Eisboch wrote:
wrote in message
t...
On Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:15:41 -0400, Eisboch wrote:


No they are not. The Norwegians are using their oil wealth to pay for
a social welfare system.
When demand for oil begins to ease, they will need to sell many more
cans of sardines to maintain their social utopia.

Eisboch
It may not be enough, but Norway has used it's oil wealth more
intelligently than most.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl....w-OS-main-31/
BNStory/oilsands


By the way, Norway's oil production has peaked.



Absolutely true, and they have a tremendous cash surplus. They have taken
advantage of the age of oil.

My point is that when that revenue stream erodes and the cash is used .....
what then?
This may sound harsh or crude, but it's much more difficult for all
concerned to take welfare benefits away from people than it is to have never
made them available to begin with. The Social Security program in the US
is a good example. Over the years it has become a political hot button as
changes are made, benefits are reduced or restricted (by age) in attempts to
keep it solvent.

Eisboch






Easy solution...take the earnings cap off Social Security, and apply the
tax to *total* income, no matter its source, and double or treble the
rates for income over a certain very high level, including "deferred"
income.


--
I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do
something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do
the something that I can do. What I can do, I should do. And what I
should do, by the grace of God, I will do.

— Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909)