The radical lefties talk, act and think as if people are either born rich or born poor and stay that way. They talk, act and think about how our elected (by the people!) politicians "hand money over to the wealthy" in the form of tax cuts, as if for some reason they want to curry favor with only rich people. Why would they? Everyone votes, regardless of income, so what's the motive... a fancy dinner invitation?This paranoia is now running rampant here in Maine where the recently elected (by the people!) Republican governor, Paul LePage, is being accused of doing things to help the rich and hurt the poor. I wonder, just what is his motive? A few thoughts:
1. While some people are indeed born rich and others are indeed born poor, anyone can become rich in America through hard work or become poor through mismanagement of funds. (Consider all the winners of lottery jackpots who sped through huge sums on their way to poverty.)
2. Regardless of how much they have left over to enjoy and spend on yachts and caviar and Kobe beef and tummy tucks, the rich pay the most taxes. This is simple math: If a rich man has $100 and pays 33% to taxes, that's $33.00. If a poor man has only $50 and pays 10% to taxes, that's $5.00. Even if the rich guy gets a tax break from one of those politicians and pays only 10% to taxes, the same rate as the poor guy, that's $10, still more than the poor guy. Should the rich guy be penalized for working harder and generating more income, coincidentally stimulating the economy with all his spending and possibly employing thousands of people?
3. Rich people are constantly giving away huge sums of their money to fund things that poor people enjoy, like hospitals and public parks and schools and cancer research, while poor people take and take and take and take and want more, more, more and complain and whine and snivel and......
I look forward to someone explaining this to me.
There is no explanation. But we spend our time complaining. The same idiots who kept the last really STUPID governor in office...way past his expiration date, are complaining about a mural. Did anyone know it existed? Give back the $60,000 to the Feds, put it up on eBay and make more than $60,000 back. I work very hard for my money and don't care to part with it at all. There are some people who do need assistance, but there are a lot of LAZY people who feel entitled. The "Way Life Should Be" is over, so get over it. We have to make some serious cuts to get our state on some kind of track. Instead of complaining about LePage (though I don't have a problem with him), use all that energy to do something worth while.
ReplyDeleteGL
I like your simple math, Andrea -- "caveman math" we call it at work and it makes perfect sense
ReplyDeleteBut the actual numbers are even starker, since the bottom half of earners essentially pay zero taxes. The top 1 % (380k+) pay about 40% of all income taxes. The top 10 % (114k+) pays 70% of taxes. The bottom 50% (below 33k) pays 2.7%.
(These are all 2008 figures)
And as for lePage: businesses move every day across state lines to gain more favorable business tax treatment. And yet people think it is a handout to the rich to cut business taxes (even though the us and state business taxes combined are among the highest in the WORLD)...lePage wants tax breaks for business in order to compete with other states for the opportunity to keep our citizens gainfully employed! Who reaps the benefit here? As you point out, lePage is nit betting on the favors of the rich. He is betting on the support of the masses, if he succeeds in improving the state's economy and job growth prospects!
I will try to come back to this because there are several really good discussion topics in here. But since I don't have time to right now, can I just confirm that while, yes, the current governor of Maine was duly elected by the people, the vast majority of people (even the relative few who voted) voted against him. Wasn't he elected with less than 40% of the vote?
ReplyDeleteDoesn't change the results of the election. Elections are elections. But it does make a difference when we try to interpret the will of the people.
Keith, here is where my ignorance concerning politics kicks in! How can someone be elected if "the vast majority of people voted against him"? Please educate me....
ReplyDeleteThe issue was, there were 3 people running. Do the math...since the female candidate for Governor would surely have finished tanking Maine if she got elected, it was too close for anyone to win by a huge margin.
ReplyDeleteIt is so easy to "blame, blame, blame and more blame". Very sick of it. Yes, our Governor will not win any public speaking awards, but he is trying to do something.
Yeah, everyone wants something fixed as long as it doesn't touch something of mine. We all have to give up something. I was happy to give up the stupid mural. It depicts one side of labor but doesn't show the ugly side. Oh yes Virginia, there is an ugly side to unions and labor. Where are the threats, yelling and screaming, laziness, secret deals, etc. depicted in this mural? Yeah right, that is what I thought, it isn't. Be done with the stupid ass thing and move on. We have SERIOUS issues that need to be addressed in Maine. If you have "constructive" ideas, pass them along to your representative. Stop bitching and be active.
GL
Right again GL!
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