>>it works out that people who own about 60% of the stuff pay about 60% of the taxes.<<
i see you didn't like this statement. is it b/c it is true?
funny, you didn't have the same reaction when someone posted 10% pay 60% of the taxes.
ahhh, to pick and choose. ;-)
i didn't say govt largesse reduced poverty. what i said is that if you increase the tax burden on poor folks then they will have less opportunity to move beyond their situation.
do you disagree? my advice is to not even try to disagree.
>>Where are you watching it "adding value to people's lives and growing from something small to something bigger"?<<
every day. look around you. do you not encourage people? do you not share your knowledge with people and add value to their lives? an old mgr began contributing to his 401k b/c of my explanation of the benefits. the guy was mid 40s. nobody else cared enough or understood the value of a 401k enough to make a positive change in this guy's life - until me. he barely missed the money and is sitting on a ton of money in his 401k.
mnas, now you are digressing to old hat arguments repeated so often on tv by political talking heads. we can do that, though. the analysis put forth by political types with an agenda that you are repeating here are flawed. first of all, 40 years ago there was a choice. do something or not do it. each would have a result. once you choose a path, you have decided not to choose another.
simple enough. well, we don't know the results of the path not chosen (funny, they don't mention this! ;-). so the question is not "How has it improved their education and their prospects." rather, how has it improved their prospects compared to doing nothing (or another alternative).
eg, let's say poverty was 5%. a welfare program was started and poverty went to 7%. it would not be correct to say the program failed - even though political hacks make this argument all the time. why? think about it. we don't have the data to show us what poverty would be sans the program. let's say god comes down and tells me that without the welfare program poverty would have been 20%. and the nation in depression. all of a sudden the program looks successful. don't be misled by folks who want to mislead..
the fact is we'll never know the answer, which is why the political types cover the issue up by asking the wrong question. oh, and if you repeat something that doesn't make sense enough... some people will believe it and repeat it as truth.
are you saying that if we stopped welfare entirely 40 years ago that society would be better off? again, think very hard about going there.
>>Too many bureaucrats depend on it for their livelihood.<<
welfare and its administration are different. welfare may be good and its administration poor. in fact, i believe this to be the case now.
>>I don't have a hoard mentality. I just don't see the taxes being well spent<<
i agree with the latter. i just disagree about the societal benefits of shifting the burden away from folks with several $100k - several $1,000,000k in the bank to the parents of impoverished kids that don';t eat well now.
>>and I don't see problems being solved by pumping the govt full of money in the belief that we need it so badly.>>
there are millions of welfare success stories. unfortunately, they don't hit the nightly news.
>>However, those that like to send in money should be able to if that is their choice. Others may believe other ways are more satisfying.<<
nobody likes to send in money. i don't. however, given the status quo, i don't think society is served (even if my pocket book is - and it would be!) by shifting the tax burden away from the wealthy and on to the poor. or, alternatively, away from this generation and onto the next.
in the end i think we just have different points of view based on different value systems. but, keep in mind, if disaster were to unfortunately strike you, it wouldn't be me who is kicking you - either actively or passively. it would be somebody else. and he would probably think very much like you do right now.
of course, nothing bad could ever happen to you, right? i hope not. but it is something to consider and i consider it for myself. |
