On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:01 PM, Judah McAuley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:
> > First off, this is two emails in a row denigrating poor kids. WTF? Why > the hate? I saw the same thing with welfare reform. "All the money is > going to irresponsible young black mothers who want to do crack and > not work!". Do you really think that sort of thing? Actually, I was thinking of myself at a younger age, as plenty of people could testify to. The bulk of people in the bottom income bracket are young and single. > > But you also pay taxes for a school that hopefully will produce an > educated workforce that will help fund your Social Security checks > should your stock market investments tank. Its not just about what you > can see and feel in your own little world right in front of you. > I agree. Infrastructure is part of the common good. Schools, roads, sewers, electrical grids- that stuff matters. I pay for that stuff already. > That would surely explain the lack of job creation engines in > California, like Silicon Valley. You don't get it, do you? Taxes is > certainly a factor to consider when choosing to locate your > family/business in a place. But it isn't nearly at the top, not even > close. Things like infrastructure, markets, an educated workforce and > quality of life far outweigh taxes. > Oh, I get it, trust me. I live in a very high cost-of-living area so I can surf 200 days a year, have an "office" in a cabana by the pool at my gym, and allow my family to enjoy some of the best weather on the planet. I pay through the nose for those benefits. The question isn't whether the government can get away with taking more, the question is whether people think it is fair. When did we forget, as a country, about basic fairness? > No, they don't. Most people try to dodge the system no matter what. > Maybe, but it only makes a bad situation worse. The > argument is that those people that make more money do so because they > work more, because they work harder. And that's not true. I work my > butt off 40 to 60 hours a week (when not checking cf-community > obviously). I did that when I was making $30K a year out of college, > I'd be doing the same as a senior programmer at $100K a year. CEO's > don't make $5 million a year because they work 100 times harder than a > guy making $50K. The CEO's skills may be more specialized, but that > CEO is going to be expected to work as hard at a job that pays him > $100K as he is at $5 million. > The CEO makes $5 mil because he makes very tough decisions every day and largely gets them right. Large company CEO is now a profession all its own. Essentially, these people are gamblers, only they gamble with billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. I wouldn't wish a public company CEO job on most people, it's brutal. I've seen how hard it is up close. > Somebody's taxes went > to the welfare to work training program that my mother was in. As a > result of that job, she was able to get off of welfare and get in a > job that she loved, even though it paid for shit and trashed her body. > As a result of that job, we were able to settle down in one place, > even own a home for a bit and I was able to get a stable education > (once again, paid for by taxes) and do well enough to go to a good > school and take out loans (partly subsidized by taxes) and get a > degree that has since that time put me in a position of paying for the > roads you drive on, the bridges you cross and the clean water you > drink. That's how investing in society works. > As someone who was raised by a single mother for several years, I agree with you. I believe in government assistance for the most needy. But not for 62 million people. > Once again, you neglect to understand how he came to be in the > position he is in. He's not just fortunate to have been successful in > his career. He is fortunate to have been in the position where he > could become successful in his career. All the investment in the > Yes, basic infrastructure and caring for the needy are part of the bargain. But we went past those goals decades ago. Now we're just drunk and showering money on the populace. That's why we're slowly going broke as a country. We need to stop the binge, come to our senses, and get serious about entitlement reform. It dwarfs every other concern in the budget. One day in a few years it will consume the entire budget. Then what do we do? Why yes, you've got that exactly right. What happened to the sense of > pride people had in growing Victory Gardens in WWII? Of tightening > belts to deal with rationing? For the good of the country? I want you > to be able to go out and earn $5 million a year Robert. And I don't > begrudge Warren Buffett his 8 Billion that he's come through with this > year. But if you make $5 million in a year, then yes, I will ask you > to give $100K towards making our country better and helping create the > If I get to make that kind of money, I will be paying a hell of a lot more than $100K. The question is whether I will pay $1.8 million or $1.95 million in taxes. Granted, I'll have the money to pay it, but damn, that's not right. LOL. Seriously, that made me laugh. I don't think we really have to > worry about those billionaires too much Robert. Its good of you to > worry about them so. They seem so cute and defenseless. But I assure > you, the titans of industry will be able to stand up for themselves. There are only a handful of billionaires. I'm concerned about the millions of small business owners and entrepreneurs in the country. They power the economy. I'm not aspiring to be a big company CEO, just a business owner, like Joe the Plumber. Building a business takes total commitment, and anyone who manages to do it deserves a lot of credit. So why are we going to punish guys like Joe by raising their taxes even higher? Because we can? They already pay a huge share of the total tax burden. Do we really have to bleed them some more? It's counterproductive. Instead, we need to keep their taxes low to encourage growth. They are going to be the ones hiring those kids coming out of the schools that they pay to maintain, giving them jobs and a chance to fulfill their dreams. And we're going to take away the money that they use to hire those kids. That $150K could give some of those kids jobs. That's how small businesses grow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:275456 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
