The first six months of the current year, Arroyo’s administration spent more than what it has collected in terms of revenue resulting to an increased deficit to P196.7B. Of the targeted revenue collection, the shortage was P23.8 B. The expenditure exceeded by P45.1B.

The national budget for 2010 is 1.54 trillion pesos. What remains in the budget appropriated for 2010 is barely 100 billion pesos which is only 6.5% of the total budget. He said that this is the only figure left for the next six months of his administration.

Where did the funds go? He asked. President Noynoy discussed that the previous administration funded P200 M for Calamity Fund. While the fund is too small, and the typoon and flood season have just started, 70% or 1.4 billion pesos has already been spent.

The budget allotment for Pampanga province of P108M, P105 went to only one district. The fund was released during the month of election, seven months after the typhoons Ondoy and Peping hit the country. Whereas the Province of Pangasinan that was directly hit by typhoon Peping only received P5M for the damaged caused not by Peping but by typhoon Cosme which occurred in 2008.

Further, he added that the fund has been exhausted for the damaged caused from last year’s typhoons. “What will happen if typhoons hit the country tomorrow? The future will suffer for the excesses of the past,” he added.

President Noynoy went further, same thing happened to the funds in MWSS, another government agency (Manila Waterworks Sewerage System). Very recently, people were lined just to get water. In spite of this, the “good” leaders of MWSS rewarded themselves when in fact their retired employees have not received their retirement fees yet.

In 2009, the total payroll of MWSS was P51.4M. But this is not the only benefit; there were additional allowances and benefits that reached up to P160.1M. In other words, the leaders received P211.5M last year, out of which only 24% represents the salary, 76% were additional benefits which they only approved.

An ordinary worker receives 13th month pay plus cash gifts only. At MWSS, it reached to an equivalent of more than 30th month pay including all the bonuses and allowances they got.

Worst even is the anomaly on the earnings of the Board of Trustees. He said: “Let us take a look at the allowances they are receiving:

A mere seat in the Board of Trustees at Board Committee meeting, one is entitled to receive P14, 000 already. It could reach P98, 000 monthly aside from the yearly grocery incentive of P80, 000. The benefits do not end there; there is a mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus and financial assistance with Christmas bonus and additional Christmas package. Each of these is worth P98, 000.

The sum total will reach P2.5 M annually for every member of the Board aside from free luxury car, technical assistance and loan accommodation. All these they accorded to themselves despite their retirees have not received their pensions yet.

La Mesa Watershed did not escape their greediness, instead of planting trees around the area for steady supply of water; houses were built for the top ranking officials of the said agency.”

President Noynoy said that “they will not eventually be ousted from office because they belong to the Midnight Appointees of former President Gloria Arroyo.” However, he will have to make investigation regarding this issue and “If they still possess even a little of self-worth, they should voluntarily resign from office,” the President added.

Regarding the infrastructure program of the government, DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) pointed out 246 priority safety projects that will be funded by the Motor Vehicle Users charge. It will need a budget appropriation of P425M.

What were funded were 28 projects only. 218 projects were not only considered but were replaced with 70 projects not within the plans. The requested budget of P425M went up to P480M for the projects which benefitted only few beneficiaries. The projects were useless and not well-deliberated upon, they just came out from nowhere.

Five days before the end of Arroyo’s term as President, she ordered the release of P3.5 B for the rehabilitation of those affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. The amount was supposed to be for 86 projects. President said that 18 of these projects worth P981M were discovered by his men and barred because it was found that even before the release of the Special Allotment Release Order, contracts have already been executed.

President Noynoy also discussed what had happened in NAPOCOR (National Power Corporation). From 2001 to 2004, the government under Gloria Arroyo forced the said agency to sell power supply at a loss to avoid an alleged high price for consumers but he added that the real reason was to raise funds for the forthcoming election then.

Because of this, in 2004, the debt of NAPOCOR reached its maximum limit that forced the national government to shoulder the P200B debt. The people were made to believe that they were benefited by the move however; it is the consumer that shoulders the burden of paying the said debt. The decision was founded on wrong politics and not in accordance with the people’s needs.

Same thing happened at MRT (Metro Rail Transit), he further discussed. The operator was forced to maintain low transportation fare resulting to losses and eventual purchase of MRT by Land Bank and Development Bank of the Philippines. With the government’s failure to uphold the guarantee given to the operator that they can recover the cost, people money was switched over for a losing business.

Regarding the funds of NFA (National Food Authority), in 2004, 117,000 metric tons was the shortage in rice supply of the Philippines. The NFA bought 900,000 metric tons. However you compute it, still the over importation was seven times more than the shortage. In 2007, 589,000 metric tons was the supply shortage, they bought 1.827 million metric tons. Again, there was excessive importation.

The sad part is that the rice were made to rot in warehouses. This also happened in 2008 when people were lining up for hours under the scorching sun just to buy a kilo or two of NFA rice.

“Is this not a crime to allow the rice to rot despite the reality that 4M Filipinos are deprived of three-square meals a day?” he asked.

The disgusting result is NFA’s debt reached P171.6B this May. The wastage could have funded the following:

1. Judiciary budget of P12.7B for 2010.

2. Conditional Transfers for 2011 of P29.6B

3. Classrooms at P130B

“These kind of governmental processes are exceptionally displeasing,” remarked the President, summing up the anomalies that he and his men brought to light during his first State of the Nation Address.

As he continued his speech, he further reiterated that his leadership marks the end of extravagance and unbeneficial use of government funds. Out of keeping projects will be bumped off and implement a zero-based approach on the budget. By next month they will come up with a budget that acknowledges real problems and focuses on the possible rightful solutions.

“These are but a few of the uncovered problems facing the nation. Here are some of the steps that are being considered”, he further hashed out.

There was a case of an owner of a pawnshop who could purchase a car worth P26M, who can afford to buy a Lamborghini but cannot however pay taxes. The appropriate charges were already filed in court. Every week, cases are being filed against smugglers and tax evaders.

For extralegal killings, 50% are up for resolutions. The other half will be earnestly pursued and that they will not rest until justice has been attained. All perpetrators of injustices have to be punished.

The Truth Commission to be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide who has recently finished his term in the International Court of Justice has been created. This commission will be responsible to uncover the truth of the alleged anomalies that occurred during the past seven years. Within the week, President Noynoy will sign the very first order creating the Truth Commission.

If the answer to injustices is judgment of conviction, the answer to budget deficit is modern and creative ways to resolve the perennial problems. We have great deal of indigences, from education, infrastructure, health, military and police, etc. The budget is not enough to respond to all these demands, he further discussed.

He continued saying, “no matter how great is the burden to respond to these problems, I am inspired because many are showing interest for change and trust in the Philippines.”

The solution will be: Public-Private Partnerships. Even if there is no contract yet being executed, he added, he can say that this is effective and will be fruitful. There are already interested parties to construct an expressway from Manila, that will pass through Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya to the end of Cagayan Valley without the government spending even a peso, he said.

According to him, in the military service, we have 36,000 nautical miles but, we only have 30 ships that were acquired during the time of MacArthur. There was a proposition to rent the headquarters of Navy in Roxas Boulevard and Naval Station in Fort Bonifacio.

The proponent will shoulder the cost of transferring the Navy Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo and immediately give the government USD100M aside from an additional share in the earnings of the businesses that will be integrated at the rented area. In short, the government will earn without spending.

There are other offers from local as well as foreign businesses to help augment the needs of the people.

From these public-private partnerships, the economy will flourish and every Filipino will be benefited and can provide aid to other sectors. To help promote tourism, infrastructure can be constructed. In agriculture, grains terminals, refrigeration facilities will also be constructed with good road networks and post-harvest facilities.

With the help of the private sector, the food supply chain can be in order, so instead of importing, we can dream of supplying food to the international market. If the suggested railway system is realized, prices of goods will go down, much cheaper, speedier, more convenient and more so, travelers can avoid “Kotong” cops and extortion from rebel groups.

Just a reminder, he said:”Foremost in our platform is the creation of more jobs and jobs come from a growing industry. Industry will only flourish if we can only make it clean, speedier and convenient in the processing for those who wanted to put up businesses.

He promised to speed up the process of projects under the Build-Operate-Transfer. With the help of the sectors of government and the citizens, the processing period will be reduced to six months when before, it takes years if not a decade.

He inspired the people that the time has come when we need not choose between security and future of our children. Once the public-private ownership is realized, it can fund social services in accordance with the platform of government, particularly in education from the 10 years to the global standard of 12 years.

Further he said that the future is good. He will push for the Fiscal Responsibility Bill, where a bill will not be passed not until the source of funding is identified. There were bills that have been passed into law but due to insufficiency of budget allotment, they were not implemented.

He further reiterated that we should not allow another NBN-ZTE scandal. He asked help from the legislators to help amend the low on procurement. And the need for an Anti-Trust Law that will provide opportunity to small and medium scale enterprises to participate in the growth of the economy.

Also, he asked for the passage of the Whistleblower’s Bill to prevent fear and silence of material witnesses and strengthened the Witness Protection Program.

Regarding the situation in Mindanao, President Noynoy said his views on the issue remain unchanged, that the mistakes of the past must not be committed again and be aware that the past peace processes is undoubtedly tinted with political color and not solely for public interest and welfare.

About the CPP-NPA-NDF he asked: “Are you ready to lay concrete suggestion instead of criticisms?” “If peace is all you want, are you ready to an extensive cease fire? “Let us talk. It is hard to talk when the air is filled with gun powders. I am calling on you; let us not allow putting to waste this very good opportunity to meet under the same political desire, he added.

In addition, he said, peace and order is the foundation of progress. Continuous fighting is continuously tying us to poverty. Let us realize that this is the time to sacrifice and this sacrifice will serve as our investment for our future. Associated with our rights and freedom is our duty to our people and country.

In closing, he ask the media to watch their own line to upheld the principle of their profession, fair and truthful reporting. He also asked the people to watch at their elected officials and move from criticizing to participating in the affairs of the government and be a part of the solution.

He summated that it is God and the people that brought him to where he now stands. The mandate is cogent evidence that the people are still hoping for a change. “The situation is really different. Now is to dream again. Let us proceed to the realization of our dreams,” he closes.

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1959-1960: Following Fidel Castro’s overthrow of the dictatorial Batista administration, a host of people, including children and women, welcomed the arrival of guerrillas, but they turned the Island — about the size of Tennessee– into a place of repression. On the other side, Raúl Castro had been hand-picked by his brother, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, as the second leader of the Cuban Revolution. In the meantime, in the early years of the new regime, up to 3,200 Cubans had been slaughtered by Fidel Castro and his family. On the economic side, Castro nationalized all U.S. businesses (without compensation). In fact, these events marked the beginning of one the world’s worst undemocratic governments. Toward the end of 1960, Washington imposed an embargo on Cuba.

1960-1980: As a consequence of the totalitarian policies, over one million Cubans had fled to America (chiefly Florida), Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Spain and Italy.

1960-1982: Inspired by the People’s Republic of China, Albania and other Communist tyrannies, Cuba’s undemocratic state had decimated the country’s tourism industry.

1960-2007: In one of Fidel Castro’s many dictatorial reforms, hemade his sister-in-law, Vilma Espín, President of the Federation of Cuban Women –a key organization on Cuba. Espín, Raúl Castro’s wife, was leader of the feminist organization until her abrupt death on June 18, 2007.However in time, she, a former Marxist guerrilla, was known as the “First Lady of the Cuban Revolution”. Over the decades of the Soviet Empire, she had strong links with radical feminist movements from Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

1960-2010: World-famous dancer and choreographer Alicia Alonso Martínez became one of the key women, alongside Haydée Santamaria Cuadrado, Vilma Espín Guillois, Celia Sánchez Manduley and Mireya Luis Hernández, in the Cuban Revolution. Since then, she used her fame and prestige to clean up the Island’s bad image. By the early 60s, Fidel Castro gave Alonso $200,000 to set up the Cuban National Ballet. From then on, the Ballet Nationalbecame an open door for Cuban influence in the Third World and Europe.

1961: The Island’s history took sudden turn in this year as the provisional rule declared the country a Marxist stateand began a close relationship with the Kremlin -the USSR was one of the first states to recognize Cuba’s tyranny–and their allies, including the German Democratic Republic (GDR), North Korea and Czechoslovakia. From then on, Moscow played a key role in the Cuban Revolution. Nonetheless, after Cuba became a pro-Soviet dictatorship,the political relationship between the States and the Island worsened. On January 3, 1961, the tensions between both governments came to a head as America severed diplomatic ties with the rule of Cuba.

1962: The Republic of Cuba was suspended from the Organization of American States (OAS), which was founded on April 30 1948 in Bogotá (Colombia), over its dictatorial rule.

1962- 1990: Unlike many Marxist states in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, including Ethiopia (the world’s poorest nation), Guinea, Laos and Cambodia (Asia’s poorest country), the Island’s human development, from employment and energy to education, culture and public health, was subsidized by the Kremlin (which was supplanted by Venezuela since 2000). For example,most of Cuba’s young people –chiefly members of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC)– attend schools, universities and institutions in Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Poland and the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Moreover, a number of cultural delegations went to Asia, Latin America and Europe. In 1984, the Caribbean team, led by Alicia Alonso, visited five former Soviet republics (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan). On the other side, around 90% of the military budget was financed from the USSR and other Communist states. These were some of the reasons why Cuba did not have financial problems -different from several Latin societies. During the Cold War, the massive Soviet aid gave Cuba a political influence in the Third World disproportionate to its size and economy.

1964-1990: Castro’s dictatorial rule, headed by its diplomat Isidoro Malmierca (the Cuban ambassador to the United Nations), allowed the USSR to direct its foreign policy.The Kremlin used Fidel Castro to expand its geopolitical influence in the Third World, chiefly in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

1967: Soviet Union’s Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin went to Cuba.

1970s Fidel Castro & Mengistu Haile Mariam

1970-1975: The totalitarian Communist state had cooperative ties with Peru’s dictator Juan Velasco Alvarado. Over that time, Raúl Castro, the Island’s second most powerful leader, trip to Lima.

1971-1973: After Salvador Allende’s win in the Presidential elections, the Cuban administration had shown a deep interest in cooperation with Chile. Upon the winning the Chilean election, Allende became the world’s only freely elected Marxist Head of State. Later on, in 1971, surprisingly, Fidel Castro embarked on a three-week tour of Chile.

1972-1990: The Republic Socialist of Cuba was home to the largest Soviet community outside Europe and the USSR.

1975-1991: With the help of 50,000 Cuban troops, the African country of Angola, led by José Eduardo dos Santos, moved into the Soviet orbit.

1977: The Cuban dictatorship sent a delegation, led by Sergio del Valle, to Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

1978-1989: Under its pro-Soviet policy, Castro’s dictatorial rule sent over 20,000 troops to the Republic Marxist of Ethiopia – an African nation with 90% of the population living under the abject poverty– to support the dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam, who led Ethiopia to one of the worst genocides in history. Over that time, Cuba’s troops carried out repressive measures against the Eritreans and Ethiopians.

1979: With the support of the Soviet bloc (from Bulgaria to East Germany), as well as anti-American states, Havana – the nation’s capital city– hosted the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit. Cuba’s satrap Fidel Castro was elected President. This international event was part of the Communist dictatorship’s strategy to win new allies in the Third World, including terrorist states.

1980s The pro-Castro Lobby

1980: To improve dictatorship’s image abroad, damaged by human rights abusesand pro-Soviet military projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the undemocratic rule sent a person -a Russian-trained astronaut– to space. Along with Alberto Juantorena ( 1976 Olympic champion), Alicia Alonso and Alejo Carpentier (author), Cuba’s cosmonaut Arnaldo Tamayo was one of the “special ambassadors” of the Cuban tyranny.

1981: On the world stage, the Castro regime established strong links with roguegovernments such as Libya, Iran and the DPR of Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea or North Korea). By contrast, Cuba’s ties with many Latin American democracies worsened, including Colombia, Costa Rica, Jamaica and Peru.

1982-2008: Under the influence of the “pro- Castro lobby” in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), nine natural and cultural sites on the Island were declared wonders of the world- the Old Havana and its Fortifications (1982), the Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios (1988), San Pedro de la Roca Castle (1997), the Desembarco del Granma National Park (1999), the Viñales Valley (1999), the Archaeological Landscape of the First Coffee Plantations in the South East of Cuba (2000), the Alejandro de Humbolt National Park (2001), the Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos (2005) and the Historic Centre of Camaguey (2008). Curiously Cuba holds more world heritage sites than Argentina, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya and South Africa.

1984: Due to its political and financial dependency with the rule of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (USSR), the totalitarian Communist state refused to send over 200 Cuban champs and officials to the 23rd Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, CA. Therefore, many champs lost the chance to compete in the Games, which included Javier Sotomayor (track & field) and Mireya Luis (volleyball) as well as Olympic gold medal winners Maria Caridad Colón (athletics) and Teófilo Stevenson (boxing).

1985: In its efforts to improve the country’s economy, tourism became one of government’s top priorities. Nonetheless, poor international image -among the world’s oldest tyrannies, together with the Stalinist state of North Korea-have caused great harm to the Island’s tourism industry.

1986-1992: Although many Socialist governments, from Czechoslovakia and Mongolia to the People’s Republic of China recognized to Seoul,the Cuban tyranny continued to reject South Korea’s sovereignty.

1988: After a year of speculations, the Cuban contingent did not participate in the Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.

1990s Cuba — The World’s Worst Olympic Country

1991: Upon the ending of the Soviet Empire, the Caribbean Island, with few natural resources, had transformed itself from a middle-income country to one of the poorest countries on the American mainland.

1992: Cuba’s exile Eduardo Díaz Betancourt was executed by tyranny, despite worldwide appeals for clemency.

1992: Jorge Esquivel, the most outstanding dancer and choreographer in the Cuban Revolution, sought political asylum in Italy. This defection was a serious setback to the Cuban National Ballet. At the 1982 International Ballet Competition in Havana, Esquivel, one of the world’s six best dancers, made his choreographer debut. In the 70s and 80s, he was partner of Alicia Alonso.

1993: Despite Cubaannually budgeted over $ 100 million for the promotion of Olympic sport, which represents 3% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) -one of the highest in the developing world, sport had a big problem: there were massive defections. During the 17th Central American and Caribbean Games in Puerto Rico, the Island boasted the infamous distinction of being “one of the world’s worst Olympic nations”, alongside Burma and Libya, as a host of Olympian athletes and coaches, including softball players and swimmers, refused to return to their impoverished country.

1993 Against all odds, Alina Fernández Revuelta, Fidel Castro’s daughter, fled to Europe.

1994-2010: The Cuban regime lost four important allies in sub-Saharan Africa: Angola (resource-rich nation), Benin, Equatorial Guinea (oil-rich country) and Namibia (uranium-rich country).

1995: The Island boasted one of the highest suicide rates on the planet.

1995-2010: Unlike the Republic Socialist of Vietnam, the Island, with an economy heavily dependent on tourism, has had one of the worst-performing economies in the developing world. The nation’s economy had long been handicapped by its primitive political system. Since the breakup of the Soviet Empire in the early 1990s, a lot of workers, from nurses to teachers, have been forced by the lack of job opportunities to work in Latin America and Spain. With the exception of Haiti, Cuba’s citizens are the poorest on the Caribbean region. On the other hand, important sporting and economical agreements between Havana and Latin America republics have strengthened ties between the Cuban dictatorship and Latin democracies.

1998: In an attempt to mollify its critics, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II was allowed to visit the Island for the first time.

1999: At the Pan American Games in Winnipeg (Canada), the country’s Olympic delegation picked up several medals, but unwelcomed publicity came when Cuba’s athlete Javier Sotomayor Sanabria, one of the Island’s most respected icons since 1959, lost his Pan American gold medal in the men’s high jump after testing positive for a drug. Meanwhile, Fidel Castro did not accept the results.

2000s The Hereditary Dictatorship of the Castros

2000: Castro’s regime established close ties with the government of Hugo Chavez, Head of State of Venezuela.Due to his admiration for Fidel Castro, Chavez provided heavy economic aid and became a supplier of oil to Cuba. Meanwhile, Aleksandr Lukashenko, dictator of Belarus, went to Havana.

2003: While Cuba’s tyrant Fidel Castro -perhaps inspired by Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, Idi Amin Dada and other satraps of the Third World– expressed his desire to become Presidentfor life,the State Security Departament’s increased activity against the opposition groups as itarrested 75 prominent human rights activists, who participated in the Project Varela. They were named “Prisoners of Conscience” by Amnesty International. In response to the rule of Cuba’s human rights abuses, European Union (EU) imposed restrictive measures on Cuba.

2005-2010: In tribute to the “Ladies in White”, the European Union bestowed upon them the 2005 Sakharov Prize for Freedom. This award was hailed as a victory for the Island ’s pro-democratic groups. The pro-democratic organization “Ladies in White” became a world symbol of the struggle against tyranny and repression. They are one the greatest signs of hope for the new Cuba. In beginning 2008, they were threatened and attacked by paramilitaries forces.

2008: Because of its poor health, amid many speculations, Fidel Castro stepped down as Head of State and leader of the Cuban Revolution. Subsequently he was replaced by his younger brother Raúl Modesto Castro Ruz, becoming the seventh Marxist leader of a Latin American country, after Fidel Castro (1960-2008), Allende (Chile, 1971-1973), Forbes Burnham (Guyana,1970-1980), Michael Manley (Jamaica, 1972-1980), Maurice Bishop (Grenada, 1979-1983) and Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Nicaragua, 1985-1990). Raul’s succession was long-anticipated. Nonetheless, the new President, Prime Minister between 1976 and 2008,did not make major changes to the Island’s political system.

2009-2010: Under the tutelage of the hereditary dictatorship of the Castro family, there were up to 225 prisoners of conscience. Nonetheless, not much was known about the total number of political prisoners.

2010: Aware that several Cuban athletes want to escape from the Island, the country’s new dictator Raúl Castro, through the Cuban Olympic Committee (COC), declined to send Olympian athletes, coaches and officials to the Central American and Caribbean Games in Mayaguez (Puerto Rico). The Island’s sport during the past 20 years has been hit by a host of defections.

Alejandro Guevara Onofre: Freelance writer. Alejandro is author of a host of articles/essays about over 220 countries and dependencies (and American States as well), from ecology, history, tourism and national heroes to Olympic sports, foreign relations, and wildlife. In addition, he has published some books on women’s rights, among them “History of the Women in America” and “Famous Americans”

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alejandro_Guevara_Onofre

So it goes with the Federal budget deficit and our skyrocketing national debt.. If we cannot fix our fiscal situation, nothing else matters. Much like the heart, if the financial foundation of our country is destroyed, then nothing else has any importance. You cannot even talk about global warming, a national energy program, improving public schools, fighting drug addiction, defending the country, helping out the needy, creating and maintaining job growth and economic growth, nothing else. If the heart goes, it does not matter how strong your legs are or how much air your lungs can pump. Much like the heart, sound fiscal policy makes everything else possible.

The severity of our fiscal distress was recently brought to mind again while reading the May 31, 2010 issue of Business Week magazine. In a short blurb, Business Week asserted that total U.S. debt, as of May 26, was $12.996 TRILLION. Given that we are now past that date, I think it is safe to assume we have broken through the $13 TRILLION threshold. What does this mean:

- At $13 TRILLION, the average U.S. household is on the hook for about $113,000 worth of government debt. Since the government does not create wealth, it can only confiscate wealth from its citizens, at some point we are all responsible for paying down this debt.
- At $13 TRILLION, every man, woman, and child in the country is responsible for about $42,000. Thus, a family of four is on the hook for about $168,000.
- The Obama administration’s ten year budget plan calls for another $8 TRILLION or so in debt to be accumulated by the Federal government, boosting each household’s debt burden to about $175,000 if nothing is done to change the trend.
- Last summer, Forbes magazine ran an article where they estimated the total wealth of the 400 richest Americans. As an illustrative example of how big the Federal debt is, assume that the Federal government confiscated the total wealth of these 400 Americans. Their total wealth, not their income, so this confiscation would be a one time shot. The total wealth that could be confiscated was estimated by Forbes in the article to be far less than $3 TRILLION. Thus, soaking and bankrupting the rich will not come close to paying down this skyrocketing debt, every U.S. living and to be born in the foreseeable future, is responsible for a large part of this $13 TRILLION.
- From a freedom perspective, you cannot live in a free country if the political class and the government in that country burden you with such debt. By running up such a huge deficit, a deficit that we will all have to pay down or suffer the consequences of default, we lose our freedom to spend our wealth on what we want to spend it on. We cannot send our kids to a better school, start our own business, retire when we want to, help out a charity or blow it all in Las Vegas.

Give the dire situation of our county’s heart and future, what has the political class been keeping themselves busy with in the past year or so:

- Congresswoman Anna Eshoo of California and her staff were busy working on legislation to Federally regulate the sound volume on television commercials. Never mind that TV watchers can mute the sound, change the channel, leave the room to get something to eat, fast forward on their DVR machines, or just ignore the TV for 60 seconds. Why work on soaring deficits (and other major national problems) when the TV commercial sound volume issue is so pressing?
- Congressman Jim Moran and his staff were busy investigating whether male dysfunction television commercials should be banned. I did not know this was so important either. As with Ms. Eshoo, let’s ignore real budget and financial issues facing America and work on E.D. commercials.
- Congressman Thaddeus McCotter and his staff were busy working on legislation to provide up to $300 a month in income tax deductions so that the unemployed do not have to put their pets up for adoption. Maybe if his staff and he were working on how to get America working again, which would increase tax revenue to pay down the deficit, there would be no need for this ridiculous program that would never be able to be tracked and would be rife with fraud.
- Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye’s and his staff have been busy helping a bank in Hawaii get bailout money from the FDIC after the FDIC determined the bank was not worth saving. Turns out that the Senator had invested heavily in the bank and stood to lose a load of money unless the bank was saved by the American taxpayer.
- Ex-Congressman William Jefferson of Louisiana was busy getting convicted of taking bribes and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. You may recall that Mr. Jefferson was caught with frozen bribe money in his home freezer.
- Also, Congressman Randy Cunningham was busy getting sentenced to eight years in prison for taking $2.4 million in bribes, Congressman Bill Ney was busy getting sentenced to two and a half years in prison for taking bribes, Congressman James Traficant was busy getting sentenced to seven years in prison for taking bribes, and the majority of ex-Governors of Illinois were either busy serving prison time, have served prison time, or may soon face prison time.
- 60% of the Congressional members sitting on the House Armed Services Committee were busy receiving campaign contributions from the very companies that they had previously earmarked pork barrel budget money for.
- Congressman Charles Rangel of New York was busy being investigated for a number of ethics violations including, but not limited to, non-declaration of rental income, certain assets, and other income.
- Fifty Republican Congressmen and women were developing legislation to replace Ulysses S. Grant’s picture on the $50 bill with Ronald Reagan’s picture. Given that all U.S, currency will soon be worthless unless the national debt is brought under control, this seems like a pretty useless endeavor.
- Every member of Congress has been busy in the development of the over 11,000 wasteful earmarks and pork barrel spending programs, in the latest Federal budget, for their home states and districts, the vast majority of which are nothing more than re-election badges for incumbents and all of which exacerbate the huge government deficit.

Thus, rather than solving the one major problem on which all else depends, many members of the political class chose to work problems that would probably not even make America’s top 50 concerns (TV commercials and doggie deductions), were busy taking bribes and/or serving time for taking bribes, or were busy diverting taxpayer money to their own personal benefit. Getting back to the Snoopy and Peanuts analogy, these politicians are busy putting earmuffs on cold ears and or tightening up their scarves while the body is in the middle of a massive coronary.

That is why it is critical to vote out all incumbents in November and place into office a new breed of politician that realizes what the major issues are facing this country, with fiscal soundness being the most critical. We need new representatives that can take unselfish, bold action to fix and address those issues. Listen to Snoopy, fix the heart first and then everything else is possible.

Our new book, “Love My Country, Loathe My Government – Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class” is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

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1) The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) is responsible for overseeing the integrity of the accounting processes and accuracy of public companies’ financials. They were obviously asleep at the wheel when many of Wall Street’s largest financial firms, rapidly and without warning, either went bankrupt or dove into deep financial stress at the onset of the greatest financial collapse in this country since the Great Depression. How did this economic and financial fiasco occur with almost no advance warning by the SEC? A possible answer was published in an April 23, 2010 Associated Press article which reported on the findings of an SEC Inspector General analysis. The analysis found that more than two and half dozen SEC employees were found to have used their government issued computers to search the Internet for pornography during the time they should have been hard at work protecting the interests of Americans who invest in public companies. As examples of their findings, one SEC attorney spent up to eight hours a day downloading pornography, burning his findings to CDs and DVD discs once his hard drive filled up with the pornographic material. An SEC accountant was blocked over 16,000 times in one month (or about 800 times a day, 10 times an hour) from visiting pornographic websites yet he was able to eventually collect a collection of pornographic material on his government computer by using a method to bypass the SEC filters. Seventeen of the pornography seekers at the SEC were considered “senior level” employees, earning salaries up to $222,000 a year. These government employees were obviously too busy to help protect the interests of the American investors, people who lost untold billions of dollars as a result of the financial crisis that the SEC staff never saw coming.

2) In January of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report that concluded the $150 billion that the Federal government had spent on the Head Start program since 1965 has no long lasting benefits to the children that had been enrolled in the program. Another analysis, this one conducted by the Heritage Foundation found similar results: “Head Start has little to no effect on cognitive, socio-emotional, health, and parenting outcomes of children participating in the program.” Thus, rather than delivering the benefits that Head Start is supposed to deliver, we are left with an annual multi billion set of early education government programs that are little more than a government subsidized baby sitting service.

3) In the April 26, 2010 issue of Newweek magazine, an article by Dan Stockman exposed the fact that the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) is not doing a lot of protecting, at least relative to the Clean Air Act. According to research done by Mr. Stockman, his analysis of the EPA’s public database of enforcement records showed that on a national basis, more than 750 companies have been in continuous violation of clean air laws since 2007. Included in these 750 companies were over two hundred companies defined as high priority because of the severity of their offenses. What good is having a law and identifying offenders if there are no consequences or changes in behavior? Not very helpful.

4) In the April 9, 2010 issue of The Week magazine, there was a short article about how shoddy the work at the Energy Department is relative to classifying products as deserving of a high energy saving appliance rating within the EnergyStar program. A company who gets an EnergyStar rating can market the energy efficiency of their product, as approved by the government, and theoretically sell more products and/or sell them at a higher price. Consumers look for the EnergyStar designation with the assumption being that these are good deals from a cost of energy perspective. One problem though. The article reported on a sting operation by Federal regulators that sent bogus designs to the people running the EnergyStar testing program. These bogus products included a gasoline powered alarm clock (certainly not a very efficient way to tell time) and a feather duster attached to a space heater that had been called an “air filter” by the regulators. Unfortunately, both of these bogus products and most of the others were awarded the EnergyStar status by the Energy Department. Obviously, the Energy Department is not here to help you distinguish energy efficient products from those that are not if these somewhat outrageous fake products can pass the current energy efficiency standards in the inspection process.

5) Most people probably know that Toyota has been having a spate of safety problems with it’s cars over the past few months, with accusations that these safety problems have resulted in traffic fatalities. What most people do not know, as reported in the March 1, 2010 issue of Businessweek, the government had opened, and shortly thereafter closed, eight inquiries into the problem with Toyota products, starting back in 2003. In all eight cases they found no significant problems and closed all probes with no action taken. It was not until the past year or so that the government finally recognized that maybe there is a problem and Toyota was finally forced to take remedial action on its vehicles. The article points out the fact that the two government interface executives at Toyota used to work for the very government agency responsible for automobile safety, implying that the government might have gone easy on their former co-workers. Given that upwards of a hundred Americans may have died as a result of faulty Toyota products, it does not look like the government is helping anyone here either.

6) Several years ago the government belatedly pulled a series of imported toy products from China off of the shelf because the products were made using lead based materials that could seriously hurt a child if the the child put a toy in their mouths and the lead entered their systems. While the good news is the government safety organization finally got the products off of the shelves, it would have been much better if they had never entered the country in the first place, Even worse, according to a May 20, 2010 Associated Press article, the overseas producers simply replaced their lead laced products with cadmium laced products which are just as dangerous. One would have thought the government would have been a little more alert to these types of products since they had just gone through the lead based experience. Alas, they were no better the second time around as the cadmium products came ashore.

7) A May 17, 2010 Associated Press article reported on the many oversights and incompetence of Federal employees of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Federal agency, the agency responsible for overseeing the safety of oil rigs in the Gulf Of Mexico. According to the article and an internal report, not as many inspections were done as required, many MMS employees received hunting and fishing vacations along with other gifts from the same companies they were supposed to keep in line from a safety perspective, some MMS employees were inspecting oil rigs of companies at the same time they were in negotiations for employment by those companies, and some MMS employees admitted being addicted to illegal drugs while being responsible for safety inspections and compliance. These Federal employees were obviously little help in preventing the devastating Gulf oil spill.

The Department Of Homeland Security has certainly not been helpful. This past December, a would be terrorist traveled from Somalia to the skies over Detroit and would have blown up the airliner he was in if his underwear bomb had not malfunctioned. In the spring, another would be terrorist almost blew up a car bomb on the streets of Time Square which failed to explode only because of a defective bomb. Unknown numbers of illegal aliens and drugs, and who knows what else, continue to flood over our southern border with Mexico. Are we feeling secure yet?

9) In a related non-helpful effort, an article in the June 11, 2010 issue of The Week magazine recalled a resolution from the House of Representatives in 1986. At that time, the House demanded that the Pentagon seal our borders within 45 days against illegal drugs. Looks like they missed that deadline.

10) The No Children Left Behind legislation from the Bush administration has proven to be unsuccessful in raising the lower than expected learning levels of American children relative to the education of children in many other countries. Thus, nothing has changed since the Reagan administration issued its scathing report on American public schools in 1982, “A Nation At Risk.” Thus, the American political class and its government processes have been unhelpful for at least twenty eight years in raising education standards and output of the country.

11) On the foreign affairs front, government and the political class have not been very helpful either. Two renegade countries, North Korea and Iran, with economies and populations that are just a small fraction the size of the United States, will both soon have the ability and intention of creating and stockpiling nuclear weapons. Unstable leadership in these countries is not a long term formula for safety and security.

12) In the face of all of these failures, what have the politicians been working on during the past year that might eventually help all of us live a better life? A California Congresswoman and her staff worked on legislation that would establish Federal regulations for the sound volume of television commercials, another Congressman was working on legislation that would prevent male dysfunction commercials from airing on television, another Congressman and his staff worked on legislation to give pet owners a tax deduction in these hard economic times, and many Washington politicians were involved in the debate on how to get a national college football playoff system in place. How many of these items would fall in the top 20 issues facing most Americans today? Probably not many. Politicians spend time on these small, insignificant issues while the big issues of public education, energy policy, leaky borders, high health care costs, skyrocketing national debt levels, and high unemployment continue to grow unabated.

13) Finally, the biggest and most widespread non-help in the past sixty years was obviously related to the financial crash and economic downturn of the past few years. Numerous government agencies were absolutely no help in foreseeing and managing the housing and banking crisis that caused the so-called “Great Recession.” These Federal government entities include Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, SEC, Treasury Department, Federal Reserve, House of Representatives housing and banking committees, Senate housing and banking committees, the FDIC, the FHA, the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and any number of other unhelpful government organizations. If these agencies and politicians could not see this great, historic economic crisis coming until it was way too late to do anything, what makes us think they have any chance in successfully managing the smaller, more subtle aspects of the economy?

Did we leave anyone out? We need to get over the myth that government is somehow an efficient and effective ally in our lives. The above examples should be proof of that. Many Americans still think that once a law is passed or a program established that the battle is over and everything will be great: government workers and agencies taking care of things in a super efficient manner at a reasonable cost. Given the above list of incompetencies and the record, sky high national debt levels we have, we are getting the worst of all possible combinations – high cost, low quality.

We need to start a long term, systematic downsizing of government in order to reduce our national debt and get government smaller and more focused on just the important, major issues of our times, which does not include the sound volume of television commercials. The logic is if the political class and government agencies have less to worry about, they may actually get good at a few things rather than being incompetent in a wide range of things. It makes no sense to continue to support a government bureaucracy when all we get is the low performance or non-performance described above. Drastically downsize and focus, that is what must be done to get us out of the high cost/low quality zone into the low cost/high quality zone. Then, and only then, might the myth “I’m from the government and I am here to help you” actually become a reality again.

Our new book, “Love My Country, Loathe My Government – Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom and Destroying The American Political Class” is now available at http://www.loathemygovernment.com and online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Visit our blog at http://www.loathemygovernment.blogspot.com for our nealry daily dialog on American freedom.

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Still, now that the Obama Care bill has passed, now the president wants to work on a Cap and Trade Bill, which has been referred to as Cap and Tax, as it will put a cap on the amount of CO2 that coal-fired plants, and other emitters of CO2 put out, and financial penalties for such emissions, and that money collected will then be funneled towards research and development, and subsidizing alternative energy generation.

The Obama Administration of course says that they want to, once again, work in a bipartisan way. But I’d like to remind everyone that working in a bipartisan way does not necessarily mean agreeing to spend our nation into oblivion. The Republicans, presently the opposition party, should never agree to anything which would put the United States of America into more debt, or push it to the verge of bankruptcy.

There would be nothing noble about such spending, and it is quite unacceptable considering the amount of money that the Obama administration has already spent for other things. It is my sincere hope that you will consider what I’m saying, and not allow sneaky buzzwords, or promises of working together jeopardize your assessment of what’s really going on in Washington DC.

The money they are spending has to come from somewhere, and it’s going to end up coming from you the taxpayer. Whether they take it in actual taxes, or whether they tax your energy, causing your energy costs to rise in your home, or in your business, it still comes from you either way.

Working bipartisanly is one thing, civil debate, and doing what’s best for our country should be expected of our elected representatives. But quite frankly when they get together on the same team and start spending this nation into oblivion, then we have a problem. And when the American people have a problem with our elected representatives, it’s time to vote the bums out of office, all of them, especially if they’re working in a bipartisan way, with the Obama Administration. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes it’s hard to write 20,000 articles; http://www.bloggingcontent.net/

Note: All of Lance Winslow’s articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers.

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The Doctrine was intended to promote diversity in media opinions, but was deemed a hindrance to free speech and finally abandoned in 1985 under President Reagan’s administration.

Although the Doctrine has been out of practice for more than twenty years, there have been attempts to bring it back, most resulting from claims that conservative talk radio dominates the airwaves and that it needs to be balanced with more liberal voices.

The latest attempt is currently alive and being debated in Congress, with Representatives such as Dennis Kucinich showing their support for new legislation that would resurrect the Fairness Doctrine.

Those For the Fairness Doctrine
Proponents of the Fairness Doctrine have, at the heart of their argument, a concern for the welfare of “the people”. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) put it this way, “The airwaves should be used for public benefit. It’s broadcasters’ one obligation for condition of license”. The belief is that airwaves are “public”, and should be regulated so that the interests of the public are taken care of. Thus, someone (the FCC) should be authorized to regulate the media given out so that a diversity of opinions is present.

In order to achieve this diversity of opinions, “we need to…break up the major media conglomerates”. According to Fairness Doctrine promoters, since the abandonment of the Doctrine, there have been fewer and fewer owners who have bought more and more broadcasting licenses. They would like to see more competition by limiting the amount of media outlets that can be owned by one conglomerate.

Opponents of the Doctrine
Opponents of the Fairness Doctrine have several objections, ranging from the unconstitutionality of the Doctrine, to its bad effects on business, to the claim that it does the opposite of what it was intended to do. Their strongest argument, legally, is that the Fairness Doctrine limits free speech.

The First Amendment to the Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”. The Fairness Doctrine limits the amount of one side of a debate that can be aired, by requiring that the other side be given the same amount of time.

The “Hush Rush” Bill
Another argument against the Doctrine is that it is bad for the talk radio business. Talk radio tycoons like Rush Limbaugh rose to power after the abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine, a feat that would not have occurred were the Doctrine still in place.

Talk radio hosts earn their fame and money by having very strong, one-sided opinions which they share every weekday for about three hours a day. If the Fairness Doctrine were in place, broadcasters would have to air three additional hours of talk shows per day with an opposing viewpoint. This becomes very difficult and costly to manage, which leads to financial troubles for the talk radio powers that are already well established.

Broadcasters feel that the obligation to air opposing viewpoints would hurt them financially because those who listen to the talk radio hosts usually agree with the host’s opinions, which is why they listen in the first place. If required to air views that contradict those of the listeners, then listeners will stop tuning in and find alternatives. For this reason the Fairness Doctrine was given the epithet the “Hush Rush” bill.

The Verdict
So, which is more important: public ownership of the radio waves or free speech? The battle line is drawn almost uniformly between party lines.

Democrats want the media to be owned by the public and regulated by the government. Republicans pursue their hands-off approach by arguing for free speech and the power of the market.

If one were to look towards the principles this country were founded upon, then principles such as freedom in the market and freedom of the press would stand out as strong supporters for the continued abolishment of the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine, though well-intentioned, would not have constructive consequences on the American people, their opinions, or their beloved radio broadcasts.

Damien Olenslager loves big ideas. bitesizeidea.com is my attempt to spread bite size ideas to the world. I want normal people like you and me to understand how to live happier, healthier, financially secure lives.

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The truth of the matter remains, if you want to stay longer in the company or if you want an early promotion, you have to tell the boss you exist. Looking at the positive side, it is every boss’s prerogative to choose someone with experience and a good working attitude based on his preference. This is so due to the fact that whatever decision has to be carried on will be passed along hence if trust is not established between you and the boss, you are less likely to pop that champagne after getting a note that says ” you got the position”. So its really up to you how you take it. If envy lingers your mind over somebody who just came in yesterday gets promoted while you have been sitting there for quite sometime now, these are certain realizations that you can think of before you feel bad and leave your current work. Its not always a bad thing to think of office politics. It should motivate you to excel in performance and to show a good working attitude. Those in effect would certainly ring a bell on the boss’s ears.

A major example of office politicking is a simple getting-close-gesture with the boss. Not anyone is made alike hence there are people who has the ability to stir up interest from the boss’s eyes. Maybe what you need to do it so to ensure that good performance and working attitude go a long way with camaraderie. Its not a bad thing to rub elbows with the boss just as long as you keep your values. In some cases, people who wants to get close to the boss would do odd things like volunteering to be a nanny for his kid or be a chaperon to his teenager something like that totally ridiculous!

More than the bad perception towards office politics what you need to bear in mind is the idea that camaraderie, good performance and work attitude when combined together can move you a long way to the top of the corporate ladder. Go on say high and be nice to your boss! Enjoy the office politics.

When i am not busy dead lifting over half a ton, I am reviewing electric wine chillers which i use for my protein shakes and energy drinks.

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It has been now about two months that, to my shocking surprise, we have been bombarded with news about Greece. Every single day, there is one or more stories in the front page of the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers, all analyzing the importance of Greece in the European Union in particular, and the world’s financial health in general. I have spent the last few days in Denmark and Germany and a day does not go by without seeing Greece in the front, middle and back pages of the Financial Times and other newspapers written in languages beyond the four I can personally speak. So the question is, what makes little-tiny Greece, all of a sudden the center of the universe again? Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled that Greece is in the news daily, but the question is why does Greece matter?

Greece is a minor euro zone economy, perhaps 2-3% of GDP, but what matters is the fact that Greece uses the Euro as its currency and the threat alone that Greece may go under sends shockwaves to the financial community, for the fear of one country going down may take other countries with similar problems with it as well.

The issue became critical when Greece announced that its budget deficit as percent of GDP, was way above what was reported by the previous administration, 12 or 13% to be exact, way above the required by the Union 3%. One only had to look at similar countries like Portugal and Spain to see they too had very high budget deficits. The PIGS, as they call them, i.e., Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain make for a very unstable economic group, which, if can not meet its financial obligations to the community, puts unsustainable pressure on the Euro with the now known consequences. In fact, the Euro has gone on a free fall almost overnight, from being the dominant currency with dollar exchange rates around $1.5, to losing more than 5% of its value against the dollar, to an eight month low of $1.3529 as recently as two months ago and some analysts predict it may go down to $1.3, or even less.

So what can the mighty US learn from tiny Greece? Is it possible that the US, by running, or even threatening to run huge deficits, as the proposed social plans by the Obama administration indicate, would face similar disastrous economic situation that would severely and adversively impact the dollar, vis-à-vis the major currencies? Some people argue that this is not possible because unlike the EU where countries are not really legally bound by a single government, the US can legally mobilize financial resources and assist states that are in dire straits, something that the EU is currently challenged with. However, it is not the state budgets that create global havoc, but rather the budget deficits at the US federal level which are currently huge by historical standards that create serious risks and in turn scare away investors – like China, who are looking to expand their recently acquired wealth into more productive capital markets. One can already see that current US deficits, even before Mr. Obama’s proposals are approved, have scared away investors who are already looking for safer havens. China for one thing is building its gold stockpiles rather than investing in US real estate capital.

A country’s budget deficits, its liabilities to its people and foreign investors, put pressure on its ability to borrow in the open markets and eventually run the risk of seeing its bonds down rated. This is exactly what has happened to Greece and what can happen to America, if it doesn’t get its (White) house in order.
America has recently used extreme financial behavior by spending immense internal capital to bail out the auto industry and Wall Street on the premise they were too big to fail. This was the wrong long term strategy which bound to have two effects: 1) these industries have no incentive to put their house in order and, 2) the US citizens at large will be financing this error for ever.

It is interesting to see that Germany, the country that all other economies are compared to in Europe, decided that under no circumstances will it bail out Greece for the above two reasons. In the long run, Greece will have to find its way out of this financial Greek tragedy and be a better EU partner. There is no such thing as “too big” or “too small” for that matter, to fail!

For the US, tough times are ahead. It would be a shame if Greece, where democracy started, could not teach the world a lesson, and America is where democracy ended. For the shake of our children, I need to be proven wrong.

Did you find this article informative, thought provoking or interesting? If so, you may also enjoy visiting my blog: http://www.askDrNick-anything.blogspot.com

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One idea was to increase the payroll taxes by 2% and over a 75 year period, the deficit problem was expected to be resolved. However, the future deficits are growing so large that this modest tax increase will still leave a large shortfall. Social Security’s impending crisis cannot be resolved with this small tax increase.

Another idea, which is supported by President Obama, is to raise SS taxes on people who earn more than $97,500 per year. Currently, those who earn more than this cap amount of $97,500 do not pay Social Security. The Congressional Research Service says that if all earnings were subject to payroll tax, the Social Security trust fund would remain solvent for the next 75 years. Senator Clinton opposed increasing taxes for people earning more than $97,500 because she stated it hurts the middle class. On the other hand, both Presidential hopefuls were strongly against the privatization of Social Security because it leaves the system at the whim of the market.

Former-President Bush has been in support of a plan that allows Americans to invest a portion of their existing Social Security taxes in a personal account. This is sort of semi-privatization. Polls show that there are large numbers of supporters backing this plan.

Out of all the proposed ideas on how to face the impending crisis deficit, no one plan seems to be favored above all the rest and the deficit continues to grow. Hopefully new ideas keep coming forth in order to solve the deficit problem that Social Security will inevitably face.

So far, the Administration has been using special issue bonds from the trust fund to cover its financial problems. But by 2041, that trust fund will run out. At that time, a 26 % reduction in benefits for retirees has been planned.
So, what does all this add up to? Basically, current retirees are in the clear. Their full promised benefits will be paid to them. The Administration has enough money to cover everyone promised benefits until 2017. This even allows for annual cost of living increases.

However, by 2041 the Administration will be in trouble. The trust fund will have run out and so the situation for younger workers looks dire. Anyone born after 1974 will reach retirement age after the trust fund is totally exhausted. At this time, it is estimated that these younger workers will have paid fully into throughout their careers, but will only get 74% of the benefits that have been promised to them.

There is one solution has little to do with politicians and taxes. It involves starting a personal retirement account. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt originally created the Social Security Administration, it was never intended to be the only source of retirement income for anyone. It was established as a supplemental income system. Therefore, younger workers need to think ahead and began looking for other ways to ensure a safe retirement for themselves.

Shaneela Khan is an expert on Social Security Law and has been working in the Field for the past 15 years. For more information on Social Security Benefits please visit: http://www.socialsecuritylaw.com.

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The 1,100 page draft bill offers more sweeping change than legislation that has recently been proposed by the White House and in the House of Representatives. Senator Dodd’s proposal removes most of the Federal Reserve’s banking oversight and consumer protection powers, leaving it the primarily in charge of monetary policy. Additionally, the bill calls for the establishment of a “Super Regulator” to oversee all banks. This new agency, called the Financial Institutions Regulatory Administration, would absorb the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. It would also assume banking oversight powers currently held by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit of Insurance Corp.

The idea of a single banking regulator is sure to be controversial. In fact, the American Bankers Association has already voiced its opposition, citing the failure of a similar system in Great Britain. Additionally, small community banks are opposed to a single banking regulator based system. As it stands, the FDIC works in conjunction with the states to regulate state-chartered banks. Under the new plan a special community banking division would be created within the super regulator, forcing the same agency to focus on both the largest and smallest banking institutions.

Senator Dodd’s plan would also create an Agency for Financial Stability. Headed by a board of directors that includes the Treasury secretary, the Federal Reserve chairman and other top regulators, the stability agency would oversee financial practices that could potentially threaten the entire financial system. It would also be granted new powers to break up “too-big-to-fail” companies.

The bill’s creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency is sure to be a sticking point with Republicans and big bank supporters. This agency would oversee bank products like mortgages and credit cards. A similar agency is included in the House of Representatives version of the bill and the opposition to this requirement has been fierce. In order to pass the House bill, exceptions to stronger rules were included for industries like auto dealers and title insurers.

As expected, the proposal would impose new restrictions on the troubled derivatives market and on credit rating agencies. It would also require hedge funds to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, the draft includes provisions that would reshape the way that the 12 regional Federal Reserve Boards are structured.

Senator Dodd’s proposed legislation has a long way to go before consideration on the Senate floor. In fact, his draft proposal is already hitting roadblocks within his own committee. With such sweeping change to so many regulatory agencies and practices, it will be interesting to follow the progress or sudden death of this aggressive proposal. If the recent fireworks in the House of Representatives are any indication, it’s sure to be a good show.

About the Author

Reggie Britt is a consumer loan software developer for institutions serving the small loan customer. His Kwik-Loan software can help companies change their lending focus due to payday lending changes.

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