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Scaring Seniors

An Obama-Biden ad says McCain supports "cutting benefits in half" for Social Security recipients. False!

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  • Posted By: Kim in Pasadena @ 09/25/2008 4:35:13 PM

    Is there a problem with giving non-retirees the "option" of investing part of their pay-roll tax into the stock market rather than putting all of this money into the social security trust fund? Yes. First-- it is not retirees that would do this. Retirees are no longer PAYING into social security; instead, retirees are now drawing from that fund. Second, transferring this kind of wealth from a safety net into the Stock Market would also transfer third rail of American politics from our retirees and their safety net, straight onto Wall Street. We are not about to let our elderly starve, so if Wall Street tanked we would bail Wall Street out (as we are doing now, even without this added incentive of rescuing people's social security "private accounts") to protect our elderly regardless of how the problem occurred in the first place. This transfer would effectively make the American
    tax-payer now and forever the permanent insurer of Wall Street. Once this was done, it could not be undone-- the costs associated with such a plan would be enormous. Simply calling this an "option" is nonsense-- anyone exercising this "option" would effect everyone else within social security -- indeed, the tax-payer would have to step in to fulfill obligations to our current retirees since some of the money that should be going into our social safety net would no longer be. This is a ridiculous notion and it is an attempt to privatize a program that works. Many Republicans utterly disagree with every bit of this nonsense-- yet, still Republican elected officials push this, and continue to try and mix us all up with semantic nonsense like "investment account" instead of "privatization." Why? I can only speculate-- but I think this goes back to an old, and enduring hatred by some in the GOP of FDR. A hatred, incidentally, that MOST Republicans in this Country do NOT share. That is why everything must be done to confuse the American public about this -- and why this advertisement by Senator Obama is accurate.

    • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 2:10:20 PM

      I am 68 years old and I wish I had had my social security money to invest. I have done extremely well in the stock market. Who are you to tell seniors what is best for them. Go to hell!

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 2:07:41 PM

    Obama's view of the future of America - Socialism which is the next step to Communism!! He admitted to Joe the Plumber than he wanted to spread the wealth! He said that he wanted to make everyone equal! Is America ready for Socialism? The Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, said today that he is glad to see the end to capitalism in America!! Are you glad?????
    ====================================================================================================


    Under socialism a ruling class of intellectuals, bureaucrats and social planners decide what people want or what is good for society and then use the coercive power of the State to regulate, tax, and redistribute the wealth of those who work for a living. In other words, socialism is a form of legalized theft.

    The morality of socialism can be summed-up in two words: envy and self-sacrifice. Envy is the desire to not only possess another's wealth but also the desire to see another's wealth lowered to the level of one's own. Socialism's teaching on self-sacrifice was nicely summarized by two of its greatest defenders, Hermann Goering and Bennito Mussolini. The highest principle of Nazism (National Socialism), said Goering, is: "Common good comes before private good." Fascism, said
    Mussolini, is "a life in which the individual, through the sacrifice of his own private interests??realizes that completely spiritual existence in which his value as a man lies."

    Socialism is the social system which institutionalizes envy and self-sacrifice: It is the social system which uses compulsion and the organized violence of the State to expropriate wealth from the producer class for its redistribution to the parasitical class.

    Despite the intellectuals' psychotic hatred of capitalism, it is the only moral and just social system.

    Capitalism is the only moral system because it requires human beings to deal with one another as traders--that is, as free moral agents trading and selling goods and services on the basis of mutual consent.

    Capitalism is the only just system because the sole criterion that determines the value of thing exchanged is the free, voluntary, universal judgement of the consumer. Coercion and fraud are anathema to the free-market system.

    It is both moral and just because the degree to which man rises or falls in society is determined by the degree to which he uses his mind. Capitalism is the only social system that rewards merit, ability and achievement, regardless of one's birth or station in life.

    Yes, there are winners and losers in capitalism. The winners are those who are honest, industrious, thoughtful, prudent, frugal, responsible, disciplined, and efficient. The losers are those who are shiftless, lazy, imprudent, extravagant, negligent, impractical, and inefficient. [What about the role of luck­ being in the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time? R. R. Pope}

  • Posted By: Jim Johnson @ 10/18/2008 2:07:13 PM

    Everyone of voting age should read these two books written by Obama, 'Dreams of My Father' and 'Audacity of Hope'. Don't buy them, get them from the library before they are removed from the shelves.

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names."

    From 'Dreams of My Father', "I never emulate WHITE men and BROWN men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela."

    And FINALLY the Most Damning one of ALL of them!!!

    From 'Audacity of Hope', "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

  • Posted By: speckelbelly @ 10/06/2008 3:32:50 PM

    REPUBLICANS ARE IDIOTS!!!

  • Posted By: SICKandTired! @ 09/21/2008 3:07:41 PM

    I don't know how this capmgain would have been without Factcheck. Good job guys!! . Well I have already voted absentee ballot so really doesn't make a difference now. Go OBAMA/BIDEN 08!! Yes we can.

    • Posted By: mckriter6@msn.com @ 09/29/2008 11:17:12 PM

      you realize if you watch the news that Obama is not happy with Bidien, he keeps critizising Obama saying he is wrong , so may be he knows...

  • Posted By: trazer @ 09/19/2008 8:19:31 PM

    Many seniors have faught proudly for America - some in our wars. Broken Obama's hates his opponent so much that he has lashed out against American military. He has NOT supported the surge. He failed to see the veterans in Europe - mainly because he thought that going to his fancy hotel and having dinner and going to the spa/exercise room was more important. Seniors deserve more than lip service and frankly, this ticket does scare seniors.

    • Posted By: Kim in Pasadena @ 09/25/2008 4:40:49 PM

      Sir, you are hopelessly spun and bearing false witness as a result. Please do a simple google search to discover the truth-- or if you cannot, please learn how before you spread more falsehoods. If, however, it is your intention to bear false witness against another, I truly have nothing to say to you. That would make you part of our problem in my book. We must learn to work together as Americans-- and we cannot do that if we think it is perfectly appropriate to lie in order to win.

    • Posted By: max in fl @ 09/20/2008 6:32:49 PM

      trazer

      Another republican spin, meanwhile when the democrats proposed bills to help the military families and the military when they returned home, the republicans shot them down. So the republicans only love their military while they are ACTIVE? You can't claim to love the military men and women that are dying for this country, when you don't care for one of the most importart things on their mind, the family they left behind.

      When these men and women are finished serving their country, will they now become a burden to the government? Will they now become lowlives because they seek government assistance for mental health treatment after killing so many people. They expect our braves ones to come home after touring and turn it off magically with honorable discharge papers and become citizens.

      As for our senior citizens what on EARTH do you think LESS government means? It means you are on your own, if you have money great, if you need it sorry. Nice spin though. McCain may be 72 but he doesn't understand the problems they face. When you have a net of 100 million dollars, what do really think he understands about social security. When McCain thinks charity means giving to the private schools your children attend and getting STILL get a writeoff, He will not be thinking about senior citizens. War is on his mind, don't talk to him about money.

      LET'S get one thing clear, I don't care how wealth a country has, when you are spending 10 to 12 BILLION DOLLARS per MONTH it has to come from SOMEWHERE. WE really don't know where we are getting the money from. I know we get SOME money from CHINA, (which we will have to pay back someday) but where is the rest of it coming from? He has the world hyped about keeping up the fight in Iraq. For seven years Bin Laden was the target. Iraq was a target of opportunity NOT the main objective.

      You can believe the republicans and say it was Clinton's fault. Funny but we were in the black then. You can believe the republicans that say it was the Senate and the House fault, but they didn't take over until November 2006. By the time they took over they were only holding the bag. Republicans still had the nerve to blame the Democrats for this mess. THAT was a very nice spin indeed!

  • Posted By: trazer @ 09/19/2008 8:21:17 PM

    Senior citizens have lots of their money in private savings accounts having been told that as they age to move their money from the riskier investments to the stock market. Now Broken Obama wants to TAX them more than has been taxed in the last 10 years; he will basically be taking the bread and butter off of many of our amazing senior citizens who are living on a woefully low social security payments. Broken Obama now wants to hurt them further.

    • Posted By: Kim in Pasadena @ 09/25/2008 4:37:55 PM

      I don't know where you get your information but it is false. Senator Obama plans to ELIMINATE taxes for ALL seniors who make less than $50,000 per year. He also will lower taxes for everyone making under $250,000. He will only raise taxes on people making over $250,000 per year. Conversely, Senator McCain's most serious tax cut will go to people making over $2.8 MILLION per year. I suppose Senator McCain thinks we still believe that money will trickle down, even though most of it is invested abroad, or in tax sheltered havens.

  • Posted By: bban74 @ 09/25/2008 10:53:29 AM

    As a conservative and veteran, I have watched the bubble try to bust out throught the seams. When George Bush ask for a blank check, we need to ask why? When Obama,McCain and Bush does not want to cut the pay of the CEO's that put this nation in this condition, we need to ask why? As we speak Russia and several other oil countries are teaming up for war games to protect themselfs from Bush and McCain. Russia is in trouble with the America economy, if we bail out the companys that put us in this condition it will not help us that much, it will help Russia and foreign banks. 700 billion dollars for the American Tax payer to pay, for what?

    What the press does not tell us is that McCain is pushing France building the air force tankers that will cost us almost that much, create thousands of jobs for France, we pay France and give the frencg people jobs! What has McCain done for the American people? Talk and then push the Bush agenda while we are not watching!

    Not to leave Obama out, he has a bill in the senate you can read it at, http://www,dove777.com, that would force you and I to give the UN 3/4 of a trillion dollars under the pretence that it will help poverty. The bill will also force us to pay ,07% tax to the UN each year. As you know the far left democrats has been pushing gun control, well Obama and Diana Feinstein wrote the bill that would puthis nation under the UN gun ban!

    The press covers up and we are not informed. You can look at this nation and say the press and corrupt politicians are the problem.

    Fannie May, gave Jesse Jackson millions to push the far left agenda and continued to do so up until the frds took over. How much did the other companys give Jackson and Sharpton?

    If congress gives Bush a blank check with out oversite ( which is a joke, look at the lost of billions unaccountable in Iraq), Bush and the people supporting the blank check is not looking out for you and I, they support the corrupt CEO's and foreign banks that are about to go under.

    We can not believe a word that comes out of the mouth of Bush, McCain and other corrupt members of congress who do not want oversite and the companys investigated. McCain will continue the Bush agenda, job loss, forign aid and ignore the problems in America!

  • Posted By: Mwalimu @ 09/23/2008 7:13:11 PM

    For years economists including the writers in Newsweek have used the word "entitlement" to describe social security and medicare. They use the word "entitlement" to suggest that some how people receiving social security are some sort of lazy welfare bum who is getting money they don't deserve.

    For years, abolishing social security and/or privatizing it has been the pipe dream of conservatives, Republicans and neo-cons. The latest tactic invovles allowing younger people to move some of their money from social security to private accounts. As more younger workers move to private accounts, the more unstable social security becomes. The more it will depend on "bailouts" from the government.

    As the national debt continues - it's no at 9 trillion.. The Wall Street bailout will raise the debt to over $ 12 trillin dollars. As this national debt continues, it will be easy for Republicans, like John McCain, to launch crusades against the elderly who depend on social security for survival. They will be constantly attacked as greedy geezers stealing money from little children. They will find their social security payments cut until they are next to nothing.

    If you don't believe me. Go back to recent history and you will see this scenario played out several years ago when Bush launched his social security privatization drive. I am simply re-telling what I observed.

    Obama pledges to keep social security solvent. John McCain can say anything he wants during the campaign season, it's just phony posturing. But once elected he will start to the drive to eliminate social security because that is the number one doctrine of conservative Republicans from Goldwater on.
    So my advice to any one who depends on social security or medicare. Vote as if you're life depended on it - and indeed it does. Do not believe fact checker. Only Obama promises to keep social security solvent. Only Obama deserves your vote.

  • Posted By: djrtto12 @ 09/22/2008 5:24:22 PM

    Everyone here is arguing a riduculous point. So John McCain wanted to give seniors AN OPTION to invest their social security. It would be their decision. I don't see why you are all saying this is so horrible. If the stock market were doing exceptionally well, you would be complaining because seniors DIDN'T have the option.

    There are much more constructive things to debate - like why Obama is telling you LIES. But you go ahead and argue for him, it just shows the rest of the world how naive you really are!

  • Posted By: melbee1971 @ 09/21/2008 7:29:53 PM

    Decide for yourself voters:

    "We must privatize social security." -John McCain, on CSPAN, 2004

    "I???m always for less regulation. I am fundamentally a deregulator." -John McCain, in an interview with the Washington Post, March 2008

  • Posted By: trazer @ 09/20/2008 2:42:45 AM

    Seniors look at the inexperience of Obama. They would rather vote for Jesse Jackson than vote for Hussein Obama, who will raise taxes on their bank savings accounts and thus make it harder to buy food. He forgot that some seniors are retired and income tax is not that important. He PLANS TO INCREASE TAXES on lifetime savings. He has no plan for the economy. He thinks anyone over 70 will not live another year.

    • Posted By: max in fl @ 09/20/2008 7:51:08 PM

      trazer

      You have to be kidding, The republican have been funding this war at 10-12 Billion dollars per month for SEVEN YEARS. They were moving money around so much to pay for it, that we really don't know how bad our economy really is. We know that they want a smaller government because they USED most of the money already. I don't care what McCain says trying to convince us he is not like Bush. If he think the US can pay for another eight years, 10 Billion dollars per month, he is REALLY LOSING IT.

      Republican want to point to Clinton for this mess because they are in denial. How can you have a republican president, senate, and house and blame democrats. Why not blame Carter for this economy while you are at it? They are distancing themselves from Bush while praising him. Go figure that out.

      Here is another joke, with a republican president, senate, and house, how can you blame democrats for not pushing McCain 2005 proposal for Fannie Mae through. Here is what I think really happened anything McCain wants, the republicans rejected, Mr Maverick can't get his own party in line and wants to run a country. Maverick must equate to not working well with others in your party. Looks like we will be wasting away for another 8 years if McCain is president and blame it all on a war that we are milking.

      Here is a concept, embrace our differences instead running from it, the world will be richer for it. One day we will collectively realize that we have just been killing part of ourselves. Until then I guess its 'pass the ammo and keep shooting'.

      The only thing is that if he learns from Bush how he rigged the voting booths in 2000 and wins. He will have a very grateful Palin by his side.to push his war agendas through.

  • Posted By: MannyJ @ 09/20/2008 7:35:46 PM

    You only identify one actual mistake (or lie): ???half" should have been ???a quarter.??? Fair enough. But ???privatizing??? doesn???t imply ???all,??? it means, ???private accounts,??? and that is in fact the most important part of the plan, a plan which McCain did in fact vote for. You point out that his votes were not for the whole plan, but that is not the point. He expressed support for the whole plan and voted for as much as was put to a vote. You are criticizing inferences you drew, not the ad itself.

  • Posted By: trazer @ 09/20/2008 2:46:21 AM

    Obama is all lies and bs and has lied so much and so many times he will get caught in his own trap. Seniors have lived long enough to know this type of weak character and will NOT vote for him. Jesse Jackson, who is older than Obama, has expressed his major concerns about this "Uncle Tom" type person. Obama - weak for America, pro Sadam Hussein, and for breaking into private email accounts given his silence.

    • Posted By: max in fl @ 09/20/2008 7:02:27 PM

      trazer

      The funny thing is that compared to Palin Obama is the pope. She probably lied to McCain and now McCain has to fix it. Palin was confident in the beginning, she probably saw the finish line and thought there is NO WAY the democrats can find out about her past in time. If McCain thinks he can carry Palin over the finish line without the press getting to her, he has already lost. Now everyone WANTS to know what ELSE is she hiding? She had better come clean with her husband before he finds out over the news.

  • Posted By: LMAO @ 09/19/2008 8:39:27 PM

    This man lies so brazenly - this is change to believe in? If he prevails it will be a sad day in America. These are the same dirty tactics he played on Hillary. But I do not feel sorry for her now for if i were in her shoes I would put Country First and out that fradulent man. What is she doing - campaigning for him - what a political whore. Character matters first for every President has to switch his plans depending on the situation he encounters when he gets to the White House. And Obama clearly has none.

    • Posted By: max in fl @ 09/20/2008 6:44:47 PM

      LMAO

      McCain reinvents himself, he manipulate his party which doesn't like him by threatening to lay with the democrats if they don't come around. That is called bipartisanship McCain style.

      Save your crocodile tears for Hillary. Hillary noticed that Palin will not further anything she worked so hard to push, but Palin wants Hillary supporters to vote for her. When in October the extramarital affair she had come out, her boat is sunk. McCain or the National Guard couldn't help her career then. Tick Tock Tick Tock.

  • Posted By: Zig Zag @ 09/20/2008 6:40:33 PM

    Republican hypocrisy at it's best:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQK1al91drs

    You gotta love John Stuart!

  • Posted By: trazer @ 09/19/2008 9:21:29 PM

    Broken Obama has not reached out to seniors - he basically thinks he is senior enough to be president (he is not.) He preferred to have a luxury dinner instead of go see our Veterans in a Veteran Hospital. He has not talked about increasing social security payments - he has talked about increasing their TAXES on their hard earned savings. As such, seniors will have less money if these 2 get into office. Obama is taking the food off the senior's table.

    • Posted By: max in fl @ 09/20/2008 5:30:23 PM

      trazer

      If you called Obama EVERY name in the book, it still wouldn't make McCain look good. McCain spends so much time looking down at his note that he might as well just pick up the paper and read it. I alway get a laugh when a blogger comments on Obama being an idiot without the teleprompter while McCain is an idiot WITH the teleprompter and it is the only thing saving Palin.

      I guess you feel that McCain is your ordinary guy eating tv dinners and trying to figure out how he's going to make it on his household income right? You really don't understand how wealthy this guy is. His wife has all the money which is perfect because she probably makes ALL the decisions in the house. McCain, if you don't realize this, can blow his ENTIRE check on a dancer named GiGI in one night and it wouldn't mean a thing because EVERYTHING is paid for. The play money he receives from the Senate is HIS pocket change.

      As I keep saying, alzheimer's can hit pretty fast. I see signs of decreased mental capacity and it's normal at that age, The mistakes are adding up, he should admit that he doesn't have it anymore. I just don't see why he has to drag us down because he didn't make admiral.

      I'm sorry to break it to you but the McCain you remembered is not the same one that is trying to be president. What a spin, a troublemaker is called a maverick. A troublemaker that threatens to go to the democrats side unless the Republican vote with him is called bipartisan. I'm not even going to get into a troublemaker that REINVENTS himself, because that is the greatest spin of all

  • Posted By: marchamlin @ 09/20/2008 4:19:45 PM

    If John McCain and George Bush had their way, your social security would be gone. John "Maverick" McCain is a gambler. Just look at his V.P. choice. We can't afford a president who gambles with the future of America.

    Don't Gamble! Vote Obama/Biden '08

  • Posted By: Zombiehero @ 09/20/2008 12:57:09 PM

    So what happened to "New Politics?"
    This is Rove 2.0. Only hypocritical because this is coming from the Democrats.

  • Posted By: Barbara CA @ 09/20/2008 12:52:20 PM

    McCain did say he wanted to privatize Social Security and if there were another Wall Street crisis like the one that happened this week benefits could be cut by way more than half. By the way, even a 28% cut would be 1/4 of their benefits and this would be a tragedy.

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