Who has a better chance of winning with Obama?

[Ideologue]

Do you guys seriously think that the US is going to return to pre-Roosevelt provision for the elderly over the next 30-40 years?

What? No fucking way. Nor the post-Roosevelt provision either.

We have IRAs and 401ks now--the greatest thing the federal government has done for the US Citizen since the abolition of slavery. So, while we may continue to get diminishing returns from our SSA compared to our forefathers, we'll still be light years better off than they were.

Need I remind you of the ATOM BOMB?

That was, of course, done for the good of all humanity--not just US citizens.   

You answer wisely.

[DGuller]

We've been over this before.  Insurance companies can guarantee, in a way that only government and financial institutions can, some level of income in retirement for everyone through annuities.

They can't truly guarantee it.  Life insurance companies can go belly up en masse (and almost did a couple of years ago if not for TARP).  There are some state guarantee provisions, but they are highly unlikely to be of much use if the shit truly hits the fan.

[DGuller]

I said moral hazard could be managed.  I didn't say it could be eliminated.  Well, actually it could if we wanted to be brutally indifferent.

We could also keep it eliminated by just keeping the system as is. 

[Admiral Yi]

They can't truly guarantee it.  Life insurance companies can go belly up en masse (and almost did a couple of years ago if not for TARP).  There are some state guarantee provisions, but they are highly unlikely to be of much use if the shit truly hits the fan.

OK, we'll treat the near mass extinction of insurance companies as another "never mind" moment I suppose.

The US federal government also can't truly guarantee it either.

[Admiral Yi]

We could also keep it eliminated by just keeping the system as is. 

I just came up with another option: we could eliminate the system we have now and manage the moral hazard. 

[DGuller]

OK, we'll treat the near mass extinction of insurance companies as another "never mind" moment I suppose.

The US federal government also can't truly guarantee it either.

The degree of uncertainty has to be lower for the government than for for-profit enterprises, though.

[Admiral Yi]

The degree of uncertainty has to be lower for the government than for for-profit enterprises, though.

Are there no AAA insurance companies?  There must be.

[DGuller]

We could also keep it eliminated by just keeping the system as is. 

I just came up with another option: we could eliminate the system we have now and manage the moral hazard. 

That's like saying that we can blow up the levee and manage the flooding problem.

[DGuller]

The degree of uncertainty has to be lower for the government than for for-profit enterprises, though.

Are there no AAA insurance companies?  There must be.

[Admiral Yi]

That's like saying that we can blow up the levee and manage the flooding problem.

Except for the words "we," "can," and "manage" I don't see the similarity.

[Admiral Yi]

[Habbaku]

[garbon]

Are there no AAA insurance companies?  There must be.

I had AAA insurance. It was rather expensive so I switched to Geico.

[Ideologue]

I don't get it.

[Eddie Teach]

I don't get it.

The meme of copying people's smilies, or the joke about one of the credit agencies downgrading the US government's rating?