....it was first said by Tom Paine, yeah, that Thomas Paine, listening to a bunch of colonials in Boston in the late 1700s, bitching about King George and the British:

If you can't stand them why don't you go out and start your own country.....

I repeat, that was in the late 1700s. They did just that.

....but time also allows for the Red Sox to return the favors.

Wait till next year...........

....and other such stuff, if they didn't go into debt.

Debt is about the ability and willingness to pay, AND the credit record of the debtor.

When was the last time the United States flat out did not pay its just debts?

In the immortal words of Donald Trump: Debt is good! I like it. That's how I got rich. And I never went bankrupt.

I, and my friend, have seen many of our contemporaries live only a few years and then they are gone. But that happens with people collecting on other forms of annuities.

And yes, my friend gets Veterans disability for service connection.

I, or rather, my friend, paid: $8,438. His employers paid: $3,231. That's $11,669.

Estimate of annual payments received from Social Security for 17 years: @ $600.00 per month or $7,200 X 17 = $122,400.

Hello, Wall Street? Now what's the return on that investment?

That friend contributed for many years but was in the military so his pay and his contributions were low. His Social Security statement says it all.

And a record of his monthly payments multiplied by 12 and then by 17 years of collecting, so far, indicate what I have posted.

I researched that case when someone posted somewhere that Social Security was a bad investment. It is indeed if you die within 5 or even 10 years. But the longer you live and collect the better the investment returns. And I, I mean my friend, has been collecting for 17 years.

Any more questions?

....who paid something around $18,000 into Social Security and so far has collected $122,400.

By all means, that study should be done.

".....the idea that the amendment — which essentially stipulates that government cannot spend more than it takes in — is necessary and good."

That is a good idea but the only problem is, Social Security, Medicare etc are non budgetary items.

So if Social Security incoming cash and Social Security outgoing payments are not counted as part of the budget.......then what?

I want to see or hear the details and here is why....

Neither major political party when in power wants its hands tied with a balanced budget stipulation. Republicans are bullshitting the people again. They know this will fail.

It won't get through congress - 2/3 of each chamber must pass it - and it takes 38 states to ratify.

Keep your hip boots and shovels and your keyboards handy.

I want to see an amendment to the constitution that removes partisan politics from the budget preparation process.

I am dreaming? Yeah, maybe. But I would still like to see a neutral process based on numbers and simple logic.

In any case, I would like to see details on any proposed amendment to the constitution that would hobble the nation if wrongly configured.

CNN host asks whether the demand is for a voye or actual passage - 2/3 of each chamber. He refused to comment.

Isn't Obama the leader of the Democratic Party?

From a comment upthread....

A constitutional amendment proposal has to be passed by 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate and ratified by 3/4 of the states, within any time limit set by Congress, usually 7 years.

Look at what "insignificants" and their social networking did in Egypt. That was some kind of bloodless (almost) revolution.

The Founders warned of the kind of damage factional politics could do to us, their descendants. But they did nothing about these massive loopholes in the constitution they framed. The economic lifeline of the new republic was left in the hands of a legislative body that indeed became factional almost immediately.

"Super-congress"? I dunno. Not if it is the same as the present congress - factional and all. There has to be another way.

Power is money. Political power is big money and whoever controls the political bodies of government controls the huge amount of money used to run government.

How can we change the budget process to a neutral one, studied and prepared apolitically and without regard for any special interests?

Or do we need to get out our social networking tools and have our own revolution and jump start this republic all over again?