CardinalBacker

At least Newton still has their DC plaque.

I didn’t “assume” it wasn’t invested… it wasn’t invested. So your premise is faulty from the start. I pointed solely at Medicare because I feel it’s the biggest financial loser of all. The numbers don’t lie… you’ve paid less than $50k towards Medicare over your career. To stand there and chirp “but I paid for it! It’s MINE!” is a bald faced lie, if Medicare has paid more than that amount towards your care. The point I’m making is this… one third of all federal dollars spent in 2023 were borrowed. When 95% of that total spending is a sacred cow (military, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, interest on our debt, etc…. How are those two billionaires gonna save us? They can’t, because y’all won’t let them. The areas you want to see trimmed are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Y’all keep comparing Medicare to an insurance policy….. it isn’t, and it wasn’t. It was a savings account that drew no interest. Add to that the fact that the fund was depleted by big government, health care costs soared, we all started living longer on average, and population growth stalled, and the whole thing was proven to be a state sponsored Ponzi scheme. And old farts hollering “just wait until I get paid off, then screw the rest of y’all” should be met with some cold hard reality. Y’all elected and re-elected the jerks that destroyed it. Your generation as a whole is responsible for its collapse and should be punished.

The numbers don’t lie…. You think you’re owed much, much more than you ever contributed. End Medicare when the individuals’ contributions are exhausted. That last two hundred dollars goes towards a syringe full of whatever they give those victims at the Walls Unit.

Your Medicare tax rate was 1.45% of your gross earnings. So if you averaged $75k annual for your entire 50 year career (bag boy at Market Basket at 16 y/o until your started drawing Medicare at age 65) you would have personally paid $54,375. Except you and both know that you weren’t making $75k a year as a bag boy 50 years ago. And it’s unlikely you ever grossed $75k at any point in your career, either. Your actual contributions to Medicare probably total less than $40k… but you demand free healthcare because “you already paid for it.” you a welfare queen.

Here’s the problem… all of the money you paid into Medicare won’t cover a week-long stay in the hospital in today’s money. You’re demanding a handout.

I mean... it's not like they're gonna be successful regardless. Judson Pritchard: "Are the Lions gonna win this game tonight?!!!" Lion Student body: "Well, HELL NO!!!!!"

How about Social Security? Are we ready to discuss that one? What about Medicare/Medicaid? How do we feel about defense spending? I just ran through a majority of our federal spending and haven't hit on a single area that you or anyone else is willing to even discuss making cuts.

I read through a website and it was little confusing to me.

Maybe if y'all's quituation rate wasn't so high....

OLD Livingston peeps know what’s up.

He's not a billionaire, so he won't get a spot in the Cabinet.

I'm not up on the legal jargon, but you shouldn't squeeze the life out of somebody and then walk away. The "victim" needed to be subdued... I don't have a problem with the choke hold to render him unconscious. Hanging onto it until he's dead is a completely different story. I'd be curious as to what kind of training the young man had. If he knew that keeping the choke locked in would lead to death, then he was wrong, IMO. It's kind of the complete opposite of what happened with George Floyd. The officer put a knee on Floyd's neck which did not result in Floyd's death.... but he was convicted anyways. In this case the guy absolutely and without question choked the "victim" until he was dead. But he gets a walk. It's like this... somebody threatens you and you have to protect yourself. Punches are thrown, somebody gets KO'd and cracks their head on the pavement. I get that there are some legal defenses in that scenario. However, if you knock the assailant out, then stomp on his unconscious head until his brain is hanging out, you've committed a crime, imo. Same thing here.

Yes, but no. There's a very, very small percentage of SELF MOTIVATED individuals who are capable of being productive without supervision. Frankly, most people are not productive when working remotely. Studies have shown that most full-time, remote employees actually work less than 12 hours per week. Great for the employees, not good for the employers, or more importantly it's terrible for the customers who ultimately pay the price for the loss of productivity in the way of higher prices for goods/services.

"We want Buckethead's Boy!"

You wish.... I was talking metaphorically.

Ok, Geniuses.... a few months ago the Speaker was the most powerful person in the House and had to be stopped. Now that he's gone and SETX as a whole will be on the back burner, y'all are going "oh, well... what can the speaker do anyway?" If the speaker was so powerless, why were y'all so anxious to see him removed? Have fun watching our priorities get ignored.

Drive from BC to Orange on 87 and see if you can see anything new going on around there. Drive from Beaumont to Louisiana and see if there is any highway construction going on. Look at the GLO grants that have been sent to our area in the last 4 years. Look up the amount of grants sent our way on the criminal justice system.

To answer your question... mechanization and automation has cost a lot of jobs in ALL fields, not just the military. I don't have a problem with paying our troops MORE. We'd probably attract more and better, and God knows that while you're in it, you behind is on the line. But when you come home, the ride should be over. Obvious injuries aside, of course. Lose a leg and can't work? No problem. Slight hearing loss, gimpy left knee and, you guessed it, "PTSD" leading to a check for the next 60 years? Nah... that's wasteful spending.

I know a guy personally who draws a 100% disability from the VA. It amounts to $4300 or so per month. He got PTSD while working as a mechanic on helicopters. He also made $369k from Exxon Mobil last year. Does that sound a little bit wasteful to you? EVERYBODY sustains lingering injuries, whether they're playing college football, doing a little roofing, construction, or whatever. Nobody but the guys that we fed/clothed/housed/paid for four years get a lifelong pension for their "service." I get it if you're actually disabled. Can't walk, missing a limb, etc.... but free everything and a check for life, just because you went through basic and then deployed at Fort (whatever the new DEI name) for a couple of years? Serious business... we were ALL losing our hearing in our 20s... whether it was going hunting, riding a tractor, rock concerts, or time on the rifle range. It doesn't qualify you for a check for life. It's a bad joke.

Congratulations, SETX..... you just cut your own nuts off and handed them to Paxton and his cronies. But you did it for the good of the party, so I guess it's okay.

No.... that's where we need the biggest cuts. Veterans as a whole believe themselves to be the most entitled of all of the welfare queens. No more 100% disability awards while holding down good jobs. No more "I've got PTSD for all of the time that I spent in the engine room of that tug boat and I'll need free everything for life" stuff. You got a check for four years. That's thanks enough for your service.

That y’all got shelled in the first round?

Whatevs.

Is that better?

That wasn’t me… i got hacked.