In Trust Funds We Trust

Megan McArdle breaks some unwritten rule or other by asking a rhetorical question about the Social Security Trust Fund:

Every time I write anything about Social Security, I get at least one person arguing that everything is fine because after all, the trust fund is not going to run out until 2036 or so.

I want to assume good faith, but I have a hard time believing that anyone takes this argument seriously.  Today, because social security payments exceeded revenue, we're going to either have to raise taxes, or borrow more money, in order to cover the benefits.

How would this be different if we didn't have the trust fund?

Since you asked!  This was all hashed and re-hashed during the 2005 Social Security debate, and I am not at all a fan of the trust club fiction.  This old post from that bygone era makes the same point as Megan, subject to a supplement and a caveat.

First, the supplement - in addition to the "raise taxes or borrow more money" choices, Congress could choose to cut Social Security benefits.  But this is one area where the accounting fiction of the trust fund has some legal heft.  While the trust fund has a positive balance, the Social Security Administration has the statutory authority to redeem their bonds and pay out the current level of benefits; it would take an affirmative act of Congress to reduce the level of benefits (and that won't happen).

However, once the trust fund is depleted, Social Security can not, by law, pay out more than it takes in.  If Congress declines to act at that later date then Social Security will limp along as a true "pay as you go" transfer mechanism at some level of benefits lower than "promised".

So, to answer Megan's question - the trust fund provides temporary political and legal cover to a Congress that would rather kick this problem down the road.

I'LL SAY IT ONE MORE TIME:  Promoters of the trust fund fantasy liked to holler that the trust fund secures benefits because unless the Treasury honors the trust fund assets it will be defaulting on Treasury bonds.  Clinton's Treasury disagreed with that "analysis" back in 1999, pointing out that Congress could avoid paying on the bonds simply by legislating a reduction in benefits.  Treasury would stand ready to redeem trust fund assets, but (if the new benefits were low enough) the Social Security Administration would have no legal basis to demand their redemption.

Now, politically some future Congress is unlikely to be so bold.  But if they are, it won't represent any kind of a default on Treasury bonds.

Comments

[narciso]

"THe one rule about trust funds, is we don't talk about trust funds"

[Ignatz]

Shorter TM and MM, the "lock box" is as empty as Al Gore's head.

[Neo]

Al Gore has the "lock box"

[Pofarmer]

The Social Security trust fund is at least as real as the pot at the end of the rainbow.

[RichatUF]

Pofarmer, maybe we could keep the stoners in the Obama Administration busy looking for it.

[matt]

is this the same trust fund the government has been borrowing from for the past 40 years? I expect we're going to find out that it is empty except for a small dusty note in one corner saying:

"IOU $50,000,000,000" with an X at the bottom and nothing else.

[Stephanie]

Well, Robert Reich IS a little leprechaun.

[Danube of Thought]

Anybody know the amount of the IOU's currently in the fund?

[Rick Ballard]

There is about $2.5 trillion in the pot at the end of the rainbow (next to the unicorn stables). I believe that a new trustees' report is due soon - Geithner and Solis may still be coordinating lies.

[Danube of Thought]

I know I have read somewhere that David Ricardo permanently (one would have hoped) demolished the whole idea of a "lock box" in response to some goofy proposal for deficit reduction following the Napoleonic Wars. I searched for it a few months ago using Google, but couldn't find anything.

Ring any bells here?

[Danube of Thought]

Well, here it is, from Ricardo's "On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation" in 1817:

"No sinking fund can be efficient for the purpose of diminishing the debt, if it be not derived from the excess of the public revenue over the public expenditure."

[Danube of Thought]

And here is the invaluable Sowell applying Ricardo's analysis to some cuckoo scheme from the early Clinton years.

[Ignatz]

--the excess of the public revenue over the public expenditure--

How quaint.

[muni]

Outsourced lock box, like China real estate.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

But if they are, it won't represent any kind of a default on Treasury bonds.

Because they aren't Treasury bonds. They're a special, non-marketable bond that can only be held by SS and no one else. Contrary to Paul Krugman's sophistries.

[matt]

so, who gets left holding the bag when it all goes kablooie? FDR? Obama?

They really can't blame Sarah Palin for this one, can they?

[Jane says obamasucks]

Oh they will try - fer sure. Chris Matthews just said if Violence breaks out this weekend she will be blamed (because she said violence is not the answer). Apparently if she talks, she is at fault.

[Extraneus]

The still don't seem to be complaining about Romney, though. Strange.

[Extraneus]

Or Huckabee, I might add. :-)

[Bill in AZ]

"Chris Matthews just said if Violence breaks out this weekend..."

Is that what's on the journolist agenda?

[Rob Crawford]

Chris Matthews just said if Violence breaks out this weekend she will be blamed (because she said violence is not the answer).

I wonder if Chris Matthews has *any* contact with people who disagree with him? Or if his script writers have decided to take his character beyond parody?

[Rick Ballard]

"so, who gets left holding the bag when it all goes kablooie?"

You'll find the answer by looking in the mirror. The lockbox has been amusing for more than ten years now but "fixing" the SS problem using the general fund would only cost about $125 billion per year going forward. That's chump change in comparison to what the Kendonesian commie and the Democrat Job Killers have already scheduled for us.

The only thing I find intriguing about the SS situation is the probability that it will be greatly exacerbated by errors in actuarial assumptions coupled with revenue loss due to all the permanent job losses occasioned by Dem "victories".

[narciso]

I've always thought him too dim for the Journolist. It's ironic, with everything
that has happened in nearly two years now, you'd think that she'd be the cynical one, but
that's actually farthest from the truth.

[Jane says obamasucks]

I can rarely watch Matthews for more than 5 minutes - but I try to get that in. Since I am a big fan of ambient noise there is usually a TV going somewhere about 16/7 in my home and office. I also try and watch a few minutes of Morning Joe, which is not bad for a few minutes.
If nothing else you learn how in the tank everyone in Politico is.

[Frau Weltschmerz]

DoT's find of Sowell's 1993 Sarasota Herald Tribune article is a keeper. Thomas Sowell whups Robert "Soapbox" Reich any day. (Can I say "dibs"?) Now *there's* a life story. Eat your heart out Red Sonja.

It's the spending, stupid!

[narciso]

Morning Joe, is served up clueless, without the bitter aftertaste of viciousness, that characterizes much of MSNBC's product

[hit and run]

Pofarmer:
The Social Security trust fund is at least as real as the pot at the end of the rainbow.

RichatUF:
maybe we could keep the stoners in the Obama Administration busy looking for it.

Obama Administration Stoners: "Duuuuude,I could really go for some Doritos Funions pizza hot pockets Lucky Charms right now."

[Danube of Thought]

It's the spending, stupid!

And Milton Friedman said exactly the same thing 150 years later.

[Janet]

Jane - Is your email the same as it was for the 9-12 Tea Party?

[zanne]

Trust Fund=check is in the mail

[Danube of Thought]

Goodness--the Gaels certainly did absorb a savage drubbing.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Janet,

[email protected] The other one is still there but I rarely look at it.

[bgates]

If nothing else you learn how in the tank everyone in Politico is.

"MSNBC: Teaching You What You Already Know"

-funny thing is, I bet that slogan would appeal to their other regular viewer too.

[Danube of Thought]

Where is everybody? Sure, it's Friday night, but can't you people blog while watching the hoops?

And where has Chaco been lately?

[Jim Ryan]

He works for PJM a lot now.

[RichatUF]

Chaco probably makes more money writing for PMJ (and Wired?) than for the comments section at JOM.

It seems too quiet.

[MarkO]

Obama and the Dems call conservatives crazy and dare us to challenge health care. Brown calls Obama "inappropriate" which would include poorly dressed.

That's why we are losing and will continue to lose. it's the reason England has fallen.

Violence will not come from real conservatives, because we all seem to be the only pacifists left. Obama calls us out and we shrink. "Go for it," should result in someone saying "Here it comes."

Obama is such a nerdy poser. He's the school historian calling out someone at the Homecoming assembly. We, on the other hand, seemingly have no one willing to engage in the same form and with the same vigor.

Why are we not calling those who claim conservatives spit on a congressman or cried out racial slurs liars. They are. Make them prove it. The soft response is making me sick.

This Obama crew will not be stopped except by those who are willing to take them on in the same form in which they give it.

Who will do it? Apparently, no one we now can see.

As for me, I'm in Tampa on business and I'm waiting for the Duke game. I'm still mad about the Georgetown game where Obama showed up to influence the refs. That's my story.

[1110]

Look, it's okay about all the modeling and screwing, but all's they said is Obama is a coward and now they're trying to kill Coulter in Canada. Not fair.

Everyone had to take care of that Korea thing before, I mean after, it happened.

What is Tampa?

[Melinda Romanoff]

Rich-

You said "It seems too quiet."

Have a grenade.

Or, think of Miss Liberty while looking at things that don't exist.

Tread very carefuly from here on out.

[Frau Weltschmerz]

"Why are we not calling those who claim conservatives spit on a congressman or cried out racial slurs liars. They are. Make them prove it. The soft response is making me sick."

Yes, yes, yes, and more yes...arghhhhhh!

[Stephanie]

This administration's actions always seem to presage a bite in their asses...

Timing, she's a bitch. An Alaskan Husky wearing Red Monkey shoes and a really athletic conversation should be along soon to further expose the wounds.

LUN

[1110'Lots of confused chatter in the bond community']

France is meeting O in person, maybe he's not mad anymore. His wife is just like the French one; writer model actress fashion leader. Bottom line.

Will she ask him to screw too?

[Danube of Thought]

I just read the Duke kid's article about why everybody hates Duke basketball. I think he gets a couple of things wrong, and badly misses another point. First, he seems (understandably) to treat trips to the Final Four, as opposed to championships, as his measure of success. But who other than a Duke fan agrees with that? In any event, if sucess brought on hatred, how come nobody hates Kentucky, which has won two titles since 1996 and far more overall than Duke.

Then he assures us that Duke fans don't care that their players always fail comically in the NBA, so the haters' glee over that recurring ritual is misplaced. But what we know, and he apparently doesn't, is that the failing players themselves care very much, which is a source of great joy to the cognoscenti.

And the poor fellow seems utterly unaware of the real reason for the hatred: the boorish behavior of the student body at the home games.

Sorry, Mark O, but such essential truths cry out to be told.

[JeanD]

Frau, I agree, but who is going to call them out? The R's are shaking a can of sweet feed, hoping to get the horses to come back to the barn, but not if it interferes with their vacation!

Coburn, while trying to make the Dems pay for this weeks' unemployment benefits extension, runs out the clock and leaves the media to scream some more about the lack of compassion, not the lack of fiscal responsibility. His attempt to make the Dems live up to PAY-GO is magically transformed into "more bad behavior by the party of NO."

How do you get around the virtual fence?

[Stephanie]

Tread? Hell, Melinda, time to do the Mission Impossible high wire act. We are face down 1 inch from the floor with juggling poodles on our backs and both doggies just dropped their balls. Juggling balls, of course. Their real balls are in a lock box on the porch at Soros, Inc.

When are the sabots going to come out at Wall and Broad and crash this thing?

[Frau Weltschmerz]

David Horowitz's book The Art of Political War is now ten years old. It is only 192 pages long, and in times like these, I reread it. Horowitz deals with the noncombatant attitude in so much (most? all?)of Republican politics. He recommends that we respond quickly.
Horowitz cited the Democrats' label of Republicans as isolationists. The Republicans simply denied the charge and did *not* launch a counter-attack. The author suggested calling the opponents "appeasers," and he made the suggestion to the communications director of the RNC. The reply: "Republicans did not label the Democrats appeasers in the ... debate, because Trent Lott does not believe that Bill Clinton is an appeaser."

If you are tagged, you tag back! Horowitz sums up:
"Wake up. You've lost! Do you think voters are going to give Republicans a gold star for meticulous use of language, accuracy, and good behavior?"

[Stephanie]

Do you think voters are going to give Republicans a gold star for meticulous use of language, accuracy, and good behavior?"

Dance 10, Looks 3. It's way past time for the Republicans to see the plastic surgeon.

Bonus points for any who get the association!

[narciso]

Yes, and the Dems returned the favor, calling Trent Lott, Ross Barnett's nephew, (sarc), it's a rare few who as they say in Spanish
" no tiene pelo en la lengua" who are willing
to call a shovel a shovel, to paraphrase the
proverb. Someone with the tenacity of a Barracuda, let say. Btw, what became of the
trip to Broward or was that called off.

[JeanD]

R's aren't going to get this done, because they can't. They are congenitally polite, and even when they come on strong (P. Ryan), they get no MSM love.

It is going to be up to us to inform our friends, get them to vote, put signs in our yards, etc.

The Dems are counting on our decorum. What if I paint a 4x8 piece of plywood sheeting and put it in my yard?

The day of the first ObamaCare vote, one neighbor on my street had a homemade sign in his yard: 'Tell Congress to vote NO.' It was the size of a realty sign, but it sent a huge message.

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

It seems too quiet.

I think part of it is that we have a loss for words other than Obama Sucks.

I heard AT&T will lose a billion first quarter because of this f#@king great big deal. Where were they before the vote?

I also heard the the tea party people are violent misbehaved bigots but Hillary thinks we should send Rahm Emanuel to Russia for help.

Then you have this great news: President Obama’s Priorities: Human Rights Be Damned

On and on it goes.

Even ‘24′ Is Cancelled (That doesn't bother me as much because they really jumped the shark this year. I mean when Jack's daughter cries that she won't be able to see her father for 24 hours, the gig is up.) :)

And we have been told not to have recipe threads for fear of being knocked by a person that thinks we should be running around with our hair on fire even though we don't have the votes to do squat and even though I agree with his premise; he/she can't come up with one bloody good idea except to jump another shark.
Feh and Pfui!!!

And then Stephanie, god love her, again proves what PUK warned about and thank god bad never lived to see.

Cheney Knew!!! JOM Knew!!!

We need ideas. If you are hoping Jake Tapper demands a press conference where reporters can ask questions like Bret Baier did well think again.

[Stephanie]

Whose trip to Broward? I was there in January for the Orange Bowl. It was COOOOOLD!

I don't remember any trips planned by the Cuda to S FLA, but I could be wrong. I understand that the Searchlight and that other Nevada TP rally (forgot where exactly) are going to be covered live by PJM tomorrow, though.

Think she'll be in Naughty Monkey Red or Blue?

[JeanD]

Ann, please! We are the ones we've been waiting for...remember?

[Frau Weltschmerz]

JeanD. You are responding well to those in your neck of the woods, factually and confidently. (I even sense a twinkle in the eye.) I need to make more of an effort to counter some of the outright lies printed in the daily newspaper as letters to the editor. It's so easy to dismiss them.

The virtual fence is not new. I am encouraged by Breitbart and emerging media contributors. I stated earlier, I would like something to identify myself as part of the groundswell without resorting to the insulting and hurtful signs used during the previous administration. (My evil twin would really like that "Buck Ofama" sign, however.)

My husband points out that a Party of No is not a bad thing. The policies being objected to, deserve to be *rejected.* We should say No! to government'stheft of our liberties.

[narciso]

No, the closest was to Daytona, the nexr closest in New Orleans on the 9th, not terribly close either. Red seems to be
her favorite color

Yeah Jack really jumped the Killer whale,this season, CTU is just one step less incompeten than the real DHS the new TSA head has actual experience as a 'evil military contractor' so he has to go. Yeah 'the abandon all hope, ye who enter here,' has to go. Although admittedly I've run out of Python, Princess Bride, and other references to put this in perspective

[Neo]

WASHINGTON -- Fifteen phony products - including a gasoline-powered alarm clock - won a label from the government certifying them as energy efficient in a test of the federal "Energy Star" program.

[JeanD]

Frau, agree, but we should also point out the price of "free" to anyone we can get through to...

I have a few friends who I have been working on, with some success. The key, for me, is to help them understand that free candy now might mean hurling after Mom makes you finish dinner 45 minutes later.

They hear "bad rich people pay" and I say "you, too, will pay for all of the new Medicaid enrollees since you work and pay taxes." And on, and on.

And, the twinkle in the eye? Yep! Gotta keep our strength up for the long slog to November and beyond.

G'night all.

[daddy]

Good Morning!,

The wireless internet signal here at the restaurant buffet is very strong, so its nice to be having breakfast with my friends this morning and reading your very fun comments. Outside the window I can just see the top of the Eiffel Tower, but not quite Mt Fuji, the Taj Mahal, or the Pyramids of Giza, so naturally you must have already figured out that I am in...

Shenzhen,">http://www.random-good-stuff.com/2008/01/22/windows-of-the-world-shenzhen/">Shenzhen, China.

Am at the very swanky Crown Plaza in the Potemkin Village section of town. Built on a model of Venice, the inside looks like a miniature version of that section in Caesar's Palace Las Vegas, where the ceiling is painted like an evening sky in Venice, and guys and ">http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/szxns"> girls in gondolier outfits whisk your luggage over faux canals to reception and the elevators in the back. I have just sat down at breakfast, fired up the laptop, and am chatting with the help.

"Jane, Is your e-mail the same...Who is Jane?" asks Aiko over my shoulder. She and Monica are my 2 dedicated waitresses this morning. Aiko went to College to learn Business English, so she is showing off her reading skills to me and Monica by reading your comments. "Dan..., dan-ube..., what is Dan Ube of thought?"

Quizzing Aiko about where to site-see today, she comes up a little empty, and explains she is from Guangzhou and knows the tourist spots there much better, so we rap about that. She likes Shenzhen she tells me, because the Air Quality is better. (The Air Quality is always greener in the next Megalopolis over if you ask me, but I don't say so so as not to offend her.) Monica is a graduate in Hotel Management and from Shen Yang, way up North. Aiko, who has the better Business English of the 2 naturally, explains that the Air Quality in Shen Yang is wonderful. I ask if she has visited there, and she laughs and says no. So how do you know the air quality in ShenYang is so much better I ask her. "Because I am from China, so I know these things," she replies confidently.

Narciso's leadoff comment at 4:09 to start the thread is a good easy one for Aiko, but his 8:22 is a bit of a headscratcher, and I don't even try. "It's the Spending stupid", from Frau, Dot, etc, is easily understandable and restores her confidence. By then I am sipping an excellent cappuccino Monica has delivered. Beautiful froth on top with a marvelous Chinese character on top created in chocolate powder. Easter is just around the corner, so huge chocolate creations of football sized Easter eggs with bunnies and birds popping out of them are all over the restaurant. Reminds me of my last Lay Over in Beijing on the day the Mayor of Beijing was fired for taking SARS too lightly, and the vacant hotel Lobby was empty of everyone except for me, my co-pilot, Receptionists now wearing face masks, and a lonely 6 foot Chinese guy in an Easter Bunny costume sadly looking around the empty place for little kids to entertain. But, I digress.

The DimSum here is excellent. I'd try the pork buns especially, All the eggs you could want; poached, scrambled, fried, omletted, Benedicted, etc, are waiting back there beneath the skilled hands of the Chinese Chef's in big white poofy French Chef hats. 50 other pots of hot and cold delights fill the buffet tables, but the only questionable item this day is chicken feet.

Interestingly, my recent awful read "Chop Suey- History of Chinese food in America", had mentioned that in 1794 some Boston Aide de Camp to I think the deceased General Nathanial Greene, (Lt Shaw?) was tagged to be our first Ambassador to China. He rode a Whaler/Trader to the Malaysia straits where they bumped into 2 French boats enroute China who, happy with their New American Ally at whipping the British, escorted us to MaCau. There they assisted in getting him Imperial Chinese permission to head upriver to Canton (Guangzhou) afterwhich, playing both sides of the fence (by secretly dealing with the Brits who advised him the new nation would soon, if we weren't already ,be back into a distrusting the French mode) Shaw ultimately got permission for a little factory trade shop on Shamian Island, the very same island of adopted kids I'm always nattering on about. So if I'm eating noodles at Lucy's in Guangzhou tomorrow, I'll be within 2 blocks of where the first American diplomat ate Chinese noodles 215 years back. History repeats itself, so I'll drink to that!

If anyone cares, Aiko is cuter than Monica, but they are both pretty and fun.

FWIW, The Spanish apparently had imported Chinese cooks to Acapulco by the 1600's, so it's not correct to say there were no decent noodle houses in North America prior to about 1848---just that there weren't any in what became known as the US (and lets not nit-pick about Hawaii shall we.)

Also FWIW, as the cheap labor was imported to California following the 1849 Gold Rush, the first Chinese came in, did labor etc, but also sidelined as cooks. Supposedly within 2 years the first Chinese were able to return to the Homeland rich as Croesus, which thus started a Chinesed goldrush. I think the book said in 1849 there were about 1000 Chinese in San FRan area, up to about 20,000 3 years later (something like that but don't quote me).

Oh, this pastry is heavenly....Seriously, wish I could share it with you guys.

"Do you speak Chinese?" asks Aiko, with Monica listening on intently.

"Why yes I do", I answer, and then I lay it out there: "Nee How Peow Lee-own." (You are very beautiful).

This always works, always, and causes much tittering and laughter, and then before they have stopped laughing I finish with "Wor How Swy" (I am handsome!)

I am in like Flynn, as they guffaw laughing loudly, and pretty much that is all the Chinese I will ever need to know. They sprint over to the other waitresses and you can see the instant chatter and their heads raise up and turn and pick me out and then they start laughing too. Simply using those stupid 2 lines I have hooked 2 girlfriends while having breakfast with you guys in China. I am proud of myself, tho' in point of fact, I am not handsome, tho' I do have Mao's haircut, as you will see on this ">http://www.chinatoday.com/fin/mon/"> 100 RMB note, and I suppose if you're going to have the haircut of a mass murderer and you're bald-headed, he's a way better option than Stalin or Adolf, especially if don't sport a 'stash.

Well, enough of breakie. Don't want to overdo the calories as the day is young, and I already have a good buzz on from the cappuccino's and the Jasmine Tea. Suspect I'll do the Irish joint tonight at the LUN, but I first have to slip by the German Beerhaus next door, which is always tough to do, but once again I'll give it a try.

Let's do lunch:)

[Ann says Obama Sucks!]

JeanD:

Actually we are and no one knows it, yet.:)

Love your spirit, keep it up.

I do have a question. Did Obama go on Fox News before the vote to prove to the deemocrats that no matter how bad he did, it would not be reported. Did he prove to his house votes that they were safe in their vote because they had it covered. And Pelosi would really cover their asses with the press on the day of voting. Makes me wonder.

Okay, I am really cynical.

[narciso]

Konichi wa, daddy, I thought I was cryptic enough in English, in Chinese, it must be totally incomprehensible, to say it was keying off Morning Joe, probably wouldn't help things, along.

[Stephanie]

We need ideas.

A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.

I am continually reminded in these desperate times of flamingos.

Flamingos you say? Yep, flamingos.

In the Disney vernacular:
Once upon a time, the HO Association of Celebration Fl (a planned community designed by Disney) got a little too big for its britches in coming up with new and more loathsome ways to keep their little slice of Florida just so. Fines were levied and people were intimidated into compliance. Until someone started putting garish pink plastic flamingos in various garish pink plastic flamingos in various yards around the community directly in violation of the beautification ordinances in the middle of the night. How dare they put up tacky flamingos and debauch our pristine Disney town! Wailing and nashing of teeth commenced and outrage was all the thing. In some quarters... then something happened.

The whole thing collapsed. It became a badge of honor to have the birds appear on your lawn - fines be damned. We aren't paying no stinkin fines! And the flamingos aren't coming down, either.

Before long, it was decided that some of the ordinances did indeed go too far, and several of the more uhh strident board members were given the heave-ho.

I don't see much difference between the flamingo bandits and the original tea partiers a few hundred years ago. I would be willing to bet that many in Celebration knew for a long time who was placing the flamingos in the yards and yet no one was willing to turn them in.

It's always a bigger thrill to be in on the joke and tweaking the nose of totalitarian snots is just too much fun. And that is momentum that can't be lead or coached or fought; because, it is faceless and powerful.

And that is ONE PART of what the teapartiers should be doing. And they are... remember the jokers and the signs now appearing "Do you miss me yet?" Little actions with big consequences. And they will continue. And the internet will note them and more people will join in. Bumperstickers, t-shirts... the mind reels at the possibilities.

Obama played this game in 2008. The inside jokes belittling Hillary and McCain, the middle finger, the aura of "cool" which brought in the fairweather political naives who joined the bandwagon because it was as cool as getting flamingos in your yard.

In Celebration Florida the flamingos won. They became the symbol and voice for what everyone said in private and no one dared express in public - until the flamingo arrived.

Now every other business in Celebration tries to capitalize on the infamy of the flamingo and is named Flamingo this or Flamingo that. Interesting outcome, no?

There will be other ways to fight just as there was in colonial days (not everyone donned indian attire and tossed the tea) with warriors like Ryan and Pence and others who will be fighting on a different front with different tools. Or with teapartiers joining in republican precincts and effecting change from within. They are just now learning how. But I think they will get there in time. They have their jobs and so do the mom and pop teapartiers.

It might take the additional steps that the first teapartiers ended up resorting to, but I don't think so. The population now is too connected and interlaced. Fads spread too quickly and go mainstream at light speed. Email masses thousands with a call from Alaska or Atlanta or Oklahoma City.

BTW I saw somewhere today that Lindsey Graham has told the WH to pound sand re immigration reform thanks to their stunts during the HC votes last week. McCain has stated as much, too. The optimist in me says that they have been shown the light and are finally joining the war in full .

Some will say I'm too flippant and cavalier about this with the stakes involved, but I don't think so. Their side is all too willing to be shown to be the joyless moobs that they are, and that will play into their demise. They are the Celebration HO Association. Everyone wanted to live in Utopia, but not everyone wanted a Minnie Mouse topiary in their yard and now flamingos rule the roost.

Just my 2 cents...

[Strawman Cometh]

DoT,
I agree that the Duke kid's article missed the mark. But you are not even close.
The good CH touched on it a couple of threads ago.

And boorish behavior? In the green-eye of the whatever. I call that enthusiasm.

[Stephanie]

Latest TSA head withdraws nomination:

Obama had waited eight months before nominating Southers. Now Harding's withdrawal means more delays in filling the top job in transportation security when the nation is trying to fortify defenses against attacks such as the Christmas bombing attempt on an airliner bound for Detroit, which was foiled by passengers.

The announcement about Harding came late on a Friday, a period favored by the government for releasing uncomfortable news because the public's attention is light. There was no immediate word on finding another nominee.

How in the world did the bolded get past the 11 layers of fact checkers at the Chron?

[Stephanie]

The demonrats sure picked a winner to don the wolf's costume.

It was likely the best they could do.

LUN

[daddy]

I don't know why you guys are bummed.

Over here CNN International just said this new Nuke Disarmament Proposal with the Russians is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The hair trigger on ours and Russia's nukes will be eliminated, stockpiles will go way down, and this sends a signal to Iran and anybody else with nukes that we are willing to lead in reduction of nukes, making it likely they also will go along and forgo nukes because of our example.

This will also encourage the Russians to say something to the Iranians so that'll turn out good as well, and eventually we'll come to Obama's dream of working for a completely nuclear free world. Plus there's language in there that'll make the former Soviet satellite countries breath a sigh of relief even if our missile shield for their protection disappears. It is all good, every bit of it, no downside nothing.

[Pofarmer]

Thinking of putting some magnetic sign on my truck about Obamacare. Any suggestions?

How about "My insurance was just made illegal, how about yours?"

Suggestions?

[Extraneus]

Daddy's travelogue, Stephanie's flamingos. Great posts.

Good morning freedom fighters!

[AL]

SS accumulated over 2.5 trillion dollars in surplus, to be paid for boomer generation retirement when yearly payroll taxes will be less than yearly payment obligations (already happening).

DemoCommie administration wastes and borrows money as drunk sailors, thus inducing future inflation, which will denigrate currently respectable 2.5 T of SS reserve into pocket change.

Practically, Obama is spending out YOUR retirement money. Right now, right here.

[Jane says obamasucks]

I too like the overnight work - but this was my favorite thing this morning.

[Jane says obamasucks]

Hey Everyone! It is CathyF's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Cathy!

[Pofarmer]

Hmmm.

Got this.

America’s heroes are all cut to this common mold. Whether it is George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Amelia Earhart, Jackie Robinson, Ronald Reagan or Colin Powell, the theme is always the same: The common man who rises against the odds. America’s political romance is “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington” to make things right. It is “Meet John Doe” who speaks for the voiceless. It is Luke Skywalker who saves the planet by using the good side of the Force to defeat the Empire. It is the odyssey of individuals who challenge power, overcome adversity and rise to the top. Everyone in America thinks of themselves as an underdog and aspires to be a hero.

From LUN.

The Art of Political War for Tea Parties – by David Horowitz

Explains why the Dim's are so eager to cast the tea partiers as rascists and thugs.

[rse]

"But their bill was such a shoddy, jerry-rigged piece of work that the damage is coming sooner than even some critics expected."

From today's WSJ editorial.

It also reports that Waxman will hold hearings on April 21 to excoriate these CEOs for reporting losses due to Obamacare.

Apparently writing legislation to seize 1/6 of the economy on the basis of how to best game a CBO score makes particularly poor sausage.

[Stephanie]

Interestingly, under the current rules set forth by the SEC and SOX and all those other regulations, Waxman's corporation's CEOs are REQUIRED to disclose those losses as soon as it is determined that they need to be taken.

Is Waxman advocating that corporations should ignore the regulators and hide their true financial positions from the street and their investors?

Hmmm... flagpole... petard. Some assembly required.

[Janet]

Pofarmer - How about this from Hit and Run -
"I don't know about you, but they've run out of my money."

[centralcal will not comply]

cathyf: Happy Birthday!

Jane: some great pieces at YTC - you've been very busy!

daddy: loved your story, you handsome devil you.

Ann: ditto what you said to squaredance. And, I agree with you about Jake Tapper. pheh!

And, good morning everyone. It promises to be a beautiful spring day here.

Did anyone catch the Greta interview of McCain and Palin last night? Gosh - McCain was just about useless (so what else is new?). Palin did all the heavy lifting and that includes carrying dear old worthless John, while doing it!

[centralcal will not comply]

Some Saturday inspiration from Doctor Zero:

"The task awaiting us at the ballot box is difficult, but not impossible. Laws have no magical, talismanic power – if they did, we wouldn’t need law enforcement. We can change laws. We can dissolve any body that tells us otherwise. No one can hold us down in our national deathbed."

The entire piece is at LUN.

[Captain Hate]

how come nobody hates Kentucky, which has won two titles since 1996 and far more overall than Duke.

Who's this "nobody" you're referring to? Outside of the disgusting CBS shillboys, everybody realizes Calipari is the biggest sleaze-bucket in Div 1. Maybe with the Methcats he'll achieve an unprecedented hat trick of having Final Four appearances vacated, adding to his legacy of corruption at umASS and Mempiss. The ass munchers at SeeBS don't bother to mention that when they run infomercials for him; I wish Greg Anthony would mention that at least his title at UNLV, under the Tark who was a continual target of the NCAA bluenoses who ignored worse transgressions by Saint John Wooden, didn't have to be vacated. Bobby Knight blasted Calipari earlier this season which gave the shills the vapors. Plus the progeny of Adolph Rupp ran Tubby Smith out of town for the unforgivable crime of running a clean program. John Cheney should have done the world a favor and punched Calipari's lights out when they were rivals; a jury of basketball fans would've let him walk on that.

I understand complaints over Duke's exposure and how in the tank Vitale is for them but at least K runs a clean program.

[Jim Ryan]

Let's see, economic collapse. Is one year's supply of food enough? How long does it take to rebuild an economic and political system? We can get that done in a year, right?

[Porchlight]

Happy birthday, Cathy!

Thanks all for the overnight wisdom. The flamingo story especially was very instructive.

I really like the idea of non-overtly-partisan nudges, like Pofarmer's magnetic sign. These changes affect everyone, so there is no need to make it into GOP vs. Dems and risk putting people's backs up. Reagan knew this instinctively.

The MSM are deliberately not reporting that Bunning, Coburn etc.'s objections to extension of benefits is due to fiscal principles, not general Scroogishness, because they KNOW the truth will resonate with voters. I heard an entire CBS radio story on it where not once did they quote or describe what Coburn said, only that he opposed the benefits.

Is FOX covering this fairly, at least? I never watch TV news so I don't know.

[JM Hanes]

Happy Birthday cathyf!

[Extraneus]

Po's David Horowitz link explains that it's essential to paint Bunning and Coburn that way.

[Rick Ballard]

"SS accumulated over 2.5 trillion dollars in surplus"

AL,

The whole point of the "lockbox" argument is that SS did not "accumulate" the money. The money went straight into the general fund and every nickel was spent. SS took a Treasury IOU which does not have the same weight as the Treasury debt traded in public markets.

I agree that the President and Congress will steal the bookkeeping entry known as the "trust account" via inflation but they will also steal it via alteration of the COLA formula and upward revisions to the age of retirement.

I would note that the budget deficits dwarf the SS problem by an order of magnitude. Next week will mark the fiscal year midpoint for 2010 and total tax receipts are running -4.63% under 2009 versus CBO projections of +3%. At midpoint, the government is $85 billion below target which implies a $170 billion shortfall by year end. The '10 deficit was projected to be smaller than the '09 deficit and will be larger instead.

Nice going, CBO. Again.

[centralcal will not comply]

Spent some time reading Hillbuzz commenters while sipping my morning coffee. Hillbuzz is asking for commenters to post reports from wherever they live about how Obamacare is going with their populace.

One of the commenters had a nifty idea for a bumber sticker (and I added the 2010-2012)

The End of an Error 2010-2012

And just a reminder you all - the media (with only a slight few exceptions) are cohorts of and propagandists for the enemy.

[rse]

Let's also not forget that part of Thatcher's effectiveness in winning the support of colleagues with different ideologies was her sense of humor.

That's why they want to portray Tea Partiers as radicals, racists, and Scrooges.

Be witty as you make your points.

[Porchlight]

My blood pressure is up already. I just went to wish a college friend happy birthday on Facebook, and saw that he had been recently railing against Coulter the "Nazi" and "tea bagger hate speech." So I decided not to wish him a happy birthday after all. Was that wrong? ;)

[Danube of Thought]

Delicious: that Nevada guy who entered the Senate race as a "Tea Party" candidate is now facing a felony beef on some sort of bad-check scheme.

Happy birthday, CF.

[JM Hanes]

Major smorgasbord this morning! Many thanks daddy & Stephanie.

CBO has been taking a lot of unwarranted heat lately, IMO. Director Elmendorf has been pushing back as heroically as the constraints imposed upon his agency allow, with a slew of disclaimers on everything from the inadequate info they've been provided to the rush jobs which Dem leadership has demanded.

Today, they take their revenge:
CBO report: Debt will rise to 90% of GDP.

[Danube of Thought]

By the way, it appears this bastard's poll numbers are pretty much where they were before his victory dance began. The Raz index is a little smaller (-13), but nobody has him above 50%. And the Pollster.com average still has Obamacare ten points underwater.

[JM Hanes]

Porchlight: "Was that wrong?"

Only if you didn't enjoy it.

[sbw]

I decided not to wish him a happy birthday after all. Was that wrong?

Porch, wish him a happy birthday, along with the hope that with maturity comes better judgment.

Oh, and inquire where he gets his news, ah, information. Then say, "That explains it."

[Captain Hate]

Did anyone catch the Greta interview of McCain and Palin last night? Gosh - McCain was just about useless (so what else is new?). Palin did all the heavy lifting and that includes carrying dear old worthless John, while doing it!

Sarah's class and loyalty will be lost on the backstabbing McPainintheass

[Rick Ballard]

JMH,

You acknowledge that CBO knowingly uses false algorithms dictated by politics rather than reality and use that as a defense against any criticism? Elmendorf is no better nor worse than any other parrot placed on the CBO perch. The utility of information generated from false premises is nil and those who accept false premises as a condition of employment merit nothing but contempt.

He may be a very honest whore but he's still a whore.

[sbw]

Why is this trust fund depletion, increased debt to 90% of GDP in ten years, and increased entitlement promises, promises anything more than serious application of Cloward-Pivin Strategy designed to overpower our institutions to reduce the USA from Superpower status to the status of other nations.

And why shouldn't any candidate worth his or her salt, put the question to every Democrat who dares run for office?

[Jane says obamasucks]

Delicious: that Nevada guy who entered the Senate race as a "Tea Party" candidate is now facing a felony beef on some sort of bad-check scheme.

The word a while ago was he was a Harry Reid plant, disguised as a Tea party candidate to split the republican vote. So I too find this delicious.

JMH - great link to a great performance.

CCAl, thank you.

Porch, I'm with you. Ignore the bastard.

[JM Hanes]

The clueless McCain had a lesson in loyalty standing beside him on the stage. Palin will deliver this election to him, just like she'd have delivered the Presidency if an old dog could learn a decent new trick.

[rse]

“Obama Administration motto should be: ‘If you can find it in the Yellow Pages, the government ought to be doing it’”

Good line this morning by Lamar Alexander.

[Ignatz]

Here's a little anti Israel propaganda from McClatchy via HotAir that Anduril would enjoy, although the fawning over Bambi (rimshot) would repulse him.

[JM Hanes]

Rick:

"Elmendorf is no better nor worse than any other parrot placed on the CBO perch."

I completely disagree.

[Ignatz]

Oh and BTW happy birthday cathyf.
Although around here I'm never sure when I'm actually wishing someone a happy bday or not.

[Ranger]

Just a reminder to people who may be afraid the anger will ebb by November... Over the next couple of weeks we will get most large companies declaring how much Obamacare is going to cost them. Then, as that runs its course, you will have state governors and legislatures begining to discuss how they are going to raise the significant amount of new revenue they need to pay for the unfunded mandates in Obamacare. I have no doubt that all of them will make it very clear these new taxes are a result of Obamacare, because no politician wants to take the blame for raising taxes right now. Also, you will every Medicare Advantage member getting letters explaining that the program has been cancelled by Obamacare. By the end of the summer, most large employers who currently provice perscription coverage to their employees and retirees will have significantly cut back or completely eleminated that coverage. I am sure the MSM will do its level best to counter all of that somehow, but I don't see how it can really sell Obamacare in the face of all of this (and this is just the begining).

[sbw]

The interesting thing to me is that if the leftists succeed in stopping the repeal of Obamacare, in the long run, Obamacare will repeal itself because it is unsustainable.

I may still be alive when it happens and be able to laugh at their realization, like the executive officer said in Hunt for Red October, "You stupid ass, you've killed us all!"