There is no security - What he said: “If you're under 40 years old and you're counting on Social Security for your retirement, you're a fool.”

Do you know those “retirement worksheets” that are published regularly in Fortune or Money magazine? There’s typically a line for “expected Social Security benefits” which I always fill in as “zero.” The reason is that I’ve persistently saved a somewhat large percentage of my salary into a 401(k) account and I expect to have a nice nest egg when I retire. Furthermore, I am absolutely certain that the government will look at that accumulated savings and say: “You don’t need Social Security.” That is, I fully expect that the government will punish me for saving responsibly for my golden years.

Hey, I’ll be pleasantly surprised if I’m wrong. Heck, I’ll be happy just to receive the 72% level of my originally-promised benefits (once the Trust Fund is exhausted). But for now I’m anticipating the reverse “Ant and the Grasshopper” scenario complete with me sitting on a park bench, lamenting my failure to spend recklessly on Harley-Davidsons and big-screen TVs.

Alert – James Lileks has a brand-new screed up.

Of course we were! – AJ Strata says “The Coalition of the Chillin’ was right”

A post that doesn't mention Cindy Sheehan - HBO has been showing re-runs of the original "Bad News Bears" and I always love the part where Tanner tells the Yankees to shove their trophy where the sun don't shine. Here's the wave file from the Daily Wave.

Future Supreme Court Justice John Roberts tells Jacko to “Beat It”

Demonstrating remarkable foresight and judgment of character, John Roberts turned away publicity plugs for Michael Jackson at the height of the pop-star’s popularity:

In 1984, Mr. Roberts twice wielded his wit to stop other White House staff members from writing letters for Mr. Reagan lauding Michael Jackson for charitable work.

"I recognize that I am something of a vox clamans in terris in this area, but enough is enough," he wrote in a memorandum in June 1984, using the approximate Latin for "voice crying in the wilderness." He added, "The Office of Presidential Correspondence is not yet an adjunct of Michael Jackson's P.R. firm."

Three months later, Mr. Roberts was batting away a new request. "I hate to sound like one of Mr. Jackson's records, constantly repeating the same refrain, but I recommend that we not approve this letter." He noted that a press report that said some young fans were turning from Mr. Jackson "in favor of a newcomer who goes by the name 'Prince.' "

Heh-heh: “not yet.” I’ve heard a lot of conservatives worrying that Roberts may be “another Souter.” Not a chance. Nobody this funny could be a liberal.

Worst job ever – “A top aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the Al-Qaeda operation in Iraq, who has played a key role in masterminding several high-profile suicide bombing in the country, has been killed by Iraqi security forces, defense officials confirmed Sunday.”

And there’s this – One of the Bali bombers shot dead.

Better than McAuliffe? - Howard Dean doesn’t disappoint on “Face the Nation”

Ben Affleck is a tool

From Slate:

According to the Star, the actor, who recently wed Jennifer Garner, "stunned the faithful" in an Idaho church by standing up during prayer services and saying, "My name is Ben Affleck and this is my wife, Jennifer, from Los Angeles!"

That’s right Ben: even in the Lord’s House, it’s all about you.

Extra – More Affleck news: “Good Will Stinking” Hey, now, I predict "Resistance" will be just as popular as "Commander-in-Chief." (That is, four episodes and out.)

Three score and ten years ago - Blog Americana notes that Social Security was structured during a time when most homes didn’t have electricity, yet it's impervious to modern-day restructuring.

Update – Just for the record, Paul Krugman wasted his Social Security article today with the typical sniping at the Bush Administration and (still!) not a single proposed measure that might extend the program’s solvency. Matt Hoy has updated his banner and it’s now been 217 days since Krugman first promised “in the next few weeks” to “suggest steps to strengthen the program.” Still waiting.

Hamilton, Gorelick and Kean, oh my! – The 9/11 commission part 2, Electric Boogaloo, over at The Right Place.

White House Hires First Female Head Chef – Charles Schumer immediately demanded that she release all of her recipes and declare whether or not she had ever baked “special” brownies while in college. Fortunately, Laura Bush gave the chef a recess appointment.

Sticking it to the man, by shopping

Retailers in Massachusetts were pleasantly surprised by the huge turnout this past weekend as shoppers took advantage of a tax free weekend:

Inundated with shoppers on a sultry, summer weekend, giddy retailers said yesterday that the state's first-ever Saturday and Sunday without a sales tax could end up being the most profitable weekend of the year, beating the $500 million in sales that shops usually reap during the final weekend rush in late December.

There’s a coalescing belief that Bay Staters may have rushed to the stores in a display of protest against Beacon Hill:

Customers said they had many reasons to shop yesterday, beating the government not least among them.
Many acknowledged a certain frisson at the idea of saving 5 percent from the state -- shopping as civil disobedience.

Some of the Freedom Shoppers were heard singing “We Shall Overspend.”

Social Security’s insolvency is a “cold, actuarial fact”

If there’s no reform of the system, get ready for either a 50% increase in payroll taxes or an automatic 29% cut in benefits. The government simply cannot squeeze any more revenue out of the already high 12.4% payroll tax rate, up from the original rate of 1%.

Is this what FDR had in mind when he signed the law 70 years ago, that all workers would have over 12% of their income stripped away? I rather doubt it. (HT: Social Security Choice)

Bay Staters don’t want their nickel back

According to the Boston Globe, Massachusetts residents are just chucking away bottles and cans rather than gather them up for the 5-cent deposit: “Is it still worth it for a nickel? Return rate declining for bottle, can deposits”:

Is the bottle deposit law half empty or half full?

That's the question that came to mind last week after the state Revenue Department released preliminary figures showing another drop in bottle and can returns.

The figures indicate consumers returned and recovered their nickel deposits on 65.7 percent of the 2.2 billion bottles and cans they purchased during the fiscal year that ended June 30. That's the lowest percentage since the bottle deposit law took effect in 1983 and way off the peak of 87 percent in 1995.

I wonder what special new law will be passed by the busybodies on Beacon Hill to force us to recycle. Save Gaia!

Air America update

I wanted to write about this the other day, but I plum forgot. Anyway, Friday morning I was flipping around my XM radio to AA’s “Morning Sedition” and one of the hosts was complaining that conservatives/Republicans “need to label people” so that they can attack them. I snorted. My God, do these guys hear what they’re saying? One of the hosts of MS (Mark Riley I think) regularly and reflexively refers to conservatism as a “neo-con death cult” and Christians as a “crypto-fascist zombie brigade.”

These guys are completely off the rails, living in that Bush Derangement Bubble that fixates on Diebold voting machines in Palm Beach. It’s not just that, in the words of Brainster: “It's painful to listen to: it's all doom and gloom. Everything's awful and getting worse.” Air America would still be an unentertaining, although passable diversion, if they had an iota of rhetorical integrity. But they don’t make the slightest effort towards reality; instead it’s 24-7 of preaching to the choir with tinfoil conspiracy theories, sloppy logic, and outright falsehoods. Who can listen to this bile more than a week? I can’t believe they’ve lasted as long as they have, even with interest-free loans from Boys and Girls clubs.

Extra – Speaking of transparent bias, here’s the Radio Equalizer on the New York Times’ coverage of the Air Enron story. Would the Times wait so long to report a story of embezzlement by Rush Limbaugh’s radio network? Ha-ha – good one.

Update your bookmark - One of my fave sites, Mark Coffey's Decision 08 has moved into new digs.

A quiz

Guess who’s going to be on a Sunday morning talk show tomorrow? Specifically, “Meet the Press.”

He’s a U.S. Senator.
He’s a Senator from Delaware.
It’s not Tom Carper.

Give up? It’s Joe Biden. Yes, I’m as surprised as you are!

People hate taxes and love picking on the French – Tourism to France way down: “The Ministry of Tourism said at the end of July the 2005 summer season was set to be disappointing, despite better weather than the year before.” I believe the term for happiness at the misfortune of the French is "Chirac-enfreude."

Christmas in August – There’s a sales tax holiday this weekend in Massachusetts and shoppers are crowding into the stores: “Sales tax holidays have proved a catalyst to shopping, generating customer traffic in the dog days of summer that has been compared to the Christmas season.” All this for a 5% discount? It’s an indisputable fact of life: people hate taxes.

The Amazing Race jumps the shark – “If you haven't been following the early reports on the new season, here's the bottom line: According to online reports and some published stories, the cycle of "Amazing Race'' that begins Sept. 27 is, at best, disappointing and, at worse, a mess.” Oh dear. Well, Kris, Lorie and I will be covering the new season so set your bookmarks. (BTW, I’m getting caught up with the older episodes so I’ll be a true and thorough TAR fan by late-September).