See, Mike, it's a right-wing myth that people would rather be poor and do nothing, at least most people who would be getting the minimum income. The druggies, no doubt, but that's a relatively small proportion.
Yes Judy, I am adamantly against a minimum income for that very reason. There is no way to know how it is going to be used or abused at the tax payers expense. Why would anyone try to make the effort to be a productive member of society and rise to their potential if the government will pay them to be poor and do nothing. Why work when you can be on paid vacation all the time.Combine that with drug use and any motivation to be better or have more just gets destroyed. If you're not happy with what you have, all you have to do is smoke a joint and escape into your little*dream* world and further destroy any ambition and not worry about it because you're going to be taken care of. On , Mike Dixon <mdixon.6569@...> wrote: To each, his own. At least the rich guy contributes to society by being productive and paying taxes and as long as his money is earned legally, as far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever he wishes with it. On Friday, March 21, 2014 9:55 AM, Share Long <sharelong60@...> wrote: noozguru, I guess it's too much to ask that the govt. be reasonable and practical. BTW, aren't the prisons now big business too? Maybe I read that here... On Thursday, March 20, 2014 5:29 PM, Bhairitu <noozguru@...> wrote: The Swiss are going to pay out to each working age adult 2500 francs or almost $34K USD a year. We could also start helping people understand why they want drugs in the first place rather than tossing them in prison which costs us a helluva lot more than $34K a year. On 03/20/2014 12:35 PM, Mike Dixon wrote: And while we're at it, to keep things balanced, we could implement a maximum annual income. But I'm not sure how a minimum income would keep people off the streets and freeway exits. Seems to me that they would just have money to do drugs while begging to get more to have when they get home, the 24 hour stone! On Thursday, March 20, 2014 12:11 PM, Bhairitu mailto:noozguru@... mailto:noozguru@... wrote: All the more reason it is the time to implement the annual minimum income. Yup, the same idea that the "librul" Richard Nixon proposed. Switzerland is doing it why not the US? It would get people off the streets and away from the freeway exits. On 03/19/2014 10:39 AM, doctordumbass@... mailto:doctordumbass@... wrote: Nope. I look at these guys carefully enough. I know about the scammers, and you *can* tell the difference. I don't give money to scammers, and I don't give a damn if those who need it, spend my buck on booze. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, mailto:noozguru@... mailto:noozguru@... wrote : Yes,most of the people that Doc is seeing near the freeway off ramps are scammers. I recall seeing one guy with a walker awkwardly moving to a car window to get the money fools were giving him. The tip off is that he wasn't doing a very good job of faking the walker bit. Then the next day I saw him downtown running around without the walker. At the shopping center nearby there would be panhandlers looking for money too. But I found out in some cases when they got enough money they went into the drug store and bought a pint of malt liquor. There was a guy asking for money for food in nice new sneakers and an expensive bike. In this town the Baptist church has free lunches for the homeless. We have one schizo who lives at the waterfront park but he won't beg for anything. One of the former managers of Starbucks had let him set up the tables and chairs outside in exchange for food and coffee. The next manager stopped that. Once he rescued a newborn in a garbage bin and that made headlines. He had offers for jobs and people finding him to give gifts of food. Nice guy but really out of his mind. I don't know about buying them a burger but perhaps keeping some food bars on hand. There was one guy downtown often asking for money for food. One day as I was leaving the town square I caught him throwing away most of deli sandwich he had just bought from what people had given him. Now as far as welfare goes what I said about California was a political issue started by Dubya who didn't like Californians voting against him. So they cut the money most states would get back from federal taxes. On 03/19/2014 08:26 AM, Mike Dixon wrote: I remember the first time I ever saw a person on a street corner holding a sign saying *will work for food*, back in the eighties. I thought my heart was being ripped out of my chest. Almost drove to an ATM to withdraw 20 bucks to give him, then thought about it and realized that was the response intended, to play on the heart strings of well meaning people. Later started hearing stories in the media that these people were raking in hundreds of dollars a day, tax free! They would drive their late model cars to a parking lot, get out and walk to a busy intersection and hold out their cardboard sign, begging for a days work in exchange for food. So I decided that if I ever saw a *regular*, I would either buy a burger and fries to give them or a new clean *T* shirt.However, I'm not going to support somebodies meth or crack problem. On Wednesday, March 19, 2014 1:48 AM, mailto:doctordumbass@... mailto:doctordumbass@... mailto:doctordumbass@... mailto:doctordumbass@... wrote: Perhaps, but it still pisses me off, to see people, in this area with untold wealth, standing at the freeway off ramps, begging, while endless new, shiny, freshly washed cars, pass these guys, without giving them a nickel. What's a spare buck? Too embarrassed to give to a beggar? Fuck those rich fools. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com mailto:FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, mailto:mdixon.6569@... mailto:mdixon.6569@... wrote : See? Even Bhairitu is against welfare, the rich supporting the poor. Now, it won't be a few rich hippies dictating what part of California secedes and joins up with whoever. It'll be Hispanics that decide if they join Mexico. Now here in Texas, we remember the Alamo! On Monday, March 17, 2014 9:17 AM, Bhairitu mailto:noozguru@... mailto:noozguru@... wrote: No, we Californians wantto secede and form a new country probably taking in Oregon and Washington. Oh, SoCal can join Mexico though. Why secede? Because the Red States are getting more money back from the feds than Blue California and we pay in a lot. And California has one of the largest economies in world. On 03/17/2014 07:23 AM, Mike Dixon wrote: And ... and .... and if the people of California want to secede and be part of Mexico again, what's wrong with that? On Monday, March 17, 2014 7:06 AM, Mike Dixon mailto:mdixon.6569@... mailto:mdixon.6569@... wrote: Well, I'msure the people of Austria and the Sudetenland wanted to be annexed as well back in the 30's. No biggie there.
