I think we should call this bluff. The rich are happy in Denmark, they're happy in France, they're happy in Germany, and they were happy in the US under Dwight Eisenhower - there seems to be no reason to reduce the country to squalor buried under a mountain of debt, just to avoid taxing the rich at obviously acceptable levels. Besides, if they actually had to pay for these wars and shit maybe they'd weigh in on our side in the political discussions.
The rich already pay most of the taxes. http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/who-pays-income-taxes.html Arthur
I always had a suspicion Bill Gates was a member here... Bill if that's you, come to Canada and we'll treat you like a king! Who here's gonna complain about a guy bringing over billions of dollars that none of us would have had so much as a sniff at if he stayed in America? And they profit the most from the way those taxes are spent, even when they're spent on helping the ordinary folk who do the policing, building the roads, etc.
How do they profit the most when the taxes are spent helping the little guy? Do the rich need more policing? In my experience the rich live in areas where little police presence is needed (or found) Do the rich use the roads more? In my experience the rich tend to have shorter commutes to work each day, never take public tranport or live off the dole.....
If they get much richer, they'll be paying all of the taxes - so? They aren't paying enough to cover the bills, and the difference is bankrupting the country. Almost all policing is done to the poor, for the rich. They should pay for it all. Yes, far more. The road system is one of the foundations of their wealth. They use it to make scads of money. The poor need only footpaths, worldwide.
Yeah, typical of your type of thinking. And contrary to what you intended, you just drove my point home even more.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I said I wasn't at all opposed to progressive tax rates - just that excessive rates would cause us to leave for greener pastures. (And those countries ARE attractive - along with Bermuda and the Bahamas. Just depends on one's taste in climate.) But tell me: What do YOU think is an acceptable maximum tax rate? And I'll bear in mind that you'd never pay it yourself so you are probably strongly biased already.
Better keep the location of these neighbourhoods secret, or crackheads across America will be going on a shopping spree. The reason police aren't often found in wealthy areas is because they're busy arresting poor people in other areas before they can come cause trouble. But hey if you're right, they should slash police budgets across the board, so the wealthy don't have to spend taxes paying others to needlessly risk their lives. So suburbs are for poor people? Or do most wealthy suburbanites walk or bike to work in those same suburbs? Since apparently the wealthy don't want to pay for the roads they apparently don't use, future public roads should be restricted to public use only, and may not be used for transporting commercial goods, employees and customers, which can all be delivered by helicopter instead.
I live in a rather wealthy neigborhood and only once in a blue moon do I see a police cruiser come by. On the other hand, I could drive about 10 minutes to an area near some housing projects and I know I'd see several, and if I waited a while probably an arrest. Why? Well it's a poor black neighborhood and crime in the US is still heavily associated with poor and also black on black crime. While Blacks are only 13.5% of the U.S. Population but 43% of all murder victims (2007) were Blacks and 93% of them were killed by Blacks. Suburbs aren't for the Rich, that's the middle class. You want rich check out in-town places like Back Bay in Boston, Beverly Hills in LA etc. Arthur
At least whatever is necessary to pay the bills, obviously. What is the minimum maximum acceptable rate of bank account withdrawal? Whatever you need to pay your bills. btw: Under more responsible US government, it hit 90% IIRC - that was during the greatest prosperity boom any country has ever seen on planet earth. By the evidence, then, that's a pretty good rate. bbtw: I paid double the rate most of the very wealthy did , last year. So if the standard rate is what I am willing to pay, we should be doubling the rates on hedge fund operators and the like. And because crimes like embezzlement and tax evasion and front running stocks and so forth are not enforced via police cruiser. And because the wealthy neighborhoods are sparsely populated. And because one of the major roles of the police is keeping the poor and other street criminals out of the wealthy neighborhoods, and penned up in the correct neighborhoods. In this essential function, the police are of course servicing the rich - as in most of their activities.
Do you guys remember at Christmas, when Jon Stewart brought national attention to the lack of gov't support for the emergency responders who risked their lives during 9/11, and now have to live with the health problems from all the toxic crap they were breathing in? Meanwhile US legislators were having no trouble rapidly dealing with issues of "urgent" importance to the wealthy. Is this how you build a nation of heroes, by abandoning them as soon as they become the ones in need and are no longer useful to you? What are the firemen, police and paramedics going to think before rushing in next time a tragedy like this occurs?
No But they did pass a $4.3 Billion dollar measure at the Federal level that specifically provided for first responders with health issues http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-847&tab=summary And that was in addition to a $620+ million dollar plan being paid by NYC to the First responders with health issues. Arthur
That came after Jon Stewart turned it into a major public issue. He put FOX on the spot by asking why they hadn't used their 9/11 rage machine to generate outrage on the subject, and forced all the media and politicians to get on board or be seen as incompassionate frauds who don't care about serving the public good.
No this had been being debated well before Jon got involved as it was passed in the House end of September by 206 to 60, the issue that held it up in the Senate was disagreement about the means to pay for it, once the Dems an Rebubs agreed on the funding the Senate passed it on Dec 22nd, and not by a small margin. Arthur
No actually, there was legislation on the table to this effect, but the Republicans refused to let it go through until the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans were extended first. Source: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2010/12/911_health_bill_falls_short_in_senate_test_vote.php Seems those who don't feel they should pay significant taxes also don't really care about having heroes in American society either... Maybe next time there's a major disaster, the US can give work visas to Mexican immigrants who will be paid a generous $5.00 for each individual they rescue*. * Rewards may be reduced for rescues of racial minorities and the elderly, see US government for details after rescue operation completed
This would not be the first time that one side of the isle pressured the other side of the isle to get what they want, the end result though is they passed the legisalation. So your original post on this, leaving the impression that we abandoned them is proven FALSE. Arthur
Unfortunately, that's VERY common on this site. Someone finds a small patch of negativism about a subject and thrusts it to the forefront as if it were THE most important part of the story! Iceaura is by far the leader of that guilty pack, followed closely by PJdude. :bugeye:
still thining your important. you would be replaced by other creative hardworking people in a manner of weeks for the most. their would be no real major hiccup. you could take your ball and leave but at the end of the day if you did you'd have to live in a country that would probably have a strong potenial for revelotuion to be treated what you would call "fairly". most countries that you would be willing to live in have the same or much higher tax rates. also I wouldn't raise the curreent top marginal rate. it would stay the same but no longer be the top rate. the very reason it is so low is so people like you can make the arguments you do. we need to go back to the rates and brackets we had back in the 60's and 70's
Yawn your intellectually dishonesty and just plain lazy. your arguments on economic issues are all the same. I made mine fuck everybody else. you think because your rich you matter. you not, take your ball and leave you'll be replaced before you know it. your not special.
Total BS. Police don't do anything to keep anyone out of my neighborhood, they can drive to my house as easy as I drive to theirs. Nor are the police doing anything to keep them penned up in their neighborhood, there are no checkpoints for coming or going. Indeed the nature of our legal system pretty much prevents the police from doing much of anything on a proactive basis so in general they react to crimes being committed, not so much to prevent them. Arthur
