You don't know me well enough to make that assertion. And it doesn't take a PhD to understand politics and world events. Partisan, no. But I am damn glad the American people sent a message around the WORLD saying "we stand behind our leader". Its what the U.S. needed and what the world needed to hear at this time in history. Time will show what an historic moment the election was for the history of the human race. I am darn proud to be part of it. Having lived in the middle east for some time and having several friends killed and maimed in terror attacks in the past 10 years I don't really need to figure it all out to understand the threat to the civilized world. So you go get yourself "educated" on all the issues and live in your ivory tower while other people take action and get the job done, girlie man. Why is it that you think the conservatives are so dangerous? Perhaps I should listen to NPR and get educated?
Who is going to pay for these services? I suppose the same "rich" that pick up the tab now. The people who get tax refunds at the end of the year sure as Hell aren't paying for much. Here's the data released for calendar year 2000. Includes ALL income, not just wages, excluding Social Security. ALL Federal Income Taxes Paid in The United States: Top 5% of wage earners paid: 56.47% Top 10% of wage earners paid: 67.3% Top 50% of wage earners paid: 96.09% Less than four dollars out of every $100 paid in income taxes in the United States is paid by someone in the bottom 50% The top 1% is paying more than ten times the federal income taxes than the bottom 50%! The bottom 50%? They pay a paltry 3.91% of all income taxes. The top 1%, who earn 20.81% of all income covered under the income tax, are paying 37.42% of the federal tax bite. The so-called rich are about the only ones paying taxes anymore. I don't think those of us who pay the bulk mind so much until we hear "The rich need to pay their fair share."
Ok, so now you are inferring that I am a deadbeat? Yes, I have paid taxes. And this year, we probably won't because of a loss of job. So now do I have to listen to you calling myself and my husband lazy? I don't understand why this has turned into a personal attack. I have not once made my arguments personal against anyone but yet that seems to be what I have received here. I am disappointed and hurt.
I consider rich to start at the millionaire mark. Are you a millionaire? It is a known fact that most rich people got that way because of business. Businesses get more tax breaks and credits than regular citizens do. This country is set up to foster business and innovation. There is nothing wrong with that; people just have to realize it. Also, we pay taxes in everything that we purchase from the telephone to groceries that include taxes that are not gotten back at tax time.
I did not intend for my post to be a personal attack milkmom, nor a judgement of you or your family. Yes, I am a millionaire. The point of my post is that "the rich" do in fact pay MORE than their share. I spent more last year than many make on accountants so that I could keep what I feel is MY fair share. I feel fortunate and paying taxes is fine. "The rich don't pay anything" or "the rich need to pay their fair share" is just offensive.
Don't let a few facts get in the way? LOLOL You again ignore the "few facts" I've already posted about this totally vacuous argument. I repost them here to for your edification: Unfortunately, for the first time, we are faced with a list of ingredients, the combination of which have horrifying implications. Bullet point #1: Is there anyone who thinks Saddam is not an insane madman? Bullet point #2: Now comes 2002 and technological developments in the areas of weapons of mass destruction, Biological and Chemical weaponry, communications and the ability to deliver those weapons. Bullet point #3: Then comes the fact that Iraq is an absolute dictatorship. All the power in that country is encompassed in ONE guy, a madman at that. He requires no permission to re-attack Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and all his neighbors and confiscating their oil. Whether you like it or not Oil makes the industrialized world go round. Now combine these 3 primary factors into one situation and you have a recipe for disaster. (Which BTW, is the reason why it's not necessary to "preemptively" attack other countries) It is precisely this unfortunate combination of components which makes action against Iraq immediately necessary. Now I can add another factor, Bullet point #4: North Korea is utterly and completely broke. Unless we feed their sorry butts they will starve to death this winter. Bullet point #5: The UN has 16 seperate resolutions with Iraq. ALL of which have been ignored/broken. How many UN resolutions do we have for N. Korea? Bullet Point #6: N. Korea ALREADY HAS nuclear weapons. WOuld you suggest we deal with them the same way we need to deal with Iraq? LOL So how bout addressing the facts instead of indecently rambling about the same silly argument. To compare the N.K. situation to Iraq is absolutely rediculous.
Thanx for the Facts Jeff, I was looking for those. I get to pay a LOT of taxes so I guess that's why I'm justifiably pissed.
Liberalism is losing all over the world. Jiang Zemin Is stepping down and asks the Chinese parliment to welcome the new RICH capatailists into positions of power. LOL (not to mention Dick Gephardt)
I didn't mean to be offensive. I just logged in and was reading the thread and it was quote 1-milkmom, quote 2-milkmom, etc. (I think there was about seven total). Kinda of what lb does. Dani
Thank you. :-D It seems we are talking from two different realities. My mother in laws's friends are wealthy businessmen and the occassions where I have interacted with them, they have always touted thier ability to receive refunds and never pay taxes. In fact, there was one guy in the group who did pay taxes and they told him that he was the only one they knew who did.
We had a case out here recently where someone was cashing sixteen different SS check each month using false id's etc. It can be done. As to Corporations, you need to study what a corporation is. By definition it is owned by shareholders. A corporation should never pay taxes. Any net earnings are distributed to shareholders who then claim that income on their individual tax returns. Unfortunately, that isn't actually true. First, the corporation pays tax on the income, then the dividend is distributed to the sharehoolders who pay tax on it again. Yep. Sure sound like a sweet deal allright. For the IRS. Country after country is swerving away from single payer health care systems. Canada sends many of their toughest cases to the US so they can get adequate care. Mexico routinely sends their toughest cases to San Diego. The financial tab of their Universal Care is killing them. I think it was Descartes who said many years ago that the ultimate downfall of any democracy would come the moment that the people realize that they have the power to vote themselves money. Think about that. It's already happening here in California. We have a $24 Billion budget deficit. SO what did we do? We passed a bunch more bond issues, somehow thinking that that's free money. Sweden and Great Britain are in the process of partially privatizing their social security programs so that better returns can be achieved. BTW, it was the democrats who, back in the 70's combined social security with the general budget. There is no social security trust fund. Never has been. Social security is a Pay-as-you-go program that must be funded every single year. "Trust Fund" sounds cool, but it's a lie. Investigate it yourself and prove I'm wrong. This really illustrates just how effectively the democrats have fooled most of the people most of the time. Are you aware that four of the top five and eight of the top eleven wealthiest members of Congress are Democrats? Don't believe me? See for yourself. This also brings up another point: The difference between high income and wealth. Someone who has been handed nothing in life, but has worked their butt off, made a few mistakes, paid for them, and somewhere along the way found that they were qualified to command a relatively high income (in the top 5% or so) suddenly finds that, according to the democrats, they are rich. Never mind that they are just beginning to try to accumulate assets, save for their child's college education, their own retirement, etc. According to Ted Kennedy and his buddies, they're rich. It's their own damn fault they weren't born with a silver spoon (also a silver martini glass, a set of silver water wings, and a get out of jail free card to go with it). If only they'd been smart enough to be born a trust fund kid, they could invest all their assets in tax free income instruments, live off of the interest, and point an accusing finger at all those poor slobs who are foolish enough to think that if they work hard enough, save enough, invest enough, maybe they can someday have some degree of wealth. Silly fools. The Kennedy's of the world have already got theirs and they have no intention of making room at the country club table for anyone gauche enough to earn it themselves. The Senator Kerrys of the world simply married into it (Teresa Heinz- as in the ketchup) and look equally condescendingly upon anyone foolish enough to actually be working towards their fortune. So instead, they demonize anybody who starts to excel, call them "rich", like there's something inherently qrong with that state of being. Then they cram through a tax code that makes it extremely difficult for anyone to shatter the ceiling and claim their place among the wealthy, because better than half their cash has already been confiscated along the way. This I can agree with. . .
As far as heathcare, the system that is in plae just isn't working and it's too costly. I say let's give something else and try and if it doesn't work out, then at least we can say it doesn't from experience. I still believe that the rules are different for the bigtime Bill Gates than from the local busness owner who have wealth. The smaller businesses definitely play more by the books because they don't receive the big baleouts and subsidies that huge corps do. I know people who have corporations, no shareholders, and use it to shelter money. I don't know the logistics of how it works and have not personally done it. I am just speaking of what others have told me that they've done. I guess we will see how things play out over the rest of his term......
I'm sorry, LOL, but I LOL read through all my posts LOL and I can't find one LOL instance of me mentioning America's foreign policy towards Iraq and North Korea LOL. Can you? LOL. So I have to ask a question: what LOL are you LOL babbling LOL about? In an earlier post, you and one of your fellow Clinton bashers laid North Korea having nuclear weapons at Clinton's feet, which is something one hears a lot about these days from right wing nuts LOL (if the shoe fits LOL). I pointed out your error LOL. I never discussed LOL Iraq LOL or U.S. North Korean policy, so why did you attack an argument LOL I never made? Before you go babbling on about an argument I never even made, here is the original bit of propaganda I was responding to: and Being ignorant is understandable, since most people go around thinking they know more than they do, and party faithful will believe almost anything negative about the other party almost without question. But trying to gloss over your errors by responding to an argument I never made is adding dishonesty to ignorance, a particularly unlovely combination LOL.
It's always interesting to me how when people know that their argument is bankrupt, they still feel compelled to call names. All in the defense of a admitted perjurer. Amazing.
