Braineack

iTrader: (62)

that's extremism.

fooger03

iTrader: (2)

Bring back personal responsibility - everyone wins.

YOU are responsible for getting a job that pays you a living wage, not the Government.
YOU are responsible for keeping your body healthy enough that health insurance covers you, not the Government.
YOU are responsible for how you pay your bills if you dont have a job, not the Government.
YOU are responsible for putting food on your plate and the plates of all 18 of your children, not the Government.

Repeal the minimum wage, Re-index social security with life expectancy, substantially cut back welfare (enough for spam/water/shared rent for 2 months, then half that for the next 2 months), de-regulate health insurance (if insurance drops you after your $300,000 triple bypass surgery at 36 years old, then you should have made better life decisions - **** off, eat a salad, and go for a run), and watch America grow.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

OMG, SO EXTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111111111on e

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I think the above is more important than anything else in this thread (besides the concurring vid Jason posted).

I'm ready to just downsize government...period. Why are we spending more money than we can raise? If I did this with my family budget the bank would laugh at me when I asked for more. I wish the first time a budget deficit ever came up we all could have hit the "STOP" button.

Our government has become accustomed to spending as much as it wants. This leads not only to more taxes, but less overall concern with how the money is being spent...and the result is more waste, with an ever-growing national debt.

I can gaurantee you I am more productive and charitable with my own money than the government is. Despite still being in school I manage to help out several people I know...as well as strangers. I would only do so more often were I given back a good chunk of that 1/5th of my pay that is taken from me each year.

I'm also tired of being made to feel guilty about the way I feel. I'm tired of being told I should want to help the -insert entitled group here- out. I have a right to be mad...and a right to be stingy and selfish...I WORKED for it. If you and I are both sitting in the same lecture...myself paying attention and taking notes...and you on your iPhone...then when they pass out the quiz at the end of class there is no reason why I should have to share my knowledge with you so that you can pass. I worked hard to be able to pass that...as well as all of life's other tests. And when I fail I may complain...but in the end I have only myself to blame.

jasonb

in principle sure makes sense, so it must have been pretty embarrassing when part of the bay bridge broke and they had to close it down. it was obvious they were just taking the money and spending it on something else besides highway projects.

as far as i remember there wasn't a huge public outcry, so i guess everybody has grown to expect such things.

i could totally fix this. fees and taxes (at local level) automatically expire unless they can justify them and can show an audit trail of what benefit we have received. you know... give us the value prop guys.

that new Benicia span is good and a lot of folks use it. money well spent.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I'm ******* exhausted. I've been working hard all freakin' morning just to keep the black man down. It is really wearing me out.

Who would have thought it would have cost so much of my money every month to keep a group of people enslaved on public handouts? At the end of the day it sure is worth it, though. I'd hate for all those people to have jobs...

I'm all about freedom first and all else second. It starts with taxes. We will never be free as long as there are income taxes.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

There is probably a lower limit where it makes financial sense to tax people. At some point, sending the IRS after joe poverty is going to cost more than it will generate.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

So then you'd agree that there is also a lower limit where it makes financial sense to hand back tax monies?

At some point the redistribution of wealth is squandered when it's used in a never-ending cycle of sustenance for dependents instead of generating more wealth.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

The government consumes wealth. It has never created any wealth. The government is a parasite. And it has smaller parasites getting fat sucking on it. I treat my dog with Frontline to kill fleas and ticks. I'm just sayin'...

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Here's a little food for thought for the "tax the poor" crew: A majority of people, including a majority of rich people (250k+/yr), think that rich people should be taxed to reduce the deficit.

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1295.xml?ReleaseID=1438

Question 49. Do you think - raising income taxes on households making more than $250,000
...should or should not be a main part of any government approach to the deficit?

Households making >250k/yr: 64% YES
Households making 100-250k/yr: 51% YES
Households making 50-100k/yr: 61% YES
Households making <50k/yr: 64% YES

y8s

iTrader: (8)

I guess that depends on how it's handed back. If it's in the form of a service to all citizens, then it's really just a scaling issue. I forget how GWBush's "stimulus payment" was handled--if it was through the IRS or some other means. And FWIW, I felt those were lame.

Government was never intended to be a profit making entity. The idea is that you pay into a common service to get a common benefit. Infrastructure support isn't a profitable business either, but we all need it to some degree.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Here's another fun one:

WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP, estimate government welfare spending as a percentage of total government spending. Then estimate the percentage of people who derive 50% or more of their income from welfare, as well as the percentage of people that recieve some form of assistance.

Warned

Not only was the government not intended to make a profit, they were not intended to create jobs, own companies or create welfare states. I don’t need them to take my money and redistribute it to some lazy SOB that is three generation into welfare.

I say hide the food stamps under their work boots and let them starve to death.

And you can't give a tax "refund" to someone who doesn't pay taxes. Robin hood tried that and it didn't last long.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I'm a bit inebriated, so please forgive any gross grammatical faux pas. And second, let me be clear: I am not anti-American. I am, in fact, a first-generation American, from a long line of folks who have been fucked by one dictator after another.

But, what is freedom? So far as I can tell, Bob the Indigent Homeless Guy who lives under the bridge is more "free" than any of us here. He is free from a mortgage, free from income taxes, free from the burden of any kind of employer or client relationship, free from jury duty, free from being guilted into giving to United Way... So far as Websters' is concerned, Bob enjoys more Freedom than damn near anybody.

And yet I wouldn't trade places with Bob.


For the past week and a half I've been in Germany, mostly living and working "among the people". That is to say that I'm working at a shipyard, and staying at a nice but not extravagant hotel in a tiny little town where not many folks speak English.

And the people here seem happy.

They pay more in tax than we do in the US, they have a somewhat less accountable government, and the GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) is less than in the US. And yet they are a net export country (surplus, rather than deficit), are head and shoulders above the US in terms of conservation and renewable / sustainable energy, the roads are awesome, the food is good... I don't think they even recognize the concept of a speed trap.

I can't quite put into words what I'm getting at here. If you're smart, I think you'll figure it out. Otherwise, CR.net is back up.




Probably <1% and <10%.

Welfare ain't the problem. It's an easy target, but not the big ticket item.

GTRicky

dude, i don't want to be given to mexico... I like my state.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

from the "liberal" wikipedia:



Though to be fair, social security is taking in more than it gives away.

The DoD on the other hand needs to invade some countries with diamond and/or gold mines... freedom isn't free!

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

I will admit that I voted for Obama...and for this very reason. He told us he'd get us out of the desert fast...and implied that he'd scale back defense spending.

Haven't seen either...but I guess I wouldn't really expect any candidate from our two parties to really take on the military industrial complex.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Huh, well that's a far larger chunk than I'd honestly have expected.

What is "other mandatory spending"? I mean, if I consider rent to be "other mandatory spending" in my own personal budget, then I pay nearly $1,500 a month for "pornography, hats with ****** on them, and other mandatory spending."

Reverant

iTrader: (10)

Loki79

I just keep editing this post, and I'll never get done, so I'll just skip it.
I'm very happy I don't have to struggle with the problems you have.

Tip of the day: Move to Norway.

As for the health system, it all free in Norway with small deductables adding up to a maximum of about $300 a year. After that, -everything- is free exept dental care. They're even considering adding that into the health care system.
If a country is able to create jobs for everyone, health care systems like ours is no problem to maintain. Everyone pays tax, so everyone pays for the health care. And you never have to fear to not get treated or to get into debt for the rest of your life because your insurance assfucked you after you were hospitalized.
I almost vomitted after watching "Sicko", and even though it is extremities, situations like that should never happen.