Shopsmith Forums

Ed in Tampa wrote:All I know is if it ever comes to where I must buy a saw with Gass technology is the day I quite woodworking.

There are two things I pray never happens,

Obama being reelected

and

Gass getting even one penny of my woodworking money.

Sorry only agree with the Gass prayer.

MikeG wrote:Sorry only agree with the Gass prayer.

It is hard for me to understand why anyone would want four more years of Obama; especially someone who is out of work.

If the unemployed all voted like I am going to - I could predict the next Administration.

[quote="dusty"]It is hard for me to understand why anyone would want four more years of Obama]

I don't want to hijack this thread, but the reasons that the company I worked for laid off 60 of us engineers was not because of anything the Obama administration did or didn't do.

Our company was caught up in the Global Recession. The seeds of the Global Recession were planted before Obama took office. Since then the political parties have declared each other "enemies" and the middle class has suffered.

I'm unemployed, but the views expressed by the potential candidates looking to run against Obama really scare me. I pray that the hate they are spreading is not the way they would govern if they are elected. So I am not praying against Obama's reelection.

MikeG wrote:I don't want to hijack this thread, but the reasons that the company I worked for laid off 60 of us engineers was not because of anything the Obama administration did or didn't do.

Our company was caught up in the Global Recession. The seeds of the Global Recession were planted before Obama took office. Since then the political parties have declared each other "enemies" and the middle class has suffered.

I'm unemployed, but the views expressed by the potential candidates looking to run against Obama really scare me. I pray that the hate they are spreading is not the way they would govern if they are elected. So I am not praying against Obama's reelection.

I think that it is not what anyone did to get us into this pickle that counts right now. What is done is done. What I am frustrated with is "What the Administration has NOT DONE and IS NOT DOING to LEAD US OUT of this pickle.

I am as frustrated with ALL OF CONGRESS as I am with the President.

Whenever I get into this discussion, one of the first things that comes to my mind is TERM LIMITS. We have a lot of people in Congress that don't expect to leave there for anything other than their own funeral.

dusty wrote:I think that it is not what anyone did to get us into this pickle that counts right now. What is done is done. What I am frustrated with is "What the Administration has NOT DONE and IS NOT DOING to LEAD US OUT of this pickle.

I am as frustrated with ALL OF CONGRESS as I am with the President.

Whenever I get into this discussion, one of the first things that comes to my mind is TERM LIMITS. We have a lot of people in Congress that don't expect to leave there for anything other than their own funeral.

Dusty
If this country doesn't put term limits on Congress it is lost.

Also when the term limits are imposed all pension plans for Congress should also be removed. Congress gets paid enough that they can fund their own 401 retirements.

Service to this nation in Congress is a duty and a calling and should not be considered a career!

dusty wrote: Whenever I get into this discussion, one of the first things that comes to my mind is TERM LIMITS. We have a lot of people in Congress that don't expect to leave there for anything other than their own funeral.

Ed in Tampa wrote: If this country doesn't put term limits on Congress it is lost.

Also when the term limits are imposed all pension plans for Congress should also be removed. Congress gets paid enough that they can fund their own 401 retirements.

Service to this nation in Congress is a duty and a calling and should not be considered a career! Today 10:47 AM

Yes!!

No question about it. I agree 100%.

Ed in Tampa wrote:Dusty
If this country doesn't put term limits on Congress it is lost.

Also when the term limits are imposed all pension plans for Congress should also be removed. Congress gets paid enough that they can fund their own 401 retirements.

Service to this nation in Congress is a duty and a calling and should not be considered a career!

We have a 'volunteer' military, how about a volunteer congress etc.

As in unpaid!

dusty wrote:one of the first things that comes to my mind is TERM LIMITS.

Do you realize that all they have to serve is ONE TERM, to receive a PENSION. It takes the other 99% 25 years to get the same.

To my way of thinking, the "hate" coming from politicians emanates from Obama's side of the isle. From there we get accusations that Republicans and the Tea Party want to push grandma off of a cliff, or that Republicans are against job creation or they only support the rich. All of which are nonsense, but get plenty of play in a doting media.

For me, it's anyone but Obama in November 2012.

Regarding Congressional pensions, here are the details that I found at this web site -- http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongres ... esspay.htm :

"Members elected since 1984 are covered by the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS). Those elected prior to 1984 were covered by the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS). In 1984 all members were given the option of remaining with CSRS or switching to FERS.

As it is for all other federal employees, congressional retirement is funded through taxes and the participants' contributions. Members of Congress under FERS contribute 1.3 percent of their salary into the FERS retirement plan and pay 6.2 percent of their salary in Social Security taxes.

Members of Congress are not eligible for a pension until they reach the age of 50, but only if they've completed 20 years of service. Members are eligible at any age after completing 25 years of service or after they reach the age of 62. Please also note that Members of Congress have to serve at least 5 years to even receive a pension.

The amount of a congressperson's pension depends on the years of service and the average of the highest 3 years of his or her salary. By law, the starting amount of a Member's retirement annuity may not exceed 80% of his or her final salary.

According to the Congressional Research Service, 413 retired Members of Congress were receiving federal pensions based fully or in part on their congressional service as of Oct. 1, 2006. Of this number, 290 had retired under CSRS and were receiving an average annual pension of $60,972. A total of 123 Members had retired with service under both CSRS and FERS or with service under FERS only. Their average annual pension was $35,952 in 2006."