It's Deja Vu ... All Over Again

Harper is in full retreat on his promise to raise the age for Old Age Security from 65 to 67.

In that respect, it reminds one of Mulroney's retreat on attempting to de-index this self same pension in 1985.

Another example of government not being run like a business.

A Radio Commentator said today that the real issue here was not the saving of money, but rather, it was all about when should we retire. Not surprisingly, given that the radio host was well into his 70s, he believed people should work as long as possible and most certainly should not be retiring in their 50s or early to mid 60s.

I do not agree. Rather I think retirement is a personal decision and if you like what you do, and are able to do what you do, then work to 100 if you want. But for the vast majority of us, having worked 35+ years, I believe we have fully earned retirement. Life is too short to continue work, just for the sake of working and for continuing to pay into the government coffers.

I also disagree with him stating that the real issue here revolves around when to retire. It is part of the issue facing western societies - but only part.

Many of you will no doubt have heard the python and the pig analogy whereby the python is Sate Spending and the pig is the mass of us Boomers heading down to our eventual demise.

We all have seen the stats - Boomers will triple the ranks of Seniors, before the end of their time, while less and less workers will be out there working to provide for them.

Even while we worked in great numbers and paid high taxes, ui, cpp etc., States still managed to rack up astounding debt and deficits. These liabilities are so high that our children and grandchildren will be left after we're dead, paying our bills.

The overriding issue then is Government Expenditure - it cannot be sustained at current levels. But more to the point, it cannot rise in unison with the spectacular rise in the number of 65+ Boomers. Health care currently represents nearly half of government expenditure and is increasing at the rate of 6% a year. And don't forget a significant portion of that 50% is borrowed. And just think how much of an increase will be needed by the aging boomers as their health deteriorates over time. If left unchecked, governments will be paying everything and more they can get their hands on, just to pay for our health care.

And then you have the pensions - cpp, oas, gains, disability etc - they too will skyrocket.

Now back to Harper's backtrack.

So if 67 is too high - what is the correct number; 65, 63, 59?

Again I believe if a person has worked 35+ years, he or she has done their bit and are entitled to retirement. If they can afford to retire younger or if they wish to work well beyond that timeframe - more power to them.

I have been retired now for several years after having worked over 35 years and I tell people that retirement is the best job I ever had.

So if we are to preserve a well earned retirement, we'll have to consider all government expenditure, as a whole, and determine what we can live without. This, in the end, will result in severe and deep cuts. But without them, the roof will indeed fall in on all our respective heads. One need look no further than what is currently happening in Europe and bear in mind that their Boomers are the same age as ours so things will likely only get worse for them too. Do we have the stomach to do what is needed? Not likely.

And in this respect, the antics of the NDP and Liberals this week are simply deplorable. I am not surprised by the NDP stance since their thinking is so far out and off putting, but I had hoped better for the Liberals. This Party is claiming renewal - they will do things differently - they will be responsible and so on - but in the end, it is the same old thing. Rae and Co. know full well that the status quo in government spending is not sustainable - so what do they do - they scare the hell out of our seniors the first time the Government attempts to start to get our finances in order. (i.e. Harper made it quite clear that current Seniors and near Seniors would not be affected by the age amendment).

This was totally irresponsible and does not bode well for future attempts by any Government to do what needs to be done.

As I see it...

'K.D. Bell" p.s. that's it for a while, I am working on a book about investing - well sort of a book on investing, and that among many other things is taking up much of my time of late. KDB

I Have Been Wrong Before...

And Will No Doubt Be Wrong Again.

And speaking of being wrong, I think I may have blown it in an earlier Blog when I dissed the Wall Street Sit-ins.

I labelled them ne'er do wells who would have no effect on the American psyche.

I still think of them as ne'er do wells, but I must admit, they have had an affect on average American thinking. Possibly an affect even greater than that of the Tea Partyers.

For me, this is a major admission.

But dear reader, as many of you can guess, I do not view their supposed "affect" to be a good thing - quite the opposite.

It all starts with Obama and ends with Romney. Obama came into the Presidential Race of 2008 promising to do politics differently; he was going to seek out consensus - work with all americans and consider the views of Democrats and Republicans alike. His new way of doing politics lasted right up until inauguration day in January of 2009.

From then on - he was always right and anyone who dared oppose him, wrong. It was always someone else's fault - George W. Bush, (or anyone having a kind word for Geo. W.), the Bankers, the Car Manufacturers, Big Business generally, the Republicans, the Tea Partyers etc., all became targets of his pettiness and mean-spiritedness. So much for politics anew.

By the time of the 2010 Congressional Elections - Obama's blame the other guy approach was wearing thin and the Republicans advanced mightily.

But then came the Wall Street Occupiers and their dumb campaign to blame the richest 1% for all that ails America.

You know their line - this 1% admittedly controls lots of America's riches but they fail to point out that the 1% also pays the lion's share of the nation's taxes. But the Wall Street Occupiers are never ones to let a fact like that get in their way.

And they will not be happy until everyone is the same boat economically. This, despite the fact that Marx and Engels, tried to do that on a large scale and failed miserably. Plus even under communism - there were the haves and have nots - the Communist Elite fitting nicely into the first grouping.

And don't forget the Iron Lady's warning that Socialism is a great system until the folks run out of other people's money to spend.

Simply stated, the problem with the Occupiers' theory comes down to a number and that number is their own - 1%. There just are not enough rich to satisfy the remainder.

But boy, did this way of thinking come just at the right time for dear old Obama. His 'blame the other guy' having apparently lived out its usefulness, was granted new life; he now had an even better target - the rich one per centers. And he has been using it most effectively as his rise in the polls can attest. Props, like Warren Buffet and his Secretary are frequently paraded out to bring home the message that the rich are not paying their fair share and the remaining 99% are suffering miserably for it. And maybe the 1% is not paying its full share in taxes but presumably those in the 70/80/90 per centiles are not paying their fair share either.

What is known of course, is that nearly 50 % of Americans pay no tax at all and most of that number are in receipt of government payments of one type or another.

What also is known, is that the American debt stands at over $15 Trillion Dollars - a sum too large even to imagine.

And a sum so large that taking even all of their income will do little to reduce that Debt.

What is needed, is a combination of income tax increases along with significant reductions in government spending. Obama has no appetite for the latter and thus focuses exclusively on increasing the taxation on the richest of the rich, a slight of hand trick that could get him back in the White House for a second term. And he has the Wall Street Occupiers to thank for this.

And then there is Romney. In recent debates he is being castigated for being a 1 %er, a money grubbing capitalist. Imagine? These criticisms are coming from his fellow Republicans who up until the Wall Street Occupiers prided themselves in being supporters of a Free Market Economy.

There was a time not long ago when even the poor supported capitalism since they viewed themselves as potential recipients of its bounty. All they had to do was to work hard and they too would be enriched. But sadly, this has changed with the USA having joined the ranks of the Western Society Welfare State.

Capitalism made the USA great. It is why so many of the world's people dream of migrating there. But when you have the leading candidate for the Republican Presidential Nomination being pilloried for being a 1%, you know things are changing dramatically.

That the Republicans will come to their senses, I have no doubt and that Mitt Romney will in the end prevail I have faith in that too. But the mere fact that the masses can be so readily manipulated by such a few rag tagged anarchists is simply unbelievably scary.

As I see it.....

'K.D. Bell'

Ottawa Police Chiel Vern White...

Has Gone To Heaven .... as in Canadian Senate Heaven.

But first, a few did encourage me to keep writing my Blogs and ever since my hiatus, have asked me to reconsider.

So, in honour of them, I will bang out a few this week starting with Chief White.

Chief White came to Ottawa relatively recently and was viewed by most as an exceptional Police Chief despite his inability to speak French. I though lost much respect for the guy when several of his officers arrested a young lady for merely asking them why they stopped her and asked her her name. She was taken to the City cells where she was subdued and strip of her clothing by a male cop. Bear in mind the jail film shows that she was not resisting arrest. So what gives?

White came out initially saying that such action on the part of his force "would not be tolerated". A day or two later after the Cop Union got to him, White back tracked like a scared politician and began to give weak knee reasons for the assault upon this young woman. White had lost me as a fan.

In the recent Senate Appointments, gold olde Vern White was among their number. You know my view of the Canadian Senate - it is an anachronism, it is undemocratic and a monumental waste of Canadian Tax Dollars. If offered such a position myself I would tell the dear Prime Minister in as gentle of language possible to shove it.

Thankfully, most Senatorial Appointments are from the ranks of political hacks, flacks and ne'er-do-wells. And this strangely is a good thing since there is no point appointing good productive people to such a worthless institution.

Some uninformed people say that Senators do good work - and I will concede that a few - very few, do. But put yourself in the position of an MP who has to go to the people for his authority. Do you think that that MP has much use for a non-elected Senate appointee. You guessed it, in the majority of cases they hold the Senate / Senators in contempt.

So how does Chief White fare in all of this. If, as many of his fans proclaim the guy is a good top cop, appointing him to the Senate only compounds the damage done to Canadian Society. Ne er-do-wells are not missed - good cops are. Another sterling example of this is the Senate appointment of Dr. Wilbur Keon. The good this guy has done in the field of heart surgery and research is immeasurable. To have a chap like him languish in an unelected Senate is simply unconscionable.

Or maybe, given White's apparent ability to so readily jettison his principles he is just the kind of guy the Senate is looking for.

Either way, we need to get rid of the Senate as soon as possible and in the meantime continue to fill it with dead-wood to ameliorate the damage to Society.

As I see it...

"K. D. Bell"