OP ED-"Little Timmy Wants to Know Why Nobody Likes Airplanes Anymore?

[flyboy0681]

Here's what you don't get Mike. Intellectuals and scientific know-it-alls can't predict, nor understand the human condition. People lie, evade, behave irrationally, etc. when faced with infectious disease and mortality. While we have a better health system here in America, we also, travel more publicly and intermingle in large urban centers. This is where scientific data ends and political thought begins. These people have been treated and survived because they enjoyed the luxury of flights on a Gulfstream 5 direct to elite medical centers. How quick will that last if we are overrun? Let me ask you, if the worst happens to our troops over there, will they receive the same care?

 

You strike me as smug and speaking way too soon. I hope nothing happens, but one can't argue the sad fact that these virulent forms of African fever have never been on American soil. Now it has arrived and from a public policy stand point we did absolutely nothing to stop it. Science has shown fabulous incompetence in the handling of just a few cases, to the extent they had to devise new protocols. While every step of the way, they blamed underfunding, warmongering older protocols and the media. Everybody on this board knows the condition is treatable and how it is transmitted, few have confidence in our safety. My top clients (2 major cable news networks and TV affiliates in all of the top 5 media markets) are leading with the Ebola doctor in NYC, over a school shooting, etc. They don't seem to possess your overt "faculty lounge" type confidence. We are playing with fire.

 

Things may very well spin out of control if faced with a widespread situation, however, with each case that is successfully treated here the medical community is refining the treatment protocols and it stands to reason that it could be applied on a wide scale should it become necessary. The reason the mortality rate is so high in African is due to the lack of skilled physician's and nurses along with substandard facilities and little or no supplies.

 

This harkens back to the AIDS situation. When it first appeared on the scene the mortality rate was the same worldwide, then as western countries developed treatments and procedures it was applied throughout the first world medical community and the survival rate went up dramatically - but remained low in those second and third world countries.

 

At this point in time I think the thing to do is quarantine those arriving here from West Africa and pour a boatload of money and resources over there to abate the spread. The only problem with a quarantine is that it will eventually spread to Europe and we won't be able to quarantine those nationals arriving from Paris, Frankfurt, London et al who may be infected.

[John Pleisse]

AIDS is a great historical example of an epidemic fueled by human unpredictability. The fallacy of your quarantine analysis is it supposes you and our government know-it-alls are clairvoyant. Ellis island worked well for 50 years. We built a nation on it.

[John Pleisse]

Oh...and judging how you watch this thread and respond, almost always immediately. I would suggest you go flying.

[flyboy0681]

 The fallacy of your quarantine analysis is it supposes you and our government know-it-alls are clairvoyant. Ellis island worked well for 50 years. We built a nation on it.

 

I did (essentially say) that all bets are off when it reaches Europe as we won't be able to quarantine. Then what?

 

I work from home as a software developer so I'm online 13 hours a day.

[carusoam]

Where's the third leg to this unstable stool...?

Best regards,

-a-

[aaronk25]

Where's the third leg to this unstable stool...?

Best regards,

-a-

Scott, is on a mooneyspace break, again because he told "rob" what he thought of him, again......but it's only 2 weeks this time

[Marauder]

Considering where ol' Timmy has been throughout this thread. Surprised he didn't catch some kind of disease and just die.

[flyboy0681]

I'm at a hotel in the Caribbean this week and just saw the funniest stuff I've seen in a long time. For some reason (equal time?) they carry the Glenn Beck channel. What wasn't funny is what Beck has to say, but who the sponsors of the show are. The #1 sponsor is ReadyStore.com, which sells survival kits and equipment just in case Armageddon comes to a neighborhood near you. The second most popular sponsor is Goldline, just in case you need handy access to gold bullion for when you run out of supplies from the ReadyStore. The other sponsors were similar in nature.

 

I guess they know their audience.

 

Any of you still keep your fallout shelter well stocked? Back in the day people must have spent a fortune on it, sometimes at the detriment of their retirement savings.

[flyboy0681]

On October 26 daver328 cut and pasted a chain email which listed a long list of broken promises with Social Security. For some reason I can't find it on MS, but the chain email failed my smell test from the very first sentence so I decided to research it. One thing that I have learned over the years is that when a chain email contains the sentence  "It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it", because people assume that if a chain message says that, the reader takes it at face value and won't research it any further and assumes it's the truth. As suspected, Snopes and Urban Legend both covered it and they couldn't find a single item that was true. Of course some of you will say that these two sites have their own agenda,  but both are well respected sites by the left and right when either side needs to dispel inaccuracies such as this.

 

What I find interesting is that whomever wrote this originally, they took provisions of the Social Security Act and actually went through the trouble of twisting the facts. My question is, why would somebody take the time to fabricate such nonsense? Also interesting is that some changes made to the SS legislation that this email points out as made by the Democrats were actually passed during Republican administrations (the Nixon and Reagan years are mentioned)

 

Since some of you will not take the time to read the lengthy Snopes reply, I have cut and pasted their responses here for your edification (Snopes response is in bold). 

 

 

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1.) That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary, No longer Voluntary

 

There was no provision in the Social Security Act of 1935 (nor has there ever been any provision) for the payment of Social Security payroll taxes (now commonly known as FICA, (from an acronym for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act) to be voluntary. Since the inception of the Social Security program, the law has required that payroll taxes for persons working at jobs covered by Social Security "shall be collected by the employer of the taxpayer by deducting the amount of the tax from the wages as and when paid." 
 

2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
Incomes into the Program, Now 7.65% on the first $90,000

 

 

Social Security taxes were never limited to the first $1,400 of annual income, nor was there any provision in the Social Security Act of 1935 to permanently fix the tax rate at 1%. The Social Security Act of 1935 set the original rate at 1% of the first $3,000 of annual income, with provisions to gradually increase that rate to 3% over the next twelve years:

 

(Flyboy: this must be a really old chain message because the cap hasn't been $90k for a decade)


3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from
their income for tax purposes each year, No longer tax deductible

 

 

The original Social Security Act of 1935 specifically stated that Social Security payroll taxes were not to be allowed as income tax deductions:

 

For the purposes of the income tax imposed by Title I of the Revenue Act of 1934 or by any Act of Congress in substitution therefore, the tax imposed by section 801 shall not be allowed as a deduction to the taxpayer in computing his net income for the year in which such tax is deducted from his wages.

Social Security payroll taxes have never been deductible from income for tax purposes, either when the program was originally instituted or at any time since.
 

4.) That the money the participants put into the independent 'Trust Fund' rather than into the
general operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security
Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and, Under Johnson the money was moved to The General Fund and Spent

 

The monies paid into the Social Security trust have never been "put into the general fund." The requirements for how the Social Security Trust Fund is to be financed and invested have not changed since the fund's inception in 1939. The reference to Lyndon Johnson indicates that someone was probably confused by a change implemented at the end of the Johnson administration (1969) that altered how the fund was accounted for in the federal budget but did not change the actual operations of the fund itself:

5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Under Clinton & Gore….Up to 85% of your Social Security can be Taxed

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month --
and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to 'put
away' -- you may be interested in the following:

It is true that Social Security benefits were not originally considered taxable income. However, that status was not due to any promise or act on the part of President Roosevelt, nor was it specified in the Social Security Act (or any other law); it was the result of a series of rulings by the Treasury Department in 1938 and 1941 that excluded Social Security benefits from federal income taxation. Those rulings were overridden by amendments to the Social Security act enacted in 1983.


Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent 'Trust Fund' and put it into the
general fund so that Congress could spend it?

(Repeat, answered above)

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

(Repeat, answered above)

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the 'tie-breaking' deciding vote as President of the
Senate, while he was Vice President of the US

(Repeat, answered above)

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

AND MY FAVORITE:

A: That's right!

Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65,
began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them,
even though they never paid a dime into it!

 

No one — whether he be a citizen, immigrant, or illegal alien — is eligible to collect Social Security benefits unless he (or someone else, such as a parent or spouse) has paid into the system. Someone has confused Social Security itself with Supplemental Security Income (SSI) — the latter is a federal welfare program "designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people, who have little or no income" by providing "cash to meet basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter." Immigrants can qualify for SSI benefits under certain conditions, but SSI is financed by general revenues and not Social Security taxes. SSI was not enacted by the administration of President Jimmy Carter (a Democrat); it was created and signed into law in 1972, during the administration of President Richard Nixon (a Republican). 


Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want
to take your Social Security away!

And the worst part about it is uninformed citizens believe it!

Who is the uninformed citizen? Could it be those that believed this chain email?

 

http://www.snopes.com/politics/socialsecurity/changes.asp

 

 

[flyboy0681]

Those businesses were there before the "Brownback Experiment". The idea was to make such an attractive business climate by getting rid of business taxes and such that businesses would move to Kansas. From what I read, this is not happening. The businesses you mentioned took their tax breaks but failed to hire any new employees. I guess the Brownback folks claim the program just needs more time to really kick in, but it sounds like the state can't take much more it. I guess we'll see what happens, but it is interesting to see what actually does happen when there are no taxes collected.

 

Here is the latest on the Brownback Experiment. At a time when a lot of states are digging out from under due to an improving economy, they are digging deeper into a hole.

 

http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/yael-t-abouhalkah/article3498039.html

[flyboy0681]

Timmy waited in the car this morning at the polling place. He laughs at the rumours of his demise. He doesn't understand why his dad would stand in line to choose individuals to represent his state.

His dad feels that to Vote is: A priveledge, A right, A responsibility as a citizen. He says it DOES make a difference...

What percentage of the population will exercise their right to choose their representation today?

VOTE

 

 

I did my part, although I don't know what good it's going to do.

[fantom]

I did my part, although I don't know what good it's going to do.

 

About as much as your many posts here...

[flyboy0681]

About as much as your many posts here...

 

 You're wrong mister, Scott voted all democrat today. Glad I was able to set him straight.

[flyboy0681]

Think Local

ACT local

 

The only person that I want desperately unseated is our current governor, Rick Scott, who in my opinion has been the worst. Many people outside of Florida don't know that when Scott was the CEO of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), he presided over the largest Medicare fraud in the nations history and as a result the company was fined $1.7 billion dollars - and that was just the fine, so you can imagine the amount of blatant fraud that took place. This speaks volumes for his integrity. 

 

Just for the record, I really liked Governor Jeb Bush and can see voting for him if he runs in 2016.

[Danb]

I guess until we have term limits. What's the sense in voting anymore....I don't think Iv ever missed a vote for the first time I just got in the car and pulled the Republican lever..I'm not even republican..that's how screwed up I and this country has become....

[aaronk25]

About as much as your many posts here...

Ha ha ha....that's was funny he set himself up for that......

And why can other Minnesotans learn to vote better......errrr.

[alex]

MSNBC crew sounds and looks depressed. This is a good day Little Timmy....

[kmyfm20s]

Anyone else see the Russian art exhibit? It showed "our leader" on Vlad's knee's bottom up receiving a spanking...

I wonder if life will copy art today?

There are spankings and then there are "Beat Downs".

I wonder what today has in store?

Ouch!

[fantom]

The only person that I want desperately unseated is our current governor, Rick Scott....

 

Too bad  Scott won!

 

Crist is the MUCH bigger charlatan, and your guy Jeb, enthusiastically endorsed Scott. My but your a series of contradictions.

 

[flyboy0681]

 

Too bad  Scott won!

 

Crist is the MUCH bigger charlatan, and your guy Jeb, enthusiastically endorsed Scott. My but your a series of contradictions.

 

 

 

The state was much better off under Crist than Scott. As far as a charlatan, why, because he switched parties. Hmm, let me think, was there ever a politician that switched parties? Let's see (as he thumps his fingers), oh yea, Reagan.

[flyboy0681]

MSNBC crew sounds and looks depressed. This is a good day Little Timmy....

 

Not sure why, they were totally expecting what happened.

[alex]

Flyboy4 44.....because reality slapped them all squarely in the face and they cant handle the idea that their liberal message, as widely spread as it is in the mainstream media, was ignored. In the words of chuck Todd, one of your guys there and I am paraphrasing, you can blame this loss and put it squarely on the shoulders of two people....Obama, and Harry Reid.

Let me help you with a spin on this eventful night flyboy4 44, Obama has proven to be a genius because in his last term and by design, he managed to unite the great majority of the American people. Also by design in 2016, all the blame for everything that happenes up until that point will be put on the racist republicans who failed to work with this wonderful man.............does that work for you? Go fly, it will get rid of that depression.

[carusoam]

I look forward to when the part about "get interesting" actually happens.

Where would I find the % of voter turn out for yesterday's election?

I saw some unusually light activity in my area...

Best regards,

-a-

[fantom]

The state was much better off under Crist than Scott. As far as a charlatan, why, because he switched parties. Hmm, let me think, was there ever a politician that switched parties? Let's see (as he thumps his fingers), oh yea, Reagan.

Only you would have the temerity to compare a pandering crook like Crist to Ronald Reagan. Must be a 'moderate' thing.

Suggest you try thumping your head rather than your fingers.

[flyboy0681]

Only you would have the temerity to compare a pandering crook like Crist to Ronald Reagan. Must be a 'moderate' thing.

Suggest you try thumping your head rather than your fingers.

 

As a great American once said "We got thumped".