KaskadskyjKozak

The SS program already is a multi-trillion dollar liability for our children. It is already an irresponsible, unfair burden on taxpayers, and on our children. As for "tweaking" the program, one suggested proposal going around is to RAISE the payroll deduction. Great. The government once again f***s up and the taxpayer gets reamed. A tax increase is an effective salary cut. Another proposal is to raise the age at which people are eligible to receive benefits. Yet another is to lower the benefits. So, we have to work more and get less. Wonderful. In a past thread I characterized the SS program as "you get back what you put in with interest". I forget the fact that you have to live to be pretty damn old for that to be true. Benefits are parcelled out each year beginning with the first year of eligibility. Many taxpayers will NOT get all the money back that they put in, yet alone with interest. By contrast, if you invest in a 401(k) or IRA, you can take out as much as you want, whenever you want, and if you die, your money goes to your designated beneficiaries. SS is a bad deal all around.

It describes the plan using carefully-selected, highly-connated verbiage which conveys an obvious bias. As such I do disagree with the statement as it stands. We've already discussed SS on the list. Personally I just want to opt out of the program. If that means I need to sign a waiver saying that in exchange for not having to contribute anything to the program I am wholly responsible for my own retirement and will be 100% irrevocably ineligible for benefits then so be it. I think the whole program is unsalvageable and its costs far outweigh its benefits.

There are some people worth listening to, and debating. There are some who are not. Life is too short to waste on the latter.

Anyone to the left of you is a radical extremist Well, I wouldn't call YOU a radical extremist and you are to the left of me on fiscal matters. Krugman OTOH is about as extreme as they come. I've heard him talk on the various cable shows, and seen his articles before. He is in the same mold as Robert Reich - far far left on the economic side. If his ideas ever took hold, it would mean economic disaster, and *I* would start talking about moving to another country. :-) For the record, I question all the clearly slanted right-wing arguments about SS.

The biggest problem with the article is that it is written by a left-wing radical extremist.

ditto - would have been better to use the word "sailors" instead of "seamen" up until the punch line...

Great song to play on an acoustic guitar... funky tuning though...

Second that Yep.

delectable would be a better description

Powell is the de facto Secretary of State until Rice is confirmed. The facts speak for themselves - pressure IS being applied. You'll need to find a new theory to justify your Bush hatred. I will also note that those who speak the loudest about the race of this or that person - or the supposed racism of this or that person - are usually the racists themselves. Put that it in your pipe and smoke it.

Yep. That's why they refused to hold a recount - they knew 3-4 million votes were falsfied in the eastern regions and they would lose the recount. So, they will hold a "new" election runoff instead, and in the meantime try these shenanigans...

ACTUALLY the US has turned up the heat on Putin, and he is livid. Powell just appeared in the UN and administered a verbal beating. The European nations and Canada are doing their part as well... Meanwhile Putin just got a victory at home - regional Russian Governers will no longer be elected but *appointed*.

He'll probably sue the city, the cop, and the people who trained the dog and get a couple million... As for the injuries, too bad both testicles weren't severed - that would be evolution in action!

Yushchenko's doctors in Vienna have not been able to identify the poison, but have cited "a chemical agent that does not occur naturally in food". One hypothesis that is consistent with the symptoms is Dioxin poisoning.

According to their web sites, Crystal Mountain is opening Sat. Snoqualmie Summit West and Stevens may as well. We're finally turning the corner!

One last comment: I think some overtime can raise productivity in the short term, but does not work over the long haul. People burn out and tend to be less efficient in their work. I think you may have a point in that some of the countries you cite in general probably have a better attitude about this than we have in a lot of our corporations (especially the bigger ones). I'm also a big believer in vacation, and always have negotiated for a minimum of 3 weeks paid time off. Not quite the Euro standard, but better than the measly 2 weeks that is common. :-)

There are many ways to make such an employer pay. Intentionally reducing productivity is the best, and easiest way to do so. Unless you are billing clients, this is feasible and I see nothing unethical about it. You have to work 50 hours - fine, but only actually *do* 40 hours of work, and, if possible, do something else during those 10 hours. Employers who treat their employees like shit deserve neither the respect, nor the full cooperation of their employees, IMNSHO.

Having worked at an employer that mandated 50hr weeks, bullshit. I've never worked at a company that "mandated" overtime. If I had, I'd have changed jobs.

Umnichali samozvani mudraki, Nastoyashchie mudaki, Propali skoro vsye oni bez znaka, Pered siloj slov Kaskadskogo Kozaka!

Ne znayu... mozhet byt' oni poshli na tri veselye bukvy.

The important thing to keep in mind is freedom and the choices regarding quality of life issues. Americans earn enough to choose to eat like pigs and have weight-related problems (and have the money and health care to subsequently treat the problems). Some choose otherwise - buying expensive gear and taking time to go climbing, for example. In contrast, recall the posting from the polish guy who could not afford climbing gear. Another example - Americans can and DO choose to buy cars in lieu of supporting large public-transportation infrastructures. They get congested freeways, wasted time commuting, and pollution as a result. They also are able to travel at will to any destination - like the cascade mountains to hike, bike, ski, and climb, for example.

I've seen these types of statistics before. What US city is the best place to live? What country? When you dig deeper, you quickly find that the statistics are biased according the criteria set by the person who designed the study. Weights are arbitrarily assigned to factors that are selected and scored arbitrarily.

vous avez raison!

Salaried, high-paid employees work longer hours - of their own accord. These people are often the most motivated to excel. University professors, graduate students, and scientists also work long hours - because they love what they do. This yields to breakthroughs in research, patents, and inventions. Where are the bulk of all these fruits of hard-work found? Socialist countries tax labor at a higher rate, reducing the desire to excel. People work less because the marginal gains - personal, economic, etc are less. Why work 50 hours a week for little benefit? Now, can you say thread drift?