Recipe for disaster

[bill]

Take one great country
Remove its manufacturing
Send all the good blue collar jobs overseas
Keep minimum wages low
Build lots of cheap houses in factories and ship them all over the southeast.
Use food to make fuel
Transform the healthcare system into the Healthcare Industry
Lower taxes on the rich
Start two wars
Cut funding for higher education.
Build WalMarts in the small to midsized towns and run all the local business' out.
Give Corporations the rights of individuals without any of the responsibilities.
Make it nearly impossible for individual farmers to grow, raise, harvest and sell their own products.
Fabricate abnormalities to match the drugs being made to treat such things...and without much research to support them.
Neglect alternative energy source production /development.
Elect politicians that have more interest in their own futures than that of our country's


Feel free to add your ingredients......

 

[jmt455]

Create a "safety net" that morphs into a system of perpetual hand-outs and free money from "the government".

Abolish asset-backed security requirements for high-risk loans for big-ticket items (homes, autos, etc).

Convince voters to approve tax breaks for relocating businesses.

Establish tax laws that favor green-field development instead of re-investment in existing communities.

Stimulate over-spending, over-development and ridiculous levels of personal debt by tax codes that provide interest deductions.

Subsidize crops that are not needed, then spend more money developing uses for the subsidized yields.

 

[bill]

Create a "safety net" that morphs into a system of perpetual hand-outs and free money from "the government".

Abolish asset-backed security requirements for high-risk loans for big-ticket items (homes, autos, etc).

Convince voters to approve tax breaks for relocating businesses.

Establish tax laws that favor green-field development instead of re-investment in existing communities.

Stimulate over-spending, over-development and ridiculous levels of personal debt by tax codes that provide interest deductions.

Subsidize crops that are not needed, then spend more money developing uses for the subsidized yields.

I agree about the safety net....there shouldnt be any...for anybody...period. Let the "survival of the fittest" model do its job. However, that model only works when the rules are fair, the playing field is level, and the laws are followed....otherwise, we need support systems in place for those who attempt to climb the ladder, but often find a few rungs have been cleverly removed.

 

[jmt455]

I think the safety net is important; there are folks who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in need of support for a period of time.

But we've gone too far with the coddling, in my opinion.

 

[Intragration]

Here is my opinion. I agree with most of what you said, a few things I don't.

Government-imposed minimum wages increase unemployment. When you tell a company they have to pay each worker more, they hire fewer workers who have to each do more work. Then you get the "rich" employed, and the "poor" unemployed. If you want to spread the wealth, let wages be determined by the market. If they're too low, people will look elsewhere for work. If they're too high, the company won't be competitive.

The "rich" ALREADY pay a higher percentage of their income as tax than do the "poor". Why should they pay an even higher percentage still? What's the incentive to work hard and earn more? So the government can take an even bigger slice of your income? Look into this. Pick up a federal tax form and do the math. You pay FAR less (both as a percentage, and as a dollar amount) than someone who earns $100k more than you do. We should have a flat tax. Also, small business owners are often categorized as "rich", when the lines are blurred between their business income and their personal income. Their business "income" arrives, and from this they must pay for rent, utilities, supplies, materials, WAGES AND BENEFITS FOR ALL EMPLOYEES, unemployment insurance, social security, taxes, legal costs, etc. etc., and THEN have a little left over for themselves. Corporations, of all entities, should not ever have to pay taxes, this is DOUBLE taxation. Taxes are already paid when money is spent and wages are passed through to the employees and principals. Increase corporate taxes and you reduce the pool of money that can be used for wages.

There is a general misunderstanding of what a corporation is. I own a corporation, it's no big whip. My corporation and I do not yet have the right to marry each other, but I hear this will be the next big push. If I wasn't allowed to establish a corporation to protect myself and my personal assets, I wouldn't have started a business, nor created the jobs associated with it.

There should be zero "funding" for higher education. If you want higher education so you can earn more money, pay for it yourself. Loans with interest are fine.

Alternative energy development should be market-driven. If nobody wants it, nobody's going to waste money developing it. How many BILLIONS of tax dollars have already been wasted on electric cars, when NOBODY wants them? (and they still create whatever pollution is associated with their production, maintenance, and the energy generated to charge them) If there's a demand, someone will step up. Why must this be legislated and/or paid for with tax dollars? As a side note, gas prices would be MUCH lower if the government wasn't currently doing all it can to make it next to impossible to extract and refine oil from our own soil.

A safety net should be a net. You fall hard, you get caught, you get back up and you're on your own again. Not permanent unemployment and food stamps and subsidized utilities and government phones. I understand that this is harsh, but seriously, how long, how long should people who don't work be supported by people who do work? It just can't be a permanent solution.

As for the politicians, hey man, I keep trying, but someone's vote keeps apparently canceling mine out.

Other than all this I agree with you in principle ha ha. And I really do. I want a strong America, with good jobs and healthy means of creating those jobs, starting with LESS government meddling. I just wanted to give another perspective. All my opinion.

 

[bill]

Mike ...
I have a simple question for ya....Would your rather make a Million dollars a year and keep 600k of it....or... would you rather make 30k a yr and keep 25k? Id say most people would choose the Million dollars... Working hard will get you respect...but not always a fat paycheck. Physical labor pays the least amount in todays society, averaged across the board. People who make the most money tend to work less than 40hrs a week, and tend to spend most of their time on the phone, or in meetings, talking with their staff. When you get to the point where you are so rich that you can use your money to make yourself more money, well...your too damn rich!

 

[bill]

Here is my opinion. I agree with most of what you said, a few things I don't.

Government-imposed minimum wages increase unemployment.
This I agree with 100%....but I am pretty sure that the Corp lobbyist asked for and received the min wage agenda...for their own benefit.


Corporations, of all entities, should not ever have to pay taxes, this is DOUBLE taxation.

If I have to pay taxes on my labor to make your product, you have to pay taxes on the profits you make off my labor...simple


There should be zero "funding" for higher education. If you want higher education so you can earn more money, pay for it yourself. Loans with interest are fine.

If it wasnt for the Gov GI Bill after the 2nd World War, we'd still be a rather under classed, 2nd rate country....without the middle class....

 

[Intragration]

When you get to the point where you are so rich that you can use your money to make yourself more money, well...your too damn rich!

Too rich? I say the guy who wants a handout is too lazy. There are many people in this country who are poorer than you and I, and think that WE'RE the evil rich guys. They would like to take OUR money away because they think WE don't work hard enough for it. This is the problem. Everyone can point fingers and say that someone else is richer and undeserving, but who are they to judge? Success comes from hard work. Successful people should pay the exact same percentage in tax as the next guy who works minimum wage, not be forced to give a higher percentage in taxes to be doled out to some deadbeat who didn't earn it. As for people using money to make more money, they don't do this in a vacuum. Other people benefit as well, in the form of jobs, contracts, dividends, property taxes, etc. I WANT people who are so rich that they can afford to have 10,000 people working for them. That's what builds the economy. Not confiscating people's earnings and redistributing it because they're too successful. All just my opinion.

As for the GI bill, that's ENTIRELY a different story. I think we could afford to do more for our vets. These are the people who sacrifice and put their lives on the line for our safety and freedom. You'll get no argument from me there.

 

[kornball426]

Like the people that employ me, the people that own over 120 stores... But haven't given anyone a raise or paid any bonuses to the managers of million plus annual sales stores? Smart... Those are the kind of people that can afford to employ 10,000+ people but are laying people off because it cuts into the profit margin. People with that kind of money are pretty much the scum of the earth... You're saying that's your kind of people? Okay...

People who make more money than they need should pay more money than people who don't make enough money to feed their families... If you don't agree you obviously have it too easy. It's easy to say people don't work hard enough and that's why they don't make good money. I basically have to say to that... **** you. Go get a job working minimum wage or any job that's $10 an hour or less and then say that they don't work hard enough... Throw your back out a couple times and then say they're undeserving. :evil:

****...

 

[bill]

Hard work is good for the soul. But making millions without moving a muscle only produces a man with no soul at all. I cannot expect you to understand that or agree with the statement. Its opinion...not fact. But, you cannot argue the fact that 60yrs ago, a rich man was not held on high, or worshipped as a success. Instead, he was looked upon as a tyrant and his best bet was to keep his wealth hidden as best he could, because in that era, excessive wealth was looked upon as unamerican. The american dream isnt about being rich. Its about being happy...having a nice house, good job, good schools for your kids, college education for the kids, etc. Being rich is not the goal. Well...at least it wasnt.