What a mess !!!

[Jimna]

Legalize it, tax it, Iiirrreeee mon!



Warning. Side effects mat include excessive giggling, severe munchies and there have been cases of waiting for the Stop Sign to turn green.

:bowdown: OMG, such wisdom is rare...OK not really now pass it.

 

[Rich]

Truth is that legalizing it could do a lot more to clear up budget shortfalls than Repman's suggestion would. Wonder if Repman realizes there are only about 4 million people on welfare, or about 1% of our population. The disadvantaged make an easy scapegoat for those who have no clue about the facts, but welfare isn't even on the radar when it comes to managing our serious budget deficit issues.

Welfare accounts for less than 1% of our national budget, and all assistance programs put together (welfare, unemployment, food stamps, etc.) account for only about 5%. Compare that to defense spending, which accounts for about a third of the budget (just so we can bomb other countries where we have no business being in the first place). Perhaps if we would spend a little more time and money taking care of our own citizens and a little less time and money worrying about what is going on in Libya and other places, perhaps we wouldn't be in the budget crisis we are in.

And perhaps if we spent a little less money prosecuting and jailing our own citizens for the simple act of enjoying a toke, we might have some money and some jail space left over to punish the true criminals in our society.

 

[repman]

[And perhaps if we spent a little less money prosecuting and jailing our own citizens for the simple act of enjoying a toke, we might have some money and some jail space left over to punish the true criminals in our society.[/QUOTE

Rich , you should lighten up a little, maybe you should take a toke!!!

It was just a fun little piece made me grin

 

[Satch]

More tax breaks for multinational corporations.

End collective bargaining.

Get rid of the E.P.A.

Let Wall Street and Big Banks regulate themselves.

Welfare for billionaires.

Scott Walker for President 2012.

 

[Rich]

Rich , you should lighten up a little, maybe you should take a toke!!!

It was just a fun little piece made me grin

Sorry, Repman. I guess I'm just not into pee jokes.

 

[Rich]

This article pretty much says it all:

COLUMN — American workers got what they deserved

 

[slowGEEZR]

Rich, I especially liked this response to the article from "rickl"...

I enjoyed this article and generally agree with the author. Comments such as the one above and several others are actually proof positive of the effectiveness of the misinformation being disseminated and I would challenge the people who write in and offer up the misinformation they have absorbed to actually study the subjects and understand more based on their own findings rather than reiterating what they hear on Fox and conservative talk radio.

Here are a few facts;

1. Tax rates on the wealthy and corporations are at a secular low point. At peak periods of US prosperity marginal tax rates on wealthy people and corporations were much higher than today.

2. Income disparity is at multi generational highs.

3. No other country runs a sustained trade deficit like the USA. Only we can by virtue of our status of being the 'reserve currency'.

4. Other countries such as Germany and Japan with higher wages and tougher regulations maintain world class manufacturing and huge trade surpluses. They also have higher taxes and less income disparity.

5. Our military power is based on our (former) manufacturing and technology prowess. We currently have the military of a superpower but borrow from China to pay for our wars and have an industrial base that even for the defense industry has a supply chain that ends in China.

6. The very first act of the founding fathers was to enact tariff's to ecourage domestic manufacturing industries. These founding fathers were very much against 'free trade'. They were for a strong USA.

The USA can choose at any point to stop it's self destruction, hopefully before it is too late. Think about this people, the average age of a toolmaker is over 55. Our industrial base is shuttng down and we are not training the next generation. It is well within our governments rights to intervene into trade agreements that are damaging industries. It is the responsibility of the President to ensure that we have industries necessary for defense. No other country pursues policies like ours. Our policies are the result of money in politics gearing the economy to produce great wealth for few while even the very ability of the country to defend itself is compromised. The apologists for this, those who deride unions as forcing companies out of the USA, those who think regulations do the same, those who think just a little less regulation and taxes and suddenly good jobs will sprout for all are helping the hangman fit the noose around their own neck.

I am not a union member, for full disclosure I am part of the highly educated high earning minority that continues to prosper and enjoys absurd tax rates on capital gains and interest/dividends on my seven figure investment portfolio helping me prosper even faster. For those who don't understand the real game of taxes. For someone like me, I have a passive income from investments that exceeds the average family iincome by a factor of two. This income is hardly taxed at all, just like Warren buffett's income from investments. However I am (like Warren Buffett who said please raise my taxes) a patriot and believe in the USA. We need a real patriot, a leader with courage like Theodore Roosevelt to fight the forces that are destroying America, get the money out of politics, tell the truth to the people. The problem is with the easy transmission of propaganda to ill educated people who do not do any independent reading/research could such a man get through to the people today? I pray he will and the people will wake up and listen.

 

[Rich]

Agree, Steve. That's a great comment. I particularly like how he closed it out at the end.

 

[Len44]

Whew! That column is pretty uncomfortable reading. And quite sad.

As they say, "The Truth Hurts!"

 

[Tj Bassi]

I liked the column, but he talks as if a change in voting policies would have fixed any of this mess. I am disgusted with almost every facet of our political system, to the point where it seems it is broken and cannot be fixed. Not from the current political gene pool anyways.

Good read, though.

Tj

 

[Kevin]

Nation of Takers, Not Makers

 

[Rich]

Nation of Takers, Not Makers

Perhaps if we had not made it easy for all of our corporations to outsource jobs to india and china, we would still be a nation of makers. Everyone complains about our immigration problems, or the problems of government workers earning too good a wage, yet nobody seems to think corporations like GE should have to pay any taxes or face any import tariffs when they ship all of our manufacturing jobs overseas. The rich get richer.

 

[Len44]

Amen, Rich -- Amen!!!

 

[twich54]

GE, when they ship all of our manufacturing jobs overseas. The rich get richer.

Not these Bad Boys Rich....made right here in Erie, Pa !

 

[Rich]

Not these Bad Boys Rich....made right here in Erie, Pa !

Nice, Dave. I guess the Chinese haven't figured out how to build a cheaper locomotive.

 

[twich54]

Nice, Dave. I guess the Chinese haven't figured out how to build a cheaper locomotive.

Actually Rich the Chinese were the last country on the planet to build steam locomotives , just up untill a few years back. There are a couple of them running around this country in excursion duty.

 

[kach22i]

This article pretty much says it all:

COLUMN — American workers got what they deserved

He nailed it.

Thank you Rich for posting it.