Entitlement programs

[Saltie]

Without taking a position on entitlement programs I think that we can all agree that all of these programs are a huge part of our budget and growing. What can we do about it? Do you think we have to do anything or do we just try and find the funds to keep them going in their present state.

One example of a program that has been growing exponentialy is the "war on poverty"  Back in 1964 Lyndon Johnson launched the war on poverty. Since the we have spent over $16 trillion on the war, with very little results. 47,791,996 people were on the  food stamp program in the month of December 2012. The largest number ever.

By 2008 there were over 1800 federaly subsidized programs and then we passed the affordable health care law. So the question is do we need all these programs. If so how do we pay for them?

[Lifesighs]

The biggest entitlement programs are to the oil companies, the insurance companies and other corporations. They make billions in profits and we (us government) give them humungus tax breaks.

[LoveLife&Laughter]

I'd say the biggest GOP entitlement programs are to the 1%.  Republicans want to give more to the 1% at the expense of the 99%.  Is this lop-sided thinking or what?

[Saltie]

Good argument LLL. Next you'll blame Bush. Just as a point of fact, who was it (which party) that came up with Medicare, medicaid, head start, social security, 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, affordable health care, and those are just the major programs. So tell us how the 1% are responsible for those?

[LoveLife&Laughter]

1. We blame Bush for the Great Recession, squandering the surplus, and the deficit.
2. Medicare is not an Entitlement.  Employees and employers pay Medicare tax withholding (1.45%) not the government.
3. Medicaid is the only Entitlement Program SH mentioned.  Medicaid was created as an entitlement program to help states provide medical coverage for low-income families and other categorically related individuals who meet eligibility requirements. Candidates include the blind, aged, disabled and pregnant women.
4. Social Security is not an Entitlement.  Employees and employers pay Social Security tax Social Security tax withholding (6.2% up to the annual maximum) not the government
5. Unemployment is not an Entitlement.  Employers pay unemployment taxes to their state who, in turn, pays the benefits to qualified unemployed workers not the government. 
6. Health Care Insurance is paid for by Employee and/or Employer not the government
7. Head Start is paid for by taxpayers who also pay for Christian Private School Vouchers; Bush is to blame for that JFBS.

[LoveLife&Laughter]

[Merry]

HMMMMM  I guess you could say that at one point or another because of domestic violence I've lived in a variety of different social strata. I think of it as being well rounded, knowing what it's like to have waiters appear out of nowhere to pour my water at the Rainbow Room in NYC and also knowing what it's like to eat at Sal's. Yes, I've eaten at the Salvation Army too.

Based on my experiences in life, I say the solutions lie in improving the situation by percentages. By making it possible to get ahead in life by being responsible on whatever level a person can manage. Ask yourself whether or not the average person is rewarded for effort in our society. If someone in a housing project can be cut into a percentage of the savings by being more careful about how much utilities they use would that help the overall picture?  I'm speaking from personal experience. Having brought the cold around the sink in the kitchen to the building manager's attention and been completely ignored only to have the pipe freeze later on in the month. Something simple like that and not that expensive , right? It's the trends that are eating up the cash. The maintenance guy wasn't very interested in why the area around the sink was cold, he fixed the pipe and it was all business as usual. I pushed it with them and the new guy figured out what the problem was. The inner window was in three parts. We thought it was a single but the large storm window that was just one big piece wasn't down for the winter. He had to get up on the sink and put his hands through the windows on the far left and right to close the storm window. And the pipes didn't freeze again.

If you consistently reward people for being dysfunctional than that's what our society will have. Conversely if you reward people for being heartless than that's what you'll have too.  For example Howie Carr show has said a number of times that white women are being targeted for gang rape in Boston. But if a victim of gang rape is unable to work and whips out an E.B.T. card and buys a cookie without announcing her plight to all the republicans in the store all hell is breaking loose inside of those people.  Makes me shiver just thinking about it.

[Dennis Barsten]

The word is you either got it or you don't...

[Ioruach]

Obviously, one of the most important tasks of our elected representatives in a rich, civilized society is to provide a reasonable sustenance, a safety net if you will, for those citizens who need it---the poor, disabled, elderly and such groups.  It would be barbaric not to do so.  And to do it as efficiently and at as low a cost as possible.  

But we just aren’t there yet.  There are many ways that we are lacking.  For me, the best example is our health care system.  I expect that most of us here are familiar with the reports of how we in America fall short when compared with Canada and other Western nations when health outcomes are compared.  Another example is in the realm of education. Too many minorities are left along the wayside.  Granted, there are social issues at work there, but that’s a story for another day.

Yet our elected representatives seem either unwilling or unable to address these issues.  With our disfunctional congress today, one wonders if we will ever start moving forward again or whether these representatives even give a damn. I may be biased, but I believe that the right wing of the republican party bears the most responsibility for this.   I think I’ll have a martini or two.

[ProblemAgain]

Entitlement programs

    Posted by Saltie on March 11, 2013 at 12:50pm in FREEDOM of SPEECH

By 2008 there were over 1800 federaly subsidized programs and then we passed the affordable health care law. So the question is do we need all these programs. If so how do we pay for them?


 Reply by Saltie yesterday

    Here's a list of some 1600 programs

    http://funding-programs.idilogic.aidpage.com/


funny how, under questioning, 200 programs already slid off the cracker. now the question is which programs would cod eliminate? and why? there seems to be a nice hint of selfrighteousness and ignorance.
how bout crop insurance? eliminate that? or  dairy price supports so the nation has dairy farms and reasonable prices for milk for the kiddies? or would it be better to let the prices fluctuate and fasrmers go broke, pour milk out into ditches cause the cost of transport is more than it is worth.... correction staff training?? who needs that? credit union examining to make sure they are legit and solvent? fuck'em if they invest poorly like they thought it was goldman sachs..oh wait they got bailout money too didn't they?  are costplus defense contracts an entitlement? and yet they can't build planes that fly at 240 million bucks per copy....or how bout the sba? i mean really...if you can't cough up the money to start your own business.....farm loans?  the list goes on forever...
  for every program you can point to, there is some justification for that program or it wouldn't have passed. the hard part is figuring out what is needed, works and is fundable and actually provides recompense commensurate with the govt investing in the program

but it's lots easier to whine and blame the poor and not the rich, to blame immigrants and not corporations...that's what happens when simple people want simple solutions for complicated issues...throw the baby out with the bathwater as it were...the same as blaming the postal service for being in the red when actually it was a particularly stupid act of congress that caused the postal service to BE in the red

[ProblemAgain]

anyone actually look at the list that cod provided...the abandoned mine program...hmmm maybe they shoulda had a bill that made the owners of the mine responsible for any and all abatement costs? and if they are out of business? tough shit...drink the contaminated water etc...

Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (AMLR) Program

Published on AidPage by IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005

Data sources: Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), Grants.gov

Administered by:

US Federal Government Agency (see all agencies)
Department of the Interior , Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
CFDA #: 15.252

See Latest Grant Opportunities for this funding program

Purpose of this program:

To protect the public and correct the environmental damage caused by coal and noncoal mining practices that occurred prior to August 3, 1977.

or this? kinda nice to have well trained specialty nurses you think?

Advanced Education Nursing Traineeships

Published on AidPage by IDILOGIC on Jun 24, 2005

Data sources: Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA), Grants.gov

Administered by:

US Federal Government Agency (see all agencies)
Department of Health and Human Services , Health Resources and Services Administration
CFDA #: 93.358

Purpose of this program:

Grants are awarded to eligible institutions to provide financial support through traineeships for registered nurses enrolled in advanced education nursing programs to prepare nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, nurse administrators, nurse educators, public health nurses and nurses in other specialties determined by the Secretary to require advanced education.

suffice it to say the list goes on and on and on...SOME PEOPLE don't seem to get the concept of a society being the sum of its parts, the very same people who bitch about taxes for schools since they don't have kids in school anymore

[LoveLife&Laughter]

" Reply by Saltie 1 hour ago (1500 PDT 03/18.2013)

And another from the peanut gallery joins in. Why must liberal a-holes always name call?"

Saltie, this is your last warning.  Stop your childish name calling.

[The Dyslexic Dodger]

Glad yuo cuaght that bit irony LLL. i was luaghing wen I raed the sentance-

"Why must liberal a-holes always name call?"