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resedit wrote:

Jokotai wrote:

As another 30-something, I'm confident of two things:

a) Privatizing Social Security is a bad idea.

Bad idea or not, you know Fox is going to push the current failings of Social Security, especially since it is a favorite example of why .gov shouldn't provide health care.

Like it or not, Fox is the most watched cable news network. It certainly isn't here at these forums, but it is in the country in general.

Let's not overstate Fox's popularity. Their audience is about 2.5 million people out of a country of 300 million.

Just by way of comparison, Sunday Night Football gets around 18.5 million viewers.

As someone who currently has a lower income, I can personally testify the cost of living for basic needs has gone up in the last six months. Basic food items have gotten more expensive and quantities per package have decreased, sometime even with a price increase per package.

Maybe the price of laptops and digital cameras have fallen, but those items don't fill an empty stomach unless you use them to produce porn.

robco wrote:

If someone wants to argue that SS benefits need to be increased in general, that's one thing. But to expect that COLAs will happen every year whether or not the cost of living has actually increased is another.

You have to take what you can get, but as I said before, the single-metric inflation index method of determination is seriously oversimplistic, particularly as regards the living costs of those actually on SS. And even with the existing system, it was noted this is an aberration- the first time there hasn't been one since its inception in '75... and for reasons beyond the scope here, I don't even get full SSI, so I'm lacking the income to fill in the gap between food stamps and realistic costs. This month, a 31 day month, I got a whopping $95 to eat on, so no 'excess' SSI to bridge that gap. Winter's coming on, much more gas and electric are being used and I haven't yet mustered energy enough to get storm windows on. The system has no flexibility built in, so I'm that much more screwed, even shopping carefully for bargains... and actually getting bargains involves more travel, more gas, wear and tear on transport, ntm exhausting energy expenditure. With one windshield wiper out, I have to shop in the dry until I can self-fix the damn thing. You bet I'll be appreciative of any $ coming my way. If Uncle Sam wants 'x' years of indentured servitude in trade for medicine enough to bring me back enough to work, I'm ready to sign in blood.

I'm not sure how we can increase benefit levels, much less cope with the impending retirement of the Boomers without serious reforms to the system.

I've lost track of the times I've said the system is broken/real reform is needed, so I've pretty well covered that. Sounds like we're halfway in agreement already anyway. I don't know how either, just that it is.

You help make my point... impending Boomer retirement? I am one. Career (if any) beginning and end, not far apart.

Last edited by Bat (2009-10-16 4:11 am)

JakeTheTall wrote:

mo' ron wrote:

JakeTheTall wrote:

Deflation scares me.

Why?

Isn’t this better for the ordinary person?

As stated, debt becomes a greater burden.  There's also a strong affect on demand: it depresses it.  If goods will be cheaper next week, why buy today ?  And firms won't like borrowing, the actual cost of the loan is greater as deflation continues.  Overall uncertainty and such.

Conventional economic thought is that inflation at say 2% ( +/- 0.5 ) is about what is the best that can be achieved.

Yeah, but currency isn't going to deflate forever. It seems this theory only applies over long-term deflation, and I don't think what we're experiencing is going to be long term.

Demand is down because people are trying to save their money, in case they lose their job or something along those lines.

At my job, there's a wage freeze, where no one can get raises. Typically you would at least get a small raise.

If we were still experiencing inflation, that combined with no raise is like being kicked while you're down.

For someone like me, with no debt, my money being worth more seems great.

I also wonder how it would break it down into people who took it seriously and people who thought it was a satirical show like The Colbert Report or This Hour has 22 Minutes.

resedit wrote:

Some of the price increases are difficult to track.

The bread dealer for the local grocery stores sells the same bread under 3 labels - Raley's Label, Sarah Lee, and some other more expensive label. They have a machine that puts the wrapper on bread at delivery.

The less expensive Raley's and Sarah Lee brands now is stocked less often so it's often sold out.
Also - what they use to do was take the bread that was closer to expiration date, remove the wrapper, and sell it under a different label at the Dollar Store. That no longer happens, now instead Raley's puts it on sale as it gets close to expiration - usually at $1.99 a loaf (I'm talking the quality bread, not the crap gummy bread that has little or no nutritional value).

I've actually resorted to baking my own, but I need a mixer - mine isn't strong enough for bread and mixing the dough is really tough on the arms. Last time I forgot to put salt in, but it actually came out just fine - just didn't rise as fast. And for some reason (maybe because I don't own a proper mixer ??) it doesn't toast as well, but it works fine for sandwiches.

Juice has gone up too, meat has gone up, etc. Milk hasn't - not by much anyway.

Consumer Price Index.  Learn about it.

resedit wrote:

The bread dealer for the local grocery stores sells the same bread under 3 labels - Raley's Label, Sarah Lee, and some other more expensive label. They have a machine that puts the wrapper on bread at delivery.

The less expensive Raley's and Sarah Lee brands now is stocked less often so it's often sold out.
Also - what they use to do was take the bread that was closer to expiration date, remove the wrapper, and sell it under a different label at the Dollar Store. That no longer happens, now instead Raley's puts it on sale as it gets close to expiration - usually at $1.99 a loaf (I'm talking the quality bread, not the crap gummy bread that has little or no nutritional value).

You are describing price discrimination, and it's not limited to breads. Smart shoppers figure out which brands are equivalent, or identical, and go for the cheapest brand that provides adequate quality. I am totally mercenary on stuff like this. I've tried a wide range of brands, and know roughly the quality of each. So, I'm perfectly fine getting store-brand peanut butter, but I prefer some labeled jams and preserves, and am willing to pay more for them.

Sometimes, if you catch it on sale, you can get the name brand for less than the store brand. Even better, you can sometimes catch the smaller quantities on sale for less than the larger quantities. I once bought two 16-oz tubs of sour cream, because it was nearly $1 less than the 32-oz.

This stuff goes both ways. Now that you know the score on bread, you can save money by getting the least expensive, knowing it's the same bread.

What's really sad, they can get more bread, peanut butter, etc. at the dollar store with their EBT cards than they can at Raley's at Safeway, so the social welfare the poor get is paying for them get the less nutritious bread that makes them fat and their kids not do as well at school.

So res wants to tax the rich to provide better food for the poor.

I can get behind that.

bedstuy wrote:

CLASS WARFARE

I'm in.

I wanted to buy the masses off, but Farmerkev and the majority didn't.  Now look what's happened.

JakeTheTall wrote:

I wanted to buy the masses off, but Farmerkev and the majority didn't.  Now look what's happened.

DAMN YOU BOTTOM 50%