Mark Levin and a rant: I'm sick of people attacking Medicare and Social Security...

when this government wastes trillions of dollars on nonsense.

Allow me to repeat:

 I (unfortunately) am on Medicare.   I did not have a choice.  And neither did a bunch of other seniors.

We did not ask for this.  We were forced.  We paid in an entire lifetime of funds, as did our employers. Now they call this an "entitlement."  Let's make this clear.  It is not an unfunded entitlement.  I paid for it.  And furthermore, it's not, and never has been, "free."  I still pay.   I pay a premium every month and I pay extra for Medicare Advantage.  What part of that is so hard to understand?

Please explain to me why these two programs are the first to be demonized??  I'll tell you why.  Because our government, the one that claims it "cares", spent that money.  The money we all paid in month after month, year after year, is gone.  Gone!

I keep hearing that to fix our economic problems, we have to slash Social Security and Medicare.  How about instead we cut welfare to illegal immigrants, unwed mothers, fake disability claims, aid to foreign countries, subsidies to "green energy, and payouts to unions?"

Postal workers retire with huge pensions.  What did they do to receive that?  They provided poor and over-priced service, that's what.  Notice anyone demonizing them?

Do I think that SS and Medicare should be reformed?  You bet I do!  If my payments to SS for the past 52 years had been wisely invested, I would be a millionaire today. 

Today,  I was having fun cooking lobster tails, and whole lobsters at one of our local grocery store.   I instructed people on how to cook, clean, and serve lobster.  I'm 67 years old and earn way over the minimum wage, because I provide a valuable service.

All you younger whippersnappers who make fun of the little old lady or man who greets you at Wal-Mart, or in my case, serves you lobster, we are the future.  Minimum wage?  We deserve it, and deserve to receive more.  Because we're worth it!!


More:

Capitalist Preservation:  And another thing about Social Security...

The "War on Poverty"...

is just another way to say "people who vote the Democrat ticket." 

Democrats:  The party of deadbeats. 

Federal Workers Scamming Social Security. And this is a surprise, why?

Saw this over at Gateway Pundit:

As They Live off Us, Some Federal Workers Pocket Fraudulent SS Benefits

When I was having my little go-around (for SIX years) with the Social Security Department and U.S. Treasury, I was told by several different Secret Service agents that is was routine for SS employees to cash checks that had been returned because the recipient had died. 



At Adrienne dePitera:

Not All Daylilies are Yellow or Orange
A Very Early Morning Stroll
See What's Going on in the Herb Garden
What I'm Reading

The "Government" is Not Your Friend!

Victor Davis Hanson has a great article covering the many reasons to fear big government. While reading it, I was reminded of an incident in my past.  Many years ago, through no real fault of my own, I got into a scuffle with the Social Security Administration.  Before even talking to them, I hired the best attorney I could find (remember what I just said about talking to anyone without a lawyer.)

The Social Security Administration is under the department of the Treasury, so you get to deal with Secret Service Agents.  My attorney and I met with the Secret Service at their Phoenix, AZ office.  After explaining the circumstances the Secret Service were cool with the whole thing.

Thinking that would be the end of the matter, I was quite surprised when the SSA started making their harassing phone calls. The Secret Service agents were aghast and promised to handle the calls.  Guess what?  SIX years later I was still being harassed and  threatened with Federal prison time by the SSA.   The agents, who by now were personal friends (really!), couldn't stop the harassment and expressed contempt for the whole system.

For six years I was bombarded with calls from semi-literate SSA clerks, and wondered every day if I was going to be hauled off in handcuffs, even though the Secret Service assured me that would never happen.
 My attorney actually felt so bad he returned almost the entire fee I had paid him (when the hell does that ever happen?), but to this day I am phone phobic and almost never answer the phone.

But, guess what?  I won.  I'm sure many others are not so lucky.  My attorney described the whole thing like being caught in a giant meat grinder that was not equipped with an off switch. Remember that old adage, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help?"  Don't ever, ever believe that.  And these are the people that will be handling your health care if Obama gets his way.  Be afraid, be very afraid!

Why Fear Big Government?  
by Victor Davis Hanson

There is no reason to review all the standard reasons why the American people are terrified of an all-powerful federal or state government. The case has been made in thousands of elegant treatises and books, and is best reflected in the Constitution and the written work of the Founding Fathers.
But let me list a few other, less elegantly expressed worries, many anecdotal in nature. read the rest

Are you getting your Lenten reading all lined up?  Only one week until Ash Wednesday.

May I suggest: