Catch 23

By David Glenn Cox

Probably the most profound statement made by a US President in the last fifty years was “It all depends on what your definition of is, is.” We no longer have Presidents who make profound statements, they would be lost over the heads of the masses and so the old axiom kicks in: If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

Fox News claims the recent drop in oil prices is due to President Bush lifting the executive order banning coastal drilling. Billionaire oilman T. Boone Pickens says, “We can’t drill our way out of this.” But the story illustrates what I call Catch 23. The famous Catch 22 says you can’t be insane if you know that you are insane. So, if you know you’re insane you are, hence, sane. Catch 23 says that if you believe that you are insane just by simply pointing out how much more insane the rest of the world is than you, you are therefore sane.

“It all depends on what your definition of is, is!” You can make the news whatever you want it to be. When the media says entitlements, they are talking about something that belongs to you! When the media says cut the growth of entitlements, they are talking about taking away something that belongs to you! When the media says pro-growth agenda, they are talking about giving advantage to some over others, but theirs is an agenda while yours is an entitlement. Theirs is something that must be done, yours is just a drag on the economy.

Before Social Security, hypothermia was the second leading cause of death for the elderly. There were no retirement villages or senior vacations. There was little need for the study of geriatrics because there were so few of them. But the government helping you is considered a drag on the economy, while the government helping Exxon or Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns is necessary to provide economic stability. The Federal government was quick to supply them with liquidity, while student loans were a lessor priority. You and your entitlements.

An educated workforce is key to economic growth. Educated workers pay more in taxes and come hell or high water they will pay their loans back in full, even if Federal handouts to the banks might be later discounted. Instead, the government offers more H1B visas. Americans don’t want these jobs; American employers can’t find qualified applicants so we need more H1B visas to stay competitive. John McCain’s GI bill is a perfect case of a Catch 23, to obtain full benefits you must remain in the military for 12 years. McCain argues that if we give benefits after one hitch, it will cause GI’s to leave the service.

He is saying that educated people won’t stay in the service, an odd thing for a graduate of the Naval Academy to say. Or is he saying that we need a Prussian-style permanent military caste? His statements make absolutely no sense but go unquestioned in the media. Social Security and the GI bill are pro-growth policies; they help to build our society and give some financial security to those who otherwise would have none. McCain points out proudly that under his plan benefits are transferable. Transferable? What the hell is that about? Transferable - passing on GI benefits to the next generation.

What about I go to college, become successful, and make enough money to send my kids to college on my own? McCain’s plan builds a dependence on government entitlements. The old Republican switcheroo, benefits earned today might not be there when your kids are ready, and better still, you might not be there to fight for them. They are entitlements and we must cut the growth of entitlements, or so the Republicans say.

The Republicans fume at Barack Obama’s plan to lift the cap on Social Security payroll deductions. Bill O’Reilly is nearly hysterical, calling it an unfair tax increase. Currently deductions stop at $94,000. Deductions are made from 100% of most American’s income, yet O’Reilly fumes while this deduction touches barely 10% of his income. He insists it is a tax increase, yet there is no limit on the amount that he may draw from the system. But you see, he’s got his. Most all those who complain about Social Security have got theirs. The Fox News team never stops to consider how many recipients of these entitlements would cancel their cable TV subscription without them.

“It all depends on what your definition of is, is.”

“Right now the top marginal tax rate is 38.4 percent. Taking the cap off Social Security payments would raise that to over 50 percent.” (Fox News)

Social Security isn’t a tax; it’s a deduction. You don’t pay a life insurance tax or a car insurance tax, you pay a premium. If you die or get in an accident, the insurance company pays off; if you don’t then you get bupkis. Yet the O’Reilly’s and Limbaugh’s fume over paying more on their millions. They complain about a tax increase that you pay now! They’re angry because they resent being treated the same way you are being treated right now! Why should they pay? They don’t need the government programs for themselves! Hell, I don’t need the fire department either but if my neighbor’s house catches fire, I might.

To earn the punishment of a 38.4 % tax rate you must have an adjusted income of $6,700 per week. Obama’s plan would require a Social Security deduction of $21,638 per year, but as it is now, they contribute only $5,828 per year. The average worker with an income of $46,000 contributes $2,852 per year. The top earners make $349,000 per year and up and only contribute $5,828, while the average worker, earning one seventh the income, pays in half that and then listens to the Limbaughs and O’Reillys while they cry and whine about it. That, my friends, is a Catch 23.

The oppressed rich and the lazy poor. Rush talks about the poor sleeping in, in the morning, yet Rush only works a few hours a day. He and the other oppressed rich talk about how these taxes on the rich hurt the economy and limit job growth. But how many jobs does Rush create, or O’Reilly? Their latest lament is the treasury moving to support Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, making an implicit guarantee explicit. Fannie and Freddie hold zero sub prime mortgages, zero, zilch, none. They have been hurt by an overall market decline, rising defaults and falling home values.

While they see it as all right to bail out the investment banks that caused the troubles in the first place, they resent the government supporting loan institutions that are innocent, that’s entitlement. Fannie and Freddie hold almost half of the residential mortgages in the country. If they are allowed to fail or freeze up, the American economy will be toast and there will be no stopping it. But Rush and O’Reilly complain about patching the other side of the boat. They live on the bridge and don’t believe that they can get wet.

Catch 23, if it is a program that helps the poor or the middle class, then it is an entitlement and it is a drag on the economy. If however it is a program that benefits the upper incomes, then it is automatically considered pro-growth and beneficial to the economy, even if there are no facts to support it. Because the crazier the world appears, the saner crazy people begin to look.

"I’m receiving the benefits, the system is broken and, unfortunately, my children and grandchildren, according to the trustees of the Social Security system, will not have the same benefits the present retirees have," McCain told reporters Thursday on his campaign bus. McCain’s 2007 tax return shows Social Security benefits of $23,157 for the year, an average of $1,929.75 a month. He said he started receiving the payments "whenever I was eligible."

"Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today," he said. "And that’s a disgrace. It’s an absolute disgrace, and it’s got to be fixed." (John McCain)

John McCain’s net worth? Between $15 and $20 million dollars. Catch 23!

http://groups.google.com/group/james-caird