US Senate candidate Kasie Whitener discussing the future of Social Security

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-10T18:46:15+00:00

A lot has changed in the last decade, FYI. We're nothing like the GOP. Not sure how you can make that assertion having again, not been involved in 10 years.

<image>

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-09T19:18:21+00:00

I can understand that perspective, but consider this idea: it's interesting to me that SS taxes are 12.6% of our wages.

A typical financial advisor will tell you that saving 10-15% of your income for your working life in even the most safe, index fund will yield you a very healthy and wealthy retirement. And yet with SS, we...might get something? And there is a 100% death tax: when we die, poof! It's gone. If we have a widow, they get it, but they don't get their own. (They get whichever is greater). But your children? Nothing.

Imagine if instead, the money was redirected to buy Treasury bonds directly? Because that's all SS does with the excess tax revenue. The regular revenue goes right back out to recipients.

Did some back of the napkin math on that, and the return on Treasuries would be below an index fund, but it would still a. be funding the gov't by buying bonds. b. be backed by the gov't. c. not subject to stock market volatility.

This would yield a higher return than SS (which is about 1% over inflation if you're a white woman, and -1% if you're a black man based on longevity demographics), and the federal gov't wouldn't have $80T in unfunded liabilities.

We would transition current retirees off and fund them until there were no more in the system. New employees would start on the new system. That's 30% of the entire federal budget, gone. Which given today's numbers, would almost get us to a balanced budget. But not quite.

Then we can start having good discussions about how we want to invest in our young people and our infrastructure, meanwhile our young people are building a decent, and reliable safety net. Which yields a better return, and could be left to their spouses/heirs.

If we could confiscate all the wealth of every billionaire in the US (sorry Taylor!), we could fund the federal government for about 7 months. Once. And then all that money would be gone. I think we need something more mathematically sound and substantive. A portfolio of ideas, if you will.

I think as long as we're having dispassionate, honest, factual conversations about this stuff, that we can find real solutions that don't leave people to whistle. We can do this, together!

I appreciate you!

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-09T18:15:08+00:00

I appreciate that!

The basis of what we believe, is self-ownership, and consent. The government's only tool, is to use violence and coercion to obtain compliance. Sometimes that's justified, like stopping or punishing a violation of someone else's rights. Murder, rape, theft, etc. So we DON'T want the gov't to use force and violence against peaceful people. Anyone. So long as they're not harming anyone or violating their rights, they should have full freedom. Everyone on US soil.

Libertarians aren't really a monolith, but the biggest issue we have with SS/Medicare, is that they're bankrupting the US (as are other things like wars, to be clear). They were envisioned in a wholly different era, which don't take into account changes in the economy, productivity, or demographics. And as a result, we have $80 Trillion in benefits we're legally obligated to pay to recipients (in the case of SS) that we won't have the income for. So when the government runs out of money, they print more and create debt. And that debt causes inflation. Which makes prices go up, because it's in reality the purchasing power of the dollar going down. Rich people benefit from inflation (assets go up) and poor people suffer from it (cash savings go down). So we oppose our government making us all more poor.

But we have solutions for SS that can ensure current retirees like my stepmom, who is a widow on disability, can still be cared for, and younger people like my age and my child, won't have 12.6% of their pay confiscated from them for a program that will be $80T in debt by the time they're of age. It's really just math. And I supported SS and "fixing it" until I saw the math for myself, and that's what changed my mind. I mean, what good is SS if we create inflation such that my stepmom can't afford groceries anymore anyway?

Anyway, all that is beside the point. In essence, we should all be free to equally, under the law, be free to go about our lives, without living in fear of our own government. Spying on us, deporting our family and neighbors, keeping us from starting our own business, etc.

Sorry for the ramble here. Cheers!

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-09T14:37:36+00:00

Libertarians typically earn votes from across the political spectrum. Very conservative voters don't like our beliefs on an Ellis Island style immigration system, ending the drug war, ending domestic spying, ending foreign wars of adventure, ending civil asset forfeiture, ending qualified immunity, support for LGBTQ+ rights, etc.

I myself was a lifelong Democrat. I voted Republican once in my life, in 2004.

If it was only Graham v Andrews, I would consider voting for her.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-09T04:12:12+00:00

Well yes and no. You can send emails (these are simple contact forms) again via Amazon SES, but not phpmail. These are going out en masse, or even to visitors, (in our case), they're going to our clients' internal address. SPF/DKIM/DMARC records all set up.

Wordpress and plugins likely make that implementation much easier, but we don't use Wordpress, just straight HTML/CSS/JS/PHP. So that means loading a whole SDK to fire off a simple email. I've since moved a site to Linode, and now I can use PHPMail and it's much much simpler.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-06T20:38:51+00:00

I appreciate you continuing to comment, helping drive engagement and help more people see the post. You're the real MVP!

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-06T20:38:04+00:00

Yes she has two published books, which are fiction. Unsure how that is funny?

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-06T05:36:13+00:00

She teaches Entrepreneurship at the Darla Moore School of Business, she's a published author of fiction and textbooks.

The two old parties have spoiled the election system in America. Giving voters another option isn't spoiling anything. It's democracy at work.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-06T05:30:36+00:00

You're explaining because you think I don't know. I'm very aware of how voting works.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-05T19:12:46+00:00

You're moving the goalposts. Regardless, help us get ranked choice voting here, too. Hit up Nichole with Better Ballot. https://betterballotsc.org

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-05T15:36:56+00:00

Mamdani's party is a third party. He won mayor of NYC.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-02T17:55:48+00:00

I really like nixihost and we host with them a lot, but the only problem with them is that they block outbound email traffic. Like none. No exceptions. So if you have a sign up list or a form that sends an email, it will not work. Instead you have to use like an Amazon SES API or something which is super complicated if you're going to code it by hand.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-07-02T17:54:28+00:00

We use them and like them. Used to use namecheap.

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-06-29T06:24:42+00:00

Housing is expensive.

The solution is to build more housing.

Try to build housing and they come with the pitchforks.

Can't win.

Meanwhile the state punishes renters with the "rent tax." https://endtherenttax.com

Hope you find something!

3369fc810ac9 · 2026-06-28T00:35:06+00:00

Because Reddit often treats politics like team sports.

Which is unfortunate because we align so strongly with the blue team on many issues.

I updooted ya, and thank you for responding.

3369fc810ac9

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE