Put Me In Charge

[Zachrulez]

If anyone doubts that we are dangerously close to fascism, they only need to read that quote.

[Zachrulez]

Case in point, you weren't laid off by a company that wanted to save money, you made a mistake.

It's not that you can't find a job because they're all in China. You're just too lazy to find a new job.

[Zachrulez]

Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I’d do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations.

Yes, because it's women that are the problem.

Funny thing is vasectomies are actually cheaper.

[Zachrulez]

Cool. I respect that kind of stuff.

And that's all the more reason I feel like I should be able to keep the money I make, and all the more reason I get angry when I see other people using MY money to pay for frivolities because they have other government programs (also using MY money) to pay for their rent, healthcare, etc.

Why don't you feel the same way?

So for that we should turn the U.S into a police state?

Because the stuff described is certainly not even close to a free country... unless you're rich.

[Zachrulez]

The basic problem we have right now is that there aren't nearly enough jobs for people who want to work. 9.8% unemployment means that out of every 10 Americans who want to work, who have worked all their lives, who are trying to find a job, 1 of them can't get one, no matter what they do, generally though no fault of their own. Even in good economic times, unemployment still tends to be at 5% or so.

You are right. And I think you’re statistic is a bit outdated, I think as of today it’s 9.4%, and yes, it is going down (albeit very slowly), but that’s still astonishingly high. Read my response to PranaDevil below for more on that topic.

Try somewhere around 22%

Of course if those numbers were actually used, people might realize that we're actually flirting with great depression numbers.

[Zachrulez]

This not only creates a system of dependency, but it develops a culture of laziness. Have you ever wondered why racist people make so many jokes about black people being lazy, but say nothing of the kind about Asians or Mexicans? Not all stereotypes are true, but not all of them are false either. They're just exaggerated somewhat, as a caricature stretches the truth into something a little more interesting. Which I might add is also the reason I posted what I did in the OP. Because it's more interesting to dissect when there's a little controversy.

Let me stop you right there. America is actually one of the most productive societies in the world. Just look at the profits and how they've risen year after year despite the fact that the typical work person has gotten less and less purchasing power without any real increase in the quality of their own lives. (In fact, gradually losing benefits.)

For this productivity, workers are rewarded with low wages, and even with outsourcing due to their wages being deemed too much of an expense for the company they work under. (Despite record profits on a regular basis.)

And you're going to say that welfare develops a culture of laziness? Really?

BTW. We actually have a culture of productivity. Not to be confused with a culture of hard workers, of a culture of laziness.

[Zachrulez]

Otherwise you're saying "Hey, you've chosen to work in a better paying job, so we're going to fuck you over for trying to better yourself".

You don't really get fucked over though. If you're rich enough to live a comfortable life taxes are an inconvenience, not something that's killing you.

Edit: Also agree with Yos.

[Zachrulez]

And also, I hate to break it to you, but someone has to pay for all the roads, stoplights, police force, fire department, hospitals, libraries, and all the other public things that you use on a daily basis, and the guy that's making minimum wage can't afford it.

[Zachrulez]

Okay then, let's just pretend that your idea is even slightly good.

Tax bracket A goes from 0-£10,000 a year. In that bracket you don't pay any tax.

Tax bracket B goes from £10,001-£20,000 a year. In that bracket you pay 15% tax

Tax bracket B goes from £20,001 and up a year. In that bracket you pay 25% tax (We're not talking realistic numbers but simple ones to understand for this exercise, as it would work regardless of money involved)

Someone earns £19,500 a year, and is therefore paying £2925 tax per year. Leaving a net profit of £16,575

They get a pay rise of £1000, to £21,500 a year. They now pay £5375 tax each year. They now have a net profit of £16,125

Meaning they get a pay rise of £100 and actually lose £450 out of it.

According to you, this would be fair.

US tax brackets.

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm

Which if I'm reading correctly correlates to what Yos was saying.

[Zachrulez]

And also all the people complaining about how the poor pay no taxes or less taxes. THANK BUSH FOR THAT. THAT BRACKET WAS CREATED IN 2002.