Thanks very much for your article.  A couple of points…

I do not know of anyone who supports privating Social Security — I certainly do not want any of SSI put into the hands of the same thugs who have foisted their giant ponzi scheme on the American taxpayer.  I said as much when Pr. Bush tried to do this.

Also, I must respectfully disagree with your argument re drill, baby, drill.  When Palin was Governor of AK, she increased safety inspections and measures performed by the locals to ensure that another Exoon Valdez didnt happen.  This adminstration, nor the past one, did anything of the kind, but rather gave exemptions and more exemptions to them from having to put these safety measures in place.  The biggest problem to me is not necessarily drilling — but a lack of compliance with proper safety precautions.  Enforcement of the same is not the purview of the American people, but of Government and they dropped the ball — and have done so for years. 

In light of that, it’s not the people “protesting against their own self interest” that is the problem here (although that sometimes happens, too), but the “plutocracy” and incestuous relationship between corporations and government that stop healthy enforcement of safety laws.

Also, as to your mention of the protest of “Socialized medicine,” I personally do not protest the idea of health care reform, I think many others would agree with me.  What we protest is an awful bill that has not been adequately reviewed and once again puts money into the hands of the powerful while rationing and screwing the rest of us.

People do not protest a general concept here — they protest a very badly executed idea that will hurt many more than it will help and will likely bankrupt us if left in its current form.

Also, I am a firm believer that any of those people could be in position to earn millions if they but their heart and soul to it and develop good financial habits. As an old Chinese saying, I wouldn’t make fun of some one’s success if they are still young.

To have a better life and brighter future is the American dream, people should not be laughed at for having big dream. The liberal had done too much to make this a nation of naysayers. We need to take back the “Yes We Can” from O and his bots.

The illegal immigration question is appropriate here because the heart of the issue is whether or not this country is a democracy where the majority of the electorate decides what the law is or whether a special interest or tyrannical ruler decides.  It’s too bad a lot of Americans aren’t seeing that important aspect of the issue and continue to see it as a humanitarian issue or purely political issue.

This is why I pay more taxes then GE.

WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE, MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE

I’m not advocating for or against it, I’m just scratching my head about the way people who will be lucky to have earned a million over their entire lifetimes have been brainwashed into thinking this tax will somehow affect them.

The kids’ college degrees came out their checking account, too.  We were required to pay for our own living expenses while they paid tuition.  It meant that we had to have a job in addition to going to school full-time. It was doable then.  All of us appreciate the the confidence they had in us to be movers and shakers.

There was a school of thought going around in the 1970′s that the boomer kids were not going to be as well off than their parents. I had friends take that as a sign of not needing to achieve anything.  Now, they wonder where their youth went and why they have little money to retire on.  But, hey, they spent time in Mexico and Figi and got degrees in Parks and Recreation.  I never did that.  I was stupid enough to believe that I was supposed to work for a future. 

Thank goodness my beloved didn’t buy the meme either and worked his azz off to get a college degree, build a successful business, become financially set, and now can do whatever he wants. Interestingly, he still likes to work more than vacationing.  I worked in education in many different capacities and have a retirement.  I like to create art now that I have the time.

He was raised in a staunch Republican home where taking government handouts was not even a consideration.  I was raised in a staunch FDR Democrat home where you worked to put money in your retirement and Social Security accounts.

Yes, we dealt with inflation, gas prices from the seventies, the Carter 21% interest rates,  the tight 1980′s, but no where in there was anything that said you couldn’t earn the money to cover expenses.  It was a matter of how much effort you were willing to put out, stick to a plan, and hold off on the pleasures and toys until the bank accounts were big enough to hedge against financial upheavals.

Somewhere the message that each of us is responsible for our own care and keeping got lost.  Where did it go?