The American People 545 PEOPLE stand in our way!!!

This is a bold article. It's not pro Republican or Democrat. It is pro American.

Before November: Please read this… slowly… let it sink in. And PLEASE, please VOTE in November! This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be.

Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day.

HOPING EVERY CITIZEN WILL READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

It's a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

545 PEOPLE -- By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he/she votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.... . The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red...

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ , it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power..

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it........ Is up to you.

Sales Tax
School Tax
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Excise Taxes
Property Tax
Cigarette Tax
Medicare Tax
Inventory Tax
Real Estate Tax
Well Permit Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Inheritance Tax
Road Usage Tax
CDL license Tax
Dog License Tax
State Income Tax
Food License Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Gross Receipts Tax
Social Security Tax
Service Charge Tax
Fishing License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Building Permit Tax
IRS Interest Charges
Hunting License Tax
Marriage License Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Personal Property Tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?

GO AHEAD - - - BE AN AMERICAN!!!

The Crash of 2010 is underway neo-survivalist is the passway to go!!!!!

Gerald Celente joins Goldseek Radio to discuss his latest trend forecasts, economic outlook, and tips on becoming a neo-survivalist.

It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning. - Henry Ford

Send a message to Obama, vote out all incumbents! Starting now, go on a Spending Freeze, spend nothing until after the election, the economy will tank and the Democrats will be voted out.

Vote with Your Wallet! Don’t Spend Money until after November!




Gerald Celente Discusses Latest Trend Forecasts & Neo-Survivalism
Aug 16, 2010

Gerald Celente joins Goldseek Radio to discuss his latest trend forecasts, economic outlook, and tips on becoming a neo-survivalist.

“The Crash of 2010 is underway,” says Celente. He foresees soaring gold prices as the markets go down. Celente believes there are plenty of opportunities out there, specifically with technology for the poor. He says the direction to go into is: less is more.

“This is going to be the age of the entrepreneur because the corporations are going to continue to slash and pay low wages. Those that are going to succeed are going to go out on their own.”

Celente says the only way to save the domestic economy is by buying amongst each each instead of supporting other countries as the US goes down. “The only way this country comes back is when we become a nation of merchants and manufacturers, of craftspeople and tradesmen, not of serfs, servants, and servitude.”

The trends expert gives the following advice on becoming a “Celente neo-survivalist”:

1. Eat high-quality food; buy local and organic
2. Meditate daily to quiet the mind
3. Learn how to protect yourself (i.e. close-combat practicing)
4. Prepare for winter by producing and preserving your own food; become self-sufficient and only spend money on quality
5. Get together with people of like-mind; have a support group for when times get tough
6. Have an escape plan ready to leave your current area

Celente expects the devaluation of the US dollar to occur the next time banks are closed by the government, like after an act of terror. He believes the new 1099 requirement on bullion purchases is the first step towards gold confiscation. Celente says everyone should be investing in themselves, their families, and their friends they believe in.

Gerald Celente of Trends Research Institute believes that the financial reform bill being put forward by Chris Dodd is just more dog and pony show coming out of the District. Mr. Celente does not pull any punches in this interview with Russia Today about the players involved and the massive amount of money that is flowing back and forth between D.C. and Wall Street. He even talks about the $10 million that Dodd has received from the financial sector in five years, and Greg Craig slithering from the White House over to Goldman Sachs to help out. When I read that Politico article, it only made sense that Craig would leave the WH a few months earlier if the big cheeses knew they were going to pull out all the stops to get financial deformity passed. It is such a win-win situation for everybody involved excluding the American people. Goldman agrees to be the sacrificial lamb in order to get this bill passed, they get a WH counsel to ‘defend’ them, Barry moves his main lawyer handling all of his eligibility suits into the WH counsel chair, the bill is shot through the Senate and the banks are forever going to be bailed out AND the government knows everything there is to know financially about every single American (read further). Sounds pretty good to me, unless of course, you are one of US

In Barack Obama's maybe hometown: The Democratic turf battle, "stay off my turf"

The Hawaiian word kuleana roughly translates to turf, as in, "stay off my turf!"

Gangs fight over turf, and so do politicians. It turns out that an internecine Democratic turf battle may just help elect the first Republican to the U.S. Congress from Hawaii in two decades.

The last Republican to hold the seat was former school teacher Pat Saiki, who left the House in 1990 and who now chairs the campaign of the Republican who is trying to change that trend, Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou. He may be sitting in a good spot in a year Republicans hope is good enough to make them competitive -- even in the Aloha State.

The coming special election for Hawaii's 1st Congressional District pits two Democrats -- former Rep. Ed Case (whose cousin is AOL founder Steve Case) and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa -- against the GOP's Djou. What is more, it is winner takes all. There is no primary and no runoff election; whoever has the most votes on May 22 wins.

Further complicating matters for Democrats is that, for internal political reasons, party leaders cannot rally around either of the candidates. House leaders would reportedly like to support Case, but he angered both of Hawaii's U.S. senators when he "primaried" Sen. Daniel Akaka in 2006 and made an issue out of the fact that both Hawaii senators are over the age of 80. Not coincidentally, they are supporting Hanabusa.

"Ed Case has not been respecting U.S. Senator [Daniel] Inouye's kuleana," says Djou. "That's a concept people within the Beltway don't understand -- and that's why the division in this race is so sharp. Both of them dislike me, but they really hate each other."

Although Democrats cannot settle on a candidate, they have settled on a strategy of attacking the Republican interloper. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) recently released a TV ad blasting Djou for signing Americans for Tax Reform's "Taxpayer's Protection Pledge," saying it "protects tax breaks for companies who send jobs overseas." (ATR fired back, calling the claims "false".) Interestingly, the ad itself has actually stoked the Democratic divide. The ad's narrator says, "Hawaii needs a 'Congressman on our side," and some have speculated this may be a signal being sent from the DCCC that it actually prefers former Congressman Case.

Clearly, Democrats are concerned about Djou, as they should be. It appears that the Republicans are running the best candidate the GOP has fielded in years. Djou, 39, started fundraising for this campaign years ago, and has lined up respected advisers such as Web guru Patrick Ruffini and The Tarrance Group, a respected polling firm. His advantages don't end there. Djou tells me he is the only candidate in the race who actually resides in the 1^st District. Nor are those Democrats exactly political giants: Case previously defeated Hanabusa for the 2^nd congressional seat in a 2002 special election. He then abandoned his seat to run against Akaka in 2006. Hanabusa narrowly lost a congressional primary in 2006 in the 2^nd District.

Honolulu is the capital and largest city in Hawaii, and Djou, who serves on the City Council, is well known and highly qualified. He served as minority floor leader in the Hawaii Legislature, has a military background (he serves in the U.S. Army Reserve), is a law professor (on sabbatical at the University of Hawaii). He also is self-deprecating and easy-going -- always a plus in laid-back Hawaii -- and mainstream in his views. He is a fiscal conservative and a social moderate -- something that might harm him in other states, but which benefits him in Hawaii. In other words, he is a difficult candidate for Democrats to demonize.

Despite having a Republican governor, Hawaii is a deep blue state and the birthplace of President Obama. "I actually went to the same high school as the president," says Djou. "Had I known Maya's older brother would grow up to become president, I may well have asked her out to senior prom."

This will be the first-ever all-mail-in election in the state, with ballots being sent out on April 30 (voters have until May 22 to return them, but Djou expects most people will cast ballots during the first few days).

"The campaign is probably going to reach a fever pitch when the ballots are put in the mail to the voters," Djou tells Politics Daily.

Djou says the race is over "whether or not the people want another insider, or someone who's going to shake up the system. My opponents are running as insiders, and I am not." Djou favors a moratorium on earmarks, is a free trader, would have opposed the stimulus, and would have opposed health care reform. Djou is currently trailing both Democrats in the polls, and the National Republican Congressional Committee has not yet committed to coming to his rescue. But if Republicans can win in Massachusetts, then anything is possible.

"If Republicans win Barack Obama's hometown, it is going to make a profound statement about the 2010 midterm election," Djou says.

How can the Republican Party bosses in Washington resist that story line?
http://www.djou.com

Will Sarah Palin Get a Second Chance at the Presidency?

Sarah Palin is a woman who makes things happen and would be a great addition to the federal government, from what I found would make an excellent president.

Sarah Palin was born on February 11, 1964 making her to be 44, and has already been the youngest governor in the United States and the only woman to become governor of Alaska.

Sarah Palin takes a tough stand on wasteful spending and high taxes, when she was on the city council in 1992 in Wasillia she vowed to cut both. She reduced her own salary and even cut property taxes by 40%., showing us she knows what needs to be done and is not afraid to do it.

Sarah Palin ran for governor in 2006, without the mud slinging and she spent far less then her opponent and still won! That was when she was 42, and she was the youngest to hold this position in the country.

Sarah Palin has strongly supported oil resource development in her home state. In light of the high gas prices up there, she wanted to send people a hundred a month to offset those cost, but that measure failed so she instead proposed to send them all 1,200 dollars a year to offset the cost. Again, she is helping the little person, and not big business.

Sarah Palin, is not above firing those who need to be replaced. When the dairy board wanted to close in Alaska, she knew it would hurt the farmers, so she fired them all. The new board of directors reversed the decision to close the creamery and thousands of Alaskan farmers and other people in the state benefited from this move.

Sarah Palin is a take-charge kind of woman and she is exactly what is needed to turn this country around. It would be quite awesome to see her become president after McCain is through with the office.

Sarah Palin won a beauty contest, placed second in the Miss Alaska pageant, and won a scholarship to college where she studied Political science. She was active in basketball in high school, and her family ran in races often. She does have the winning combination of beauty and brains, and she brings this to the office.

Sarah Palin is an only child of Sarah, a school secretary and Charles, a science, and track teacher. She was born in Idaho but the family moved to Alaska when she was an infant.

Sarah Palin married Todd on August 29 1988, and on their 20 wedding anniversary she was nominated for the vice presidency of the United States. Talk about a wedding anniversary present! They were also high school sweethearts who married.

Sarah Palin is the mom of five children, two boys, Track who is 18 and in the Army, Trig who was born April 2008. She and Todd also have three daughters, Bristol who is 17, Willow who is 13, and Piper who is seven. Within three days of having Trig early, she was back to work, and is applauded for choosing to have him knowing he has Down’s syndrome. This says a lot about her as a mom, and a woman that she is not afraid of hard work, as being a mom of a special needs child can be exhausting.

Will Sarah Palin Get a Second Chance at the Presidency?

In order to decide if Sarah Palin has a second shot at the US presidency, one must believe that she had any shot all. John McCain thrust Sarah Palin into the national spotlight with an ill-conceived and premature judgment call. In all likelihood, McCain was begging for women’s votes. Recall that he chose Sarah Palin right after Hillary Clinton dropped out. The ploy was obvious. But, to paraphrase John McCain in the debates, “Sarah Palin is not Hillary Clinton.” Given John McCain’s clear desperation, even that early in the game, one assumes that neither McCain nor Palin were White House bound.

Let’s give the Republican running mate a slide and say that Sarah Palin was in legitimate running for Vice President. Her “roguish” behavior and her inability to form simple sentences should disqualify her from future presidential consideration. Oh, wait for it, who can forget our current leader of the free world. Apparently, sentence formation is not a disqualifying criterion. Even so, Palin’s aerial gunning, bride of Bloomingdales, Joe-Six-Pack, “First Dude, and unbridled gullibility (think punked and French President Sarkozy) perhaps indicate that she is too much a woman of the people. The question must be asked, “Do we want (another) creature of such rabid self-interest, shooting off her big mouth on the world stage, from the podium of this country? Sarah Palin may not even survive her political ambitions in Alaska.

Moving forward to a terrible future in which Sarah Palin either is chosen as a running mate and the candidate wins the Presidency or in which Palin is voted “First Babe,” imagine possible scenarios. Sarah Palin, through fortune’s whim, is President of the United States of America! The deficit, finally brought by President Obama into numbers that human beings can comprehend, is catapulted into whatever comes after “trillion.” The reason? Madame President’s exclusive wardrobe. With jewelry made from endangered whale bones, gloves designed out of the tiny pelts of baby seals and wolf pups, and a unique facial treatment that relies on ground elephant tusks and tiger eyes (the actual eyes), the cost of maintaining Ms. Palin has bloated the Federal budget beyond redemption. There are the awkward and unsolicited winks at Ayatollahs and other Muslim clerics. There’s a fatwa on our President’s head. The First Dude and the President of France come to blows over the good lady’s honor and the first Saturday of every odd-numbered month is keg night at the White House. Former President George Bush is in charge of the pump. Gotta keep a good foam-to-beer ratio. Of course, every American looks forward to the televised coast-to-coast witch hunts and exorcisms of demon liberals.

In a rational universe, Sarah Palin will fade and recede like the polar icecaps. Is the universe rational? Ask Schrodinger’s Cat. Does Sarah Palin has a second chance at the US presidency? Of course she does. With the right big money, a wink and a nod, anyone can be President of the United States of America.

I definitely believe Sarah Palin will get a second chance at becoming a United States President. While no one can argue that Sarah Palin brought a certain freshness to the Presidential Campaign, with it she also encountered much bias that men never encounter. Did anyone ask Obama how much his shoes cost or how often he went shopping? Maybe they should have asked how much time he spends playing basketball. That is as relevant to being President as the questions put to Sarah Palin.

When will women in politics be measured by their accomplishments rather than their wardrobe? After seeing how Sarah was raked across the coals for absurd things such as clothing and shopping, this is something that needs dire attention. Women need to receive the same respect and be held accountable for the same things.

I do not think that she will fade back into the background now that she has a taste of the big race. She has a lot of options now that she did not have prior to accepting the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee. For instance, just by signing with the Washington Speakers Bureau, Palin will be the most sought after speaker on the American lecture circuit overnight.

With that said, I do think that Sarah Palin will run for President of the United States. Depending on how happy the citizens of the United States are with the job that President Elect Obama does, the time may be ripe for Sarah Palin to run. The fact that a minority achieved Presidency, which in itself is an accomplishment, will be a benefit to a woman seeking the position of President. We tend to swing from one extreme to the other in the United States.

I think the main thing is that Sarah Palin will have to remain in sight and active within the lower 48 states. She will have to have some goals to achieve and show that she is able to meet those goals for the U.S. citizens. I think that it is a trust issue that people will have to actually see that she will do what she sets out to do. This will give her a big boost in seeking the Presidency.

As pointed out, she needs to really study up on U.S. politics and world geography. She is very smart and needs to know her stuff because they will constantly test her knowledge of these things. The more she knows the better off she will be.

Sarah Palin comes from a modest background and knows what it is like to have to work for what she has. She was not born with a silver spoon in her mouth. That really appeals to voters like myself.

I definitely think that Sarah Palin has a chance to become President of the United States. Timing is everything. She would take care of women’s rights, special needs children, keep a Christian perspective, and put the United States back on the map as a country not to be reckoned with. She appeals to political conservatism because she embraces Christian beliefs. Sarah Palin’s Christian background is something that Christians who hold the Bible to be the absolute truth are looking for. She is not afraid to speak out about her beliefs about God and Christian beliefs. I find that quality very appealing.

In America your always given second chances and former vice president candidate Sarah Palin will be afforded that as well. Palin for many was a fresh face with new ideas that energized many from her party, but also alienated some of the old school people who still are not ready for change. Most likely Palin will head back to Alaska and finish being Governor and a run at the White House looks to be in her cards again. This powerful Governor from Alaska learned a lot on the campaign trail from what you can say and what you cannot. Many times she did not realize how cruel the press or people can be, but now she has a firm grasp on the situation and what she will need to do to make a run at White House.

Sarah Palin now understands what it takes to make the push to get to the highest office in the land and behind the scenes she is probably planning her moves so when the time is right she will announce it. The Republican party right now is in disarray and is the perfect time for Sarah Palin to lay the ground work for a run at the White House. Many people though were not happy with some of the things she did and mending some fences inside the party will be Palin’s first order of business. Throughout the campagin for vice-president she was tagged with the name Diva which she will need to overcome if she wants the masses of people to give her a second look. American people want someone they can identify with and once she appeals to a larger group of people her popularity will soar even higher than it already is.

Politics is a very funny business and Sarah Palin now understands that and what sacrifices she will need to make to become the next President Of The United States. She will have an uphill battle, but the one thing we learned about Palin is she is a fighter and works hard for things she believes in. Americans are a very forgiving Nation and will give her the second chance she wants. The next move will be up to her and how she proceeds with it. Look for a new improved Sarah Palin to hit the campaign trail in the next couple of years. The experience she gained this year will go a long way in defining who she will be in the future. Just as Barack Obama before her Sarah Palin can make history as well. I know I would not bet against this small dynamo from Alaska who came out of nowhere to be a household name in just a few months. Remember the name Sarah Palin as she could be the next President Of The United States.

http://msfrw.com/sarahp/will-sarah-palin-get-a-second-chance-at-the-presidency-part-2/

Chairman Obama Social Security Conundrum

Silver Tsunami: The Social Security Conundrum
By Paul Menchaca

Last May, Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue met with Financial Planning during a trip to New York to promote the $250 recovery payments that were being issued to people who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income.

Astrue emphasized the importance of reforming the government insurance program, but also sought to dispel the common notion that Social Security is in danger of going bankrupt.

Using the latest figures, Asture said that Social Security is expected to be solvent until 2041, but even when it reaches “insolvency” there will still be money to pay out benefits. These benefits, however, would only be roughly 78% of the current benefits.

Not great, but also not nearly as dire a scenario as many had been projecting.

But two significant factors appear to be accelerating the projection for when the program will reach insolvency since our interview with Astrue last spring.

One is a better understanding of the extent to which the recession took a toll on the retirement system. Secondly, growing concerns about the impact a massive wave of retiring baby boomers will soon have on Social Security.

Of course, experts have been concerned about boomers impact on our retirement system for decades, but the unease has only intensified since the first wave of boomers started collecting Social Security three years ago.

So where does the program stand today? Social Security’s surplus is now expected to last until 2037, four years fewer than Astrue estimated in May. In addition, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported in September that the program will be operating at a deficit in 2010 and 2011 — the Congressional Budget Office sees costs exceeding tax revenues by $10 billion this year and by $9 billion next year.

The onsalught of ominous data carries with it a flood of dire media reports. Astrue maintains that a crisis does not loom and others agree.

“Alarmists who claim that Social Security won’t be around when today’s young workers retire misunderstand or misrepresent the [Social Security and Medicare Board of Trustees’] projections,” Kathy Ruffing, of the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, told CNBC.

But despite these assurances, Americans should be concerned about the future of Social Security. The recession, which has led many to retire early and claim benefits, has certainly hurt. The millions of boomers heading toward retirement no doubt have to be taken seriously as a problem to be dealt with. But what is most alarming about the future health of Social Security is the current health of Congress.

To understand how far away we appear to be from seeing serious Social Security reform, we need only look back to the last time the program faced a major crisis. In 1981, President Reagan and Congress assigned a bipartisan commission with the task of saving Social Security from bankruptcy. The National Commission on Social Security Reform — or the Greenspan Commission, so named because Allen Greenspan served as its chair — issued a report in 1983 that became the basis for a $168 billion package signed into law by Reagan.

The amendments passed that year not only stemmed the short-term crisis of funding that loomed over Social Security, they also assured that 1983 would be the last year Congress cut benefits. The program has run on a surplus ever since.

What is astonishing to consider in this era of unprecedented political partisanship is the degree to which the amendments Reagan signed off on forged a compromise between the wishes of both Republicans and Democrats. Not only did the package include a cut in benefits, it also came with a tax increase.

Fast forward to today and the U.S. Senate voted last month against a proposal to form a bipartisan commission that would look into concerns over Social Security’s solvency—not to mention the fiscal problems facing Medicaid and Medicare. The same kind of bipartisan commission, mind you, that President Reagan and Congress formed to essentially save Social Security back in the 80s.

Meanwhile, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has unveiled his seemingly Newt Gingrich-inspired “Roadmap for America’s Future” which seeks, among other proposals, to privatize Social Security. This is a plan that failed President Bush in 2005 and will likely fail Ryan as well.

Critics of the privatization plan see it as being akin to playing poker with people’s savings. The market collapse in 2008 will only add fuel to the opposition’s fire.

Astrue is probably correct when he says that Social Security is in no imminent danger. Its long-term solvency, however, is going to require that Republicans and Democrats sit down at a table together and hammer out a solid plan for reforming the program. Which is why the endless political dogma driving Congress today could be the real threat to Social Security’s solvency.