Page 68 - Rich Dad's Increase Your Financial IQ: Get Smarter with Your Money

Then President Clinton, a Democrat, entered office. After having a little
trouble with his zipper, he left office claiming to have balanced the budget

and not increased the national debt. Of course, just as he lied about his sex
life, he lied about balancing the budget. He “balanced” the budget by
counting tax dollars for Social Security and Medicare as income. Instead of
the money going into the Social Security trust fund, he spent it. That would

be like him taking money from his daughter’s college fund to buy a new
dress for Monica.
Clinton, however, did speak one truth during his term of office. He
admitted that there was no such thing as a Social Security trust fund. During

his presidency, Medicare began to operate in the red, meaning more money
was going out than coming in. Soon, Social Security will be in the same
predicament, as 78 million baby boomers begin to retire in 2008.
Enter the second President Bush. Uniting the world after 9/11, he then

used his popularity to wage war against Iraq, on unsubstantiated claims.
Today, he is one of the most unpopular presidents in history. Not only was
the war a disaster, but in order to prevent a disaster in the economy, the
Federal Reserve Bank cut interest rates and flooded the world with funny

money under his watch. After just five years in office, President Bush has
borrowed more money than all other U.S. presidents in history combined.
The current subprime crisis is the fruit of his economic policies.
All of this is to say it doesn’t matter which party is elected into office. If

it’s Democrats, they will probably tax and spend. If it’s Republicans, they
will probably borrow and spend. The net result is the same: greater debt,
bigger financial problems, and higher taxes. All funded by taking as much
of your money as possible.

ARE YOU A CAPITALIST OR A SOCIALIST?

There is a joke I heard years ago, explaining the difference between a
socialist and a capitalist. One day a socialist knocked on a farmer’s door

and asked him to join the local socialist party. Not knowing what a socialist
was, the farmer asked for an example of socialist behavior. The socialist
said, “If you have a cow, then everyone in the village can have some of the
milk from your cow. It’s called sharing the wealth.”

“That sounds good,” said the farmer.