The Truth About The Economy: Total Collapse

Rick Perry may make me embarrassed to be a Texan, but Ron Paul makes me proud again.

The Federal Reserve is more secretive than the CIA. That says something massive about our problems in the US. We need complete transparency in our government's actions to justify it's existence and to keep corruption at bay.

Our baseless fiat monetary system is on the way out. Our economy needs something physical to hold it up, but without a gold or silver backing it will crash. Market manipulation by the Fed is probably the only thing keeping the patient out of the morgue, but the economy is just one beat from that now.

Debt is the only thing keeping it moving forward. When our national debt collapses our economy, the house of cards will come crashing down.

Ron Paul is not the only one in politics that understands why this is happening, but he is the only one accepting reality and looking to find practical solutions that will keep us from crashing hard.

Communism Evolving into Democratic Socialism

There was a time when Americans stood up against socialism, when being a socialist or communist in America was a crime.The post-war 1950's lead to a witch hunt and many wrongful accusations of communist ties to Americans, but it made clear a position that America was a free land, and would not play host to efforts to Soviet conspirators. Those Cold War concerns regarding state secrets are a fading memory and no longer a threat, but the communism that failed in Russia and lead to it's collapse is rearing it's ugly head in the form of socialism in Liberal and Democratic circles.

Maybe this is how Russia planned to win the Cold War all along, via infectious mentalities. But socialism has only ever been practical on paper. Where has socialism succeeded for all citizens and not been a method for elite to pillage?

All around us, there are imminent and ominous threats to the future of American Liberty. None, however, is more grave than the demolition of free enterprise by those who would replace it with the authoritarian rule of Democratic Socialism envisioned by Barack Hussein Obama and his leftist comrades.

Rancorous political debate is currently focused on competing solutions for our failing domestic economy and the collapse of our esteemed standing among the nations of the world.

Conservatives, particularly those resolute constitutional constructionists who identify with the much-maligned Tea Party Movement, rightly understand, as did Ronald Reagan, that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." That is why we are advocating for the restoration of constitutional limits on the central government.

There was a time when Americans would have taken up arms against commies coming to take advantage of our hard working ethics. The double-edged sword that is our constitutional freedom has also given those with the will to destroy our freedom a way to take over our government, forcing their will through legislation upon the People. But looking back at Russia and many other societies, the People will only be pushed so far before they push back.

Kick it Till it Breaks

Conversely, the growing ranks of leftists in Congress, some 80 of whom are openly members of the Socialist Party of America's Congressional Progressive Caucus, led by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Keith Ellison (D-MN), subscribe to the notion that government is both the engine and the drive train of our nation's economy.

But if Essential Liberty and Rule of Law as enshrined in our Constitution are to survive, then free enterprise must be their economic engine. At present, however, that engine is attempting to pull an ever more bloated government trailer -- a trailer so overloaded as to bring the economy to a dead stop.

Obama's government programs will amass a $1.3 trillion deficit in fiscal year 2011 alone, some $400 billion more than the paltry $917 billion in savings to which Congress agreed over the next decade under the recent budget deal and corresponding debt-ceiling increase.

This oppressive bloat -- and our elected leaders' utterly inadequate response to it -- will serve as fodder for much of the political debate ahead of the 2012 election. Indeed, the future of Liberty depends on the successful defeat of enough congressional leftists to provide strong conservative majorities in both the House and Senate. Moreover, Liberty hangs in the balance of the upcoming presidential election. While conservatives recaptured the House of Representatives in 2010, the first effective step to restrain Obama's agenda, only a conservative president can begin to undo the damage done to our nation by the Obama regime.

As John Adams once warned, we must be vigilantly on guard against all contagions that would "infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections."

These contagions, these obstacles, are as follows, roughly in order of threat magnitude: an ignorant electorate; candidates who are unable to articulate the difference between Rule of Law and rule of men; institutionalized dependency on the state, including the fact that 40 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax; forced redistribution of wealth; comfort, complacency and indifference; Leftmedia dezinformatsia; opposition by the leftist elite; and, finally, the conferring of legal status upon illegal immigrants in order to fortify Democrat voter constituencies illegitimately.

A majority of Americans are beneficiaries of some combination of thousands of government schemes to redistribute wealth. The resulting institutionalized dependency on the state is insidious, as it results in reliable votes for whichever party (read: the Democrat Party) can take the most from one group and redistribute it to another. It's no wonder that the most recent Index of Dependence on Government (2010) reports the greatest single-year percentage rise in dependence since 1976.

The redistribution of wealth, promise of citizenship and many other programs are how the American socialists are pandering to the lower class. Obama pushing the DREAM Act through is just on e example of a government promoting policy that is in direct opposition to the will of the governed People. Just wrap socialism up in a pretty package and stick a simple logo on it. Eventually, the People learn that the end result is that we all lose, some just lose sooner than others, while the elite ride the wave to the very end.

The forced redistribution of wealth pushed the Cost of Government Day to 12 August this year, which means that the average American tax payer must now work 224 days to fund all taxes, and hidden regulatory taxes, imposed by the central government. That date is 27 days later than in 2008, and it now consumes more than 60 percent of national earned income. There are endless regulatory costs on the horizon, such as Obama's new fuel economy standards which according to a study conducted by the Center for Automotive Research, will increase the average retail price of motor vehicles more than $11,000.

Does anyone still believe that this direction is a sustainable path. Infinite growth is a myth. Our economy is tanking. Our banking industry is seeing giants fall on a regular basis. It's hard not to think pessimistically, but how can this continue?

The question remains: Are we irrevocably locked into the Cycle of Democracy? Recall that this evolves from bondage to spiritual faith; spiritual faith to great courage; courage to Liberty (Rule of Law); Liberty to abundance; abundance to complacency; complacency to apathy; apathy to dependence; and from dependence back into bondage (rule of men).

At the close of the first American Revolution, George Washington wrote, "No country upon earth ever had it more in its power to attain these blessings [of Liberty] than United America. Wondrously strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed would it be, were we to neglect the means and to depart from the road which Providence has pointed us to so plainly; I cannot believe it will ever come to pass."

We have already veered from that road. Is there time to use the ballot box to attain a new dawn for Liberty, or are we destined to dependence and bondage, which will require another renewal of faith and courage?

More

It is not that America provides too much freedom that socialism has taken root, but that Americans have not stood up together against this infection, defeating it as we did the English who caused us to seek freedom, resulting in the creation of this free nation. The first American Revolution created something wonderful. What will the second bring? Will we recognize the teachings of our Founders as being the path of survival? Or will we collapse like Russia? I know this music, let's change the beat.

It is not until you have lost everything that you are free to do anything 

Apple Lobbies Obama For Tax Holiday, Wants To Bring Its Riches Home

Amazing. Obama only seems interested in helping the American people when there is something in it for him and big government. He has little concern for reality or for the dissent he is breeding in the American people with his power grabs and bleeding of the national economy. This effort by government to collect as much wealth from private citizens and companies to create a more socialistic society is one of the main reasons we are in such bad shape and are headed the way of the former soviet union; collapse.

Will Obama continue to position himself against the US economic recovery and taxpaying voters? Or will he continue to push toward socialist reforms that will lead us to a national collapse?

Apple's profits stashed overseas is getting restless for a trip the the United States. The tech giant, frequently seen wealthier than the U.S. government and Exxon-Mobile, is lobbying the U.S. government for a five percent 'tax holiday.' In a bizarre picture, Apple is aligned with Republicans and against the Democratic American President.

At it's last quarterly report, Apple announced it had almost $80 billion in cash.
Google, Oracle and Cisco are also part of the "WIN America Campaign" that argues "incentives to invest at home is a common sense solution that will immediately inject up to $1 trillion into our economy and provide businesses with the security and certainty they need to help Americans get back to work," according the the group's website. So far, the proposed bill has picked up support of 15 Republicans and eight Democrats in the House of Representatives.

So far opposed to the effort is President Barack Obama, to whom the companies donated $1.3 million in 2008.

Apple has a growing interest in protecting its foreign profits. During the last quarter, 62 percent of the iPad and iPhone maker's profits came from international sales. For some time, Apple executives have pointed to China as holding a huge potential for sales growth.

Source

Buying Democratic Voters with Citizenship

"Following a pattern of making law by regulation and executive order, the Obama administration [last week] announced it will impose a version of the Dream (development, relief and education for alien minors) Act on America through administrative fiat. This is blatant political pandering in an election cycle at the expense of American citizens. On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told Congress she has authority to halt deportation of illegal aliens not perceived to be a criminal threat as long as they meet certain criteria, such as attending school or having family in the military. The new rules would cover up to 300,000 illegal aliens. In 2010, the government deported 200,000 with no criminal records. Under the new rules, most would now likely be allowed to stay and apply for permits. Opposed by a majority of Americans and twice defeated in Congress, the federal Dream Act essentially grants amnesty to any illegal alien in America if they agree to enlist in the military or attend a U.S. college. It's called a 'path to citizenship,' a path that leads right past the U.S. Border Patrol. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, a sponsor of the federal Dream Act, praised the DHS announcement. 'These students are the future doctors, lawyers, teachers and maybe senators who will make America stronger,' he said in a statement. So are the children of America's jobless. ... 'If you look at immigrants from Mexico, they register 3-to-1 Democrat, so the Democratic Party is for easy citizenship and allowing them to vote,' says Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. This is about making the Democratic Party, not America, strong." --

Investor's Business Daily

Ugly side of strikes

The big difference between union supporters and "scabs" is the will to provide for one's family and community. Unions persist today to undermine the workers and provide for union bosses and politicians, and to damage businesses. 

Oh please do Union Assholes.
Come to my house, threaten me or my family. Step on my property, touch my house, hell look at my house…
I'll show you what "Castle Doctrine" that our lame assed politicians, RINOs at the State dropped the ball on, means.

Dear Madd, "We should all pay them a visit at their house and let them know we are always [there]," one striking union militant wrote on Facebook this week. Communications Workers of America (CWA) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union bosses have ordered tens of thousands of Verizon employees to abandon their jobs and report to a union picket line. The early reports of rampant intimidation and militancy are disturbing but sadly unsurprising. Verizon already reports over 70 acts of sabotage and damage to phone and Internet lines — exposing customers to the possibility that they will be unable to call for help or reach family during an emergency. One union militant ordered his young daughter to stand in front a Verizon truck while he verbally berated the independent technicians. Check out the video — with explicit language — by clicking here. And on Facebook, union strikers compiled a so-called "scab" list — that disgusting name union thugs use to demean, harass, and even threaten workers who defy union-boss orders and continue working to provide for their families. That Facebook page has since been deleted, but not until union militants broadcast the names and phone numbers of independent-minded workers for all to see, along with menacing messages like the one above. But with more days, weeks, or even months of striking ahead, I'm afraid we may have only seen the tip of the iceberg. That's why your continued support of the National Right to Work organizations is so crucial. The Committee's sister organization, the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, has issued special legal notices to CWA and IBEW union members to inform them of their right to resign from the union and return to work. Foundation attorneys have provided free legal aid to victims of union violence, illegal strike fines, and other forms of strike-related union-boss intimidation. Meanwhile, one of the Committee's top legislative priorities is to force Congress to eliminate one of Big Labor's most appalling special privileges. The fact is, for decades union bosses and their underlings have committed thousands of reported incidents of violence, extortion, vandalism and even murder. And in most of these cases these vicious acts of violence and intimidation have not even been investigated, much less prosecuted and punished. Ever since the Supreme Court's infamous 1973 Enmons decision, union bosses have been granted immunity from federal prosecution for acts of violence and vandalism they orchestrate in the so-called "pursuit of legitimate union objectives." This outrageous loophole in federal law has effectively tied the hands of federal law enforcement officers and has permitted union bosses and their handpicked "enforcers" to pursue their union goals – in any way they see fit. Passage of the Freedom from Union Violence Act would close the loophole in federal law and finally allow authorities to prosecute union officials for inciting violence. If you haven't already, please sign the petition urging your U.S. Congressman and Senators to cosponsor the Freedom from Union Violence Act. And if you possibly can, please chip in with a contribution of $10 or more today to help fund the Committee's programs. We're seeing once again this week just how dangerous union militancy can be. Ugly union strikes affect Americans from all walks of life. Unfortunately, federal labor law encourages forced unionism — and the union violence loophole encourage union militancy during strikes.

http://freemadd.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/ugly-side-of-strikes

Iowa straw poll reshapes GOP race

Please, don't support Perry. And I'm a proud Texan. Don't let him do to the country what he has done to my state.

 

The weekend’s straw poll in Ames lived up to its historic role as presidential bouncer, validating Rep. Michelle Bachmann’s front-runner status in Iowa and kicking former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to the curb — reshuffling the Republican race for the White House along the way.
The Pawlenty exit and Bachmann victory sharpened the GOP focus on national front-runner Mitt Romney and the two candidates considered most likely to challenge the former Massachusetts governor for the nomination: Mrs. Bachmann and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who officially jumped into the race on Saturday.
Although he wasn’t on the ballot as an official candidate, the Texas governor finished with 4 percent as a write-in — good enough for sixth place, and ahead of Mr. Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Mr. Pawlenty, who finished a distant third with 14 percent, pulled the plug on his campaign Sunday.
“We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward,” Mr. Pawlenty said on ABCs’ “This Week.” “That didn’t happen, so I’m announcing this morning on your show that I’m going to be ending my campaign for president.”
Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain said he is staying in the race, despite a fifth-place showing.
“I truly believe,” Mr. Cain told CNN’s Candy Crowley, “that I can win the nomination and the presidency.”
Sunday’s fast-moving developments underscored the fluid nature of the GOP race and overshadowed Rep. Ron Paul’s strong second-place showing in the straw poll. The congressman from Texas pulled in 4,671 votes, or 28 percent, just shy of knocking off Mrs. Bachmann’s total of 4,823, or 29 percent, in her own backyard.
Still, it is anybody’s guess as to whether the nearly 17,000 activists who voted in the straw poll speak for the 120,000 or so Iowans who will make the trek to the Republican caucuses in February.
History suggests that the poll may be a good harbinger for the eventual winner of the Iowa caucuses, but not for its ability to predict the next president.
George W. Bush is the only contested candidate to have gone on to win the Republican nomination and the presidency after a victory in the straw poll since its debut in 1979. It’s also hard to tell whether the straw poll, or the caucuses, will have much influence over the outcome in crucial battleground states such as New Hampshire.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/14/iowa-straw-poll-reshapes-gop-race/

Back to Big Government-Spending as Usual

When our country is on a downhill slide toward financial collapse, rather than freeze spending and focus on our country's real needs, our false representatives in big .gov are pushing ahead and looking for ways to increase their control and spend us into oblivion. They are no more concerned with job growth than they are with our debt crisis. Another downgrade may come, but not before our situation gets much worse. The only solution is to insulate yourself from the government, because it's going to hit hard when the bottom comes up to meet it.

The American Age of Austerity lasted approximately three minutes, give or take a nanosecond. Immediately after the Senate approved the bipartisan "Budget Control Act of 2011" on Tuesday afternoon, President Obama hustled over to the Rose Garden -- to crow about the renewed opportunity to make "key investments."

Yes, the pitched battle to force government to live within its means has preserved the failed stimulator-in-chief's ability to keep spending like there's no tomorrow. As the curtains closed on D.C.'s debt-ceiling theater, Obama wasted no time putting his new "investment" priorities on the table: higher taxes, more funding for endless unemployment benefits and a "national infrastructure bank."

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/michelle-malkin/2011/08/03/back-to-big-government-spending-as-usual/

Where Are These Government-Slashing Republicans I Keep Hearing About?

Two heads of the same monster that continues to devour the People and growing ever greater in size and power. Someone needs to slay that monster, but a champion is hard to find these days. 

Two weeks ago, The New York Times reported that Republicans "want a vastly smaller government." Last week, the Times called the dispute about raising the federal debt ceiling "an epic clash over the parties' divergent views on the size and role of the federal government." This week, it said President Obama faces "a conservative movement seeking a wholesale redefinition of the proper role of government."

The recent debt deal, widely portrayed as a victory for Republicans, suggests their goals are decidedly less ambitious. As always in Washington, the "epic clash" perceived by the Times is in fact a squabble between two parties that both favor big government.

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/jacob-sullum/2011/08/03/where-are-these-government-slashing-republicans-i-keep-hearing-about/

Obama Is Out of Options

Hope and change? Doesn't sound like much of a New Deal to me.

After Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency changed. As he put it in 1943, "Dr. New Deal" had to be replaced by "Dr. Win the War." It was a colossal policy switch, but it wasn't an extreme makeover politically. He was still the same FDR, and the public understood the need for change.

And it saved his presidency. As President Obama's former economic advisor, Larry Summers, said recently, "Never forget ... that if Hitler had not come along, Franklin Roosevelt would have left office in 1941 with an unemployment rate in excess of 15 percent and an economic recovery strategy that had basically failed."

The collapse of states around the world might actually be the best thing that could ever happen to individual freedoms. Populations would likely dive though...

http://patriotpost.us/opinion/jonah-goldberg/2011/08/03/obama-is-out-of-options/

Patriot Post Chronicle on the Deceptive and Dastardly Debt Deal Debacle

"After months of talk about the nation's runaway debt, lawmakers managed to agree on a plan that, at most, will cut spending by a mere 5%. Is it any wonder federal spending is out of control? ... According to IBD's analysis of available budget numbers, the deal's $2.4 trillion in 10-year cuts amounts to a mere 5% trim off total projected federal spending during that time. It's like a 400-pound man boasting that he plans to drop 20 pounds over a decade, while his doctors warn about the risks of losing weight so fast. Even calling these 'cuts' is a bit of a stretch, since spending will continue to increase, just at a slightly slower pace. ... By 2021, federal spending would still equal 22% of the nation's economy, above the post-World War II average of 20%. Not really a cut, is it? Plus, in the short term, these 'deep,' 'sharp,' 'slashing' cuts would still leave the federal government spending roughly 4% more in 2012 than it did in 2010, and 20% more than it did in 2008. Shorn of all the hyperbole, what this agreement really demonstrates is why it's so hard to get federal spending under control. Both sides routinely use budget gimmicks to exaggerate spending cuts, while armies of special interests swarm Washington to make sure their pet programs don't get touched. All the while, spending marches upward. And reporters too dumb, lazy or biased to understand how budgets work keep falling for this nonsense." --Investor's Business Daily

He should take his own advice: "[This debt-ceiling deal is] an important first step for ensuring that as a nation we live within our means. ... [But the economy] didn't need Washington to come along with a manufactured crisis. It's pretty likely that the uncertainty surrounding the raising of the debt ceiling -- for both businesses and consumers -- has been unsettling, and just one more impediment to the full recovery that we need. And it was something that we could have avoided entirely. Voters may have chosen divided government, but they sure didn't vote for dysfunctional government." --Barack Obama

Pity party: "If I were a Republican, I would be dancing in the streets. I don't have any idea what the Republicans wanted that they didn't get." --Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)

Government is great: "[Some] of us ... believe that government has a role for positive achievement in society along with the private sector doing things only government can do. ... I don't like this deal. But I think it would have been worse. ... Tax cuts are fun, but I never saw a tax cut put out a fire. I never saw a tax cut make a bridge. We need to have to make the case for positive government." --Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)

Hating the Tea Party: "[A]s result of the Tea Party direction of this Congress these last few months has been very, very disconcerting and very unfair to the American people." --Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

"The Tea Party acted like terrorists in threatening to blow up the economy." --Rep. Mike Doyle (D-PA)

"They have acted like terrorists." --Joe Biden, repeating and approving the line
Gun grabbers: "The easy availability of high-capacity ammo magazines in the U.S. has once again helped enable a large-scale massacre. ... This is another tragic example of our lack of common-sense gun laws failing us with deadly consequences, allowing a cold-blooded killer to easily acquire the tools of mass murder even from another country. How many more innocent people need to die before we realize that some simple, common-sense gun safety laws in the United States could actually save lives?" --Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) on the Norway massacre, while her pals call conservatives "terrorists"

"They used to say that Richard Nixon had a 'secret plan' in the 1968 presidential campaign to end the Vietnam War. President Barack Obama outdid Nixon with a secret plan to control the deficit. He kept telling us of all the virtues of his plan. It was balanced, responsible, courageous and fair. It was just very, very secret." --columnist Rich Lowry

"President Obama admitted in a Kansas City radio interview the next election will be a referendum on him and his presidency. The White House quickly clarified his statement. What the president meant to say is that Bush has screwed up left field so badly that nobody can play it." --comedian Argus Hamilton

"Someone said President Obama was wrong for telling the American people to call their representatives about the debt ceiling. If there's one thing that congressmen hate, it's being told what to do by the people that put them there." --comedian Jay Leno

More: http://patriotpost.us/edition/2011/08/03/chronicle/

Dufus of the day–Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)

Ackerman lectures global warming skeptics and Congressional Republicans on thedifference between "science" and "belief".   He then gives you his version of the "science" that he "believes" proves his point

 

Yes, folks, fogged glasses prove it, he believes it and that settles it.

He is right about one thing – there is global climate change – just as there has been for millions and millions of years.   In the end his plea is for a few measly million dollars to "save the planet."

What's wrong with you people – after that elegant and eloquent speech, how can you not pitch a half billion his way?

I'm just happy to see someone else pointing out that global climate change is an ongoing cycle, and that humans are simply along for the ride. We might as well burn those dollars to keep warm, since this idiot is not going to do anything more productive with it. 

http://www.qando.net/?p=11151

Do Americans care about the debt ceiling?

I doubt it. 

I also doubt most Americans even understand it, let alone care. Let someone else fix it. Why should I care? It's not my job.

Politicians and financial experts warn of economic collapse if there's no deal to raise the ceiling by next week. The vast majority of Americans don't share that concern, according to a survey.

As congressional leaders continue to duel ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling without signs of a deal, a large contingent of respondents to a recent MSN Money poll make clear what they think of the matter: They're sick of hearing about the whole thing.

From July 19-22, just more than 9,100 readers voted in the informal online poll, which asked, "Are you concerned about the debt ceiling?"

Forty-three percent answered that they were sick of hearing about it, while 39% reported feeling a little concern. Only 15% said they were concerned enough that the issue keeps them up at night, and a small minority, 3%, said they didn't know anything about the issue....

Most people are more concerned about who is on Dancing with the Stars this week, or whatever distraction they can find so they don't have tho think about the dark reality looming on the horizon.

More Here..

The Gang of Six is back

Gangs of anything are rarely good things.  And when it comes to the Senate's Gang of Six, that caution is doubly true.  Today the Gang proposed a bipartisan deficit plan to which the president–eager to kick the deficit can down the road past the 2012 election–gave his qualified approval.  There is only this summary (PDF) available at the moment, and there is much to digest.
The good news is that there is at least some sanity in it.

• Personal and corporate income taxes would be reduced to a top rate of 29%.
• The Alternative Minimum Tax–which has turned into a horrific taxation burden–will be eliminated.
• The CLASS Act provision of Obamacare would be repealed.

The bad news–and there's always bad news with these guys–is that the budget reduction portion of it is notional.  As usual in Washington, it calls "cuts" what the rest of us would call "reductions in the rate of spending increases".  In other words, spending isn't actually reduced at any point, they just promise not to spend as much as they previously said they would. The main problem points include:

• None of the plan's "spending caps" apply to entitlement programs, only discretionary spending. So the 800-pound gorilla of the budget remains untouched.
• Reform tax expenditures for health, charitable giving, homeownership, and retirement. These aren't expenditures! They are allowing you to keep your money for IRAs, 401(k)s, Mortgage interest, etc.  So, that sounds…ominous. Especially since the plan assumes that these, and similar reforms will net an additional $1 trillion in revenue.
• No reform at all of Medicare of Medicaid.
• A politically-imposed requirement to use the Chained-CPI as an inflation measure, presumably to cut down on cost-of-living increases, as the Chained-CPI understates inflation even more than the current CPI does.
• Requires the tax code to become more "progressive", so you can expect serious increases in Capital Gains taxes.
• No Social Security reform at all, unless there's 60 votes for it in the Senate, i.e., sponsors for such reform prior to its submittal to the Senate for consideration. So, essentially, never.

There's no information at all on how big or expensive government will be, say 10 years down the road. No information on how strict the spending caps will be, making me expect another Gramm-Rudmann deal: Good on paper, ineffective in practice.
Basically, this plan, so far as I can tell, contains some eye-candy on income taxes to draw in the supply-siders, with the actual deficit reduction portion sounding…sketchy. Or in the case of entitlements, by far the source of most federal spending, non-existent.

http://www.qando.net/?p=11113