Plumber is told:share the wealth

[Star_V8_Quest]

This is what we need,share the wealth.

now,what I want to know,who on here makes more than 75k?

cause I need some cash to fix my gold car...my formula needs some rims/tires.my light bill is high.

ok,come on..pony it up.by god,it is patriotic.

http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=195153

Edited October 13, 2008 by Star_V8_Quest

[Loye]

Didn't Karl Marx have a similar plan?

[chiplee]

I don't understand why it's so terrifying to entertain the possibility that a little redistribution of wealth could be the ethical thing to do. It's not like it's going to stop paying off to be successful. We're not going to give ALL of our money to the government and have them redistribute it as they see fit. Democrats would generally prefer to prevent poverty level families from starving while the very rich blow another $500/mo on good coffee. What is moral and ethical about some of us owning $10,000 refrigerators while others of us have $10,000 homes, and will the owner of the $10,000 refrigerator have to downgrade if he or she is taxed a bit more? No one is advocating full blown Marxism or Communism but how can you not think democrats will get us closer to a healthier happy medium between right wing free market free for all and strict commy classless society?

 

What democratic president from our past made it so horrible to live in America that you conservatives are this afraid?

 

Edit, and yes I'm saying that from the 28% tax bracket and no you can't have a loan to fix your car. I'll assume that's a joke but it kind of speaks to the point that you say that. No one wants "everyone below 75k/year" to get money from "everyone above $75k/year".

 

The very poor, would get a check paid for by the very rich. And?

Edited October 14, 2008 by chiplee

[indy_85stariones]

What really disturbs me is that Bush's Tax Cuts will expire in 2010 -- sooner if we don't have McCain to VETO any proposals "that will spread the wealth around" that will be coming out of Congress.

 

Despite of hits to our economy due to floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters,

 

Bush's Tax Cuts are working, though you would never hear that on Television News...

 

Google "Record Tax Revenue"

 

2006

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/washington/09econ.html

Surprising Jump in Tax Revenues Is Curbing Deficit

 

By EDMUND L. ANDREWS

Published: July 9, 2006

WASHINGTON, July 8 — An unexpectedly steep rise in tax revenues from corporations and the wealthy is driving down the projected budget deficit this year, even though spending has climbed sharply because of the war in Iraq and the cost of hurricane relief.

 

On Tuesday, White House officials are expected to announce that the tax receipts will be about $250 billion above last year's levels and that the deficit will be about $100 billion less than what they projected six months ago. The rising tide in tax payments has been building for months, but the increased scale is surprising even seasoned budget analysts and making it easier for both the administration and Congress to finesse the big run-up in spending over the past year.

 

 

2007

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/10/...in2787123.shtml

Tax Revenues Hit Record High In April

$383.6 Billion Collected, Helping To Lower Budget Imbalance

 

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2007

 

(AP) Federal revenue collections hit an all-time high in April, contributing to a further improvement in the budget deficit for the year.

 

Releasing its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Thursday that through the first seven months of this budget year, the deficit totals $80.8 billion, significantly below the $184.1 billion imbalance run up during the first seven months of the 2006 budget year.

 

So far this year, tax revenues total $1.505 trillion, an increase of 11.2 percent over the same period last year. That figure includes $383.6 billion collected in April, the largest monthly tax collection on record.

 

Tax collections swell in April every year as individuals file their tax returns by the deadline.

 

For the first seven months of this budget year, which began Oct. 1, revenue collections and government spending are at all-time highs.

 

However, the spending total of $1.585 billion was up at a slower pace of 3.2 percent from the previous year.

 

The difference in the growth of tax collections and spending is the reason for the narrowing deficit.

 

Even States are collecting higher tax revenues...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-0...e-revenue_x.htm

Posted 5/25/2005 11:22 PM Updated 5/26/2005 9:43 AM

States take in record $600B

 

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY

State government revenues are soaring again, ending a period of budget shortfalls and prompting proposals for tax cuts and new spending initiatives for the first time since 2000.

Tax collections rose to a record $600 billion in the states last year, up 7.2% over 2003, the biggest increase since 2000. The money is rolling in even faster this year as many states report double-digit revenue increases through April.

Edited October 14, 2008 by indy_85stariones

[Edde]

I don't understand why it's so terrifying to entertain the possibility that a little redistribution of wealth could be the ethical thing to do. It's not like it's going to stop paying off to be successful. We're not going to give ALL of our money to the government and have them redistribute it as they see fit. Democrats would generally prefer to prevent poverty level families from starving while the very rich blow another $500/mo on good coffee. No one is advocating full blown Marxism or Communism but how can you not think democrats will get us closer to a healthier happy medium between right wing free market free for all and strict commy classless society?

 

What democratic president from our past made it so horrible to live in America that you conservatives are this afraid?

 

Edit, and yes I'm saying that from the 28% tax bracket and no you can't have a loan to fix your car. I'll assume that's a joke but it kind of speaks to the point that you say that. No one wants "everyone below 75k/year" to get money from "everyone above $75k/year".

 

The very poor, would get a check paid for by the very rich. And?

 

People seem to forget that the money you are talking about doesn't fall from the sky. It comes from all of us.

 

Why in the world are folks so downright mean and uncaring for their fellow schleps while they care NOT about the treasury being shovled empty to fat multinational cats?

 

I'm guessing the answer is that community is only what you can see. SQC is a great example. The rest of the country, not so much.

[JAinsworth]

There are millionaires that pay less taxes than I do. I don't know about the rest of you common folk, but in my book that bites the big one. That is where I see the redistribution needs to come from.

Jimmy

[Shelby]

you ever wonder why the old store you have bee going to for yrs will one day close down,, week later the building is gone and a new one is going up 1/4 mile down the road , TAX break,, coorp's declare 4 to 10 times building value and use it as a tax write off , more then pays for the new building which is another tax write off

[vbrad511]

So the Bush tax cuts are working? It doesn't matter what you put in print from a year back, what matters is we're at $10 trillion in debt. It's nearly doubled in the last 8 years. Why? What makes what W has done seem so great when you consider that your share of it ( and mine, and every other American's) is some $38,000, and going up by the minute. I've read that the national debt clock can't even keep up with how fast we're sinking. Bottom line, Bush has screwed us all, whether you want to see it or not. Did you know he bought nearly 100,000 acres in Paraguay last year. Do you know why? Speculation has that it'll be a safe haven for him if the next administration decideds to levy war crimes charges against him. Paraguay has no extradition treaty with anybody. Of course he'd better have overseas finances set us somewhere, because they're sure to sieze/freeze any assets he's got here.

This has also been the most secretive administration in the history of the US, and any time somebody looks into anything and wants a Bush crony to testify Bush fobids it and cries "executive priviege". Again,,Why? What's he afraid of?

Spin things all you want, but Bush has been a "miserable failure" (google that for us and tell us what you find) from nearly day one. He's done NOTHING for the bettering of America (remember Bin Laden? How about our still open borders?). He's appointed unqualified friends and business partners to political positions (heck of a job Brownie), who've screwed the pooch under pressure, and you've all given him a pass at every turn. He's taken more vacation time than any other President in US history. In a time of "war". Why? If the man couldn't handle the job, why did he run? Did he not realize going in that daddy wouldn't be able to save him this time? The man will go down as the worst President in US history.

[chiplee]

People seem to forget that the money you are talking about doesn't fall from the sky. It comes from all of us.

 

Why in the world are folks so downright mean and uncaring for their fellow schleps while they care NOT about the treasury being shovled empty to fat multinational cats?

 

I'm guessing the answer is that community is only what you can see. SQC is a great example. The rest of the country, not so much.

 

it flat out kills me that the loudest objectors against socialized health care and wealth redistribution are the folks who typically would seem to benefit from it the most. It would appear they feel these concepts, no matter how carefully they're implemented, will threaten their freedoms, in fact threaten the American dream itself.

 

They'll shoot off about "anyone making over $75k" helping them to fund their next kid's college education or what have you, when no such thing has EVER been suggested by an American politician seeking or occupying the office of president. What is suggested is that the very rich should pay "a very little" more at tax time so that the very poor can have "a very little" more at meal time.

 

Is it the American dream that a select few of us should be born into wealth and enjoy lavish lifestyles while a far less 'select' few are born to crack women of ill repute who were raped and enjoy a life on the street hoping not to get stabbed for their tennis shoes today? Is it really that important to the nature of our beloved land of opportunity that we not take a little from the very fortunate to ensure the very unfortunate are at least not hungry?

 

Can we ever be rid of poverty in a world that doesn't redistribute wealth? If voluntary redistribution in the form of charity were enough would we still have poverty on earth?

 

 

I think Americans on both sides of the election this year are fooling themselves if they think they have enough perspective to have such strong opinions about the other side. We'd all do well to at least entertain the idea that we have it all wrong and work from that assumption for a week or so, trying like hell to find proof of our error vice surrounding ourselves with easily found proof of our correctness. No one listens more intently than a person being reassured that they were right all along.

 

I'll take some time and try to prove to myself that John McCain is the best thing for the Country right now if Star_V8_Quest will do the same with Barack.

[Shelby]

in what way has the national debt effect'd you any of you personaly

don't seem to bother the gov any they are still spending like money is free , need more just print it , the truth is it's all on paper and what you do know about it is only what you have been told ,,now i know it's nearly imposible to think that our gov would dream of lieing to it's people

 

one comercial i love'd was " you can make 95% of all serveys say any thing you want 95 % of the time "

more then a little truth in that

[Lusion972]

I still dont understand how GOLD is considered money/wealth or what ever you may call it. GOLD? It's dug up from the ground...a potato is from the ground does that mean it has value?

[Technology]

Redistribution of wealth is a very Marxist ideal and what people asking for when they ask for it is actually getting money for free, for doing nothing.

 

Bush's tax cuts are not working, as someone a few posts up wrote, for lower income people. They benifit the rich and corporations in an a**-backwards scheme cooked up during the Regan administration. The "trickle down" effect is to the right as redistribution of wealth is to the left.

 

How about a little illustration:

 

Communism--------------------------------------------Center (Where We Should Be)-----------------------Where this thread is going------------------Nazism

[chiplee]

I still dont understand how GOLD is considered money/wealth or what ever you may call it. GOLD? It's dug up from the ground...a potato is from the ground does that mean it has value?

 

http://www.reserveasset.gold.org/monetary_history/

[Shelby]

to a hungry man that potato is worth much more then gold

[Lusion972]

and gold means nothing to me...I understand how gold is considered money but I dont understand WHY its considered money. Why of all things on earth, Gold?

[averse]

Try to make good bling from a spud.

[Starwolf]

I havent read all the replies so my opinion is just coming from what im sure you guys are talking about.

Now in MY opinion i live in a very poor area.

I live in a very small town of Arkansas...and many people here do not make over 20k a year.

So do i think the rich people need to hand down their money to the poverty stricken people. No way.

 

Why???

 

THEY WOULD SPEND IT ON RETARDED s*** LIKE BOOZE OR CIGS!

 

People normally get what they deserve...or they are lucky that their grandparents or so on did.

 

I think this is total bullShiz

 

*second note*

 

Why blame bush? Yeah we are in debt....but the president doesnt have EVERYTHING to say right? its "supposed" to be the peoples vote which isnt true...but im almost 100% positive OBAMA would have went to war after 911...anyone would have because everyone urged it on. At least everyone around here and now they complain about it.

Silly people

[Turborusty]

I came home from a high school football game tonight and my wife informed me that our 8 year old son asked about the guys running for president and said someone in his class wants to vote for Obama.....he wanted to know why.

 

 

After a little background lesson......their conversation played out something like this.

 

MOM: Do you think you should get special prizes and an allowance for doing your chores and helping Dad around the house?

 

Jake: yes, I earned it, I deserve it.

 

MOM: If Thomas sits on his butt watching Spongebob, not helping, should we give him part of your allowance and treats?

 

Jake: wt....?(I added that for effect) why? he didn't do anything to help.....why would he get my stuff that I worked hard for?

 

MOM: Because he lives here too

 

Jake: NO WAY, he needs to earn his own stuff.....I'm voting for McCain.

 

MOM: You'll have to wait ten years Sweetie

 

 

 

Turborusty

Edited October 14, 2008 by Turborusty

[Dcrasta]

and gold means nothing to me...I understand how gold is considered money but I dont understand WHY its considered money. Why of all things on earth, Gold?

 

Hey man did you fall asleep in chemistry class?

 

Reading is fundamental - GOLD_Wiki

[Dcrasta]

I came home from a high school football game tonight and my wife informed me that our 8 year old son asked about the guys running for president and said someone in his class wants to vote for Obama.....he wanted to know why.

 

 

After a little background lesson......their conversation played out something like this.

 

MOM: Do you think you should get special prizes and an allowance for doing your chores and helping Dad around the house?

 

Jake: yes, I earned it, I deserve it.

 

MOM: If Thomas sits on his butt watching Spongebob, not helping, should we give him part of your allowance and treats?

 

Jake: wt....?(I added that for effect) why? he didn't do anything to help.....why would he get my stuff that I worked hard for?

 

MOM: Because he lives here too

 

Jake: NO WAY, he needs to earn his own stuff.....I'm voting for McCain.

 

MOM: You'll have to wait ten years Sweetie

 

 

 

Turborusty

 

in a different household it may go..

 

DO you think you deserve special treatment for doing chores such as allowance or treats????

 

 

~~(My Mom) Boy, I sweated for 8 hours to deliver you into this world, get your butt in there and wash those dishes before I beat you....

 

 

Helping in the family is what you are supposed to do. Mom and Dad work to feed and shelter you. Going to school , getting good grades, helping around the house, and being a good example of a well behaved child is the full time Job for the child. You should not get special credit for doing what you're supposed to do. Rewards are great, but feeling entitled to be rewarded for doing the right thing borders on being spoiled rotten.

 

Maybe that's part of the problem today. Everyone wants a pat on the back or special 'thanks' for doing the right thing. And the right thing isn't about 'watching out for #1' We are one country. Why should I live high on the hog next to someone that is starving. Is this really practicing Christian values? What happened to love my neighbor as I love myself. Or I am my brothers keeper? Is this the 'unity' we talk about? Avarice was one of the 'original' sins (familiar with Shazam?). Its greed once you start having so much money you don't even know how many houses you own, or how many cars you have. Conspicuous consumption is the only goal at that point. We as a culture reward this behavior it is sad to say.

 

Would it really affect the people earning more than 250K to pay a small percentage more to help the country pay for things that have been neglected for so long? Like infrastructure, the education system, the health care system? Why do we have so many obese and unhealthy people? Think its education related? Why so many teen pregnancies? Is it because they were home schooled without the benefit of education about reproductive health and sexuality? Why is it not a problem with taxes in other areas going up that the wealthy are actually receiving a cut? It means maybe they have a few less gallons of diesel for the yacht.

 

http://www.ibiza-yachts.co.uk/P25M-400pix_000.jpg *Fuel capacity: 1850 gallons (8400 litres) and at today's prices would cost approximately 7200$ to fill.

 

It's not 'giving people free money'. It's more like 'giving lower-middle class people a larger percentage of the money they are earning'. As I'm sure most of us know, the wealthy definately have a larger precentage of 'disposable' income. It's bad to assume people making 25k or 35k a year they will spend on Cigs and Whiskey. Some people that may be the difference between getting those bills paid on time or deciding not to pay a bill. Or getting new glasses for their kid, or shoes for their family. Or buying something healthier for the family than ramen noodles. Middle class needs the same help the Upper class and wealthy received during all of the 12 years of trickle-down Reagan economics and the 8 more years of Bush II. Wow, 20 years of republican policies only interrupted by 8 years of Clinton. Amazingly we bounced back hard after Ronnie and Bush 1 ran us into a hole.

 

BTW, can someone explain the Republican tendency to promote brain-dead geezers for presidents?? I mean Reagan was absent his last 2-3 years (im convinced Nancy faked his signature), and Bush 1 (Although not as dumb as his son) was not very bright, but he was smart enough. But dumbya is just vacant. The lights on but no ones in the kitchen. Was this the 'best' candidate the republican party could produce after knowing for the past 4 years GWB couldn't run again? What was the idea? Phone it in? Anyone can beat 'Hillary'? I think the plan got cluster-phucked once Obama emerged as the front runner / democratic nominee.

Edited October 14, 2008 by Dcrasta

[Star_V8_Quest]

I'll take some time and try to prove to myself that John McCain is the best thing for the Country right now if Star_V8_Quest will do the same with Barack.

sorry,politically and morally,I cannot find anything good to say or find about him.

[dc]

sorry,politically and morally,I cannot find anything good to say or find about him.

 

Come up with a better excuse than morals. You'd be hard-pressed to convince me either of the candidates (or potential VPs) have any morals, but I cannot see how you could find better morals on McCain's side (I'd drop some of his history, but I think we've seen enough of that already).

 

Way to be open-minded.... he didn't say you have to vote for Obama. There's plenty of reasons I could vote for either one of the candidates. Some would help me more personally, some would probably be in the better interest of the country and not necessarily in my best interest (which is more likely the direction I would go).

 

dc

[Dcrasta]

sorry,politically and morally,I cannot find anything good to say or find about him.

 

I would think as an 'elected official' / Mayor () you may not 'like' Barak Obama, but you have to 'respect' his effect. He has injected energy into this election and forced McCain to articulate what he intends to do. Without challenge, no one grows and Barak Obama has definately pushed the Republicans. They had a cake walk the past 8 years. If you want to be president, you have to fight for it.

 

Let the battle continue.

[chiplee]

sorry,politically and morally,I cannot find anything good to say or find about him.

 

take out "say or", which is reasonable since your writing should stand alone with and without all its modifiers, and your sentence reads, "... I cannot find anything good to find about him." Finding in this context being the act of discovering, you're basically stating boldly that not only are the things you know not good, but anything you could ever learn about Obama will also be not good. But by default you have yet to learn things you haven't discovered, so how can you declare that they are already negative? Seriously? I mean what is the point with people who are so averse to the notion of changing their mind that they think like that?

 

I mean where in my post did I ask you for your CURRENT opinion about him? I suggested that you take a week, drop any and all pre-conceived notions you have, and try like hell to prove yourself wrong about Obama and I offered to do the same with McCain. What's the worst that could happen? Your opinion of McCain would strengthen if you're currently correct. The decision is important enough to justify reading a book worth of info about each candidate. All I'm suggesting is that we both try to AVOID information that reinforces our current opinions, and that we do it for about a week.

 

You simply refused and replied with some mixed up comment about how you can't find anything good to find about him, which basically says you have the answer you want and you're sticking to it.

 

So long as this is your stance, you should know that your stance will remain unjustifiably closed minded and short sighted and your opinion of McCain will be baseless and empty. You don't deserve to vote if you don't change your approach. None of us deserves to vote if we haven't seriously considered the opposition's strengths.

Edited October 14, 2008 by chiplee

[PDX87Starion]

As far as the tax cuts pay for themselves and record tax revenue thing:

 

Its all how you spin it.

 

We have an expanding economy. The revenue will always be a record amount unless we are in a recession or depression.

Crediting the tax cuts for this is just spin.

 

According to the GAO (Government Accountability Office ) and the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) the tax cuts have reduced revenue.

 

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/have..._in_higher.html

Q: Have tax cuts always resulted in higher tax revenues and more economic growth as many tax cut proponents claim?

A: No. In fact, economists say tax cuts do not spark enough growth to pay for themselves.

 

 

Besides as a small business owner the government can give me as many tax breaks as they want, but its not going to make more customers walk through my front door. Same goes for big corps too. Give GM and Ford tons of tax breaks but if people aren't buying cars they are done for.

 

Consumers create jobs, not tax cuts.

 

BTW if we had a balanced budget or a surplus that would be a game changer, and tax cuts would be warranted.

Someone has to pony up or spending has to be slashed, or both. Or our currency will be worth less than potatoes, and that would surely tax all Americans.