- Wraith of J.O.I.
- Jan 25, 2012
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I don't know if this is quite the right place to post this, but a kid I went to high school with posted this on Facebook.
quote: An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little..
The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that.
Remember, there IS a test coming up. The 2012 elections.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.
I stopped myself from letting off a string of expletives on the kid's wall but god drat this professor/whoever wrote this (it's obviously a fantasy) sounds like a loving idiot. Their political/socioeconomic knowledge seems to be limited from post-1980s America, and then only from the typical white, upper/middle class FYGM douche perspective.
Wraith of J.O.I. fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Jan 26, 2012
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Jan 26, 2012 20:39
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- Wraith of J.O.I.
- Jan 25, 2012
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My dad just sent me this WSJ op-ed:
quote:A Fairness Quiz for the President
by Stephen Moore
President Obama has frequently justified his policies—and judged their outcomes—in terms of equity, justice and fairness. That raises an obvious question: How does our existing system—and his own policy record—stack up according to those criteria?
Is it fair that the richest 1% of Americans pay nearly 40% of all federal income taxes, and the richest 10% pay two-thirds of the tax?
Is it fair that the richest 10% of Americans shoulder a higher share of their country's income-tax burden than do the richest 10% in every other industrialized nation, including socialist Sweden?
Is it fair that American corporations pay the highest statutory corporate tax rate of all other industrialized nations but Japan, which cuts its rate on April 1?
Is it fair that President Obama sends his two daughters to elite private schools that are safer, better-run, and produce higher test scores than public schools in Washington, D.C.—but millions of other families across America are denied that free choice and forced to send their kids to rotten schools?
Is it fair that Americans who build a family business, hire workers, reinvest and save their money—paying a lifetime of federal, state and local taxes often climbing into the millions of dollars—must then pay an additional estate tax of 35% (and as much as 55% when the law changes next year) when they die, rather than passing that money onto their loved ones?
Is it fair that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel and other leading Democrats who preach tax fairness underpaid their own taxes?
Is it fair that after the first three years of Obamanomics, the poor are poorer, the poverty rate is rising, the middle class is losing income, and some 5.5 million fewer Americans have jobs today than in 2007?
Is it fair that roughly 88% of political contributions from supposedly impartial network television reporters, producers and other employees in 2008 went to Democrats?
Is it fair that the three counties with America's highest median family income just happen to be located in the Washington, D.C., metro area?
Is it fair that wind, solar and ethanol producers get billions of dollars of subsidies each year and pay virtually no taxes, while the oil and gas industry—which provides at least 10 times as much energy—pays tens of billions of dollars of taxes while the president complains that it is "subsidized"?
Is it fair that those who work full-time jobs (and sometimes more) to make ends meet have to pay taxes to support up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits for those who don't work?
Is it fair that those who took out responsible mortgages and pay them each month have to see their tax dollars used to subsidize those who acted recklessly, greedily and sometimes deceitfully in taking out mortgages they now can't afford to repay?
Is it fair that thousands of workers won't have jobs because the president sided with environmentalists and blocked the shovel-ready Keystone XL oil pipeline?
Is it fair that some of Mr. Obama's largest campaign contributors received federal loan guarantees on their investments in renewable energy projects that went bust?
Is it fair that federal employees receive benefits that are nearly 50% higher than those of private-sector workers whose taxes pay their salaries, according to the Congressional Budget Office?
Is it fair that soon almost half the federal budget will take income from young working people and redistribute it to old non-working people, even though those over age 65 are already among the wealthiest Americans?
Is it fair that in 27 states workers can be compelled to join a union in order to keep their jobs?
Is it fair that nearly four out of 10 American households now pay no federal income tax at all—a number that has risen every year under Mr. Obama?
Is it fair that Boeing, a private company, was threatened by a federal agency when it sought to add jobs in a right-to-work state rather than in a forced-union state?
Is it fair that our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids—who never voted for Mr. Obama—will have to pay off the $5 trillion of debt accumulated over the past four years, without any benefits to them?
Mr. Moore is a member of the Journal's editorial board.
So much to respond to. Tempted to just reply with "Ugh."
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Feb 7, 2012 20:04
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- Wraith of J.O.I.
- Jan 25, 2012
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Chunk posted:
There, I took care of most of them using the same dumb glib snark the original author used.
quote:"Is it fair that the richest 1% of Americans pay nearly 40% of all federal income taxes, and the richest 10% pay two-thirds of the tax?"
The richest 10% hold 75% of the wealth, so maybe they should pay more taxes? Is it fair the average income of the richest 400 people has gone up 400% since 1992 while their tax burden has gone down by 37%? And is it fair the income for the bottom 80% of Americans has fallen since 1979?
"Is it fair that the richest 10% of Americans shoulder a higher share of their country's income-tax burden than do the richest 10% in every other industrialized nation, including socialist Sweden?"
Well, if America had a fairer distribution of wealth, like Sweden, then the top 10% would have a proportionally lower tax burden. So maybe we should enact policies that result in better jobs/wages for the bottom 90%?
"Is it fair that President Obama sends his two daughters to elite private schools that are safer, better-run, and produce higher test scores than public schools in Washington, D.C.—but millions of other families across America are denied that free choice and forced to send their kids to rotten schools?"
Yes, public schools are being cut to the bones, so maybe we should strengthen and fix them instead of cutting their budgets and throwing them to the wayside?
"Is it fair that after the first three years of Obamanomics, the poor are poorer, the poverty rate is rising, the middle class is losing income, and some 5.5 million fewer Americans have jobs today than in 2007?"
Is this guy an idiot? Middle class incomes have been stagnant since Reagan – directly traceable to REAGANomics. What even is Obamanomics anyway? I've never heard the term before, and any coherent economic policy from Obama seems to be simply an extension of Bush II's policies.
"Is it fair that roughly 88% of political contributions from supposedly impartial network television reporters, producers and other employees in 2008 went to Democrats?"
Is it fair that the GOP has a "news" network of its own – the highest rated one on cable – to spew propaganda? Regardless, the best way to fix political contributions from reporters is complete public financing of elections.
"Is it fair that wind, solar and ethanol producers get billions of dollars of subsidies each year and pay virtually no taxes, while the oil and gas industry—which provides at least 10 times as much energy—pays tens of billions of dollars of taxes while the president complains that it is "subsidized"?"
Yes, completely fair. The oil & gas industry provide so much energy because they've been helped by subsidies for so long, and they make billions of dollars in profit each quarter. It's time to develop the energy of the future and to not do so is shortsighted, ignorant, and borderline insane.
"Is it fair that those who work full-time jobs (and sometimes more) to make ends meet have to pay taxes to support up to 99 weeks of unemployment benefits for those who don't work?"
So this guy is gonna rail against the poor and then use them to play politics? That ain't fair. What should we do with the unemployed? Give them the cold shoulder and let them starve? Seriously, what's this guy's solution other than to let them go hungry in the cold?
"Is it fair that those who took out responsible mortgages and pay them each month have to see their tax dollars used to subsidize those who acted recklessly, greedily and sometimes deceitfully in taking out mortgages they now can't afford to repay?"
No, we should have had stronger regulations in place in the first place, but those were cut apart. Is it fair that the world economy crashed because of banks who acted with reckless, repulsive greed – and never faced any punishment for their actions?
"Is it fair that thousands of workers won't have jobs because the president sided with environmentalists and blocked the shovel-ready Keystone XL oil pipeline?"
Less than 5,000 jobs – and not very good ones at that. Oil is the way of the past. Invest in clean, renewable energy. Building that pipeline would have drastically threatened the future of our climate.
"Is it fair that some of Mr. Obama's largest campaign contributors received federal loan guarantees on their investments in renewable energy projects that went bust?"
Once again: a problem easily solved with publicly financed elections.
"Is it fair that federal employees receive benefits that are nearly 50% higher than those of private-sector workers whose taxes pay their salaries, according to the Congressional Budget Office?"
Maybe the private sector should unionize then and fight for the benefits the public sector fought for. Why do so many people insist on bringing everyone down to the lowest common denominator of crappy benefits?
"Is it fair that soon almost half the federal budget will take income from young working people and redistribute it to old non-working people, even though those over age 65 are already among the wealthiest Americans?"
Social security is a vital source of income for millions of elderly people and to take that away from them would kill them. Literally. Which is what this guy seems to be implying we should do (take it away, not kill them directly). But maybe we can reform it so that the rich don't draw benefits.
"Is it fair that in 27 states workers can be compelled to join a union in order to keep their jobs?"
Classic free-rider problem – people should pay for the benefits they enjoy. Right-to-work is backdoor union-busting and hurts employees. Employees in non-RTW states make $5,000 more per year, have better health coverage and better pensions.
"Is it fair that nearly four out of 10 American households now pay no federal income tax at all—a number that has risen every year under Mr. Obama?"
The bottom 40% of the country holds less than 5% of the wealth. They pay payroll and social security taxes, as well as sales tax, gas tax, excise taxes and so on. Help the poor pay federal income taxes by providing jobs that would allow them to make enough to pay them.
"Is it fair that our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids—who never voted for Mr. Obama—will have to pay off the $5 trillion of debt accumulated over the past four years, without any benefits to them?"
This guy is crazy. Well, let's see, the two wars of aggression started by Bush have cost about $4 trillion, why not mention that? Or the Bush tax cuts? The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calculated that those two things alone will account for half of all of America's public debt by 2019. Half. Is it fair our kids and grandkids and great-grandkids will have to pay for two wars of aggression started by a president they never voted for while said president drastically cut taxes – absolutely, incomprehensibly idiotic public policy – and will have to fix the environment the generations before them ruined?
Critiques & advice on my response welcome – I'm trying to get better at this. Maybe I should've stayed away from calling the author an idiot and crazy but I couldn't help myself.
Wraith of J.O.I. fucked around with this message at 04:46 on Feb 8, 2012
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Feb 8, 2012 03:39
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Jan 26, 2012 20:39
