SNAFU and FUBAR

Member Group : Lefty's Logic

Any reader who wore the uniform knows exactly what SNAFU and FUBAR represent.
For the benefit of other family members we’ll slightly modify a word in these acronyms to explain. SNAFU is shorthand for : Situation Normal- All Fouled Up. FUBAR stands for: Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. Either acronym is perfect in describing most, if not all, government run programs today that negatively impact the lives of folks pulling the cart.

My Progressive friends immediately sound the alarm. These social do-gooders were
formally known as Liberals until they fouled the nest so badly they recently changed their moniker to Progressives. They counter my SNAFU and FUBAR labeling of government run programs by pointing with pride to their hallmarks: Social Security, Medicare, and more recently the granddaddy of them all: The Affordable Care Act aka- Obama Care. Let’s examine why these well intentioned programs are financially unsustainable.

Turn back the clock to the enactment of Social Security during the FDR era of the New Deal. Initially, the program was good for our senior citizens who didn’t live as long as we do today. In addition, seniors represented a smaller percentage of the total population when compared to those who were contributing to the pot.

Along came my generation when the program was given two body blows. First,
President Linden Johnson pried open the Trust Fund lock box and began to rob Peter to pay Paul for other government programs including his ill begotten War on Poverty.

Financial insolvency of Social Security was further compounded by longer life
expectancy of recipients and the expansion of benefits for non seniors.
Today we’ve got trouble in River City, and that starts with T, and that rhymes with P, and that stands for Ponzi( as in the SSA scheme). What we have now is a Social Security program that will be bleeding insolvency and doomed to failure during the next generation without massive tax increases.

Just for the record,back in 1962, after paying into Social Security for ten years, I shared a fantasy with several SSA employees. If I could be excused from the program by forfeiting all payments to date and instead invest an equal amount in a private plan, I’d be a happy camper. No dice Lefty, the government knows what is best for you so shut up and pay your taxes!

The equivalent SSA payments invested in a private sinking fund would have resulted in a heck of a lot more than what Uncle Sam doles out through confiscation/redistribution.

Adding insult to injury, is the fact that when I finally "Buy the Farm", my kids won’t inherit a dime of what would have been left in a private retirement fund.
If career politicians and bureaucrats want to fund the less fortunate and those who inevitably game the system they should do it honestly. Use direct taxation on behalf of those groups. Don’t camouflage redistribution of wealth with the repugnant notion that politicians, bureaucrats, and do gooders know what’s best for me.

Medicare, a more recent program, has a projected insolvency do to poor oversight as much as increased life expectancy. Several independent investigations estimate fraud in Medicare claims as high as 25%. and growing at an alarming rate. Medical Savings Accounts are starting to look better for our young workers but don’t hold your breath kids. The concept of self reliance doesn’t fit the Progressive concept of income redistribution through government managed programs. Worked great for the former USSR, didn’t it?

Let me conclude with the crown jewel of progressive income redistribution, The Not So Affordable Care Act better known as Obama Care.

This debacle can only be described as SNAFU and FUBAR on steroids. The lions share of media attention thus far has been focused on the failure of a computer program costing the taxpayer several hundred million dollars. "No big deal", said the White House. The bankruptcy of many government funded renewable resource companies during President Obama’s first term cost several billion( that starts with a B) taxpayer dollars. The Administration yawned then, so why get excited now?

Could it be the main stream media is finally getting religion? I doubt it. More likely it’s the ear shattering outrage of several million taxpayers who just had their health plans canceled. Even a lap dog would bark at that fiasco. Four Pinocchio fibs emanating from the Administration allowed passage of this Frankenstein monster in the first place but Obama media apologists can no longer ignore the taxpayer outrage.

The Administration is working on a solution. Blame Bush? Nah, they rode that pony into the ground. Now it’s blame the evil insurance industry to damped public outrage.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of this Greek tragedy: "Government Knows Best."

Stratton Schaeffer
Retired Consulting Engineer & Farmer
November,2013