TCTI: Too Crazy Too Ignore
 Dave Ross
social-security_treasury_irs_check_economy_980ap.jpg
John Boehner suggests that Dave Ross' mom, and other elderly Americans should simply stop cashing their checks. (AP Photo/File)

Here comes the shockwave

BY Dave Ross  on February 21, 2013 @ 6:00 am (Updated: 6:45 am - 2/21/13 )

A budget meteor - $85 billion in diameter - enters America's atmosphere in a week, and we're getting a sense of what the shockwave would look like.

"Thousands of security screeners would be furloughed. Wait times at the busiest airports could increase by up to an hour," explains a reporter.

The trouble is we've heard all this before, and we're at the part of the fable where the villagers frankly don't care if the wolf eats every last sheep.

"The Navy would shut down four of its nine carrier airways."

We get it - but what can we do about it?

Well, the Speaker of the House John Boehner, wrote a piece in the Wall Street Journal, in which he says, "Washington must get serious about its spending problem. If it can't reform America's safety net and retirement-security programs, they will no longer be there for those who rely on them."

What he's saying is, if the government wasn't on the hook to spend so much on old people and sick people, this could all be averted.

Well then! If we believe the Wall Street Journal - and I have never known it to lie - those of us who are healthy and employed, must politely, but firmly, ask those who are retired and sick to stop cashing at least SOME of their government checks.

Mom - this means you. If you find yourself short, I will write you a check myself - as I'm sure every other working American would do ...

Yikes! - she's calling already. I'll get that later.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (70)


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  • hedujg26 wrote...
    Thats not what it means at all....
    February 21, 2013 6:18 am
    Christ, Ross, you jumped the shark years ago. Use to respect you, and think that you tried, but you are just a fountain of party rhetoric now. Its disappointing.
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  • Raymong wrote...
    What does
    February 21, 2013 9:29 am
    Christ have to do with it? No has listened to what He has to say about ecomomics since,wll never.
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    Sounds like
    February 21, 2013 6:29 am

    The Jackboot republicans want to privatize social security after raiding and looting the fund. They want to privatize the fund and give control of these seniors money to the fund and hedge managers, speculators and banks. The very same people that caused the housing meltdown and our recession and then turned around and asked you to loan them billions to stay afloat and didn't even feel the need to loan you your own money that you lent them,lol.

    Gotta love these politicians, they are really looking out for the best interest of the people that pay there salary.

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  • Sportfisher wrote...
    Sportsguru should change your name
    February 21, 2013 8:51 am
    "The Jackboot republicans want to privatize social security after raiding and looting the fund." Idiot! Lyndon Johnson opened up the trust fund to IOU from Congress and have spent it every since. Who controled Congress from the 1950's to the 1994? Other than two years during Reagan, Democrats owned both houses. Are you on the public dole right now or do you have a "private"pension or 401K ?
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  • awbitf wrote...
    Yes, the Fiscal Cliff that they created
    February 21, 2013 6:45 am
    because they refuse to compromise is drumming up all sorts of threats and bluffs to try to intimidate others into joining them.

    I don't get why these people want to be politicians if they go in with zero expectations of cooperation. Credit to Boehner for trying last time to find common ground before his party smacked him down hard.

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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Social Security as currently configured is not sustainable.
    February 21, 2013 6:48 am
    One solution might be: On retirement day, a worker must identify a *private financial instrument* (such as an annuity, etc)to which the cash held in his Social Security trust (ha,ha,ha; ho,ho,ho; tee hee hee!) would be transferred. The government would guarantee the principle amount of the investment, so it would need to be a fixed income sort of product, not a speculative stock fund. The government's guarantee of the principle would decrease as the principle value of the investment is depleted over time.

    If the government were only committed to pay back that which had been paid in, plus a reasonable rate of imputed interest, things would get better fairly quickly. Social Security recipients routinely draw out much more money than they every put in, even factoring a reasonable interest rate. I'm at an age where most of my peers are now doing calculations to determine "how long would I have to live to get more than my money back if I start taking Social Security this year?"

    Why the heck do we think we're entitled to "more than our money back"?

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  • mnpat wrote...
    Chuck we disagree on many things but I would like to ask since you asked
    February 21, 2013 7:39 am
    ......"more than our money back"?...........so why is it that able bodied liberals believe they are entitled to something more that others free? I really am curious as to the mindset of that belief.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    mnpat....sorry but I can't help you there
    February 21, 2013 7:57 am
    I have no idea why "able bodied liberals" believe they are more entitled than other people. In fact, I don't know for a fact that "able bodied liberals" as a class hold that opinion at all. Next time I'm in conversation with an able bodied liberal, I will ask him or her if that's true.

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  • mnpat wrote...
    Chuck
    February 21, 2013 8:48 am
    Fair enough
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  • Pawnbroker1 wrote...
    Social Security is seen as an annuity.
    February 21, 2013 10:47 am
    If you had bought an annuity, wouldn't you have spent some time calculating whether or not you paid too much for your policy? Lots of people tip over (die) before drawing a dime. Some people win, some people lose. That is the nature of insurance. Keeping score is fun for some. When they calculate the amount they paid in they need to include the amount their employer paid which usually matches the amount they paid. Social Security could be privatized and have everyone buy an annuity. Of course those annuities would have to include costs of a sales force and profits that the current system don't have to include. I like the current system just fine, I do expect the Congress to have the courage to make small adjustments as we move forward. Of course they should have been doing so for years.
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  • WAmovesRight wrote...
    Oh brother...
    February 21, 2013 7:24 am
    ... when are you all going to learn it's not democrats or rebuplicans... it's BOTH parties!

    We will never get anywhere as long as we continue to let them divide us like this.

    The bare bones fact is that banks & wall street did not CAUSE the housing meltdown. We - John Q public - caused it. We caused it by not living within our means when we purchased a house. Since they ALLOWED stated income, millions of people inlfated their incomes, downplayed their debt, and allowed a greedy mortgage broker to talk us into a home we KNEW we could not afford.

    We're the cause - but we're also the solution!

    If we will stand together for once and make our government leaders work together instead of demonizing each other, we can avoid this fiscal cliff.

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  • mnpat wrote...
    This should be no surprise to anyone,
    February 21, 2013 7:33 am
    And it would appear that the author and others want to turn this into a political issue (much more hype and milage that way) when it is much more complicated than that regardless of how many want to point fingers at each other. The budget can never be balanced until our government addresses social security/medicare/medicaid/healthcare/debt reform because they are all unsustainable......it doesn't matter what you do with all the other funds spent and whether you all feel they are good expenditures or bad expenditures. You can believe that if you tax other Americans more this can all be saved, it cannot, you can howl all you want and pretend this will go away, it will not, you can believe in your choice of political rhetoric and it will not change this mess....only when what we refer to as entitlements are discussed and reformed will we ever hope to turn this country around ....or we can all end up like Greece.
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  • maplefish wrote...
    mnpat
    February 21, 2013 6:45 pm
    Touché! All of our so-called leaders have let us down. Unfortunately, the people who keep trying to bring the out if control spending and any ideas or calls or accountability are shouted down as bigots or haters or racists or "jackboots".... The truth is, the Democrats only idea's for solving ANYTHING is to raise taxes. For crying out loud people, look at who you keep electing in this state? Their only agenda is to find new ways to extract as much money from we the people as possible? The Democrats actually believe we don't have a spending problem..? Wake the eF up people!!!
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  • sportsguru wrote...
    WAmovesRight
    February 21, 2013 7:39 am
    Finally, somebody with some real talk. Good for you WAmovesRight. I would like you a little more if you would move a little more to the center, but I digress.
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  • mlettini wrote...
    Retirement
    February 21, 2013 7:26 am
    Since everything else is taxed or tolled - why not tax a retiree for retiring. This would prevent them from retiring and getting the Social Security and Medicare that they have already paid for/earned. Which the Republican'ts would love. This is getting ridiculous - I am retired on a fixed income and depend upon pensions and Social Security to live - I have worked since I was 13 years old and worked for over 40 years after college - worked and paid my way though college - and through hard work gained a responsible Aerospace Executive position. So now the Republican'ts want to take away my very austere living. What street corner do I bring my cardboard sign to and beg for living money? TERRIBLE. What Country shall I move to? I can't help that I have grown old - it happens to everyone.
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  • WashingtonCitizen wrote...
    The raiding and looting of SS......
    February 21, 2013 7:30 am
    How do you think Clinton got those balanced budgets so many on the left brag about? BTW...85 billion is chump change. It is approx 34 days worth of interest on the current 16.5 TRILLION in debt the US is carrying!!!! Notice all of the things Obama is trying to scare everyone with? The things we will miss? Haven't heard him say anything about cutting off welfare to the illegals? We have more than enough money coming in each month to pay the military, cover SS, and cover the interest on the debt. This administration needs to STOP SPENDING!
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  • Mavila wrote...
    Entitlement programs...
    February 21, 2013 7:41 am
    aren't on the table, so Dave Ross is, as usual, full of it. They're talking about discretionary spending.
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  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Pleeez Dave. Just more liberal BS like "it's for the children".
    February 21, 2013 8:00 am
    Don't you libs ever tire of all the lies? We take care of the elder and TRULY sick without question already. The problem is the fraud that occurs. I can point to myriad abuses of welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, Food Stamps so please push your cart of BS somewhere else. It no longer works on the smart and informed; but then your party is supported by just the opposite.
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