HE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE!

THE NERVE OF SOME PEOPLE!

            Recently, the head honcho of the InFernal Revenue Service(and that’s “service” like what a bull does to a cow) IRS Commissioner John Koskinen basically said that the answer-to-no-one agency that he oversees completely ignores the fact that illegal aliens are stealing Social Security numbers. Because the FBI also ignored the issue, it is simply encouraging more lawlessness by those who have already broken the law.  We know, or it’s alleged, that another member of the current administration, one Barack Hussein Obama, used Social Security number 042-68-4425 and which was issued by Connecticut, though he never lived in the state. In fact, that number was actually issued to one Harry Bounel, who was born in 1890!   The Social Security Administration(SSA) will tell you that they never duplicate numbers, so how is this possible?  Mr. Koskinen, no stranger to committee hearings, has said that the agency is more responsive to taxpayers.  Oh, really?  I seriously doubt that.

            For those of us on Social Security, and I’m one…there was no Cost Of Living Allowance or COLA in 2016.  In 2014 we got 1.5% and in 2015 we got 1.7%...hardly enough to cover the rising costs of the stuff we purchase to live on, or with.   The current occupant of the White House has made numerous vacation trips on the taxpayer’s dime, as has his family, and several on separate occasions.  He has asked for a raise in pay for himself.   The Former Presidents Act, enacted in 1958, provides living former presidents with a pension, office staff and support, funds for travel, Secret Service protection, and mailing privileges. It also provides benefits for presidential spouses. Currently, former presidents are awarded a pension equal to the salary of cabinet secretaries, which totaled $203,700 for the 2015 calendar year and was boosted by $2,000 for the current calendar year.  To this lavish benefit package, he wants a raise in pay for himself of 18%!  What gall!

            Back in 2013, when Lois Lerner officially retired, scot-free from any punishment, she also got a nice golden parachute.   She collected her salary during the hearings, at which she said nothing, and that salary was 177 thousand a year.   Then, upon her retirement, the National Taxpayers Union calculations show that Lerner could qualify for a starting pension at the annual equivalent of as much as $102,600 a year!  Not too shabby for a person that got no punishment for underhanded, dirty dealings, eh?  If any of us ordinary citizens did half of what she was accused of doing, they’d put us UNDER the jail and forget about us for the rest of our lives.  It seems to me that, in this current administration, the bad guys and gals get to go off into the sunset and live lives of happiness.  Certainly most of us could be very happy on 100 or more thousand a year, don’t you think?

Regarding Obama's budget cuts, here’s an excerpt from American Action News staff on April 15, 2016… “Marine Corps Aviation has been severely suffering from budget cuts, and meeting deployment demands.  Out of 276 F/A-18 Hornet strike fighters in the Marine Corps inventory, only about 30% are ready to fly, according to statistics provided by the Corps. Similarly, only 42 of 147 heavy-lift CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters are airworthy.   Attrition is common in the military, where parts break regularly due to wear and tear, but these levels are unprecedently low, compromising national security. This is not the first time that attrition levels have been so high as to cause operational issues. Just last year, the US Navy was unable to sustain an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf for 2 months, relying on the French Aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle for air support.   Time will tell if Obama's budget cuts will lead to the demise of Marine aviation.    Marines have resorted to cannibalize current aircrafts to fix damaged ones. Marines have been operating the aging F/A-18 Hornet for several decades now, waiting for the F-35 to be operational. Obama's budget cuts have delayed upkeep of current aircrafts and procurement of new ones, putting our men and women in uniform at risk.”  This is simply not acceptable.

By a law enacted in 1989, Congress obtains an annual automatic pay adjustment, which simply means that they don’t have to vote for it…and certainly very few have ever voted against a pay raise.   The public, therefore, is probably not aware that they have this nice thing going for them.   In 1992 passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, which required that any pay adjustment Congress votes for itself, would not take effect until after the next election, which may explain why so many of them aggressively seek re-election.   Members of Congress have rather nice benefits also, such as free parking at Washington’s airports, preferential treatment for airline seating, private dining rooms, an on-site complete gymnasium, up to 239 days off and that means that it’s possible they could only work 28% of the year, healthcare subsidies, and a better retirement program than most of us could ever afford.

So, there you have it.  The colossal nerve of these people is almost beyond description.  Wake up America, your country needs you…desperately!