Do ANY politicians genuinely care about your average joe/jane?

[gladhands]

Originally Posted by zortation

I love how you select the entitlements. You want single payer for some people but you want to get rid of health insurance for others.

He/She also expects 17/18 year olds to figure out to pay for college.

[TheDusty]

Originally Posted by Debnor

I know that when electing politicians people try to elect those that genuinely care about the welfare of your average joe/jane, but honestly, do you think any of them do? Considering none of them have to deal with the same issues that the common person deals with?

Unlike the vast majority, politicians never have to worry about putting food on the table, they never have to worry about having a roof over their head, they never have to worry about any medical costs no matter what health issues they have, they never have to worry about the education any of their kids have, they never have to worry about...pretty much anything and everything your average joe/jane has to worry about.

How can we honestly expect any politicians to honestly work for our best interests when none have to deal with the same issues or deal with the same concerns?

I wouldn't say none of them do. Plenty I'm sure do, even the ones who often act as if they don't.

There's a problem right now and it's money. Let's not dance around that fact. And it's not just "corporations" and the 1%. It's unions. It's political parties. It's non-profits. It's volunteer organizations. Hell, it's probably student clubs at some universities. It's a lot of different things, but the most important are the ones who have the money, which is why corporations get the most flak, but political parties and realistically unions deserve some flak too; parties in particular.

Let's say you have a Democratic politician, who's got the support of some worker's union in his district. The people there really love him, even the Republicans. They might prefer a Republicans but this guy listens to them too, and that's good enough for most of them. Re-election times comes along, and the DNC wants their presidential candidate, who for the sake of this scenario is the incumbent, to get a win, which requires some big legislation. That legislation however effects this guys district and could cause unemployment, so his constituents express their disagreement to him and he intends to vote no. So the DNC says they won't fund his reelection campaign. Now what does he do?

Big money interest have an enormous amount of leverage. It results in our representatives often serving something outside our state or district in addition (or not, as the case can be) to their constituents. It has corrupted our system.

[NCN]

Originally Posted by zortation

I love how you select the entitlements. You want single payer for some people but you want to get rid of health insurance for others.

Here is an answer for your post from a person on Facebook to a politician who called our generation greedy because we want what we are entitled to get because we have more than paid for it.

"I DON'T THINK PISSED REALLY COVERS IT ! ! !
Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared "Social Security " to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. Here's a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana ... I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!
"Hey Alan, let's get a few things straight!!!
1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole (tit) for FIFTY YEARS.
2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and "your ilk" pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age, 67. NOW, you and your "shill commission" are proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.
5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now "you morons" propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because "you idiots" mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal our money from Medicare to pay the bills.
6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you "incompetent bxxxxds" spent our money so profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.
To add insult to injury, you label us "greedy" for calling "bxxxxxxt" to your incompetence.
Well, Captain Bxxxxxxit, I have a few questions for YOU:
1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?
2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?
3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?
4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?
It is you, Captain Bxxxxxxt, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the "greedy" ones. It is you and your fellow nutcase thieves who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers.
And for what? Votes and your job and retirement security at our expense, you lunk-headed, leech.
That's right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it.

And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bxxxxx.

P.S. And stop calling Social Security benefits "entitlements". WHAT AN INSULT!!!!
I have been paying in to the SS system for 45 years “It's my money”-give it back to me the way the system was designed and stop patting yourself on the back like you are being generous by doling out these monthly checks .
EVERYONE!! If you agree with what a Montana citizen, Patty Myers, says, please PASS IT ON!!!!"

Not only did we pay into SS and Medicare but our employer paid an equal amount too. Most of the people these politicians bought votes for with OUR money have never paid a dime in taxes or anything else. Some of them are not even American citizens. These leeches cost our government more than 13 billion dollars a year. They are parasites and vote for Democrats because Democrats give them our hard earned money so they will vote for them. Then their great leader Hillary Clinton has the nerve to call us deplorable. What our government is doing to the hard working taxpayer is deplorable. We the People are honorable. We are also fed up with the cheats.

[NCN]

Originally Posted by ottomobeale

Put all of what you have put into both accounts into an excel spreadsheet. (yes both employee and employer portion) Pick your choice of return of 30 year bond or SP&500. Take out what the checks are. See how fast you get to 0.

No I am NOT saying get rid of SS and Medicare. I am pointing out that it is not really "Paid for" IIRC Social security median is 1/2 paid and Medicare is 1/3 paid and MUCH less if you use the rate for a 64 year old for private health insurance.



IIRC the US now rates in the 20s for opportunity with many Euro semi-socialist countries ranking higher.

You are wrong. We should have more than we need in the reserves. That is why the politicians thought they could rob us and nothing would come of it. But we started living longer. Our generation has paid for our parents who had not paid in enough by the time they got SS. We have paid for house loans for those people who do not have the business sense to get a fixed rate loan. We lived in smaller houses and bought our own groceries. We have paid for the education of those student loans the Obama Administration lost. We have paid off war debts and on and on and on. Now that we are retiring some of you want to pull the rug out from under us because you have elected people that have made such a mess of our country. Our children and grandchildren are really the losers in this because somewhere along the way the "do-nothings" and their political hacks who help them have figured out how to vote themselves and illegals food stamps, house allowances, medical care, college loans, etc. We are the responsible generation and our children are too. It is the politically correct crowd that has ruined our country.

[boneyard1962]

In a word. No
They care about the power, the money they stand to make through deals and selling influence. They care more about their party than the needs of their constituents. The evidence is the performance of the 2 major parties over the last 24 years.

[Valhallian]

While both parties cater to corporate interests to a degree, it's much worse with one of the political parties.

In general, Democrats care more about actual people than Republicans. I think it's clear at this point.

[lizardspock]

Originally Posted by NCN

Every once in a while we have to bring in someone with financial knowledge to clean up the mess the politicians made.

You mean like fixing an economy that was shedding 750,000 jobs per month in the final quarter of 2008 and getting unemployment from 10% back to 4.7% in less than 8 years?

[zortation]

Originally Posted by Debnor

How can we honestly expect any politicians to honestly work for our best interests when none have to deal with the same issues or deal with the same concerns?

Vote.

[mtl1]

Originally Posted by Valhallian

While both parties cater to corporate interests to a degree, it's much worse with one of the political parties.

In general, Democrats care more about actual people than Republicans. I think it's clear at this point.

It's clear the Democrats don't care about people either. Some people value free speech, gun rights, freedom of association, conserving their culture etc and democrats don't care about that.

Also anyone that supports mass immigration and outsourcing as most democrats do, doesn't care about the average American.

[Loveshiscountry]

Originally Posted by lizardspock

You mean like fixing an economy that was shedding 750,000 jobs per month in the final quarter of 2008 and getting unemployment from 10% back to 4.7% in less than 8 years?

Until welfare gets down to 2006 levels we haven't fixed much. 26 million on food stamps then vs 41.5 million now

btw in the early 1920s UE went from slightly higher levels to slightly lower levels than the ones you quoted and it took only 2 years. But yea 8 is good.