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I am willing to pay higher taxes if Obama lets the Bush era tax cuts expire. I have already seen the tax accessor lower my property value while upping my taxes. So, the way I figure it, if my taxes go up when the Bush era tax cuts expire, it won't matter because as long as they remain, I am seeing my taxes go up in other ways and other places.
Sure, I want a balanced negotiation between democrats and republicans: and at the end of that negotiation, I expect that millionaires and billionaires, oil companies, banks, and all of wall street will be forced, kicking and screaming all the way, to pay their fair share of taxes.
Those corporations whine about paying taxes, but when it comes to using the resources that OUR taxes pay for- the courts, the police, the military, the roads, the bridges, the water systems, and on and on and on- oh, those corporations want MUCH MORE than their fair share. They expect our military to spend trillions of dollars protecting their interests in the Middle East, but they they become little girlymen when tax time comes and they complain, "Oh, we can't afford to pay taxes to support the military, let the middle class pay those taxes. And let the middle class send their children to fight our wars."
Yeah? Well, when was the last time that our military went to war to protect MY interests, or the interests of ANY middle class or poor class citizen? I'll tell you when that was: it was NEVER, it has never happened. So how about this fair and balanced solution: let the corporations pull themselves up by their bootstraps and pay for their own damn wars, and send their own kids over to wherever to fight those wars. I can just see those spoon-fed rich kids wading through the sand, covered with insecticide, fearing for their lives every minute of every day.
How's this for a negotiating tactic: every time any republican threatens to filibuster, or stands in the way of the rich paying their fair share of taxes, that republican's name should be put in the newspapers, on the radio and tv news shows, as an anti-American traitor who is trying to destroy our freedom. Give 'em a taste of their own medicine, along with a healthy dose of responsibility for their own actions.
I don't see any balance or progress in a deal which will not get citizens living out of garbage bags and grocery carts off the side of U.S. Federal Highway 1.
It must be that the beautiful minds never see enough desperation and hopelessness in their own neighborhoods and malls to understand what HUMAN NEED is.
I went with a social worker to a "tent city" to deliver a carton of ENSURE to a starving man on a cot. This man was too weak, too sick, and starving to barely move and was too young to receive any "help" other than ENSURE to keep under his cot. This was provided through Salvation Army which is booked to the hilt in their facilities.
Whether we pay for it with government money or volunteer our personal time to help those who are physically sick, mentally ill, and starving in tent cities, or dying by the side of the road, how can we enjoy our Super-Size everything in the Merz, knowing such desperation on our roadsides is a subject of disdain to so many?
Are there any hearts left?
Dear Friend.. I hate to be the one to let you in on this little secret But WAR just didn't start in the middle east ..Our beloved Government employees at the CIA and State Dept did that as a matter of foreign policy , if you would be so kind as to check you will note that in every instance there was Major Corporate influence involved . it's always been 100% about the Natural Resources of said country ANY country Every country in fact the only country's that have little if anything to worry about are those with NO Natural Resources wealth ..It's NEVER EVER Been about saving poor people or some great honorable Humanitarian reason . Are you kidding Me just exactly who do you think we have in Government ? It's Not Mother Teresa ..but rather some of the worst most corrupt foul vulgar human beings ever crapped out ...Just exactly where do you think all these Mega killer freak super storms Earthquakes Tsunamis and the like are coming from anyway .. HAARP .. Do the Research just like I did then you to can know the facts .. now please try and have a nice day ...If you can...
Dear Mr & Mrs Lone ranger .. You can't know how terribly sorry we all are that you have been so burdened by all the slackers sucking off your tax dollars ..We should boot all those home owners & Family's with children out in the street for having the outrageous nerve to try and own a home .. Just who did those people think they were anyway taking on mortgages that had sneaky hiden teaser rates in them anyway ? How dare those people assume the cost of closing and all the many fee's involved with home ownership just to have it foreclosed on .. And to think they want help from our Tax dollars ...NO WAY when we can fork out hundreds of billions to the Defense industry the Wall street Cartel the Bankster's the Car Manufacturers the Mega Petroleum cabal Halliburton OH MY GOD I'm so glad I finally met a Real True Humanitarian like you two ... Your soooo right Let's Vote Neo-Con republican and ALL just sit back and watch the rest of Our America get sold off and out from under us while NAFTA and all the Rest of those "Free Market" ideals trickle down to the rest of us ..Do you think I can tell My grand daughter she can start looking for the Trickle down anytime after her 20th B-day 20 more yrs from now My god fella do you actually use your skull for anything more than a fancy hat rack . Or what ?
Kend - I keep forgetting you are a Canadian. That explains why you’re so interested in our politics, not much happening in that frozen lake of yours! I guess in a country with a limited amount of people a few hundred jobs seems like a real exciting number! I suppose you missed the news that America within the next few years will be self-sufficient with natural gas and oil. Production is up and jobs are slowly gaining ground. When we had higher taxes on the wealthy under President Clinton our economy was doing great with no deficit and a surplus of capital. Then we had a natural disaster named G. Bush and his henchmen take over the White House. The American voters put their faith and future in the Republicans and it almost destroyed the country. Not to mention how under his watch Wall ST. was able to push bogus derivatives here and around the world. We will not make that mistake again. And as far as the Koch brothers go, their interests always go to places where they can destroy the environment due to lax government regulations, so I hope they do not destroy that frozen lake you call home! In my opinion all Americans have the right to judge our country and to agree or disagree with the policies put forth in Washington, Canuks don't! Keep your criticisms for your Canuk politicians, not American policies!
SALE !!! Get em while they last. Lead Zeppelins and Golden Parachutes , Ace Aviation LMT. Division of Ajax Corporation Enterprises , MBeep ! MBeep !
Hey, Thom, did you know that Joe Hill of the Wobblies was the one who coined the term "pie in the sky"? I found that in a book called The Quotable Atheist.
President Clinton used the Social Security funds to pay off the National debt with an IOU to us the fund payers. Now the Republicans want to take away our social security by portraying social security as an entitlement. Social Security is not an entitlement but money we put into it to be paid back to us. However, Clinton used our money to pay off the debt now the Republicans want to reneg on the deal to pay us back. What a country and a bunch of liars to boot. Tax the Rich!!!!!!!!!!
Comment to Historywriter who refutes historical facts:
Sorry, but Love means never having to say you're sorry. Unless you have read every cause of death roll since 1895 there is no way to make such a statement. Just because you don't remember hearing of something doesn't mean it didn't happen, even if you do call yourself a history writer.
Newspaper archives do furnish such information:
12/10/1886 Suicide Death of Oscar Simons, President of First National Bank and Jenny Electric In Fort Wayne (in the presence of his brother-in-law),...through personal knowledge, this had a lot to do with Jenny Electric being sold to GE.
Robert H. Plant, sole director and owner of failed I.C. Plant's Son and president of failed First National Bank shot himself in Macon, Georgia 5/21/1904
Officer of failed Lincoln Trust Company, Philadelphia, Harry B. Weymer of Landsdowne found dead at a park table, committed suicide by poisoning 8/07/1907
Herman P. Jahn former president of First National Bank, Ironwood, Michigan, under indictment, shot himself at home 9/06/1909
Vice-president and director of National City Bank in Indianapolis James M. M'Intosh shot himself around 12/11/1922- he was accused of trying to bomb the bank.
BTW- for those historians who can't remember, First National was always a veiled subsidiary of National City Bank.
J.P. Biggs, Arrow Rock, Missouri, committed suicide and left a note saying he was only one that knew his bank had been failing for five years 9/20/1927
Sherman Mills, cashier of The First National Bank at West Alexandria, near Dayton, Ohio, shot himself when according to police his plan for a cover-up robbery did not materialize 4/01/1929
oops-sorry #10, comment was for #9
Well, it seems according to the CONservatives that if it includes any changes to the taxes of the wealthy and super wealthy it will throw us over the so called fiscal cliff. I have to guess your answer would be to cut all social programs and add to the military budget. This would increase jobs in the military industrial complex and add more none taxable wealth to the rich. You have just reaffirmed my belief that if we would have elected a Republican into the White House the middle class would have been sacrificed to increase the wealth of the top 2%. Typical conservative bozo attitude. When Clinton was in the White House we had hire taxes and the job market was doing fine. Yet to return to those tax levels would somehow destroy the economy and America is doomed. History is not on the side of those who claim letting the tax cuts run out will do anything to harm the economy. I personally would like to see what happens if we increase tax revenue through higher taxes on the wealthier Americans and moderate cuts to social programs. If the House refuses to budge on raising taxes on the wealthy, let the increases and cuts happen. In any event Obama will be president for four more years and we have the Senate and if we wait a short period we will have the House as well and we will be able to implement bills that will help our nation and rid ourselves or the insanity the Republicans hold so dearly...
Despite Obama's assurance that solving the fiscal cliff (and the unassociated issue of the Bush tax cuts) consists of just arithmetic, I bet there's actually some calculus. Calculus deals with rates of change and summation of things over time (or distance etc.). Changing a tax rate changes the sum of government revenue over any given period.
I highly recommend calculus as a mind-expanding subject, and I wish every member of Congress understood it.
As Reagan pointed out in 1984, "Social Security has nothing to do with the deficit."
So they are going to tax the rich blah blah blah. How does this put people back to work?
As a Canadian I love the fact your going to tax the rich though. The rich are staring to invest up here just knowing its coming. The Koch Bros. are going ahead with a 425 million dollar pilot project in my province shortly. At least someone in North America will get a job. I am sure it is the start of may more.
Oh by the way, if Obamas taxing the rich plan doesn't work. If you are looking for work. google alberta oil sands employment there is hundreds and hundreds of jobs available. Please don't come here without a place to stay we have zero vacancy. I understand "Service Canada" is fast tracking short term work visas to help with the labour shortage here.
No arts students needed. we have lots of those we need welders, millwrights, plumbers, all trades.
Nota what is FISA?
Raising the income cap for FISA deductions would secure Social Security, according to Sen. Bernie Sanders, and is a common sense approach to serving public needs well beyond the baby boomers.
Whatever happened to raising the income cap for FISA deductions? That ought to be on the table, too.
Yea, the progressive approach -- Forward right over the cliff.
I am very much against having a standing army, because army officers tend to want war to justify their jobs and their budgets. And many of them enjoy war, which is much worse. But we do have a standing army, and part of it is Homeland Security, and unfortunately Homeland Security's job is to be rather paranoid. The only way to get the job of head of Homeland Security, is to be rather paranoid. So of course they would have a lot of ammo. And setting aside the issue of their mental illness, if another country seriously invaded America, Homeland Security would need a lot more than 350 million rounds to defend America.
I think there are things to worry about, but Homeland Security having a very small amount of ammunition is not one of them. And you know, after this last election, where we got a lot of sane people elected in spite of the republicans' cheating, I'm feeling pretty good about America's chances of returning to a government that controls the corporations and forces them to pay their fair share.
I am particularly happy that Elizabeth Warren is now a senator. I think we can expect wonderful things from her, and from a number of other statespeople we have elected. And I've been watching Thom's tv show, which is getting more polished and interesting every day. I look forward to seeing that show broadcast on the tv chanels that most people watch.
All governments that have standing armies buy lots of ammunition. They always have. And of course ammunition is designed to kill people, that's what military guns are for. And 350 million rounds of ammo isn't very much. If you have seen action in a war, you know that guys start pulling their triggers and ammo goes out as fast as lies go out of a republican's mouth. And that's not counting target practice, which some of them really get into. Why, 350 million rounds is only 3,500 rounds per soldier for a 100,000-man army. Do you know how many American troops have seen action in the Middle East in the last ten years? I mean, by your logic, if our government has nuclear weapons, they must be planning to bomb our own cities.
In 1969 an old woman told me, "You listen to me: when there is war in the Middle East, you head for the hills and don't look back, because it won't be safe to be anywhere around cities or suburbs." And yet here it is, decades after war started in the Middle East, and here I am, still alive and well, living in a city. In every way except for that one conspiracy theory, she was a perfectly regular person, owned a successful business, and was one of the most generous and nice people I ever met, and she was a great help to me at a time when I desperately needed help. Salt of the earth. She simply had a misunderstanding about that one issue, is all.
A guy I knew told me he had figured out the Bible's secret code and he told me when the world was going to end. That date came and went, and I called him and said, "What happened?" He said, "I miscalculated, here is the actual date the world will end." And that date came and went. Then he said, "Maybe I better quit second-guessing God." He is one of the more intelligent people I have met, and again, owns his own profitable business, and he'd give you his shoes and the shirt off his back.
There's a police firing range near my house, and I hear them shooting thousands of rounds from handguns, shotguns, and streetsweepers. For practice. And they're not firing blanks. You know, these are just guys who like shooting guns. It's a hobby.
So I really wouldn't worry too much about that ammo issue.
Oh these crazy times...
Wall St. made off.
D.C. got paid off.
Main St. got laid off.
Sooooo...What's the solution? This isn't the first time our artificial system has collapsed do to corrupt manipulation by the greedy robber barrons.
It seems to me that WE THE PEOPLE are doing NOTHING to change our way of thinking.
Wheither you voted Obama,or Romney, you voted to continue playing with the same deck of cards. Both the Democrate and the Republican parties work for BIG CORPORATE MONEY...They do not represent the strength of the majority (middle class workers).
I agree with the "idea" that we are all accountable for our own actions...BUT, and it's a big but, Wall St. & Washington should also be held accountable for commiting fraud by knowingly selling and hedging bad loans.
Obama doesn't support prosecuting Wall St. (Nor does Mitt). WHY???Both are Corporate Opportunist with deep pockets lined by Wall St. and Special Intrest groups. For Obama to go after the Wall St. Criminals would be destructive of his own charector as well as his cronnies.
If "We the People" truely want to resolve this economic crisis...Then it's 100% accountability...Not 99% vs. 1%.
I make 268K per year...I don't mind paying more in income tax than someone who makes less. I support solutions that raise income taxes by 10% on those who make over 250K per year. Increase Capital Gains Taxes, and abolish the Regain tax breakes for the rich.
Corporate tax breaks should only go to companies that support American Jobs, as well as consciously pay a wage that is double that of the national income poverty level with inflation.
Just as important...What do my taxes pay for? If it's more of what the last 3 decades have been (wasting trillions on our Millitary Industrial Complex; Billions on the dimwitted War on Drugs, etc) than I support a income tax boycott on a National level. I want my taxes to go towards improving our public schools, roads & bridges, building/improving our commuter rail system, single payer healthcare, increasing jobs in Solar & Wind Energy, improving organic farming, clean water and air, etc.
Most important though is that We the People overturning Citizens United...Corporations are NOT People, and Money is not a voice.
Social Security payroll taxes like what I have paid for 47 working years are what give me the right to collect my social security pension. Social Security is not a handout. But SOME politicians want to take that money and pay for weapons of war and then wage war on other countries with that money. They're nuts! Don't let them do it!
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we could send our jobs to them there....closer for transportation, think of how much oil (gas)$$$$$$$$ we'd save instead of China....a win/win!
Why not put Texas up for SALE and negotiate a deal with Mexico. The proceeds could be used to pay down the national debt. A win/win for everone...except maybe mexico.