Baracks self assesment

Yep, but sadly I am too lazy

Joe, I think more people would be willing to pony up if they felt the money was being spent responsibly, but there is so much just thrown away that could be put to better use in the hands of those that earned it. Say I pay 10 grand a year in federal taxes. It would take 400 people just like me to working and paying taxes for a full year just to pay for Obama's vacation to Hawaii. Bear in mind my only vacation last year was a weekend at green lake. I can make myself feel better thinking maybe my contributions went to military pay or a disabled person a freeway lane , but what if it went to Solyndra, or to fund research on methane emitted from cows, or to a fraudulent medicare biller, or the neon sign museum in Vegas. The list goes on and on. Government by its very nature is corrupt and the bigger it grows the more corrupt it gets. How long do we keep on funding it before we learn. What right does the government have to take money from me and hand it out for someone elses folly? If we are just going to blow it let me blow it , I earned it.

N title ments?

in some cynical way, i caught a movie last night with Justin Timberlake in it, it was called "In Time" i think its really how i view the way things are, probably a little warped but i was having a conversation just last night with the guy that did all my dirt work when we built our building, he got clipped for a few hundred thousand when the builders left town, they would let their bills go way past 90 days and just when you were really hurting for some cash flow they would send over a check for 10k just to keep you digging, they would get in that much deeper, he's a hard working guy, owns a couple million in equipment and those payments keep coming. he's at the point of just scraping by because someone took his wealth and left town. I said to him, "you know Tommy? the problem with me and you is, we are to fcn honest. this is not an isolated case, i just got clipped for 5k my christmas money, they know how to work the system. so who is the better man? I went on to ask him, "do you eat good everyday? he said yeah, i said so do I,
We live in not to very honest of times and a handshake isnt a handshake, is it survival of the fittest?
maybe the point im trying to make is their are bottom feeders in society, that will use the system to their advantage ie: welfare, foodstamp, 10 fcn kids, but one must realize that there are bottom feeders at the top also and that leaves the honest hard working middleclass

now this brings up another valid point, Big time time J, could tell by his last name, retired fom the company he started in 2004, built 200 homes a year, He brings over a hood, bumper, and fender to paint, he is putting a car together to send to St Thomas so he has transportation, obviously he owns property there. I do an estimate on the computer, it came to 746.00, i said tell you what, bring me 500 cash and we'll paint em, one must realize its 200.00 in materials because there seems to be some myth attached that materials are cheap,
the a-hole calls, giving me the fu I'll paint them myself, picks up the parts without even a hello, a week goes by and i get a call, its the J bastard, "Can you still paint my parts for 500?
people keep asking me why are selling your business? i pondered and pondered and kept looking for a reason, i couldnt answer,
I think if you read between the lines, you'll figure out why. I really have had it with these types, im a very calm person and i refuse to unlike my brother to carry a gun, if i did carry a gun, i would be typing this from jail

Dave, that was a great post. I applaud you. I don't have the time or patients to respond to Joes posts blow for blow. But, you did not need to conceed this point, you will only encourage them.

davidg wrote: JoeinNY wrote: - New business mandates (Dodd/Fwank) that are smothering business. Businesses have been putting up record profit and efficiency levels in the last two years.. there is no evidence these rules are somthering business. Lack of demand is slowing growth but the businesses are doing great hence the stock market has nearly doubled since obama took office. Joe....Okay, I will give you this one.

The true measure of business success is growth. Lack of demand is a symptom of the disease along with record unemployment. All the business have cut the fat so of course they are efficient (just think if we could do this for government just once!), but a lot of the efficiency is happening with overseas labor and business units in "friendlier countries" The one benefit of quantitative easing is the devalued dollar along with wage gains in china is bringing a few jobs back. Just thing of the gains we would have without the burdensome regulations, rising unemployment rates, and increased energy costs this administration has put in place. The stock market is probably the worst indicator of the economy. Remember the housing bubble, or how about the tech bubble. When I judge the economy I would give growth a far higher standing as an indicator. Unemployment is also very telling. Joes group may be using unemploment as it was designed, or possibly he is speaking historically when payouts were measured in weeks, not years. But I know others that chronically abuse it. I know many seasonal workers (landscapers)that make a mint in the summer, easily enough to live on all year but still apply for unemployment every winter. It is a part of their budget because they know it is there. Take that away and they would all have plows on their trucks or would find something else, but it is easier to ride the gravy train. I know another guy who was proud and struggling. he got laid off and figured out once you add together unemployment, food stamps, medical assistance , heat assistance, and every other program out there he is ahead not working. What he does not realize is that the unemployment will end and he will be viewed as a long term unemployed who's skills and attitude have degraded. He will be unemployable and will end up on welfare with reduced income and whatever he has left as a cushion will need to be spent first. Plus his kids are watching and learning. This is the legacy of entitlements. We cannot be a great country with 60% of the country paying the other 40% to do nothing. and it is quickly heading to 40% paying for 60%. the 60% will of course vote for the democrats who they view as the supporters of their life style, and they will demand more and more services, because they of course deserve the same healthcare, food, cell phones, and standard of living as everyone else. Or do they? We need everyone to share the work burden, so they can legitimatly share the rewards and that will only happen when we treat business like we like them and want them to stick around.

Putting Dodd and Frank in charge of regulating finace was like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. It was regulation that created this economy. Back when Clinton was in office and they were pulling bank execs in front of congress over red lining (not loaning money to people who could not afford to pay it back) the banks simply said we will not do that, the risk is to high, it was our government with Dodd and Frank in the lead that created the guarantees that gave the banks free reign to make bad loans. If you name a regulation and give me a few minutes I can find a negative consequence that came from it. This is what happens when you elect mostly lawyers instead of mostly business people with real world experience. Most regulations are a knee jerk reaction to a very isolated problem that forces thousands of ethical businesses to spend money to stay in compliance.In most cases there was already a law in place to deal with the problem that the government was not enforcing. Add them all together, add in the highest corporate tax rates in the world, and a government that picks and chooses who pays those rates and who does not, often through political favors and you see why we have no growth.   

I knew deep down you were a Democrat

you were sprouting some more Democratic values...now if we could only get you to change your mind about taxing the rich

The 50 percent number didnt get any more realistic after reading that blog posted.   Not only does it count sociall secrurity benefits and medicare that were paid for by the retired recipients but it also includes everyone that lives in a household where one person receives such benefits.   By that count I am included because I live with my retired father, and my sister brother in law and thief kids are counted because they take care of her father in law.   My brother-sister in law and his three kids for the same reason.   If we want to have reasonable arguements we have to use real numbers. In most cases these are bad enough. By this measure we could get 10 (5 fully employed 5 kids) people out of that percentage by dumping 3 old guys in the county nursing home but that won't make it a better country.

JoeinNY wrote: The 50 percent number didnt get any more realistic after reading that blog posted.   Not only does it count sociall secrurity benefits and medicare that were paid for by the retired recipients but it also includes everyone that lives in a household where one person receives such benefits.   By that count I am included because I live with my retired father, and my sister brother in law and thief kids are counted because they take care of her father in law.   My brother-sister in law and his three kids for the same reason.   If we want to have reasonable arguements we have to use real numbers. In most cases these are bad enough. By this measure we could get 10 (5 fully employed 5 kids) people out of that percentage by dumping 3 old guys in the county nursing home but that won't make it a better country.

So, this means you agree with me on 9 of 10 points??   

Setting percentage of people, vs. percentage of households aside, and I will concede that can be a big number, what is real number of individuals on assistance?

We can probably argue the numbers until the cows come home. My concern is that the government over the years has dramatically increased spending for "temporary" programs, and they become permanent and keep expanding. Johnson really got this going with his Great Society, and it has just kept expanding from there.

And somebody still doesn't understand the difference between insurance and a ponzi scheme or have an understanding of what the country was like before it.   

As for complaining about the cost of the presidents vacation - pure sillyness.   It is no wonder no one qualified wants anything to do with the job.

I don't have a problem with the Presidents vacations. Him having to be on TV every day is alittle much.

Pelosi and her jet is a whole different story. Especially the way she abused the privilage of having it ready at the call. Calling and cancelling over and over again.

Congressional perks have gone way past what those people deserve. When you consider their poor job performance (and I'mean the last decade of congress) we are not getting our monies worth. This is Bipartisan abuse.

Yes! If you cant fix it,(is anyone under the delusion that we can?) the next best thing is to shrink it and minimize its power and damage.

JoeinNY wrote: As for complaining about the cost of the presidents vacation - pure sillyness.   It is no wonder no one qualified wants anything to do with the job.

If you can dismiss the US government spending 4 million of tax payers money for one US family to travel for one week as pure silliness I then understand why you cannot see that we have a spending problem. We are talking real dollars taken from US tax payers, not monopoly money.

just a change of scenery