Where's my welfare safety net?

[muckmaw]

Originally posted by GScholz
*LOL!* Listen to Lazs, the expert on socialism. JFYI I'm currently unemployed, and have been for nearly a year. I live in my own house, drive a BMW, have a nice summerhouse out of town, and I'm part owner (family thing) of a summerhouse in Spain.

Just because you Americans suck at making government programs work, doesn't mean nobody can make them work.

So wait a minute, you have not worked in a year, own a house, a summer house, a BMW etc....

So why does anyone in the country work if you can live large unemployed?

I'm doing something wrong here in the good ol' USA...working 50-60 hours a week at a job I hate to afford one house, a chevy and a buick.

I'm packin' my bags for spain...

[muckmaw]

Well, that does not apply here in the USA.

First off, I work for myself, so the rules dont apply to me. I only have one job.

My wife, on the other hand always worked 60 hours a week and because she was a slaried employee and not paid by the hour, she was not paid overtime. Apparently in retail management, you go home when the job is done.

Let's face it...her company really sucks arnold, even when compared to other blood sucking retail companies.

[lazs2]

now that is funny... sclotz makes it sound like he bought and paid for all that stuff off unemployment.   He also says that if you never worked you are not entitled.   If you get 62% who pays for it?   what is your tax rate and  do you have a seperate "unemployment insurance" payment that is deducted..

If you never worked then you would get... welfare.   what is the your socialist welfare?  

As for a house in spain... What did you pay for it?   what did you pay for your house?

What happens when your unemployment runs out?   Who pays for you?

I will admit that you people do socialism better than we do but at it's best it sucks... private  insurance as I have said would do better.   You wouldn't lose anything if it was covered.   I would love to see how well your socialist system worked if it were open to anyone who suck across your borders.

lazs

[muckmaw]

Thats another thing we would benefit from, Lazs.

Privitization of Social Security benefits.

I would rather have a seperate account of mutual funds where I manage the money that goes into SS, just like a 401K.

Anything would be better than we have now, as there will be nothing for me when I retire, and yet I'll spend most of my adult life paying into it.

BTW, after reading your posts, I checked into SS for my wife..

She would not qualify because they only pay disability benefits if the person...you ready for this...is expected to be out of work for 1 year or more.

Now, my wife will have the baby in October, so we are penalized for her getting better faster, and going back to work in 6 months.

Can you imagine that? It's tempting to get a BS doctors signature to say she can't work for a year, so we can get the benefits.

is it me or is that stupid?

[lazs2]

I understand completly... my girlfriend is going through pretty much the same thing... What they basicly say is that "we want you to pay for all these programs but they are not a safety net for you.   They are for people who REALY need em... come back to us when you are completely destitute and we will dole out some benifiets for you."

I participate in calpers retirement so don't have to pay into the bogus disgusting SS... I also have a 457 plan of my own.   I have no faith in the government and wish to pay for, or "participate" in  as few of it's programs as possible.  

sclotz... I agree that socialism is a better system for those who do not expect to work much but.... do you think that you live better for your income bracket than someone here does for the same income?  

 basicaly, socialism is a government run insurance program.   Your taxes are the insurance benifiet.   You can "adjust" the payment up or down the scale of the income brackets but it still has to be paid for.   If you feel that you will never earn more than say $50,000 a year then a socialist government that taxed income under $50,000 lightly but clobbered anyone making over that would be a good thing for you... short term... your economy would not grow so everyone would have a lower standard of living.  

lazs

[NUKE]

A lot of countries benifit from the US spending billions on armed forces that have helped keep Europe more or less safe, stable and able to afford to spend their money on socialist programs rather than defense.

Isn't it nice to not have to worry so much about your own self defence?

If the US cut it's military spending by 2/3rds, we would all be living like kings....

[_Schadenfreude_]

Originally posted by GScholz
*LOL!* Listen to Lazs, the expert on socialism. JFYI I'm currently unemployed, and have been for nearly a year. I live in my own house, drive a BMW, have a nice summerhouse out of town, and I'm part owner (family thing) of a summerhouse in Spain.

Just because you Americans suck at making government programs work, doesn't mean nobody can make them work.

er that couldn't be anything to do with the fact that Norway is the 3rd largest exporter of crude oil in the world perhaps?

[NUKE]

Gsholz, our system would be much better if we didn't have to spend on defense....

I hear Norway only has plans to be able to defend parts of Norway against a limited attack....until help arrives. If the US could rely on this situation, our system would be working much better than anyone else's and we would all be very well off.

It's not so much your system, it's your situation in being protected by others and not being required to build a military vital to your survival.

[lazs2]

I guess what nuke is saying is that how long would your surpluss last  (in days) if you were spending a billion dollars a day in iraq for instance?

If a person earns $50,000 a year here he will undoutably have health insurance provided.  If a person wishes to purchase private income protection against disability or sickness then it is pretty reasonable as are insurances that pay for all your bills as I have stated earlier.

lazs

[muckmaw]

I know a country or 2 in NATO that we used to depend on to support us.

Take some advice, don't count on your friends in NATO to fight side by side with you. Hey, you can always go to the UN!


And your right, the EU stood up to Russia and protected you from the red menace all those years...had nothing to do with a few hundred American ICBM's pointed at Moscow.

[lazs2]

well... we actually do seem to have both because of capitalism and a reperesentitive republic..  we are able to defend our country and have a higher standard of living at the same time.   We pay less for goods because of our system.   We would pay even less if our taxes were less and we had fewer interests to defend.

I am not saying that socialism doesn't work for a tiny country but that it doesn't work as good as our system for anyone.

lazs

[deSelys]

Rolex, even after so many years, you have my sincere condolences.


The pregnancy of our 2nd kid turned out to be a placenta previa too, but fortunately it was diagnosed early. Muck,I hope that everything will be fine for your wife and your kid, that you won't have to tighten your belt too much, and that you'll recover your income level quickly afterwards.

[lazs2]

we feel exactly the same on one point... I don't want yours either.

I do not believe that any socialism is needed here or anywhere for that matter.

lazs

[muckmaw]

DeSelys...

Thanks for the comforting post.

[-MZ-]

Originally posted by lazs2
I participate in calpers retirement so don't have to pay into the bogus disgusting SS... I also have a 457 plan of my own.   I have no faith in the government and wish to pay for, or "participate" in  as few of it's programs as possible.  

CALPERS, 457... doesn't that mean you WORK for the government?