Download or read book Ronald Reagan the Great Social Security Heist written by Allen W. Smith Ph. D. and published by Ironwood Publications (FL). This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The money's gone! Social Security doesn't have $2.7 trillion stashed away for paying benefits, as so many people believe. It cannot pay benefits for another 20 years, as is often claimed. In fact, Social Security does not have enough money to pay full benefits, even for 2014, without borrowing money from China or another of our creditors. How can this be? Wasn't Social Security fixed by the Social Security Amendments of 1983, which included a large increase in payroll taxes? That's what we were told at the time. President Reagan signed that legislation into law with great fanfare on April 20, 1983. With his comments at the signing ceremony, Reagan gave the impression that it was a proud day for America. But, instead of being a proud day for America, as Reagan implied, the day the new legislation was signed into law, turned out to be a day of shame for the United States. The Social Security Amendments of 1983 laid the foundation for 30 years of government embezzlement of Social Security funds. The money was used to pay for wars, tax cuts for the rich, and other government programs. The payroll tax hike of 1983 generated a total of $2.7 trillion in surplus Social Security revenue. This surplus revenue was supposed to be saved and invested in marketable U.S. Treasury bonds, which would be held in the trust fund until the baby boomers began to retire in about 2010. But not one dime of that money ever made its way to the Social Security trust fund. The 1983 legislation was sold to the public, and to Congress, as a long-term fix for Social Security. With the help of Alan Greenspan, Reagan was a super salesman, who could have sold almost anything to the public-even a scam. And that's exactly what he was selling. Reagan intended to use the surplus Social Security revenue to replace revenue lost because of his unaffordable income tax cuts. Instead of being set aside for the retirement of the baby boomers, as was the intent of the legislation, the extra Social Security revenue was deposited directly into the general fund just like income tax revenue. From the very beginning, Reagan and his advisors had no intention of saving and investing the new revenue for the retirement of the baby boomers. They needed additional general tax revenue, and an increase in the payroll tax would be much easier to enact than higher income taxes. Also, the potential to get vast amounts of revenue was much greater with a payroll tax increase than from an income tax increase. The baby boomers, the largest generation of Americans who ever lived, were already making large contributions to the Social Security fund. Like all previous generations, prior to 1983, the boomers were being required to pay the full cost of benefits paid to the previous generation. But, the proposed new legislation would hit the boomers with a double whammy. In addition to paying for their parents' benefits, the new law would require the baby boomers to also pay enough additional taxes to prepay the cost of their own benefits. This would generate a potential gold mine of surplus revenue that could be tapped and used for other purposes. But none of the $2.7 trillion in additional Social Security revenue was ever saved or invested in anything. The actual surplus money was replaced with nonmarketable government IOUs, which cannot be converted into cash or used to pay Social Security benefits. It would have been bad enough if only Reagan had looted Social Security money. But George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all followed in Reagan's footsteps and spent all of the Social Security surplus revenue for non-Social Security purposes, just like Reagan. This book is a must read for all who care about the future of Social Security and the integrity of their government.
Download or read book Raiding the Trust Fund written by Allen W. Smith and published by Ironwood Publications (FL). This book was released on 2015-09-29 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The money's gone! Social Security doesn't have $2.7 trillion stashed away for paying benefits, as so many people believe. It cannot pay benefits for another 20 years, as is often claimed. In fact, Social Security does not have enough money to pay full benefits, even for 2014, without borrowing money from China or another of our creditors. How can this be? Wasn't Social Security fixed by the Social Security Amendments of 1983, which included a large increase in payroll taxes? That's what we were told at the time. President Reagan signed that legislation into law with great fanfare on April 20, 1983. With his comments at the signing ceremony, Reagan gave the impression that it was a proud day for America. But, instead of being a proud day for America, as Reagan implied, the day the new legislation was signed into law, turned out to be a day of shame for the United States. The Social Security Amendments of 1983 laid the foundation for 30 years of government embezzlement of Social Security funds. The money was used to pay for wars, tax cuts for the rich, and other government programs. The payroll tax hike of 1983 generated a total of $2.7 trillion in surplus Social Security revenue. This surplus revenue was supposed to be saved and invested in marketable U.S. Treasury bonds, which would be held in the trust fund until the baby boomers began to retire in about 2010. But not one dime of that money ever made its way to the Social Security trust fund. The 1983 legislation was sold to the public, and to Congress, as a long-term fix for Social Security. With the help of Alan Greenspan, Reagan was a super salesman, who could have sold almost anything to the public-even a scam. And that's exactly what he was selling. Reagan intended to use the surplus Social Security revenue to replace revenue lost because of his unaffordable income tax cuts. Instead of being set aside for the retirement of the baby boomers, as was the intent of the legislation, the extra Social Security revenue was deposited directly into the general fund just like income tax revenue. From the very beginning, Reagan and his advisors had no intention of saving and investing the new revenue for the retirement of the baby boomers. They needed additional general tax revenue, and an increase in the payroll tax would be much easier to enact than higher income taxes. Also, the potential to get vast amounts of revenue was much greater with a payroll tax increase than from an income tax increase. The baby boomers, the largest generation of Americans who ever lived, were already making large contributions to the Social Security fund. Like all previous generations, prior to 1983, the boomers were being required to pay the full cost of benefits paid to the previous generation. But, the proposed new legislation would hit the boomers with a double whammy. In addition to paying for their parents' benefits, the new law would require the baby boomers to also pay enough additional taxes to prepay the cost of their own benefits. This would generate a potential gold mine of surplus revenue that could be tapped and used for other purposes. But none of the $2.7 trillion in additional Social Security revenue was ever saved or invested in anything. The actual surplus money was replaced with nonmarketable government IOUs, which cannot be converted into cash or used to pay Social Security benefits. It would have been bad enough if only Reagan had looted Social Security money. But George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush all followed in Reagan's footsteps and spent all of the Social Security surplus revenue for non-Social Security purposes, just like Reagan. This book is a must read for all who care about the future of Social Security and the integrity of their government.
Download or read book The Reagan Experiment written by John Logan Palmer and published by The Urban Insitute. This book was released on 1982 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A report of the Urban Institute's Changing Domestic Priorities Project"--Page ii."URI 34200"--T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references.
Download or read book Trump and Congressional Republicans Must Go written by Larry F. Murphy and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2019-07-23 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about America’s greatest nemesis (the hatred and racism of racist whites), which are currently personifying themselves through President Trump and Congressional Republicans without shame nor remorsefulness in a most profound ugly, sinful, and ungodly way. Hatred and racism will always divide or separate and create wars. On the other hand, love and impartiality will always unite and create peace. This book provides information and biblical references for uniting us together and bringing about peace in our country.
Download or read book Kiss Your Money Hello written by Bill Hines and published by Wild Lake Press, Inc. This book was released on 2023-04-19 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's here! Your guide to a financially independent life - no more money stress! This book is a complete, modern, comprehensive guide to your personal finance life. It's the key to never having to go to a job you detest, to living every day on your own terms. Why this book? Right now, you may be browsing a few personal finance books in a library, bookstore, or even online. Why this one? Is it worth a couple of dollars and hours of your time? Here’s why. I’ve read the others. Almost every book was someone telling their own personal rags to riches tale. That’s admirable, but the likelihood that it’s even close to you and your personal situation is quite remote. What worked for them will probably not work for you. Everyone is different, every situation is unique. Some assume their readers all want to be mega-rich. In my experience, most people just want to be happy, without money stress, and have a good, fun, comfortable life. That said, if you want to be rich, I’ll show you how to do that too. So (get to the point, Bill!), why this one? Because this book is based on my experience as a financial counselor, investment advisor, and financial planner. This book is a user manual for your money! No matter who you are, there is plenty for you. We cover FIRE (Financial Independence/Retire Early). This book is the way to financial peace, to relieving the number one stressor in our lives and relationships. It’s the guide to living every day on your own terms, and never having to go to a job you no longer love, of never having to miss those important life events because, work. I’ll keep it short and simple—just the way your personal finances should be! The first word of the title is no coincidence. KISS also means Keep It Simple Silly! Maybe I’ll even make you laugh once or twice. Your household is a mini-business, only you measure success in ‘happy’, not some corporate financial metric. I’m not going to guilt-trip you about buying a latte. I’m going to convince you that doing the right things now, getting over the hump in a short period, means buying all the lattes and new cars you want, with cash, not credit, for the rest of your life. Those lattes will taste so much better, and you’ll enjoy the ride more in a car you own, not the bank. You’ll watch the former car payment money grow like weeds in your investment accounts. Can you trust me? Yes, you can. I’ve helped countless people, and I want you to do well. I want you to be happy, and enjoy this one life we get (as far as we know!). This book is for you. This is generational knowledge for your kids and parents. Who am I? When I was a kid, I was a huge superhero fan. I’d sit in the corner luncheonette and read comic books on my way home from school until the owner would throw me out. I didn’t have the money to buy them, my parents didn’t have the money to give me. I’d peek out from my bedroom at night and see my mother stressing out over a kitchen table full of bills, writing out checks and stuffing them in envelopes. Kiss your money goodbye, I heard more than once (hence, my title!). I watched my father come home from work exhausted, especially as he got older. I didn’t want to be the superhero who could fly, be invisible, shoot lasers out of my eyes, or swing from building to building on spider webs. I wanted to be the kind that could help people like my parents. That’s where the title of this book came from. Instead of paying your hard earned money out to everyone under the sun, watching each paycheck or retirement distribution fly away, you’re going to welcome it back. Hello, hard earned money! Let’s have some fun together! I became that superhero, and I believe I still am. Let’s get this party started!
Download or read book Straight Talk from the Heartland written by Ed Schultz and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ed Schultz is here to slay the "right-wing radio dragon" and revitalize the charge against Bush-era "conservative cruelty" with his own bold, irreverent truth-talk. When the self-described "gun-toting, meat-eating, drug-free liberal" from America's heartland came out swinging with his syndicated radio program, The Ed Schultz Show, listeners realized right away that this was no cookie-cutter liberal, but a tough-talking advocate for everything that's right about the left. "A free press is all that stands between you and a dictatorship," warns Schultz, in defiance of the Bush administration and ultra-conservative talking heads like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, whom he blames for quashing political debate just when America needs it most. While Big Ed has what it takes to "go bare-knuckle brawling" with his staunchest detractors, it is with a deep compassion and impeccable common sense that he describes how our "government by the rich and for the rich" is imperiling the lives of average hard-working Americans. In Straight Talk from the Heartland, Schultz rails against the havoc that our nation's leaders are wreaking on everything from international relations to homeland defense, from our skyrocketing federal deficit to the disenfranchised families of rural America who are struggling to make ends meet. With a heady mix of patriotism, outrage, humor, and hope, he makes an urgent appeal to universal virtues such as honesty and liberty, and reminds readers of what he calls the Four Pillars of a Great Nation: Defending America: "We have lost faith in our leaders. The world has lost faith in us. Our foray into Iraq, to disarm a nation of biological and nuclear weapons they did not have, has shrunk American credibility like a cheap sweater." A Sound Economy: "The Bushies are like street hustlers. While they show you a meager tax cut with one hand, they steal your wallet with the other." Feeding the Nation: "Bad farm policy and bad trade agreements are running the American farmer off the land. It's killing small towns, and small towns are the heart of this nation." Educating America: "Don't start counting your tax break just yet. Your state and local taxes are rising to support the unfunded mandate of the No Child Left Behind act." "I'm here to give it to you straight," Big Ed says. "I've got faith that, when Americans grasp what's going on around them, they'll start acting like a bear fresh out of hibernation -- famished, ill-tempered, and ready to start raising hell." Straight Talk from the Heartland is the wake-up call America has been waiting for.
Download or read book The Betrayal of the American Dream written by Donald L. Barlett and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2012-07-31 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the formidable challenges facing the middle class, calling for fundamental changes while surveying the extent of the problem and identifying the people and agencies most responsible.
Download or read book The Great American Stickup written by Robert Scheer and published by Bold Type Books. This book was released on 2010-09-07 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Asserts that Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Larry Summers, Robert Rubin, Phil Gramm and others colluded in the fundamental corruption of the U.S. economic system that led to the financial crisis and sounds the alarm over the Obama administration consulting some of these very same men to fix the problem they created. Original.
Download or read book Fighting Better written by Louis Kriesberg and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This original and wide-ranging book examines how conflicts may have been more or less constructively conducted and affected the changing class, status, and power inequality in America since 1945. Initially, it assesses how some conflicts destructively contributed to increasing class inequality, with its many unfortunate consequences. It also assesses other conflicts that contributed or might have contributed constructively to fostering less class inequality. Then the book examines conflicts that contributed to some increases in status equality, notably of African Americans and women. Finally it goes on to analyze many specific conflicts that yielded varied and uneven changes in power inequality for different kinds of people. This book indicates how the destructively conducted conflicts contributed to the many contemporary antagonistic divisions currently threatening U.S. democracy. Throughout, possible constructive ways of fighting are noted or suggested, providing hopeful future options This book analyzes numerous conflicts at the national and local levels, both hidden and violent, including constructive conflict transformations. These social science analyses enable judgments to be made of better ways of contending that might have avoided the adverse consequences of many destructive conflicts in the past. The core ideas of the constructive conflict approach are tested as they were varyingly applied to struggles relating to class, status and power inequalities in America. Moreover, and importantly, the book suggests how persons applying the core ideas of the constructive conflict approach can help transform the current political and societal distress in the U.S. and avoid and overcome its many destructive outcomes"--
Download or read book Norco 80 written by Peter Houlahan and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2019-06-11 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 5 young men. 32 destroyed police vehicles. 1 spectacular bank robbery. This “cinematic” true crime story transports readers to the scene of one of the most shocking bank heists in U.S. history—a crime that’s almost too wild to be real (The New York Times Book Review). Norco ’80 tells the story of how five heavily armed young men—led by an apocalyptic born–again Christian—attempted a bank robbery that turned into one of the most violent criminal events in U.S. history, forever changing the face of American law enforcement. Part action thriller and part courtroom drama, this Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime transports the reader back to the Southern California of the 1970s, an era of predatory evangelical gurus, doomsday predictions, megachurches, and soaring crime rates, with the threat of nuclear obliteration looming over it all. In this riveting true story, a group of landscapers transforms into a murderous gang of bank robbers armed to the teeth with military–grade weapons. Their desperate getaway turns the surrounding towns into war zones. And when it’s over, three are dead and close to twenty wounded; a police helicopter has been forced down from the sky, and thirty–two police vehicles have been completely demolished by thousands of rounds of ammo. The resulting trial shakes the community to the core, raising many issues that continue to plague society today: from the epidemic of post–traumatic stress disorder within law enforcement to religious extremism and the militarization of local police forces.
Download or read book How Wall Street Fleeces America written by Stephen Lendman and published by SCB Distributors. This book was released on 2011-09-27 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1913 Federal Reserve Act let powerful bankers usurp money creation authority in violation of the Constitution's Article I, Section 8, giving only Congress the power to "coin Money (and) regulate the Value thereof...." Thereafter, powerful bankers used their control over money, credit and debt for private self-enrichment, bankrolling and colluding with Congress and administrations to implement laws favoring them. As a result, decades of deregulation, outsourcing, economic financialization, and casino capitalism followed, producing asset bubbles, record budget and national debt levels, and depression-sized unemployment far higher than reported numbers, albeit manipulated to look better. After the financial crisis erupted in late 2007, even harder times have left Main Street in the early stages of a depression, with recovery pure illusion. Today's contagion has spread out of control, globally. Wall Street got trillions of dollars in a desperate attempt to socialize losses, privatize profits, and pump life back into the corpses by blowing public wealth into a moribund financial sector, failing corporate favorites, and America's aristocracy. While Wall Street boasts it has recovered, industrial America keeps imploding. High-paying jobs are exported. Economic prospects are eroding. Austerity is being imposed, with no one sure how to revive stable, sustainable long-term growth. This book provides a powerful tool for showing angry Americans how they've been fleeced, and includes a plan for constructive change.
Download or read book The Spy Who Couldn t Spell written by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The thrilling, true-life account of the FBI’s hunt for the ingenious traitor Brian Regan—known as the Spy Who Couldn’t Spell. Before Edward Snowden’s infamous data breach, the largest theft of government secrets was committed by an ingenious traitor whose intricate espionage scheme and complex system of coded messages were made even more baffling by his dyslexia. His name is Brian Regan, but he came to be known as The Spy Who Couldn’t Spell. In December of 2000, FBI Special Agent Steven Carr of the bureau’s Washington, D.C., office received a package from FBI New York: a series of coded letters from an anonymous sender to the Libyan consulate, offering to sell classified United States intelligence. The offer, and the threat, were all too real. A self-proclaimed CIA analyst with top secret clearance had information about U.S. reconnaissance satellites, air defense systems, weapons depots, munitions factories, and underground bunkers throughout the Middle East. Rooting out the traitor would not be easy, but certain clues suggested a government agent with a military background, a family, and a dire need for money. Leading a diligent team of investigators and code breakers, Carr spent years hunting down a dangerous spy and his cache of stolen secrets. In this fast-paced true-life spy thriller, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee reveals how the FBI unraveled Regan’s strange web of codes to build a case against a man who nearly collapsed America's military security. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS
Download or read book The Fleecing of America written by Paul Shaw and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-06-17 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Fleecing of America tells the very sobering story of how our leaders have caused our national debt to exceed $18 trillion dollars, terribly burdening our children and grandchildren who will have to deal with this issue. The debt is causing a national security crisis as well as degrading our standard of living. As Ronald Reagan said, "The Government does not solve problems, it subsidizes them." It is long since time for people to get involved with this issue and insist we change direction now.
Download or read book The Strategic Defense Initiative written by Ralph L. Dietl and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-08-15 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Nuclear and Space Talks revolutionized arms control. The Cold War endgame commenced with the umbrella negotiations’ that linked START and INF negotiations to a regulation on the weaponization of space. This volume reveals a US grand strategy to replace deterrence with a collective security order. An entente of the superpowers was needed to transform bipolarity. The US planned the replacement of mutually assured destruction by mutually assured security. A global astrodome was to protect a nuclear disarmed world. The Franco-German special relationship in European affairs had to be amended by a US-SU special relationship to replace classic bloc politics. The Reagan Administration planned a global zero agenda, a joint development of a global protective system and a creation of a Common House of Europe. In brief, the superpowers prepared ‘the velvet revolution’ that eliminated the Cold War structures. Neither containment nor convergence offers a valid explanation of the Cold War endgame. Co-creation is the key to decipher the end of the Cold War. NATO Europe challenged the transformation of bipolarity. The European NWS resisted to a multilateralization of strategic arms control. In Europe the classic Cold War thinking survived the fall of the Iron Curtain. European conservatism contributed to the geopolitical catastrophe of the first order: the downfall of the Soviet Union. The Reagan Administration developed a Grand Strategy to end the Cold War. The US-SU co-creation of an astrodome was meant to ease a global zero agenda. A global collective security structure under the United Nations was to replace deterrence. The superpower project collapsed due to the penetration of US decision-making by NATO Allies. The European NWS totally objected to a multilateralization of strategic arms control to preserve their relative position in the international system.
Download or read book Retirement Heist written by Ellen E. Schultz and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2012 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism Hundreds of companies have slashed pensions and health coverage for millions of retirees, claiming that a “perfect storm” of stock market losses, aging workers, and spiraling costs have forced them to take drastic measures. But this so-called retirement crisis is no accident. Ellen E. Schultz, an award-winning investigative reporter formerly of The Wall Street Journal, reveals how large employers and the retirement industry have all played a huge and hidden role in the death spiral of American pensions and benefits. A little over a decade ago, pension plans were fat. But companies used slick accounting and dubious loopholes to turn their pension plans into piggy banks, tax shelters, and profit centers. As pensions weakened, companies slashed benefits for workers while doling out gargantuan pensions to their top executives. Drawing on original analysis of company data, government filings, and confidential memos, Schultz uncovers decades of widespread deception during which employers exaggerated their retiree burdens while tricking employees, misleading shareholders, and lobbying for taxpayer handouts.
Download or read book Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups written by Mark S. Hamm and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Examines terrorists¿ involvement in a variety of crimes ranging from motor vehicle violations, immigration fraud, and mfg. illegal firearms to counterfeiting, armed bank robbery, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. There are 3 parts: (1) Compares the criminality of internat. jihad groups with domestic right-wing groups. (2) Six case studies of crimes includes trial transcripts, official reports, previous scholarship, and interviews with law enforce. officials and former terrorists are used to explore skills that made crimes possible; or events and lack of skill that the prevented crimes. Includes brief bio. of the terrorists along with descriptions of their org., strategies, and plots. (3) Analysis of the themes in closing arguments of the transcripts in Part 2. Illus.
Download or read book Alan Shrugged written by Jerome Tuccille and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2002-11-18 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Power . . . Personality . . . Paradox When Alan Greenspan talks, Wall Street listens-as do bankers, investors, politicians, and economists throughout the world. He is the number one arbiter of U.S. monetary policy-credited, as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, with having simultaneously held inflation down and kept the economy growing throughout the longest and largest economic expansion in U.S. history. Yet, this Atlas of number crunchers, who owned and operated a highly successful Wall Street consulting firm, never amassed a personal fortune, was a member of the cultlike inner circle surrounding one of America's most controversial authors, and began his career as a professional jazz musician. Clearly, there is even more to Alan Greenspan than meets the eye. In Alan Shrugged, you'll meet Greenspan the public figure and Alan the private man in the most detailed, revealing, and entertaining account of Greenspan's life and career ever published. Filled with surprises, amusing anecdotes from the likes of Henry Kissinger and Barbara Walters, and thoughtful insights from bestselling biographer Jerome Tuccille, Alan Shrugged offers an informative and engaging portrait of one of the most powerful, capable, and complex figures on the American political scene.
