Social Security
I like the way the tax cuts are shaping up, and I was particularly pleased by Obama's proposal to slash social security taxes on workers from 6.2% to 4.2%, even it is for only a year. Link. I was really surprised when I read about it. The rate has been 6.2% as long as I can remember, and such a slash-back violates the fundamental structure of the entire social security system: a Ponzi scheme that requires that new money come in through the top of the funnel in sufficient amounts to pay benefits through the bottom of the funnel. Rest assured, social security is a pure Ponzi scheme. That's not rhetoric. Nothing separates social security from the most insidious Ponzi scheme, except size and federal sanction. It's worse than a chain letter scheme, since people in the chain letter know how it works. When the federal government implemented social security, it didn't explain to people that it was a Ponzi (instead referring to it as an old-age reserve "account"). To this day, people don't realize it's a Ponzi scheme (during the recent elections, one Democrat in my area ran a smear advertisement with an angry old woman remarking about his opponent, "He called Social Security a Ponzi scheme!"). I don't know how they can slash two points off the social security and fund the babyboomers, but if they pull off this tax break, watch for some heavy shenanigans with the CPI. The lower the federal government can keep the CPI, the less they have to pay the retiring boomers. * * * * * * * FB. Have you seen Bernanke's Facebook page? * * * * * * * Mutiny in Europe. Happy Pearl Harbor Day. Or rather, Banker Mutiny Day. I blogged about a few weeks ago. Has the damage in Europe already started? "BBC reports: 'Customers of one of Ireland's largest banks have been unable to access their cash accounts through ATMs or online. The Bank of Ireland said it became aware at 1000 GMT on Tuesday that ATMs were not working and customers were unable to make online transactions. A spokesperson said the fault lay with the bank's internal system and engineers were working to restore normal services.'" Link. My hunch: It's just a coincidence and nothing is going to result from this small act of revolt, but you never know. It might be an interesting day.
