold our money????

Comment on Does the U.S. Constitution allow the government to require citizens to pay privately held entities for health insurance, and levy fines and/or taxes if they refuse? by Mike

Mike — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:30:49 +0000

Your argument is flawed only because the government already makes it mandatory to purchase car insurance. So I can substitute the word car for health and use the same argument. The government should not be able to force me to buy car insurance. If they would just work on that tort reform and limit what a jury can award a person for me hitting their car that would lower the current insurance premiums. Oh wait purchase car insurance across state lines. You say I can already do this, but I can’t live in New York City and get the insurance rates for Middle of Nowhere, SC. Now I may not agree with everything in this bill and think it could be better, but we can’t make it better if we don’t participate. So come on guys. What are we really talking about. Why are we really mad.

Comment on Generational warfare coming soon to a country near you? by Drive By Poster

Drive By Poster — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 18:56:55 +0000

So, we’ve made promises to people that they will recieve an impossibly high payout on their investments (pensions, social security). We pulled it off as long as there was a growing base providing fresh funding. We used the fresh funding to pay the old promises…. I believe there is a name for this type of scheme – Ponzi.

Guess it’s time to wake up and realize the biggest Ponzi scheme ever wasn’t run by Bernard Madoff but by the governments of the ‘developed’ nations.

Well, it’s here – the downturn that forces the Ponzi into the open… Hope you weren’t counting on your unreasonable rates of return (pensions) to help you retire.

Cheers

Comment on On Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy etc…: Have the educated underemployed instigated most rebellions? by Is Greece California? (Deflation Edition) « Questions for America

Is Greece California? (Deflation Edition) « Questions for America — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:24:39 +0000

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