Thread: jib jab

anyone ever seen jibjab.com? Whenever I have a really bad day or G.W. and or liberals like Teddy Kennedy piss me off, I simply go to that website and click on one of their political satires and I laugh til I cry. I wonder if politicians ever see that. They should do one on Vicente Fox. I dont understand how that guy became an executive for coca cola(which requires you to speak some english) and yet speaks through interpreters during press conferences. My dad says he is just lazy. I have always noticed President Lagos to be unimpressed by Bush's mexican spanish and have always heard of him gladly speaking english when in countries where that is the primary language. I am starting to believe Fox's half irish/ half mexican daddy and his rich spaniard mother bought his way through whatever elite american school he claims to have gone to. Well then again, the same is said of Bush-that his daddy bought his way through Yale...I am not the only one who says that...I recall watching a documentary on one of the premium movie channels called " Bush's Brain" which was about Karl Rove in which Rover was quoted as saying that "the president is not that smart". I can't believe they are trying to remodel the U.S. economy like the Chilean model secretly. This would be a nightmare. It works in Chile not only because the people are educated but also because the government voluntarily educateds its people via t.v. broadcast about how to invest their money and updates them on the stock market. The Bush administration is trying to deceive Americans who know nothing about the stock market, that just by investing, their money will grow without them needing to be educated on the stock market. I could not believe when I saw this african american guy sitting next to Bush(when he was traveling around trying to promote it after coming back from Chile and seeing the over than expected returns received by the people), telling his own people that they should vote for private accounts because Jorge said(while failing to mention he would be borrowing our social security) private accounts would turn into growths 5-10 times our social security when retired. Of course, this rhetoric was directed to most of the poor and uneducated.

Also, there are long periods of time when the stock market doesn't have good returns. For instance, from 1966 to 1982, the Dow stayed around 1000. So, for that 16 years, the return was 0%. Also, when you add the high inflation of the 70's, you actually lost about 50% of your money.

Japan's stock market has been flat for 20 years. (But they've had some deflation.)
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=^N225&t=my

I think the privatization plan for social security is a veiled attempt to phase out the program. Also, we'd probably end up paying high fees to bokerage companies in order to manage the money.

By the way, I like the Jib Jab too.
http://www.jibjab.com/33.html - Bush vs Gore
http://www.jibjab.com/162.html - This Land

HEY SONALI!! Nice to see you post again.

On Bush and Social Security....here is where he let the cat out of the bag. First, ever since I was a young working woman, I wanted to put some of the social security payment in savings because I didn't like the government spending my retirement on social programs and underwriting other government operations.

So, when I heard the private accounts proposal, I thought well, finally. A little late for me, but good for the young kids.

THEN, he said, "he" being Jorge the First....that it was only 4% and I screamed 4%...that's not worth the paperwork and then "he" "he" being Jorge the First said that the funds could only be invested in "stocks and bonds".

Ooooops. That is not security; that is not savings; THAT is risk-taking; that is BROKER controlled "investments" just like IRA investments...oh watch them NOT GROW earning less than 1%.

Here is what 4% for most Americans amounts to.

If you are a teacher and graduate from college and get a good teaching job in a good rich school district, you might earn what $40,000 a year?

Take 7.5% of $40,000 which is the employee's share of social security. That's $3,000 a year. Now take 4% of THAT number. That's $120 a year that you could "invest" in "stocks and bonds" and pay "reasonable brokerage fees" on.

$120 a year. That's $10 a month. For someone earning $40,000 a year.

It would of course be much less for the majority of Americans earning far less than $40,000 a year.

Take $120 a year x 40 years = $4,800 in a lifetime before "earnings" "fees" and "taxes". Lets say you never lost anything and you invested it in the safest tax-exempt bonds that earn around 4 to 5 percent a year. Lets take 5% on $120 a year. That's $6 growth a year. I'm not going to bother with the compounding but at 10%, you're investment can double every 7 years so at 5% it would double every 15 years. So at best your $4,800 could become worth $12,000 over a 40 year investment future value. But then you will be penalized by the 4% from your social security check for having participated in the private account deal. Most social security checks today are around $900 a month. 4% of that is $36. So you traded $36 a month for $10.

So, in 2045 when you might want it, the $12,000 would be subject to "reasonable broker fees" and of course there will be annual maintenance charges and when you try to get it, it's now subject to Federal Income Tax, so down reduce it down by the "fees", then 25% income tax, which whittles it back down, and then take out your state income tax or another 6% and you're left with around the $4,800 you started out with which by the year 2045 might buy you.....a Rocking Chair.

For that "privilege" you gave up 4% of your actual social security check in 2045 dollars that would be worth a great deal more for every year of your retirement until you die...which could be 20 to 30 years of 4% less than whatever it was you were otherwise entitled to.

Private accounts are a JOKE under this scenario.

Oh, the maximum wage subject to social security payments presently is around $75,000. So the biggest "private account" would be around $18 a month. Now have you seen a maintenance fee of any financial institution less than several dollars a month? Every month and it's probaby a %, that's how brokerage works. Lets say they cap it at $5 a month "service charge". (Someone's got to be paid to handle all that paperwork). That's $60 a a year in "fees". Now your $120 was just cut to $60 and your principal's going in the hole of Goldman Sachs.

Only a MADMAN would traipse around the country on Air Force One trying to sell prviate accounts worth $10 a month for most Americans that will cost them the future value of $36 a month when they retire and need the money.

TAKE THAT SAME THINKING and apply it to CAFTA, FTAA, Security and Prosperity Partnershp Pact and know...beyond any reasonable doubt....you just lost big time.

This man is Pure Evil.

I can speak from personal experience on this "private account" issue. For years, I have invested in the stock market for my income during my retirement years. So, now I have reached that point and am relying on those dividends for my income along with a small Social Security check. Let me tell you--MORE TIMES THAN NOT--when I've needed to sell stock OR cash in a bond, I have LOST money. The problem is that, once you reach retirement age, there are times that you can't AFFORD to wait until any particular stock or bond goes up.

I recently had a TERRIBLE experience with a bond that I owned--General Motors Acceptance Corporation--the financing arm of General Motors. IN ONE MONTH, that bond, which had a face value of $19,000 lost $3500! THAT is a STAGGERING loss. When I bought that bond, nothing seemed safer than General Motors. Within a matter of MONTHS, that bond went from an A-rated bond to a JUNK BOND. Even worse case scenario is if General Motors TANKS and I will lose the entire face value. In desperation, I did sell a portion of the bond just to protect some of that money in case General Motors declared bankruptcy. I don't have the luxury of being able to wait 10 years to see if General Motors can recover.

So, that is what any young person who would choose a private account could potentially face. Believe me--it AIN'T worth it. For most of the years that I've invested, I've chosen so-called "safe" investments rather than "growth" stocks. I've tried to stick with income producing bonds and preferred stock to try to avoid a drop in the stock market and look what happened to me. I would fight to the death to prevent Bush from getting his way about privatization. I have instructed my sons NEVER to buy into his plan.

Good Advice Bootsie and it's so true. The stock market is "fickle", good companies stock can perform well or not for reasons that really don't have anything to do with the company or the stock. It could be something the government did in fact. It could be who wins President or who loses the Grand Prix. It's fickle.

It's gambling to a great extent and it's very hard for individuals to track it close enough often enough to make the right decisions, so it needs to be held out for extra money, money you can afford to lose. Most people don't have that kind of money.

And as you pointed out, even the "bonds" are not always safe. The safest bonds are public tax exempt bonds and utilities.

THE SAFEST INVESTMENT is a Savings Account or Certificates of Deposits. NO fees, NO risk, INSURED by FDIC...but did you notice that this prize investment...IS NOT ALLOWED!! Only the ones requiring stock and bond BROKERS, that charge FEES, and carry RISK.

So ask yourself, WHO was the President trying to help? Young people as he claims? Heck no. Wall Street stock brokers and bond brokers like Goldman Sachs.

Can you say privatization plan? How else can top execs get a few trillion of their money out of the stock market without crashing it? HHHHHMMMMM....I know get the tax payers to invest in the market, when it goes south, the ones who didn't invest will take less to help out those that did and lost it all....after all it's the right thing to do! You can smell this one coming like a skunk 2 yards down the block! We give away 300 Billion dollars annually in foreign aid, just 15% of that diverted to Social Security every year would keep it solvent till the year 3000!

Yes!!! You can say privatization plan. That's exactly what it is.

You've got it figured Defens and the skunk odor's all the way down here in NC!!

Eeeeeeeeew!!

America!! Don't only say no to El Presidente's "private accounts" plan on social security, tell him HELL NO and to stick it where the sun don't shine!!