WELCOME TO OPINIONS BASED ON FACTS (OBOF)
&
THINGS YOU MAY
HAVE MISSED (TYMHM)
YEAR ONE
YEAR TWO
YEAR THREE
YEAR FOUR
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OBOF YEAR FOUR INDEX
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-01
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Jan. 02, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-02
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Jan. 09, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-03
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Jan. 15, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-04
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Jan. 24, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-05
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JAN 30, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-06
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Feb. 06, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-06 EXTRA
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Feb. 09, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-07
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Feb. 13, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-08
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Feb. 21, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-09
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Feb. 27, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-10
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Mar. 08, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-11
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Mar. 13, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-11 EXTRA
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Mar. 15, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-12
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Mar. 21, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-13
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Mar. 29, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-14
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Apr. 03, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-15
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Apr. 12, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-16
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Apr. 19, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-17
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Apr. 26, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-18
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May 03,
2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-19
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May 10,
2014
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OBOF TYMHM PART 14-20
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May 20,
2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 21
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May 28, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - Ho 22
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June 10, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 23
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June 20, 2014
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noteOBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 24
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July 04, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 25
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Aug. 04, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 26
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Aug. 25, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 27
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Sept. 03, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 28
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Sept. 10, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 29
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Sept. 14, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 30
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Sept. 21, 2014
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OBOF TYMHM Vol 14 - No 31
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Sept. 29, 2014
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Agenda
1.
NEW EVIDENCE - - Social Security Trust Fund
This one is a real boom shell.
2.
Harvard Business School
3.
Make big bucks doing nothing.
The Great Social Security
Robbery
NEW EVIDENCE
By ALLEN W. SMITH
By ALLEN W. SMITH
Published: Sunday, September 28, 2014
FROM: Floyd:
The internet is putting a bunch of nothings right after the heading "New Evidence. I can't get it out so please ignore it. Thanks.
I knew there was a
reason for being so late this week. It
was so I could include this first article, which just came out
NOW, I have included a
number of articles written by Dr. Allen W. Smith and they have all been good
and told the results of 14 years of his life, researching to status of Social
Security.
However, what is in
this article is really a boom shell. It
PROVIDES, BEYOND ANY DOUBT, what has happened to the Social Security TRUST FUND
and it FURTHER PROVIDES CONFIRMATION OF WHAT DR. ALLEN HAS BEEN SAYING FOR 14
YEARS.
~
The primary Social
Security problem is that $2.7 trillion of the money that is supposed to be in
the trust fund is missing.
If the
government had not taken the surplus revenue from Social Security and used it
as a slush fund for non-Social Security purposes, there would be no short-term
Social Security problem today. The
obvious solution to this problem would be for the government to repay the
Social Security revenue, which it embezzled over a 25-year period.
Former
Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner, wrote about the slush fund in his book,
"Stress Test."
Geithner
wrote. "In
treating Social Security like a slush fund, the federal government has
borrowed, spent and vowed to pay back the $2.5 trillion or so ‘surplus' in
payroll tax revenue it has siphoned out of Social Security. The money has been spent, but the federal
government has promised to pay it back."
As secretary of the
treasury, Geithner also held the post of Managing Trustee of the Social
Security Trustees. He signed the annual
Social Security trustees' reports and played a major role in determining the
content of the reports. Absolutely
nobody has a better understanding of how Social Security has operated in recent
years than Geithner.
By
explaining the operation of Social Security in his book, Geithner has publicly
stated that the federal government has: (1)
"siphoned" the surplus payroll tax revenue "out of Social
Security," and (2) the government has treated "Social Security like a
slush fund." Geithner became a "whistleblower" when he included
this important information in his book.
Why are
we not hearing proposals for repaying the looted Social Security money in order
to strengthen Social Security? The answer is that few Americans know anything
about the $2.7 trillion debt, and the government wants to keep it that way.
Every
member of Congress knows all about the looted money, and most of them
participated in the looting. It is not a
partisan thing. Republicans and
Democrats are equally responsible for the quarter-century of misappropriation
of Social Security money. It has been a
taboo subject for years, and most media people have just turned a blind eye to
the crime.
The
Social Security trust fund holds no real assets. The IOUs that some call "trust-fund
bonds" are not real bonds. They are
not marketable, so they cannot be converted into cash or used to pay benefits. The IOUs are a pledge made by our government
that we, the people, will pay enough additional taxes in the future to redeem
the $2.7 trillion in government IOUs.
The $2.7
trillion debt must be repaid in order for Social Security to remain solvent in
the short run. Since much of the surplus revenue from the payroll
tax hike ended up in the pockets of the super rich in the form of large
income-tax cuts, those people who benefited most from the Social Security scam
should be the ones who pay higher taxes to repay the debt.
The baby
boomers have already paid enough taxes to cover the cost of their benefits. They should not be required to pay twice,
which is exactly what would happen if the repayment of the looted money is
financed with an increase in the payroll tax.
Allen W.
Smith has devoted much of his adult life to battling economic illiteracy and
promoting economic education. He taught economics to college students for 30
years before retiring as professor of economics from Eastern Illinois
University
Robert Reich
NationofChange
/ Op-Ed
Published:
Sunday 14 September 2014
No institution is more responsible for educating the CEOs of American
corporations than Harvard Business School – inculcating in them a set of ideas
and principles that have resulted in a pay gap between CEOs and ordinary
workers that’s gone from 20-to-1 fifty years ago to almost 300-to-1 today.
A survey,
released on September 6, of 1,947 Harvard
Business School
As the authors of the survey conclude, such a divergence is
unsustainable. Without a large and growing middle class, Americans won’t
have the purchasing power to keep U.S.
Unfortunately, the authors neglected to include a
discussion about how Harvard
Business School
A half-century ago, CEOs typically managed companies for the benefit of all
their stakeholders – not just shareholders, but also their employees,
communities, and the nation as a whole.
“The job of management,” proclaimed Frank Abrams, chairman of Standard Oil
of New Jersey
This view was a
common view among chief executives of the
time. Fortune magazine urged CEOs to become “industrial statesmen.” And to a large extent, that’s what they
became.
For thirty years after World War II, as American corporations
prospered, so did the American middle class. Wages rose and benefits increased. American
companies and American citizens achieved a virtuous cycle of higher profits
accompanied by more and better jobs.
But starting in the late 1970s, a new
vision of the corporation and the role of CEOs emerged –
prodded by corporate “raiders,” hostile takeovers, junk bonds, and leveraged
buyouts. Shareholders began to predominate over other stakeholders.
And CEOs began to view their primary role as driving up share prices. To
do this, they had to cut costs – especially payrolls, which constituted their
largest expense.
Corporate statesmen were replaced by something more like corporate
butchers, with their nearly exclusive focus being to “cut out the fat” and “cut
to the bone.”
In consequence, the compensation packages of CEOs and other top executives
soared, as did share prices. But
ordinary workers lost jobs and wages, and many communities were abandoned.
Almost all the gains from growth went to the top.
The results were touted as being “efficient,” because resources were
theoretically shifted to “higher and better uses,” to use the dry language of
economics.
But the human costs of this transformation have been substantial, and the
efficiency benefits have not been widely shared. Most workers today are no
better off than they were thirty years ago, adjusted for inflation. Most are
less economically secure.
So it would seem worthwhile for the faculty and students of Harvard
Business School, as well as those at every other major business school in
America, to assess this transformation, and ask whether maximizing shareholder
value – a convenient goal now that so many CEOs are paid with stock options –
continues to be the proper goal for the modern corporation.
Can an enterprise be truly successful in a society becoming ever more
divided between a few highly successful people at the top and a far larger
number who are not thriving?
For years, some of the nation’s most talented young people have flocked to Harvard Business School
Their educations represent a substantial social investment; and their
intellectual and creative capacities, a precious national and global resource.
But given that so few in our society – or even in other advanced nations –
have shared in the benefits of what our largest corporations and Wall Street
entities have achieved, it must be asked whether the social return on such an
investment has been worth it, and whether these graduates are making the most
of their capacities in terms of their potential for improving human well-being.
These questions also merit careful examination at Harvard and other elite
universities. If the answer is not a resounding yes, perhaps we should ask
whether these investments and talents should be directed toward “higher and
better” uses.
This essay originally appeared in the
Harvard Business
Review’s blog.
ABOUT Robert Reich
ROBERT B.
REICH, one of the nation’s leading experts on work and the economy, is
Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy
at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national
administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill
Clinton. Time Magazine has named him one of
the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including his
latest best-seller, “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America
and blu-ray, and on Netflix in February.
and blu-ray, and on Netflix in February.
~~~
Make Big Bucks in Government,
Do
Absolutely Nothing
Authors:
Michael Payne
| NationofChange Op-Ed
Published:
September 28, 2014
At one point in time,
Congress was for the people. Now, most
in Congress are interested in corporate money, power, and influence.
Want a
soft, cushy job with a great salary and the best of benefits and lots of perks?
One in which there are no specific
objectives to meet and you don’t have to answer to anyone; a job where you can
come and go as you please and work whenever you wish? Well, then the perfect job for you is to
become a member of the United
States
Where in
this country could someone find a position with an annual salary of $174,000,
one for which there are few if any qualifications or credentials required? Unlike
most management-type jobs in America
.
Sure, the
members of this Congress must swear to uphold the Constitution, they are
responsible for enacting legislation (what a + appointing federal judges, as
well as other associated duties. But aside from meeting a few deadlines there
is nothing that you must do to hold
your job. The only curbs on your actions
and those of your fellow members occur when legislation is passed that is,
thereafter, ruled to be unconstitutional.
What is
it like to have no boss and answer to no one? Well, the American people used to be the boss
over Congress but that was before that government sector was taken over by
corporate money and power and the system became so thoroughly corrupted.
So these
politicians really have it made, they are living in a kind of political Utopia
or political heaven. Not a care in the
world, just sit back, collect enormous salaries and when criticized or even
condemned for their incompetence and lack of progress on this country’s
critical problems they can just say, in the words of Alfred E. Neuman of Mad
Magazine, “What me worry?
Qualifications for
becoming a member of Congress:
No one
under the age of 25 may serve in the House of Representatives, and no one under
the age of 30 may serve in the Senate.
Members
of the House of Representatives must have lived within the United States United States
In
addition to being required to live inside the country, Congressional
representatives must also inhabit the state that they wish to represent.
Must
members possess a college degree? No,
absolutely not. Not even a major in Political Science or Law or Economics, as
one might expect, is required. And,
believe it or not, members of this institution don’t even have to have a high
school diploma.
Now let’s
take a look at those generous salaries, benefits and perks:
Salaries of Members of the
U.S.
|
Members of the House
and Senate – $174,000
Majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate – $193,400 Speaker of the House – $223,500A cost-of-living-adjustment (COLA) increase takes effect annually unless Congress votes to not accept it. It’s common knowledge that these politicians receive excellent health and pension benefits, generous allowances for expenses and travel, and can earn income from outside activities. So, let’s say that these combined annual salaries of the 435 members of the House and 100 senators amount to about $95 million, plus their pensions and those perks. Does anyone think that is money well spent? It would be if they, collectively, did something of substance to earn it, but for this Congress you might do better to, instead, throw it down the toilet.
Now what about work days?
Congress in-session schedule for 2014 is as follows: the
House will be in session a paltry 113 days and the Senate schedule is for 175
days. That’s a lot of time off for
those who don’t do much even when they are in session. And if anyone thinks
all those days off are used extensively for meeting with constituents then
think again because these politicians are really out there working hard to
stuff more money into their campaign coffers.
Of course, it would be wrong to paint them all with the
same brush. There are two outstanding Senators, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie
Sanders who do a great job trying to address and solve problems and work in
the best interests of the American people. And there are about 5 others who really try
to earn their salaries; but after that the
rest, based on the records, do nothing of any significance or meaning and
just continue to draw their money for doing nothing.
The
worst of them are what we might refer to as obstructionists, those that are
determined to keep Congress in a state of gridlock. And then there are those who may not be that
bad but they just sit there, don’t create and promote any kind of meaningful
legislation and contribute nothing to the process. They are just taking up
space and cheating American taxpayers.
Warren
and Sanders are like two voices crying in the wilderness because most of
their associates in Congress are not listening. These two senators are raising issues and
making recommendations that Mr. Obama should be making, but he quite
evidently has lost any interest; and, besides, he is very busy letting
What
are the key issues that these lazy, do-nothing “representatives of the
people” are not addressing, let alone solving?
Job creation
Strengthening the economy Immigration reform Corporate and individual tax reform Climate Change/global warming New sources of energy development National infrastructure repair and rebuilding Minimum Wage Gross Inequality of wealth and income in America Campaign finance reform Regulation and oversight of the banking industry Appropriate oversight of the CIA and the NSA Veterans’ health care Highway trust fund shortfall Long term unemployment benefits Budget deficit, rising national debt
Every
one of these issues is of vital importance to this nation’s well being and
stability. And, yet most of them
languish on the backburner of this Congress, out of sight, out of mind. As a result, they are all festering and
growing worse each and every day?
We
desperately need to create jobs for Americans but nothing is being done;
Immigration reform is a complex issue but there are solutions if there were
compromises; our tax code system for individuals and corporations badly needs
restructuring but Congress looks the other way even as more and more
corporations use “tax inversion” tactics as a loophole to significantly
reduce their taxes. Our roads, bridges
and electrical grids are rapidly deteriorating; the problem is totally
ignored.
Talk
about honor, integrity and ethics; loyalty to your country. This is a Congress in which the large
majority of its members no longer adhere to those time-honored principles.
Corporate money, power and influence rule the day in the halls of this
Congress. Its appalling behavior represents a dark stain on our democracy.
What in
the world can the American people do to get these members of Congress to do
their jobs, to earn their salaries by working on legislation that is
critically important to this country? That’s
a question that is very difficult to answer and it’s the main reason why this
country is regressing so badly and in such a state of decline.
Would
you like to be a member of this Congress, have this terrific job, a great
salary, benefits, and perks and have to do absolutely nothing to hold onto
it? Personally I could never do that because my conscience would let me know
that I am betraying my country and its people by completely failing to carry
out the responsibilities with which they have entrusted me. I would feel dirty and ashamed at what I
have allowed myself to become.
|
~~~
If the good Lord is willing and the
creek don't rise, I'll talk with you again next week.
God Bless You All
&
God Bless the United
States of America
Floyd
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