It’s not clear who the other side is, here.

But the infuriating part about this is that legal residents are being punished for the sins of others–corrupt government/businesses/whoever contributed to the economic crisis.

It’s astounding to figure out how California, as well as New York, have been so incompetent as to create such mammoth budget deficits.

And corrupt–here’s a clue: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/nyregion/01cars.html

and I should add that an element of the Tea Party is also against the corruption in Government and Business.

Maybe if you got together with them and concentrated on the positive changes that both groups have in common, something could be accomplished.

also–lets try having the politicians–the ones who got us into this mess to begin with–pay the piper. lets try h aving wall street pay the piper. Lets try administrations pay the piper. Fix this shit from the top down rather than the bottom up.

Milo–a few hundred dollars to keep children and old people from starving is not an “entitlement” it’s a human right. As most people outside of the US recognize.

la Macha, is that what you took from my post?

spending has to be reduced. I would suggest that California worry less about the minnows that will cost so many jobs and cost so much to protect and spend more on Human rights.

Those on the left can’t have it both ways, there is just not enough money to go around.

Milo–there is plenty of money to go around. but there needs to be a radical restructuring of the US economic system that privileges wars over human lives, CEO’s pay checks over the workers, etc. The US is currently paying over one trillion dollars a WEEK to the wars in Afghanistan and IRaq. I say that’s plenty of money to pay a few old people a couple hundred bucks a month to keep from starving.

Re: the “she’s only been here four years” argument. There are plenty of stay at home mothers who have not paid into the system at all or only paid a few years before they retired from the system to care for their kids. By your logic, those women don’t deserve any benefits either, or limited benefits.

And the same could be said for children, for disabled workers, for part time workers, unemployed workers, etc.

All that you are saying here is that the most marginalized populations i.e. THE ONES WHO NEED THAT CHECK THE MOST, are easily denied benefits so that corporate greed and nation/state violence can be funded. I don’t buy that and don’t think that I should have to pay taxes so that we can kill more people when what I really want to do is make sure old people don’t starve.

If those on the left can decide their money won’t go towards paying for abortion, I would like to decide the same thing.

And Milo, it’s SabinA. As in Sabina GONZALEZ, child of Mexican immigrants.

la Macha, check your figures. $1 T/week is incorrect. The DOD budget is $708 Billion for the entire year.

and all military spending is not a negative for Human Rights. The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union offered the Baltic States, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Eastern Asia to gain their freedom from an tyrannical regime.

Sabina, sorry for messing up on your name.

We might all feel the same as you about the 70 year old, but that still does not change the fact that the safety net is not structured that way.

That’s where the charity comes in. I give over $20,000 a year to Charities.

la macha, 1 Trillion would not even come close to the unfunded liability of SS.

unfunded liabilities

SS $14.1 Trillion
Prescription Drug $18.7 Trillion
Medicare $ $74.9 Trillion
Total of $107.7 Trillion or $348, 678/citizen

Assets per citizen is $244,912 ( this includes Household, Corporate and small business assets)

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Sabina, the restructuring process has already begun. But it is going to mean some tough choices. I agree that the structure needs to change, but that does not change the fact that there is only so much money.

The SS structure, when set up, was based on a retirement age of 65, and avg. lifespan of 61. They were counting on only having to pay out to a certain % of the contributors. It’s not hard to see the problem with this. And then they went and spent the money that should have been invested as an aggregate amount on other things.

Finally–I’ve been moderating comments all day now–and have been working two jobs and being a mami all at the same time. I am calling it quits for the night. Please play nicely while I am gone. Comment moderation is on, and any posts that we miss in the meantime that go against our commenting policy will be deleted.

Thanks Macha. I may have to close comments on this thread completely.

Sabina, I just restored one comment that was in limbo but it looks like it was from much earlier in the day.

banned for what? Please let a guy know how he is offending you, before you punish him for it.

Thanks for checking on my comments, they appeared after a while. And also I’m glad to ehar youre not afraid to shut it down if it gets too ridiculous. SO hard to find a blog that’s not full of looney toons these days..

my thanks was actually directed at la macha who is an editor here.