View Full Version : Is Obama really qualified ?
Lapaholic
02-25-2008, 04:47 PM
^^^ Yeah but there are so many mouths and so many teets, I dont see us ever controlling our govt spending. I mean look at the base closing commission - I think that would be a good example of what happens when the gov't say "OK now lets stop spending money here"....
Its gonna have a negative impact on someone, translated to politics that means someones district or state will fight the stoppage. Name any govt program and some will fight to keep it. It will become part of a compromise or other tit for tat negotiation.
And the biggest govt program of them all - defense spending. I dont see a lot of support for cutting that!
Oh and an interesting thing I read.... that when u factor in all taxes: sales, real property, income .. yadda yadda yadda, we all pay about the same percentage of our income to taxes throughout the income spectrum. Now I read this as a passing reference but it made me go "hmmm".... so I have no way to back it up.
Melonie
02-26-2008, 04:54 PM
Oh and an interesting thing I read.... that when u factor in all taxes: sales, real property, income .. yadda yadda yadda, we all pay about the same percentage of our income to taxes throughout the income spectrum. Now I read this as a passing reference but it made me go "hmmm".... so I have no way to back it up.
The reason this can't be documented is because it isn't true. Yes people in the same area must pay the same sales tax percentage rate regardless of income level. Yes people must pay the same SSI/medicare tax percentage rate regardless of income level (up to the $93,000 per year ceiling, where the SSI tax stops being collected). But from the standpoint of income tax, poor people pay less than zero (i.e. the gov't pays THEM money in the form of tax credits), very rich people pay very little (since their earnings are seldom in the form of ordinary income), and 'middle class' people pay a lot !
G-Real
02-26-2008, 06:51 PM
The reason this can't be documented is because it isn't true. Yes people in the same area must pay the same sales tax percentage rate regardless of income level. Yes people must pay the same SSI/medicare tax percentage rate regardless of income level (up to the $93,000 per year ceiling, where the SSI tax stops being collected). But from the standpoint of income tax, poor people pay less than zero (i.e. the gov't pays THEM money in the form of tax credits), very rich people pay very little (since their earnings are seldom in the form of ordinary income), and 'middle class' people pay a lot !
I think Warren Buffet did a great job of showing this by stating an Exe. Asst. at Berkshire Hathaway (where he works) pays 1/3 of her check into taxes. Meanwhile, his check.....not sure what it was, but, it had alot of zeroes, only pays 5% of his income to taxes.
leilanicandy
02-26-2008, 06:57 PM
^^^Well I know something is going to happen! Because they allow the senior citzens to ride for free in chicago. Sothis mean something is going up! So high that it will be hard for seniors. Since when the goverment cared about old people. They have barley support the old.
G-Real
02-26-2008, 07:24 PM
Since when the goverment cared about old people.
Are you kidding, 65+ is the largest voting bloc in the country, they have alot of pull....
jester214
02-26-2008, 08:48 PM
Are you kidding, 65+ is the largest voting bloc in the country, they have alot of pull....
I've always heard that those 65+ have already made up their mind, so in each election you don't need to spend a lot of time going after them...
Plus, just because they're a big block doesn't mean they have pull... Pull in the political realm means money... They're usually in short supply of that
leilanicandy
02-26-2008, 09:06 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/us/politics/26text-debate.html?pagewanted=all
Just incase anyone miss this, or wanted to qoute anything!
seniors in short supply of money? is that a joke?
Who do you think has all the money? The young and fresh out of school? The middle aged burdened by mortgages, car loans, and paying for college?
Among average people, that's where the donations come from. Wealth in america is largely a function of age. The young are poor and gain wealth as the work and "save", or more likely, crawl out from debt.