What a Surprise

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:59 am

I guess I have not been following the news close enough. I thought that I heard President Obama indicate changes that would make things better for the economy. There was even discussion about a one year reduction in withholding (sort of a tax break). Boy, did I ever miss something along the line.

I just got an updated pay statement for my USAF retirement check effective March 2011. There is no relief shown here. Quite the contrary - a significant decrease in take home.

:(

Wow. The decrease is even worse than I thought. My other retirement check has been hit the same way and I don't know what is going to happen to social security. Get ready folks. The changes that Obama promised are starting to take effect right where we notice them the most.

There will be very few, if any, changes in my shop this year.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:15 am

I think that what was meant by "change" was that you'll only have change in your pocket when the changers are finished making the changes.

robinson46176 · Post by **robinson46176** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:19 am

Can we PLEASE leave politics off of the forum?

ryanbp01 · Post by **ryanbp01** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:22 am

robinson46176 wrote:Can we PLEASE leave politics off of the forum?

O.K. How about the weather? I just got in from moving 5-6 " of snow from the driveway before round #2 hits later today thru tomorrow night.

BPR

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:25 am

Why? The community portion of the forum is for "for general discussion not related to woodworking" and politics fits that definition. And, one can always ignore the thread if so inclined. Besides, having less money because of how the government handles its finances affects how we enjoy our favorite hobby, as well as our overall well being.

/

ddvann79 · Post by **ddvann79** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:08 pm

Dusty,

My greatest sympathies, Sir. To you and all who had been promised a certain level of security in retirement and now the rules change in the middle of the game. Foul.

To a lesser extent, I feel it to. My health insurance costs have jumped around 40% in the last two years.

mbcabinetmaker · Post by **mbcabinetmaker** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 12:43 pm

ddvann79 wrote:Dusty,

My greatest sympathies, Sir. To you and all who had been promised a certain level of security in retirement and now the rules change in the middle of the game. Foul.

To a lesser extent, I feel it to. My health insurance costs have jumped around 40% in the last two years.

What he said!:mad:

burkhome · Post by **burkhome** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:20 pm

dusty wrote:I guess I have not been following the news close enough. I thought that I heard President Obama indicate changes that would make things better for the economy. There was even discussion about a one year reduction in withholding (sort of a tax break). Boy, did I ever miss something along the line.

I just got an updated pay statement for my USAF retirement check effective March 2011. There is no relief shown here. Quite the contrary - a significant decrease in take home.:(

Wow. The decrease is even worse than I thought. My other retirement check has been hit the same way and I don't know what is going to happen to social security. Get ready folks. The changes that Obama promised are starting to take effect right where we notice them the most.

There will be very few, if any, changes in my shop this year.

Yeah and I thought I heard that Mr. President was keying on creating US jobs so incandescent light bulbs that are made in the states are outlaws while cfls that contain mercury and are made in China are required.

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:33 pm

I don't want to make this sound political, but I'd guess you could read it that way if you want. In any event it kept me out of the shop for a while and prevented me from using that time to level the table on my 510.

Over the weekend I wrote one of my Senators after getting a note from him regarding his view on Senate rules and the fillabuster. In essence, I told him there were bigger issues like the federal debt that needed addressing.

In that regard, did you know (and I'm not mentioning names, trying to keep politics out of the issue) that the federal deficit in the eight years from 2001 through 2008 totalled about 2 trillion dollars. In 2009 and 2010 alone, the federal deficit totaled about 2.7 trillion dollars. And, in the past week or so the government announced that the deficit for 2011 was projected to be another 1.5 trillion dollars. That's a 4.2 trillion dollar increase in the national debt in just three years.

Now there are about 308 million Americans at this time and the U.S. debt per man, women and child stands at $45,190 (as of a few minutes ago). But if you are a taxpayer, your portion of the national debt ballons to $127,294 and that debt keeps growing.

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Feb 01, 2011 2:10 pm

robinson46176 wrote:Can we PLEASE leave politics off of the forum?

We certainly can, Farmer. We certainly can.

BTW, stating that I have unexpectedly lost disposable income is not a political statement. It is a statement of fact. A fact of economic reality that I believe will reach out to touch you too.