There is a lot of propaganda out there about SS and whether it is solvent and for how long. We all must remember that “WE” pay for SS out of our payroll deductions. We are paying for an insurance program that the Government Administers. This article at Crooks and Liars.com is James Roosevelt, FDR’s Grandson speaking about the myths, fears and facts about Social Security. Here is the title and link to the article: FDR’s Grandson Debunks “Mythology of Fear” About Social Security.

Here is a Quote from that article:

Now let’s take a true measure of where we are. Social Security has been the most effective government program; it has been the most responsible government program. Social Security costs are funded out of its own dedicated revenue stream. It does not and cannot borrow money to finance its operations.

There is no deficit financing. Social Security is the epitome of Yankee frugality. It could not be better managed. Social Security returns more than 99 cents to beneficiaries on every dollar collected. I dare you to find a private investment plan that can claim that.

The whole video is at C-Span.org do a search for: James Roosevelt Remarks on the Social Security the whole video is 49 minutes long, click the video link “James Roosevelt on Social Security” under the text.

You all heard about Gates and Buffet asking the Top 400 Richest people in America to give 99% of their wealth to Charities. Well 38 have signed up to give 50% of their wealth to charities and Gates and Buffet giving 99%. Here is the list at the Giving Pledge site: The Giving Pledge .

So big deal! These people came up with great ideas and started companies and made tons of money and now they want to be Saints and give to charities all over the world. Excuse me boys and girls but you may have come up with great ideas but without workers it would have never gotten anywhere, the people who worked their A–es off made you Rich and now “YOU” want to be remembered as a Saint to Society, whoopie! How sad, we went into the worst recession we have ever had and during those bad times you doubled your wealth by doing nothing except getting Tax Cuts and now you want to take the working peoples Tax dollars and give it away to charities all around the world, hogwash!

Here is a thought, being that you people are supposed to be the brightest and best at business, drum roll please….. how about creating some more jobs in this country, how about using your so called great minds and those Tax dollars and solve our energy problems. Create some energy businesses, build up our infrastructure to prepare for what those new energy businesses produce. How about setting up a bank that gives small businesses, loans at great interest rates, HOW ABOUT HELPING AMERICA!

You start a business by yourself and you can only go so far before you need to hire people to make it grow, after that, it is the people who do your work that make it successful and free’s up your time to be the Visionary. You all got rich because you hired great workers to make it all happen, start giving back to the hard working people of America that made you who you are, make them the “Saints”, America is struggling and you are going to give it all to charities, start some businesses and pay Americans a decent wage/salary and they will give to those charities as American workers always have, except for now, we cannot now because we can barely survive on the wages you pay us. You all have a combined wealth of 1.57 Trillion dollars, my god you could pay for every kid in America to go to college for free FOREVER with that money, how is that for a charity?

Jobs, we need new businesses that create good paying Jobs, are you people Americans and do you believe in America or are you just Multinational Corporations that just happen to be based in America. These Corporations want cheap labor, well Drug Cartels have a cheap labor force, pay no Taxes, do whatever they want, is that what you want as the American Business Model, cheap labor, no Taxes, no regulations protecting the work force. In China you made it clear what you all want: U.S. Corps Blocking China Labor Law here is a Quote from that page:

US-based global corporations like Wal-Mart, Google, UPS, Microsoft, Nike, AT&T, and Intel, acting through US business organizations like the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the US-China Business Council, are actively lobbying against the new legislation. They are also threatening that foreign corporations will withdraw from China if it is passed.

Another article about this is at The New York Times the title and link to the article is: China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Abuse.
Here is a Quote from the article:

The workers’ advocates say that the proposed labor rules — and more important, enforcement powers — are long overdue, and they accuse the American businesses of favoring a system that has led to widespread labor abuse.

Here is another interesting article at The New York Times heading of article: Official Union in China Says All Wal-Marts Are Organized.
Here is a quote from that article:

“We are going to exert very high pressure on all these types of companies until unions are established there,” Mr. Guo said. “It is an irreversible trend.” He said union membership would lead to better conditions for employees, including higher wages and safer workplaces.

America is great because the people who do the work “WERE” getting paid more than the cost to live and therefore we bought products and created the greatest market in the world, now we are losing our Homes and can barely keep our heads above water. But hey, your Richer than sin “1.57 Trillion dollars rich”, bet it feels good having all that money while the rest of us suffer to survive. Invest it back into America, give back to the Country that gave you the opportunities and the hard working people that made your dreams come true or has “GREED” taken over your Heart and Soul?

I was curious about how Cable News Programs and Politicians use Propaganda techniques against us, I found this site that explains everything you need to know about Propaganda. I found this page Other Techniques very interesting, it must be the playbook for Politicians and the Cable News Programs. Here is a Quote from that page:

Loaded Words: Propagandists use powerful words like peace and patriotism because they arouse a strong emotional response.

Here is another Quote from that page:

Slogans: Propagandists use catchy slogans or phrases that are easily remembered in place of a complicated and perhaps more accurate explanation.

Very interesting read, this also applies to Advertisers.

Another page from that site is Propaganda Techniques the seven most common “Tricks of the Trade”.

Here is a Quote from that page:

These seven techniques are called:

Name Calling

Glittering Generalities

Transfer

Testimonial

Plain Folks

Card Stacking

Band Wagon

These techniques are designed to fool us because the appeal to our emotions rather than to our reason.

This is the Home page of the site Response-ible Rhetorics/Propaganda the links are at the bottom of each page.

Here is a Quote from the Home page:

Our purpose in this discussion is to explain, analyze, and review the impact propaganda has had on society over time. Our aim is to inform the readers by pointing out different propaganda techniques they might encounter in the various media and suggest ways to guard against its influence in their lives.

I think in today’s world, we should all know how propaganda influences our perception of current and past events and be aware of the tools they use to manipulate the masses into believing their arguments.

Here is an extreme example on the Purpose of Propaganda page:

Premise 1: All Christians believe in God
Premise 2: All Muslims believe in God
Conclusion: All Christians are Muslims

Test the logic of an argument like this is to see if the conclusion makes sense. The premise may be correct, but the conclusion is false.

Another Quote from the site that sums it up:

In other words, information is the best defense. The more we know about propaganda techniques and how they work the better we can resist its influence.

Arm yourself with facts and knowledge, remember the words of author Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Quote from Wikipedia.

The pen is mightier than the sword

In today’s world I think the phrase: “The Media is mightier then the sword” would apply.

I am a senior citizen and ran across this site that explains in straight talk what the Health Care Reforms means for us Seniors.

Link to the information: Straight Talk for Seniors on Health Reform

This is at the website NCOA, National Council on Aging.
There are Fact Sheets under the heading Straight Talk Fact Sheets. I opened the HTML links but you can also read them in PDF. Some of the topics are, 5 Key facts on the Affordable Care Act (Health Reform), Frequently asked questions about Health Reform and Seniors, Long Term Care and others. It is hard to get the true facts sometimes, hopefully this will clear up any questions or concerns you may have, it was very informative and helpful to me.

I was curious as to how many working peoples income it would take to make 1.57 Trillion Dollars, that is what the Top 400 Richest People in the US are worth now. So I took an average of $36,000.00 a year for each working persons yearly income, I divided 1.57 Trillion Dollars by $36,000.00 and came up with 43,611,111 million working people. That is how many working peoples incomes it would take to make what the Top 400 Riches People in the US are worth. Incomes vary depending on age, race, education, etc, $36,00.00 in my experience is an average, which equates to $17.30 per hour for 2080 hours per year. But play around with the numbers, that is a pretty crazy gap going on in America between the haves and have nots, Wow!

Most working people in my town are lucky if they make over $9.00 per hour which for 2080 hours per year is $18,720.00 a year. It would take 83,867,521 million workers to make that much money.

$1,570,000,000,000 1.57 Trillion Dollars for 400 people, unreal, I think they need those tax cuts for the rich.

Here is an article on Wikipedia about Personal income in the US

Half of the Money/Wealth made for the Top 400 was from the Bush Tax Cuts: The Bush 400 while the working peoples income/wealth stayed flat or went down.

There is a new harmful product out there from China and it can harm your child: children’s Jewelry

Quote from Article: Children can be exposed by sucking or biting such jewelry. But without direct exposure, most people do not experience its worst effects: cancer, kidneys that leak vital protein and bones that spontaneously snap.

The worrisome results came in tests of bracelet charms sold at Walmart stores, at the jewelry chain Claire’s and at a Dollar N More store. High amounts of cadmium also were detected in “The Princess and The Frog” movie-themed pendants.

Link to Article: Regulators warn on Chinese imports; Walmart pulls kids’ jewelry cited in AP report

Here is another article about the percentages of bad products that are from China:

Quote from article: Last month, the European Commission’s Consumer Affairs agency released its annual report and found that China was the source of nearly half (48 percent) of all banned products last year.

Link to article: Unsafe Chinese Imports

Good news for consumers afflicted by these bad products from China.

Liability for damages caused by defective Chinese products is going to be huge and it is going to be vast and it is going to fall disproportionally on American and European companies.

Link to Article: How To Protect Your Company From Bad China Product

Funny but sad that Americans have been trying to buy more American made products. But China knowing that, used it’s power to change the laws to only require not “Made in” but “Distributed by” on our product labels, have you noticed that more and more products are label that way now. I think it maybe time to let Washington know we want “Made in what country” back on our food and product labels. I always look at the labels and only buy Made in the USA when absolutely possible, hard to do when it only has DISTRIBUTED BY, China is laughing and hurting our children, pets, tainting our prescription drugs and the list goes on and on, man they must think we are the stupidest people in the world, ARE WE?

NPR (National Public Radio) has published an article about the Gulf fishing industry and how much is operating as cash only. Full article here:

Cash Business In Gulf Makes Compensation Difficult

Being that A LOT of businesses operate on a cash basis only and do not and have not file Tax forms or payed Taxes should these Businesses be compensated by BP, I say no Income tax papers no money. Where is Bobby Jindals explanation as to why his state government has allowed this to go on forever? Were not talking about a couple fisherman, it is the fishing Industry, lawn workers, mechanics who repair the boats, the dock buyers, unreal. Come on Jindal start making these people pay their fair share of the taxes for your state and the country.

How do these people buy a car, the Boat, homes, they make that much cash that they can do like the drug dealers and buy everything out right with cash? If I buy a car or home first thing they want are my Tax returns and some in Louisiana are calling for a Tax Amnesty for these Tax Cheaters, if they get it, give us all the taxes we have payed back and then give us a Tax Amnesty from ever having to pay Taxes again, everyone that plays by the rules deserves it more then Tax Cheaters do. I feel very bad for the people in the Gulf, but if you are a Tax Cheater, not so much, no tax returns no payments, you knew the consequences when you did it, live with those consequences.

An interesting article in the New York Times shows that the top 2% have a default rate of 1 in 7, while the 98% of us only have a default rate of 1 in 12.
The 98% of us are defaulting because we can not afford it.
While most of the top 2% are leaving because they are now bad investments, so they are just walking away.

Quote from the Article:

The rapper Chamillionaire recently walked away from a $2 million house he bought in Houston in 2006.

“I just decided to let it go, give it back to the bank,” he told the celebrity gossip TV show “TMZ.” “I just didn’t feel like it was a good investment.”

Read the whole article for more information: Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich

Here is a little about what I experienced in Colorado Springs, Illegals and Homelessness:

Years ago I moved to Colorado Springs to look for a construction job and possibly relocate from Arizona. I lived in a large motel complex that rented rooms by the month, after moving in I noticed that 80% of the people living there were Mexican men who would wait in the main parking lot in groups every day waiting for some one to pull up and offer them work for the day. I had seen something like this before when I was homeless in Arizona, other homeless people I met at county parks, would go to certain spots around Mesa to get what they called day labor (basically employers preying on cheap cash labor) , (Note: I was living out of my van, most were living out of their cars ) these were not illegals but Americans that could not find work. People need to realize that once you become homeless getting a job is not really an option, not because they do not want a job, but in order to be hired by a legitimate company you need a Phone Number and Permanent Address, once you loss those you are in a bad way, it cost at least $1,500.00 up front to get an Apartment and another $90.00 to $120.00 down to get a Phone. Off note I had met a lot of women that would come to Phoenix to get and Apartment and a new job to find that $500.00 was not going to get them an Apartment, Phone, Electric, etc, a lot of them danced at Strip Clubs until they earned enough money to get the essentials and be able to apply for a regular job. I was lucky after a month or two a friend allowed me to park at their house and use their address and phone number to get a full time job.

Back to CS so here I was living with illegals and looking for work, I had my van and it had over $10,000.00 worth of tools in it so I was very concerned about it being broken into, but after meeting some of the folks there I did not worry any more, everyone looked out for each other. But the point is there were a lot of illegals in that city, this was in 1981. I did find a framing job with a local construction company in just a few days, but after working 2 weeks for the guy he up and tells me he doesn’t have the money to pay me, but he could give me drugs instead, I was floored and said NO, after doing more checking I unfortunately found out his main thing was dealing drugs, I thought about turning him in but decided that might lead to bad things so just dropped it, actually that had happened before, in Arizona, you never know. Illegals were every where in Arizona, at the time they mostly worked doing Farm and Landscaping jobs and a lot of them were allowed to live in the nearby Orchards or there were certain landlords that would rent to them. I never saw any illegal Mexicans working in Framing you need to have the proper tools, a van or truck and have good math skills, we did have to contend with snowbirds coming down for the winter months and working for half the price, problem was the snowbirds were slow, framing in Arizona is VERY different then the Midwest.

Back to Colorado Springs, I ended up staying there for a couple months and did find legit contractors to work for, but the wages were low and decided to head back to Arizona where the wages were better. When I was in CS it was a very nice community it reminded me of a town in the Midwest, really nice parks and a well kept clean city. So fast forward to now, Colorado Springs is cutting taxes and local government services because the voters have voted for it and the recession is cutting into the tax revenues, so if you would like an idea about what it is like to live in a city whose services are being cut right and left, (Smaller Government) read these articles at the DenverPost.com:

Colorado Springs cuts into Services 02/03/2010
Colorado Springs experimenting with loss of services 07/04/2010

Quote from second: article

“These medians and parks that are being adopted are in wealthy neighborhoods,” she said. “We are seeing the creation of a community of haves and have nots.”

To those people who want smaller Government be careful of what you wish for, unless of course you are one of the top 2% then hell yes. To the rest of us it means a wider gap in the class structure, America works because the 98% were receiving enough income to buy a Home, a new car or two, nice furniture and some toys, plus for some the ability to send your children to College. It has been undermined for the last 10 years and our bottom lines have been going down or flat not up like some would like us to believe. The America we love and remember needs to change and change fast or we are going to be a two class nation, cheap labor is great for those that reap the rewards but does nothing to keep America strong. The 98% need a decent income so the American dream survives, right now the top 20% own most of the wealth in this country.

Check out the information in this article at sociology.ucsc.edu; Who Rules America? for the data of wealth distribution from 1983 to 2007. Come on America Wake Up, money is power but so are your choices, buy American made products and vote for people who are behind the 98% not the top 2%, I am for people making money but not because they prey off or want cheap labor, Americans have fought hard for a better life, but that is being taken away by a very small majority, Greed can be good, but not when it hurts 98% of Americans. Just my 2 cents, lol, well .05 cents now.

If a Jamaican agricultural worker receives $10.00 per hour here in the United States, in Jamaica that is $854.30 JMD.
So 40 hours X $10.00 = $400.00 US in Jamaica he is bringing home $34,170.00 JMD, nice income.

If a Mexican makes $10.00 per hour that is $130.60 Mexican Peso.
If an Illegal Mexican makes $400.00 for 40 hours he brings home $5,224.00 pesos, nice income.

Plus if these people work for a farmer/Grower he or she gets room and board, they live on-site, so their expenses are minimal.

Where as an American worker earning $400.00, out of that comes:
Federal and State Taxes
Social Security
Medicare
Rent or House payments
Automobile costs to get to work
Insurance
Property taxes if they own a Home
Child care if they have children
food and clothing
Electricity
Heat/cooling costs
Garbage
Phone
On and on…

Gee and you wonder why Americans avoid Farm/Growers jobs, who in America could afford to work for them on a seasonal basis, the Jamaicans and Mexicans are making a killing, why wouldn’t they want to work here and send all that money home.

The conversion rates came from Coinmill.com