Random Thoughts

RANDOM THOUGHTS

Obama’s constant talk about “Millionaires and Billionaires” needing to pay higher taxes is not a joke. If the income tax rate were raised to 100% on millionaires and billionaires it would not cover the Trillions the government is spending. When the tax rate on the highest incomes in 1921 was 73% it brought in less revenue than after it was lowered to 24% in 1925. Obviously high taxes do not bring in as much revenue as lower taxes. With a high tax rate the wealthy will simply put their money in Tax Free Bonds to avoid the high tax rate. So let’s do away with Tax Free Bonds, then the cost to finance local and state projects will dry up! The wealthy are the ones who invest and create jobs. Most working class people do not have options as their tax is taken out of their paycheck before they get it. Higher tax rates make good political talk, but it will not create jobs and bring revenue into the government. When the tax rates have been cut it results in more tax revenue being collected. Obama is not being realistic and is creating “Class Warfare” in this country. I like the saying, “I have never had a job from a man that was poor”!

SOCIAL SECURITY The Obama administration says there is no problem with Social Security. The Congressional Budget Office says that unless adjustments are made that Social Security will go broke in time. Let’s face it, there is not a Social Security Trust Fund. During the Johnson administration the government started taking the money out of the fund to pay current expenses. They then put into the “Trust Fund” IOU notes. They have issued “Special Issue” bonds to cover what they took out. These “Special Issue” bonds are worthless. Can it be fixed? Yes! We can cut payments to the truly wealthy. We can slowly raise the retirement age. These two steps will help. We should then start putting the money back into the fund.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING is out of control. Almost all of us can agree on this. Moves have been made in Congress to cut spending, but to little avail. We need to face the fact that we can not continue to spend more than we take in. It does not work on our budget, does it work on yours? The government needs to “live within our means”. This administration is printing money as fast as the printing presses will run. This “New Money” is not backed by anything. Our dollar has slipped in relation to other world currencies. On my first trip to Europe the dollar was 83 cents to the Euro. Now it’s over $1.40 for one Euro. Oil is traded is U.S. Dollars, so no wonder fuel is so high. It is going to get worse. This administration is printing money and calling it Quantitative Easing. This is a term to hide behind so most people will not object.

How do we get out of this mess? For a start, let our people in the House and Senate know we have had enough of this reckless spending. We need to take a hard look at every level of government and make some changes and eliminate some programs. The Department of Energy was set up to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. We now import more oil than when it was set up with over 250,000 people employed in the Department. Eliminate the Energy Department! The Department of Education should be eliminated! Decisions here should be made at the State and Local level. Think about other ways we can cut cost, not increase them.