Just more of your usual low-brow grumbling, dude. :shrug: Nope, I do NOT think I'm special - neither me nor the hundreds of thousands in the same position I'm in. And our money and taxes would NOT be replaced "before you know it." In case you haven't notice it, a large number of jobs have already moved overseas and a LOT of the people who own those companies have gone too. However, there IS a group of people who I do consider special and you're a member of it. But it certainly isn't anything to be proud of.
"Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid" has the word personal in it. GE "Corp", as I understand it, doesn't pay taxes. "Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid" by the different income levels (excluding the insignificant "under $33,000 a year" crowd) is certainly unfair. The insignificant "under $33,000 a year" crowd would be fine if living space were not at a premium, and bread was 10 cents(US) a loaf. Bread is NOT at 10 cents a loaf, 1) because fuel prices to market are at a premium. 2) Compounded by "expected" profit components are greater than ever. Living space is at a premium also because of number 2 above. (To be fair, one must conclude also that there are larger populations and land area is NOT growing). In conclusion, the insignificant "under $33,000 a year" crowd is not the "demon" the wealthy make them out to be, and their squeezing will not solve the underlying problem. Won't even put a dent in the underlying problem.
I've never heard of anyone referring to that income bracket as a "demon." And your totally wrong about GE and taxes. While it's true that they paid no corporate income tax for the past two years, there's a VERY good reason for that. It's due to the fact that they are writing off the $41 - $45 Billion loss they took on GE Capital due to the Wall Street meltdown.
I live in a National Historical area on the top of a ridgeline looking over the city and river valley below and so the houses are generally very expensive and very well kept. I, like many of my neighbors, have stone walls on the street side and a large double wrought Iron gate that keeps people and cars out of my yard. I said it was a wealthy area and it is. If anyone was to try to break in I'd have to provide my own defense in the short term as there would not likely be police conveniently nearby. Arthur
Hmmm... You're starting to sound like that know-nothing-about-business guy in the other minimum wage thread. Apparently you don't understand that companies are allowed to take a deduction from their income for losses. And that's really very simple basic tax stuff - not a single bit of smoke or mirrors anywhere in sight.
The smoke and mirrors referred to the size of loss, and the illusion any business entity could dupe rationality to assume a comeback from such a fiasco.
Yes, playing the fiddle in one's best silks, while Rome burns,. is all the fashion it seems. Really impressing the under $33,000 a year somethings.
The Democrats gave up on the bill and expected it to be killed off altogether once all the newly-elected Republicans took control of Congress, everyone was busy making their plans for Christmas. It was only after Jon Stewart made an issue of it that American news companies issued anything more than a quiet murmur about it, including Fox News which supposedly cares so much about 9/11 victims when it can be used to justify a hard-right agenda. "One side of the isle pressuring the other side..." :roflmao: What a fantasy, it was about selfish, manipulative, elitist politicians who were in danger of exposing themselves for who they truly were unless they did something morally right for a change, that's why the bill passed. Good luck finding heroes in the next 9/11, now that they all know where they really fit in America's corporate food chain. I could focus on a major patch of negativism instead, like how a Republican administration cooked up a fake war that destroyed tens of thousands of American soldiers' lives and families and still doesn't want to pay even a fraction of the true cost for their care and recuperation. Maybe every penny of profit from regional oil sales to the US should go to those soldiers and their families, since they're the ones who lost everything to protect it. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not some radical leftist calling for a Robin Hood to come save us. I'm merely baffled by the degree to which the wealthiest 5% (and especially the top 1%) of Americans are so recalcitrant to the idea of increasing taxes or even to the idea of repealing a previous controversial tax cut. These folks are undermining the very system and society which allowed them to become rich in the first place, maybe they prefer the titles of slumlords as opposed to being recognized as honest businessmen and upstanding community leaders. Who cares if instead of buying 10 collector cars a year, after tax increases they can now only afford 9? If things keep going the way they are, soon the whole collection will be worthless anyhow. So if some scary-looking shirtless black guy was hanging around in a wealthy white neighbourhood giving a psycho stare to every man, woman and child who passed by, the police wouldn't come and arrest him for loitering or at least tell him to be moving on? You don't think part of the reason for low crime in wealthy neighbourhoods is because if outsiders come, they know everyone, including the police, is watching them the second they enter the vicinity? You don't think poor people know how much harsher the legal system will be on them for harming a wealthy bunny as opposed to a poor rat? And if poor criminals weren't constantly being arrested in poor neighbourhoods for their frequent crime sprees, you don't think they'd quickly get the idea to gravitate into the wealthy neighbourhoods to find better victims? Man will you ever rue the day when there are almost no police left, and those who do remain will be massively corrupted because the people who need their protection the most also don't want to pay proportionately for the protection they receive and the profits they're able to generate as a result of being protected. The Sopranos will probably be moving in next door, enjoy. In a lot of cities, including my own, the police are so underfunded now that they don't even react to most crimes unless someone gets seriously hurt. And if you murdered someone who was only trying to steal your property, you'd rightly be charged with murder (though since you're wealthy, you have a much better chance of beating the charges). If your life were in actual danger from said criminals, again you'd be more than happy to let the police take care of it, unless you're bent on going down in blood and glory like Tony Montana.
Fox News would probably warn everyone about the communist peasants trying to take over America by getting rid of its "hardest-working, most productive citizens".
BS, both sides wanted it as seen in the House vote, the Senate Dems, even though they were in the majority, simply didn't have enough votes to arrange the Funding of it the way they wanted to. Once they agreed on the Funding issues both sides passed it. If the Repubs didn't want it, they could have easily stalled it till January and then killed it, but they didn't. You put way too much emphasis on a Comedy show that only a few million people watch. Probably. But then I doubt that's how many criminals typically operate. Generally they want to not be noticed. But to answer your question, I've never seen a scary-shirtless dude hanging around giving a psycho stare to everyone, but I'll keep my eyes peeled. Well I know the police aren't watching them because they don't come down my street but once in a blue moon. As far as outsiders, yes, I think they are noticed, in fact our Historical Neigborhood has issued stickers to everyone who lives on the ridge and one of the reasons is to know if someone is a resident or not. Local trusted merchants are also given the stickers for their vehicles and we have an active Neighborhood Watch program, so yes I think the people are aware of what's going on and would report SUSPICIOUS behavior. But who wouldn't? Don't know, but then a crime of B&E is a pretty serious crime and if someone is harmed doing it, even more so. No, because they are aware that the homes of the wealthy tend to be occupied during the day, that there are active and effective neighborhood watch programs and most houses and cars there are protected by intrusion/alarm systems. I see no evidence of that trend, indeed the very wealthy often have gated communities and their own security forces. You need to spend less time watching silly stories of a dark lawless future, crime rates are dropping since the 80s, not rising. You think I could really care that you live in a shit hole? Work harder, make some decent money and you too can live in a better place. Actually in my state in a B&E situation you are allowed to presume that your life is in danger and while you can't shoot someone in the back as they are running away you can use any force necessary to prevent them from getting inside, or to protect yourself if they get inside. Arthur
Read the source I quoted. The means of funding this program wasn't an issue, it was the Republicans holding it hostage to an extension of Bush's corporate taxcuts that caused problems. What got the bill passed was the risk of opposing senators being exposed as frauds and hucksters once Jon Stewart brought the issue to national attention. Then why does the right-wing media always complain about the "unfairness" with which Jon Stewart treats their viewpoints, if he's just running a meaningless comedy show about crap? Why do they constantly have him as a guest at major political events, on Fox News, etc.? Why are high-level Republican and Democrat leaders constantly appearing on his show? You're saying the police aren't needed because you have your own private security forces for your community (or they can be found in similar communities). Well society as a whole will not tolerate the wealthy taking the law into their own hands, your guards will be paid far more than you'd be paying for a professional police service with taxes, and without the police, your guards won't be nearly sufficient to stop raging hoardes of armed thieves when the police are no longer keeping them locked up. Excuse me, you know nothing about my background or the city and neighbourhood where I live, so don't be such a dismissive ignoramus. I happen to come from a very wealthy background, I have a great variety of useful technical skills, and I live in the city I live in because it has great culture, a great population mix and great schools. The lack of effective policing here is a problem both for the wealthy and for the poor. Yes and where I live you can do that too, but if it's found that you knowingly escalated a non-life-threatening situation into a threatening one and you ended up killing someone in the ensuing struggle, you'd be held fully responsible for the death, which could have been avoided if you had called the police and let them try to catch the thieves as they made off, with insurance covering any losses. If it comes down to thugs and who can out-thug the other without getting the police involved, the lower class criminals will win, and probably your own hired goons will turn on you before it even gets to that point.
the wealthy act like the way they do because they feel they a special and irreplaceable. to them we must bow down before their every whim. just look at read's take my ball and leave attitude. the problem arises as they have gotten all politicians( most of whom are very wealthy) and most average person to buy into the idea. the simple and honest truth is they and their money is replaceable rather eaily. just the way the normal function of economy works people would just step up into the void.
Sayin it all you want don't make it true. But you are off on a TANGENT The ISSUE you raised was that you claimed we weren't taking care of the 9/11 responders. You were wrong (and apparently you knew when you posted it you were wrong) because you KNEW this legislation had passed. So what does that make you? That's just your opinion, quit acting like it is a fact. Most adults don't get their NEWS from the COMEDY CHANNEL. Who cares? His audience is nothing compared to the other news stations. I understand he is big with the "young and the restless" set though. LOL The wealthy aren't taking the law into their own hands, citizens have the right to defend and protect their property though, and can do so LEGALLY. Again just BS about "raging hoards of armed thieves" which don't actually exist. You really need to stop watching so much TV and SciFi. Oh BS you were describing where you lived as a shit hole, so it's a reasonable assumption. Now when pushed you say you are wealthy? :shrug: So I want to know what city has money for all that great stuff, including great people, culture and schools but can only afford piss poor police? My guess is if you do make a decent income but choose to stay anyway, then it really can't be that bad. Arthur
No, I said the bill wasn't going to pass, the Democrats gave up on breaking the Republican senate filibuster, and there was no indication whatsoever that the new Congress would continue to push the issue. The bill was first introduced in February 2008, and House Republicans refused to support it until it reinstated a corporate tax loophole that was supposed to be closed to help pay for the measures, as well as also watering down 9/11 first responder benefits. Maybe you didn't know this, but just like urgent tax cuts for the wealthiest 3% of Americans, throat cancers don't like to wait 2+ years either. Tax dodging is apparently admired by some Republicans as a virtuous act of true patriotism, so after two years the Democrats caved on these compromises and they got a watered-down bill signed. Then that still wasn't good enough- senate Republicans didn't want fire, police and ambulance crews to stop choking until Bush's tax cuts were extended first, so they filibustered. The bill was going to die a quiet death and almost none of the mainstream media offered so much as a peep, so Jon Stewart had to step in, give air time to sick first responders, and push the issue to the national forefront. A man with enough integrity to tell the truth, and not to make things up in support of my case before doing basic background homework to check the facts. Try it some time. Me neither. Unfortunately a lot of the stuff coming from such channels has more intellectual truth and honesty to it than what the "serious" media are reporting. Since you clearly haven't bothered to do any of the research on this issue, here's one of many sources for you to look at, after you've had a breather and a chance to swallow your pride for just a few mins. White House praises Jon Stewart for plugging bill to help 9/11 responders Yes, the young and restless (and technologically literate) that will soon be running your country and stocking adult diapers for the previous generation. Better than the old and restless, also known as the Tea Party. Yes and if you escalate a situation and it's found that your actions led to a death that could have been avoided, you're (theoretically) held responsible and punished for your part in it. In practice, being white and wealthy vs. poor, illiterate minority criminals is usually a guarantee you won't get what you deserve, and I know many lawyers who have readily agreed and repeatedly brought the issue up themselves. With a nearly fundless police and prison service, you don't believe you'll see a resultant spike in crime, especially B&E? What do you think your local police are doing right now, pigging out on donuts with their union buddies? No, from what you said earlier, they're busy everyday arresting folks (with particular emphasis on black folks, apparently), folks who would be coming for you next if they saw how easy it was to get away with what they do to poor victims in their own neighbourhoods. Go ahead and quote me where I said my city was a shithole. I said the police were badly underfunded to the point where they do almost nothing until someone gets seriously hurt (or, I'll add, is in imminent danger of being seriously hurt). I have seen shitholes in the US that my city won't look like unless it's carpet bombed. There are many places like that. The municipal services here are crap, but the city has strong pockets of economic and cultural activity as well, and citizens here are less likely to get stab-happy because there's a strong social support network here when people fall on hard times. Just like there are wealthy people living in the vicinity of Detroit even though the interior of that city is a warzone- based on your ill-conceived prejudices, those wealthy people must really be lazy hobos in disguise, because they'd clearly live in a "nicer" city if they could. It isn't that bad, it's actually quite good here, and looking to get even better in the near future. But I'm a Canadian. Where I live, I believe the government already taxes the wealthy to an uncompetitive level and I'm opposed to any further increases, and our problem is the way the money is being spent. The US is very different though, the wealth and tax discrepancies in your society are starting to look like the levels you'd expect to find in a banana republic, and unlike us, your debt is completely out of control and reaching heart attack levels fast. Don't worry, if your goal is to sink the US into another depression and then leave your grandchildren to pay off a century's worth of accumulated debt, you have enough of a deathgrip on your media and political system to make sure it happens, and I wish you the best of luck in this endeavour.
So what, he was thanked by the press secretary, doesn't mean that's why the legislation was passed. In any case you are simply trying to deflect this issue to an unimportant side issue as to Stewart's impact while you were clearly dishonest in your original statement that we didn't take care of the first responders, when you knew for a fact that we had done so. So no, that's the OPPOSITE of INTEGRITY. If I hadn't come along and read your post you would have got away with it. Too bad. As to crime, no, it has been dropping for 30 years, and there is no indication that is likely to change anytime soon. As to blacks, no I think they are about ready to turn the cultural corner and quit acting like being a gangsta is cool because as one of my black co-workers said: "When a black man gets elected president it's about time to quit blaming your color for your condition in life". Well since you won't say where you live I'll just have to accept that your city is so great but at the same time has such a piss poor police dept that do almost nothing until someone gets seriously hurt. I mean why wouldn't I believe you? Arthur
