An ounce of prevention

[SuperScout]

Some of us may live in areas where dry brush, even drier grasses, and other obviously combustible material form part of the natural flora. And most of us don't have an inexhaustible supply of water to use in fire fighting, if and when that brush were to be ignited as it inevitably will. So the prudent thing to do is to trim back the brush away from our homes, our outbuildings, our outhouses, or any other structures worth saving. We don't have to embark upon a scorched earth policy and clearcut every living piece of flora out there, just enough to protect our property.

And so it might be said about the current condition of Social Security. Do we really have to wait until a roaring brush fire, fanned by the winds of inflation consumes all the structures we spend so long a lifetime building? If we do a little brush clearing now, first by ridding the rolls of all non-citizens as recipients, and then offering personal investment accounts to our youngsters, we can avoid the all consuming brush fire of procrastination.

[catman]

Col...easy solution. Take all the money from the congressional retirement plan and put it into SS, force all senators, congressmen and the like to draw their retirement from the same coffers they make us draw from at the same rate.

How many do you think would run for office than? How many bad checks would they be writing?

Trav

[AVetsWife]

I think I like Trav's solutioin better than any other I have heard!

Bravo!

[Andy]

Most people around here would say, Why are you worried about brush fires? There is snow on the ground!
Matter of fact that's what both my senators have said, sort of.

Stay healthy,
Andy

[Seascamp]

Speaking of snow, it seems I missed the biggest snowstorm since 1916. There was over four ft. at my place and I?m really glad I put an extra strong roof on my new garden shed.
The Home Despots model I ?borrowed? ideas from didn?t do so well and many have become unsightly ?snow bins?.

Agreed about the preventive measures. From the little bit I could see here, it looks like Pres. Bush got lots and lots of boos from the left hand lane, at least that is what CNN emphasized here.

Scamp

[SuperScout]

No surprise about your 19th century senatorial folks, but instead of being part of the solution, they remain firmly escounced in the depths of the problem. For Kennedy, we might even say that he is awash in the problem, drowning in the sea of mediocrity and mendacity. PS: you might remind them that summer will come, even to M'chusetts.

Scamp: am I going to have to provide another counseling session about watching CNN? We buy you books, we send you to school, and how do you reward us, by watching inane drivel masquerading as news? Shame and forsooth! Now, repair to your 'puter, and type "I have a brain, and henceforth will use it more constructively" fifty times. And no fair hitting the copy and paste button.

Trav: the congressional retirement plan is no different from that of all the other millions of federal civil servants, and as the President said, if it's good enough for Congress, it's good enough for the rest of us. The sooner we get away from viewing the US goverment as the end-all, be-all solution to our problems, from the cradle to the grave, the better off we'll all be.

[39mto39g]

people think this is some kind of end all for retirement. Its not, even with the things President Bush wants its still just a system to HELP you in retirement, not a retirement system. If you count on the SS System for your old age your kidding yourself. I have three systems in work for me, texas Manisipal retirement system, Nationwide retirement and then SS System.
But, What the pres is perpossing is shure better than what the system is now.
Kenedy and Kerry are just idiots , I don't understand how they keep getting re-elected, People in Mass can't be that stupid.

CNN, In there history I can only remember them doing a worthwhile job one time, The first gulf war, They did a pretty good job, The rest of the time they are just a voice for the Democratic party.

Ron

[revwardoc]

Scout,

You got it wrong. Kennedy didn't drown. It was Mary Jo Kopekne at the Chappaquidic Bridge.

[Seascamp]

We Col., it?s a matter of bad breath is better than no breath at all. For any kind of US news, it?s either CNN or CNBC. Of the two, CNBC is out of the question so that leaves CNN. And sometimes they are funnier than the great one, Benny Hill, though they are comics quite by accident I think.

Great example: A news segment billed as ?World reaction to Bush?s inauguration speech?. First shown was a Canadian politico speaking from Toronto, and as could be expected,nothing nice said there at all. Then a politico from Belarus, and sure, nasty words were spoken, you bet. Former KGB thugs don't like to be called former KGB thugs, no sir.

Then lastly a group of noisy demonstrators in the UK were chanting things that one would expect to hear from a lynch mob working themselves up to the final act. But oops, the video editor wasn?t quick enough with the stop button and the last quarter second or so showed the group banner. Twas a huge red banner with the olde hammer and sickle and of course, one wouldn?t expect very nice gestures from that mob either.
Zo, that was the world reaction according to CNN.

I promise that upon my return I shall cleans my self thoroughly of any taint, beg forgiveness, and accept some form of penance.

Scamp