Alan Simpson on Bipartisanship, and the Deficit Commission

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My dearest, sweetest Alan:
I was a Simpson also, until I was married. Thank God we're NOT related! The people in my family had a lot more common sense, a sense of patriotism and a love for this country and its people that I doubt you would understand.
Deabeats? Let me ask you this, and I sincerely doubt you know the answer: about Social Security: who has paid into it for as long as it has existed, without any choice as to whether it was deducted from their income or not, and could never "opt out" of paying it in order to create their own savings plans for the future? Anyone who has worked for a living and earned a paycheck. What was supposed to be the outcome of paying this "tax?" That we were supposed to have money at the end of our working careers to fall back on that we had earned all those years. Question #2: Who pays your salary now? You have been paid out of the taxes that our citizens have been paying all these years. We will probably be responsible for your retirement income as well. Excuse me -- who is the deadbeat? You have much more security than we will ever have, thanks to the citizens of this country, and you don't even deserve what you have, because you have not done what you were sent there to do. You watch out only for your own skin, and not for anyone else. So, I guess, based on what I've just said, and many, many people would agree with me, that YOU are the deadbeat! Look to see which side your bread is buttered on, and quit "smearing" everyone who put you there in the first place.
Sincerely, and heart felt, and NOT a relative,
Charlie

Not a fan of NM 6:48PM July 29, 2011

Suggestions for an instant and common sense, 4 step fix for Social Security, not the complicated fixes suggested by the likes of Alan Simpson and Co. But the real problem is they have no common sense !!!
1: Stop the raid on the fund :. All revenues are to be put in a lock-box account to be used only for social Security benefits, not for balancing the budget or other give-away programs..
2: No cap on earnings.. Drop the tax rate to 10%, to be paid on all wages by everyone, not only the low and middle income wage earners as it now is. If the low and middle income wage earners can pay on 100% of their wages, so should the high income wage earners. I'm sure they can afford it !!
3: Cap Benefits: Anyone on retirement earning $100,000.00 per year or more surely doesn't need Social Security. Social security was meant to keep people from living in poverty in their old age not as a supplement to luxurious living.. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Donald Trump etc., surely do not need Social security.. I'm quite sure that they would forgo their benefits for the betterment of the people who really need them !!
4: Last but not least: Start paying back the $3 Trillion + that was taken from the fund to balance past budgets and finance give-away programs. Start calling in the treasury notes that were issued !!
Follow these 4 simple steps and Social Security will become the most solvent and self-sustaining program in the country, like it used to be, without all of the complicated formulas for fixing it that are being bandied about !!
Follow the example of the Wisconsin Governor and make the hard choices.

Len Marchines of PA 2:05PM March 15, 2011

Enjoy the heat!

Gary Rutherford of OK 8:44PM February 16, 2011

And if I may add my comments to those above, with whom I agree wholeheartedly, I would remind Simpson and Bowles that it is just this "greedy generation" that has provided the billions and billions of hard-earned taxpayer dollars that our most corrupt government has given to Wall St monsters, foreign governments and bankers. It is you bastards that have allowed a non-existent border with Mexico to fill our country with drugs and the scum of the Earth people to the South that now bilk billions of dollars from the US taxpayer in "government services" that we pay for. You f**king dirtbag, how dare you chastise us! The guillotine would be too good for all of you, including Congress, lobbyists and the current administration set on destroying this once magnificent country we decent Americans inherited.

Ed of VA 4:29PM December 21, 2010

Hey Al simpson,
50 years in government and still a moron. Seniors are not the problem. Old time idiot politicians like you who have their wrinkled brains shoved up their ass to where they like the view are the problem. Cut spending stupid. Cut government programs that penalize the producers and reward the moochers. Go away. You are useless and your ideas are the same old pile of elitist crap. You want me to give more? F..k you. The federal goverment needs to to buy a dog and name it clue so at least they might have one. Your 50 years of spending got us here. Reduce taxes, reduce regulations, eliminate the department of education and other agencies who have no purpose other than to waste oxygen. For you to even consider working for the current "socialist in charge" is a reflection of your membership in the " I am so much smarter than the great unwashed." Join a local tea party and try to remember what it is like to have to work for a living and have the feds steal your money to pay for an out of control government.

Steve of GA 8:25PM November 27, 2010

How about the Bowles-Simpson setup a nation wide poll able to have every citizen participate (using social security number) and see what the consensus of nationwide opinion is. Setup all of the options on the table and allow each voter to "spend" 100 points on what opitions they most support. See what the consensus opinion is and collaborate on the final solutions from there as a starting point. This method is used in consulting all the time, when there are varying opinions and no initial consensus.

John of 8:00PM November 15, 2010

Mr. Simpson - Your "Commission" suggestions are a joke, right? Americans are just being punked, right? Any minute, you guys will run out from your hiding place, laughing and patting us all on the back in the spirit of a handily carried out " boy, did we get you good" stunt. You, the naive American public, thought we were really going to screw the little guy again? cut Social Security? cut Medicare? Give more money to the rich? Let the criminal corporations just keep on keepin' on? Ha. Ha. No? Your suggestions are REAL? Ain't no joke, suckers! Mr. Simpson, your suggestions, that is yours and Mr. Erskine's, are pathetic in that they reveal nothing more than your complete misunderstanding of what's going on out here, OUT HERE where average Americans are DESPERATE to hold on; DESPERATE to find jobs; DESPERATE to figure how to pay for ANY medical services. We deserve better than the destructive suggestions you have thrown out there to help our economy and lower the deficit. I am so ashamed of both of you, and ashamed that President Obama can't come up with anything better than your ridiculous "Commission". Why did you waste taxpayers money for the time it took for you to come up with your blatant plan to once again ream the middle class and the poor, while handing out even more money to the criminal corporations, the banks, the so, so, rich, who, as everone knows are not investing in anything that will help anyone but themselves. There is no trickle down, never has been, never will be. You take dictation very well.

Robin Kirk of TX 7:09PM November 15, 2010

Alan Simpson and the rest of monied idiots in DC don't have a clue in hell what it is like to try and make it today. My friends neighbor was told by her lawyer that everything was going fine on her foreclosure settling. Then they threw her out on the lawn.
Simpson like a lot of the other morons in DC don't know or care what it is like to try and make a living today.
I'm lucky. I spent 21 years in the Corps, am still working and collecting my SS before the banksters try to steal this trillion dollar pot of money to invest and make their billions on.
It isn't going broke. If you raise the upper limit that are taxed for SS to above 100k, it is solvent indefinately.
Also, when the baby boomers have gone through, there will be more money there. It's all a crock by the right to steal one more thing from the middle class.
Since the advent of Reaganomics, the rich have gotten richer and the middle class has got the shaft. Trickle down hasn't worked in 30 years and some people are still stupid enough to believe the current Gang of Plunderers (GOP) and believe it's the right thing.
When will Alan and the rest of the privileged take away some of their perks so save money - hahahahahahahahahaaha

Ray Boy of FL 9:43AM November 12, 2010

Eachof our major political parties has had majorities over the last 30 years and has taken turns "staying watch" over our fiscal decline. As the years go by,and our federal and state legislatures fail to cut spending and raise taxes (both measures are needed), future generations can be guaranteed a lower standard of living.
Thomas Jefferson stated, "It is incumbent on every generation to pay it's own debt."
Does either party have the resolve to halt the impending fiscal train wreck?
For the sake of the nation,all the best to you and Mr. Bowles.

Leonard Mondi of IL 5:37PM November 11, 2010

How can I contact Alan Simpson to offer suggestions for tackling the deficit?
I have a serious suggestion that should appeal to all parties
Don Hutchinson

Don Hutchinson of MA 9:01PM September 03, 2010