Oxymorons and Hypocricy

"Congressional Ethics Committee"....Talk about an oxymoron.  I was thinking this while reading an article concerning the House investigation of Rep. Charles Rangel's tax shenanigans, who hypocritically is the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which writes our TAX legislation.  Do as I say, not as I do, right?  Among other things, he is accused of not paying taxes on $75K in rental income on his home in the Dominican Republic. 

Bottom line with Rangel's issues and all the bailout mess is that our lawmakers are no longer accountable to the people they represent.  They do not care about public service...most only care about enriching themselves.  They already "have theirs" so who cares about everybody else and how these decisions will affect us in the long term?  

We have gotten so far away from what our founding fathers originally intended.  They did not intend for us to have select career politicians making rules for decades.  Most people I talk to feel that we need to start over with a whole new Congress.  Maybe term limits on congressmen wouldn't be a bad idea?  Maybe I am naive, but all I know is that the system as it stands is NOT WORKING! 

Putting the Bailouts into Perspective...The American Taxpayer is an ATM Machine

I previously blogged here about the burden that massive government programs will leave to future generations.   Here is an article that puts the recent bailouts into perspective by comparing them to the costs of past programs.  Depressing!

Bailouts Cost More Than All U.S. Wars and Many Big Programs Combined

Medicare Bailout

Could Medicare be the next big bailout looming on the horizon in the next decade or so?  I am reading an article in the latest Today's CPA which is the monthly publication of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants.  This article proposes that definite possibility.  Medicare and Medicaid comprised only 1% of government spending in 1966.  Today these two programs are 20% of all government spending!  What makes this increase most alarming is the fact that more and more baby boomers are adding to the ranks of Medicare - potentially 10K of them everyday for the upcoming 2o years.  Right now, there are 4 workers to every beneficiary.  In 20 years there will be 2.3 workers to each Medicare beneficiary.  Lawmakers need to address this soon, obviously, but it is one of those things that none of them want to touch with a 10 foot pole because of the risk of losing votes....especially baby boomer votes because of the tough decisions that need to be made.  I just think about all my young millennial friends and family who are entering the workforce or will be soon and are going to have to pay for all this.  The burdens that we are putting on future generations...