BloggeRhythms

Today’s items bring back memories of Ronald Reagan’s Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981, when he said, "In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."

 

Those words have significant importance because, although in Reagan’s time government was truly inept, the current administration has taken it to a whole new level of incapability.

 

A FoxNews.com article from the Associated Press, reports that, “Social Security overpaid nearly half the people receiving disability benefits over the past decade, according to a government watchdog, raising questions about the management of the cash-strapped program.

 

“In all, Social Security overpaid beneficiaries by nearly $17 billion, according to a 10-year study by the agency's inspector general.

 

“Many payments went to people who earned too much money to qualify for benefits, or to those no longer disabled. Payments also went to people who had died or were in prison.

 

While “Social Security was able to recoup about $8.1 billion,” it often took years to get the money back, the study said. And, while it’s good to know that some recovery was made, $8.9 billion was still misspent.

 

At the same time, Fox also reports gross miscalculation of costs regarding the president’s health care tax. Whereas, “At least seven of the 29 states (and the District of Columbia) that expanded coverage have experienced significantly higher-than-expected enrollment. The expansion of Medicaid, the government health care program for low-income people, now allows most low-income adults making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level to qualify. An estimated 1.4 million more people than expected have signed up in those seven states since enrollment opened in October 2013 -- with Illinois, Kentucky and Washington state more than doubling their projected numbers.”

 

Which means that for those who actually do have to pay for those that can’t -or won’t if they can fudge it- their health care costs can only go significantly up.

 

Reader, Broke4fourmore, commented: “Stupid Government Rule #215 thought up by a Democrat

 

“It's a law that all Drive Up ATM's have Braille on keypads ... Just incase Stevie Wonder drives up “

 

Which brings us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife.

 

Fred Barnes wrote a two-page article @weeklystandard.com, describing in detail the many problems facing Bill Clinton’s wife’s faltering presidential candidacy. Mr. Barnes reiterates most of her woes, from extortive speaking fees to questionable donations to the family’s foundation, along with her lack of any real accomplishments to date. All of which have frequently been mentioned in the press. 

 

Then, Mr. Barnes adds, “Given all this, two more problems have dropped in the lap of Clinton’s campaign. One is the increased attention her Democratic opponents are getting. Democratic voters are suddenly interested in hearing their pitches. And former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg has popped up as a possible entrant in the Democratic race against Clinton.”

 

Mr. Barnes final thought, regarding the possibilities of Mayor Bloomberg’s entry as a presidential candidate certainly had special interest here. Not because of any particular favoritism of his platform, which is authoritarian to the extreme. But instead based on the fact that he seems to be the only Democrat in the nation having proven capabilities that measure to the task. 

 

And since the mayor’s entering the race is something that’s been suggested here for several months now, and not really elsewhere, it’s good to know he obviously reads this daily blog. 

 

That’s it for today folks.

 

Adios