I will predict the next American civil war.

[Primemuscle]

dude, you can get on disability if you have "depression" or bipolar. Or if you hurt your back 5 yrs ago. Nevermind that you can drink like a fish, and then go get into a fight at the local bar.
It's easier for the government and rich folks to give a check for say 700 dollars, so that they don't have to deal with these people, and so that said people will spend it on booze, drugs, TVs, video games, cable, DVDs...
These people are essentially being enabled to be addicts of their own ineptness. These same people will only vote for those who will keep these "benefits" (the powers that be will tout ads showing the real people who need the benefits, and not the majority who don't).

Take away the teat of the government, and the baby will cry. It started out with good intentions. But the baby boomer fostered attitude of "me" only and "seeing how much you can get over on somebody" has created a mass of spoiled, enabled people. Who see no reason to get off the government's tit.

Have you ever been or personally known someone who is disabled? How did their application for SSDI work out? SSDI denies virtually all applicants on the first go around. Most applicants end up having to hire a lawyer to represent them in court proceedings where their application is either approved or not.

Without going into all the details of my wife's poor health which prompted her to retire at 60 years of age instead of 62 and subsequently apply for SSDI because she was essentially physically unable to work, I can assure you the road to SSD benefits is not an easy one. Two years after applying and being initially denied, she and her attorney ended up in court where the judge ruled that she was indeed 100% disabled. It probably helped her case that she had to be wheeled into the courtroom in her wheelchair and that she was and continues to be on oxygen therapy because she suffers congestive heart failure among other issues.

It is interesting how people like to example those few who manage to successfully scam the system and make it seem as if these folks are in the majority of SSDI recipients, which is pretty far from accurate. Some folks maintain that SSDI is broken. Once one had to be in dire health and over the age of 50 to qualify for SSDI. These days people who are disabled regardless of age are eligible for benefits if they can win them based on their disability. The actual number of people scamming the system is believed to be very small.

In previous generations, disabled children were most often supported by their parents well into middle age. Older folks who were disabled moved in with their kids who took care of them until they died. Families took care of their own. With the advent of partners working to "make ends meet" there is no one at home to care for those children or the seniors who become disabled. Ideally, families would take care of their own. I doubt we could legislate such a program today though.

Of course when someone becomes disabled we could always take them out in the woods and shoot them with our semi-automatic weapon....problem solved.

[Primemuscle]

brutal sweeping generalisation.

i personaly hate everyone equally

i dont wish a civil war on the american ppl, theyre good ppl.its just their govt thats out of control and sucks.

Perhaps you are unaware that in the U.S., the people are the government. We elect our Legislators and Presidents, etc. Our legislators are supposed to represent the people. When they don't, they often don't get reelected. If the U.S. government is broken, it is mostly the fault of the people. In 2012 only 57% of eligible voters in the U.S. actually voted. This means that almost half of the eligible voters couldn't be bothered. They get what they deserve and they have not right to complain about it. Unfortunately, non-voters comprise a large number of complainers in the U.S.

[Primemuscle]

I could see Texas separating. They honestly have no need for America. If you ever look at the top 25 best performing cities in America, Texas has nine in the list. Hell, I am sure they have enough people with weapons that could build a militia, rivaling most smaller shitty european countries' armies. Not that I am hoping for a civil war, but I would love to see something major happen to change the direction of America. It is quickly following socialistic principles which has time and time failed countries. Just look at the EU, what a disaster that is.

When you say best preforming, I suspect you are speaking in terms of recovery from the recent recession. The Milken Institute's Best-Performing Cities index measures U.S. metropolitan areas based on growth in jobs, wages and salaries, and technology output. For one thing, many Texas metro areas are benefiting from the military’s Base Realignment and Consolidation (BRAC) process, which has brought more families near the state’s armed forces facilities, from San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base to Killeen’s Fort Hood. Those families need housing, health care and other services, DeVol points out. Texas, which has no state income tax, is very understanding of “the need for companies to be competitive,” he adds, citing streamlined processes that allow employers to get new facilities up and running faster and aggressive recruiting of out-of-state businesses to cities where they can hire qualified workers for less than in New York, California, Massachusetts or many other states.

The single biggest beneficiary of the BRAC process also benefits from U.S.-Mexico trade. Many workers who make their living in Juarez, Mexico spend their paychecks in El Paso. My daughter, son-in-law and their son live in El Paso, TX. They say it is a hell hole. Juarez which borders El Paso is the murder capital of the world. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX plummeted from fourth-place in 2010, but drug violence in Mexico continues to send middle- and upper-class Mexicans to McAllen, boosting the need for health care and other service industries.

For a broader look at good places to live, check out America's most livable cities, http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/cities-livable-pittsburgh-lifestyle-real-estate-top-ten-jobs-crime-income_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000

[Onetimehard]

It will be sometime in the future, when the government goes public about how it will be ending social security.  The masses of Americans (many who have already begun to stockpile weapons) won't stand for it. It will be the future's Boston Tea Party. How will the government explain how they took money from Americans (in good faith) for decades? It will become the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time.

Bro civil war is on par with public hangings and conquest to predict a civil war is like predicting that the US will bring back public execution or like predicting China will invade India for it's territory. If you know anything about history a reformed world is not capable of civil war. The days of civil war are in the pre-revolutionary World where governments are not fully established and laws are still being created.

This is not the third world and it is not the days of conquest, this is now a civilized world where Politics run the show not putting bullets in peoples head especially a divided army. What you are suggesting is so outrageous and the chances of it happening is 1 in a trillion. Just imagine a divided US armies, not a million years.

[Chiro Flex]

Social Security should have never been accepted.  I'll save my own money thank you very much.  I'll donate to charity because I want to do good for my fellow man, not because my government is forcing me to.

Amen.

[Mr Nobody]

When you say best preforming, I suspect you are speaking in terms of recovery from the recent recession. The Milken Institute's Best-Performing Cities index measures U.S. metropolitan areas based on growth in jobs, wages and salaries, and technology output. For one thing, many Texas metro areas are benefiting from the military’s Base Realignment and Consolidation (BRAC) process, which has brought more families near the state’s armed forces facilities, from San Antonio’s Lackland Air Force Base to Killeen’s Fort Hood. Those families need housing, health care and other services, DeVol points out. Texas, which has no state income tax, is very understanding of “the need for companies to be competitive,” he adds, citing streamlined processes that allow employers to get new facilities up and running faster and aggressive recruiting of out-of-state businesses to cities where they can hire qualified workers for less than in New York, California, Massachusetts or many other states.

The single biggest beneficiary of the BRAC process also benefits from U.S.-Mexico trade. Many workers who make their living in Juarez, Mexico spend their paychecks in El Paso. My daughter, son-in-law and their son live in El Paso, TX. They say it is a hell hole. Juarez which borders El Paso is the murder capital of the world. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX plummeted from fourth-place in 2010, but drug violence in Mexico continues to send middle- and upper-class Mexicans to McAllen, boosting the need for health care and other service industries.

For a broader look at good places to live, check out America's most livable cities, http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/29/cities-livable-pittsburgh-lifestyle-real-estate-top-ten-jobs-crime-income_slide_2.html?thisspeed=25000

I have been to El Paso many times and seen the smoke from factories over in Juarez, some damn fine girls there a mix of American and Mexican. I got a friend from McAllen TX a former co-worker he moved to CA because of the Mexicans crossing over but rents his former house it's been broken into several times. A nightmare down there it seems.

[freespirit]

.

[kawaks]

It will be sometime in the future, when the government goes public about how it will be ending social security.  The masses of Americans (many who have already begun to stockpile weapons) won't stand for it. It will be the future's Boston Tea Party. How will the government explain how they took money from Americans (in good faith) for decades? It will become the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time.

Nonesense! The markets are going from strength to strength since August 2012, and the Dow will smash through 14,000 this week!

Long, long, long!

[_bruce_]

Nonesense! The markets are going from strength to strength since August 2012, and the Dow will smash through 14,000 this week!

Long, long, long!

So what?
The DOW will probably even rise to 16-18000 and then the fun begins.
Dollar or toilet paper... pick your poison.

[E-Kul]

After reading some of the posts on this thread, I am convinced the average American is a Nazi at heart, and would prefer to build gas chambers to kill the elderly and the disabled and just pray to God they become neither.

[shizzo81]

Shizzotron what are your thoughts + insights on upright rows with BB vs. DBs ?

While both work, I would prefer the DB's for the increased ROM.

[shizzo81]

Bro civil war is on par with public hangings and conquest to predict a civil war is like predicting that the US will bring back public execution or like predicting China will invade India for it's territory. If you know anything about history a reformed world is not capable of civil war. The days of civil war are in the pre-revolutionary World where governments are not fully established and laws are still being created.

This is not the third world and it is not the days of conquest, this is now a civilized world where Politics run the show not putting bullets in peoples head especially a divided army. What you are suggesting is so outrageous and the chances of it happening is 1 in a trillion. Just imagine a divided US armies, not a million years.

Ummm? Not sure I get that. The Civil War came after the Revolution.

[muscularny]

So what?
The DOW will probably even rise to 16-18000 and then the fun begins.
Dollar or toilet paper... pick your poison.

umm we heard this when dow was 9000, wait till its 12000 then wait till 13.5 then wait till s&p 1400 then 1450 etc etc

stop this BS already

[littledumbells]

haha!! YES

The old people I know are well off, and get social security that I'm paying for.  I didn't do a fucking thing wrong, and I have to give up my income to go into their savings accounts. 

  They also gave up income that went into the same pool. Why shouldn't they draw from the pool too?

[Irongrip400]

Ummm? Not sure I get that. The Civil War came after the Revolution.

We were a developing nation then. We didn't become a decent power until Panama Canal and World War One.

[Tapeworm]

umm we heard this when dow was 9000, wait till its 12000 then wait till 13.5 then wait till s&p 1400 then 1450 etc etc

stop this BS already

Pfff.  The whole thing is a pump & dump.  "Investing."  A hundred ways to part working fools with their money.

[_bruce_]

umm we heard this when dow was 9000, wait till its 12000 then wait till 13.5 then wait till s&p 1400 then 1450 etc etc

stop this BS already

I sincerely hope you're right but I highly doubt it.
You can't play this hot air game forever... America and Co. has become a joke.

[Wiggs]

I have grown to really like you Brother Wiggs.   

And I you Brother 3.

[Straw Man]

It will be sometime in the future, when the government goes public about how it will be ending social security.  The masses of Americans (many who have already begun to stockpile weapons) won't stand for it. It will be the future's Boston Tea Party. How will the government explain how they took money from Americans (in good faith) for decades? It will become the greatest Ponzi scheme of all time.

So you think that right wingers and tea baggers who HATE the government and hate all government programs will start a civil war in your  imagined future when the Federal Govt announces they are ending social security.   

How old will these civil warriors be when they start this war.  Do you imagine 15 - 25 year olds going to war (with who again) because of social security.    What will be their objective.  To take over the federal government and then start handing out social security checks?

[RAtard]

Have you ever been or personally known someone who is disabled? How did their application for SSDI work out? SSDI denies virtually all applicants on the first go around. Most applicants end up having to hire a lawyer to represent them in court proceedings where their application is either approved or not.

Without going into all the details of my wife's poor health which prompted her to retire at 60 years of age instead of 62 and subsequently apply for SSDI because she was essentially physically unable to work, I can assure you the road to SSD benefits is not an easy one. Two years after applying and being initially denied, she and her attorney ended up in court where the judge ruled that she was indeed 100% disabled. It probably helped her case that she had to be wheeled into the courtroom in her wheelchair and that she was and continues to be on oxygen therapy because she suffers congestive heart failure among other issues.

It is interesting how people like to example those few who manage to successfully scam the system and make it seem as if these folks are in the majority of SSDI recipients, which is pretty far from accurate. Some folks maintain that SSDI is broken. Once one had to be in dire health and over the age of 50 to qualify for SSDI. These days people who are disabled regardless of age are eligible for benefits if they can win them based on their disability. The actual number of people scamming the system is believed to be very small.

In previous generations, disabled children were most often supported by their parents well into middle age. Older folks who were disabled moved in with their kids who took care of them until they died. Families took care of their own. With the advent of partners working to "make ends meet" there is no one at home to care for those children or the seniors who become disabled. Ideally, families would take care of their own. I doubt we could legislate such a program today though.

Of course when someone becomes disabled we could always take them out in the woods and shoot them with our semi-automatic weapon....problem solved.

And the only one saying anything worth while is completely glossed over.

[jodsy]

No it won't. There will be no race war. That would have happened long ago.
There will be another revolution or civil war no doubt. And it will be in our life time.

It will be fought over freedom from government, once again.

thats just one black mans opinion.

[P.I.P]

 They also gave up income that went into the same pool. Why shouldn't they draw from the pool too?

My grgrandparents only got 1/100000 of the money they contributed,  my parents won't get half of what they put in, and I won't get anything at all and i've been giving them money since I was 14.

[JBGRAY]

Social Security is an ENTITLEMENT.

Medicare/Medicaid are ENTITLEMENTS.

Welfare/Section 8/Food Stamps are ENTITLEMENTS.

What SS/Medicare/Medicaid are paying out are far outstripping what people are putting in.  The total amount that people put in over the course of their working lives will never match the amount that they use when they become older or become disabled.

The US cannot much longer afford these entitlements and payouts in addition to maintaining a "world police" via the Defense budget.  Simply increasing taxes on the rich will not close any budgetary gaps. 

Over half the population are being subsidized on some government payout.  Americans believe that somehow, whether it be through God or government, that they have rights to something that they did not fully pay into.

[uberman]

I'm poor and hate poor people.

it s the first step before becoming rich.

[333386]

Once the monetary system implodes and the welfare and ebt cards stop working its gonna go hot.