Second-class residents
I’m having a tough time reconciling Gov. LePage’s plan to disenfranchise 65,000 childless adults from their MaineCare health benefits.
Isn’t this the same governor who advocates spending our tax dollars to expand high school to five years? Isn’t he the same governor who advocates spending tax money on advanced placement college courses? Are we as a society more inclined to pay for other people’s children’s college education than health care for childless adults?
You may claim I’m comparing apples to oranges. But from my viewpoint, it looks like childless adults are being labeled second-class residents.
Marie Sims
Presque Isle
Bath salts overkill
As a downtown Bangor fan and business owner I find the recent negative coverage of the bath salts issue a bit overkill.
I disagree that most business owners were worried about the “bath salters” scaring away customers. At least we weren’t until this recent negative coverage. Downtown Bangor is no more a bath-salters paradise than the rest of Bangor.
As a small-business owner in the downtown, I have far more pressing worries than the possibility of a salter showing up at my shop. In fact, I really don’t worry all that much in the downtown. It’s great down here.
When I do worry about things, it’s usually the fact that customers are too lazy to walk from the plentiful parking places to my shop, that I might get hit by motorist speeding through the crosswalk or, God forbid, a pigeon might poop on me. Now that, folks, that really scares me.
Tony Sohns
Bangor
What kind of society?
The dictionary definition of the word “responsibility” has probably not changed much since my schoolgirl days. But its societal interpretation has devolved rapidly in America in the intervening decades. This transition is behind the social inequality protested by the Occupy movement.
In my youth responsibility was society’s. We were to seek justice for and provide help to those caught in the Other America. Much was expected of those to whom much had been given.
Kennedy and Johnson didn’t come up with anything new. The admonition to live in a society of interconnectedness and help for each other goes back to the dawn of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and every other major world religion. It is also embedded in many secular codes of law based on ethics and morals.
Now we’ve replaced social responsibility with personal responsibility. It’s a lone cowboy mentality where each person is charged to take care of him or herself. Never mind that those most in need have the fewest resources with which to cope. The rich need not “squander” their wealth. And those who can’t “pull themselves up by their own bootstraps” are to blame for their misfortunes.
Most of us are getting by paycheck to paycheck, only one disaster from going under. If the unthinkable happens, do you want to live in a country where your fellow residents turn a blind eye on your suffering or a society in which your efforts at recovery are helped because it’s the right thing to do?
Julia Emily Hathaway
Veazie
Indefinite detention remains
Snowe, Collins and 91 other senators voted in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which legalizes taxpayer-funded disappearances, torture and secret, indefinite detentions of just about anyone, just about anywhere. Obama signed it New Year’s Eve.
Obama issued a statement telling us not to worry too much about taxpayer-funded disappearances, torture and secret, indefinite detentions because no American citizens would be detained indefinitely (during his administration, he said.)
Many of us would appreciate Snowe and Collins explaining their enthusiasm for taxpayer-funded disappearances, torture, and secret, indefinite detentions. Why do they think the good residents of Battlefield Maine want to financially support government efforts to disappear, torture and secretly imprison other human beings, including human beings who are American citizens? Why shouldn’t we worry?
Jason Rawn
Union
MLK and health care
Martin Luther King said, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” All other developed countries have universal health care as a right of citizenship.
Our country still has not embraced health care as a human right. A Harvard study shows there are 45,000 deaths annually due to lack of health insurance. This is happening while drug companies and health insurance companies are making billions of dollars each year.
HR 676, the National Health Insurance Act (“Medicare for All”), would lower health costs by $400 billion dollars annually due to lower administrative costs and the ability to negotiate drug prices.
I urge you to contact your legislators to support HR 676, Medicare for All. Martin Luther King, Jr. would support this legislation as a major step toward equality in our country.
Kathryn Bourgoin, MD
Member of Physicians For National Health Program
Orono
No time to be generous
Who says public-sector employees are entitled to career jobs, market-based pay raises, competitive benefits packages and generous retirement program? Maybe in good financial times the people would be willing to give whatever is necessary to attract and keep good employees in essential positions, but now is not that time.
It is likely that hundreds of out of work or underemployed residents would be willing to accept each and every Knox County position at its current or even reduced pay rates.
The people who fund county positions are struggling trying to keep their jobs, pay their bills or find work. We are suffering crushing increases in local, state and federal taxes. We are trying to cope with runaway food and energy costs while our own paychecks are stagnant or diminishing. We have watched our retirement savings disappear and our home equities cut in half.
All around the world, the excesses of bloated governments are taking their toll on the economy and citizenry. The costs and interference of our governments have destroyed our ability to support it and ourselves. Our governments are collapsing under their own weight. Our only choice is to reduce the burden of government, not increase it. Leadership at all levels of government needs to realize this and make changes in the right direction before the people are forced to do it for them.
John Field
Union
John Field, do you believe that people who have state jobs aren’t aware of increased costs of living or decreased property values? They live here too. If you wish to direct your anger let it be toward the politicians and the corporations and bankers that have put them there.
You left out the unions as a direction where anger should be aimed.
Guess where unions are starting to be formed? China. Why? Workers there are fed up with working conditions and wages. Some US companies are looking to come home, but as one letter writer wrote will be offering low wages to American workers. Just like the new mill owners in Millinockett who start workers out at $12 an hour. Just read an article about a new trend…. workers walking off the job because they have had enough of their high paid execs crying about how bad things are as justification for freezes, pay/benefit cuts, and long work days without overtime.
You are seriously delusional if you think the Chicom government is going to let unions be formed among their workforce. Please cite a link to this.
It is time to stop living in fear of the scary union monster hiding under your bed. Private union membership is down to 7% in this country. It is no coincidence that the decline in union membership and the wages for a working men and women being stuck in the early 90’s go hand in hand. When 6 people in Arkansas have more wealth than the bottom 96 million Americans, it may be time for some organizing.
Thats like saying that if handouts are reduced so will income. Unions are no longer about the worker. Lets pay people triple time, that’s helpful. Lets base renumeration on tenure not skill sets or productivity. Lets eliminate all competition and stack the deck. The reason that union membership is down to 7% is because union wages cannot be supported without bankrupting the companies they work for. Instead of taking away from those who legally earned it why don’t you people on left try to figure out how to create more 1%’ers vs. less?
If we had more unionized workers in this state, earning decent wages with benefits the property values wouldn’t be a low as they are. People living on Mardens wages can’t afford to buy houses. Or are you willing to wait until they build low income housing all over the state.
Flat: The right to form a union and deal with management is a true part of capitalism. Unions provide the balance that makes capitalism work fairly for everyone. If there are no unions you do not have capitalism; you have monopolies, company towns, company script and company stores. We tried that, remember? It didn’t work.
Sort of like present day China and much of central America.
Unions should be illegal. If I told you that you could only do business with this group you would say that you have a right to go where ever you wish. If I’m a musician in NY why must I join a union? If I want to hire a band why am I forced to hiring a union band?
You are ONLY against Unions because it is required in order to be a card carrying GOP cult member. I’m sure as part of your brainwashing required regimen, you have had all the great things that Unions have done for America deleted from your mind.
Idiotic comment. The unions long ago provided worker rights. Most union workers are lazy tenured lay abouts. Just think of union workers the next time you drive by some road work or construction. Think of the Big Dig. Thats what happens when you team up Dems and Unions
John Field: Yes we have a recession. County employees did not cause it. “Bloated” governments did not cause it. It was caused by Republican’s fiscal mismanagement, their two unnecessary wars and illogical tax cuts for the rich.. If employees, no matter for whom they work, show up every day and do the same work they did before the recession why should they bear the brunt of Republican inability to handle an economy.
Many conservatives have enthusiastically embraced the recession as an opportunity to slash salaries, get employees on the cheap and reduce their own taxes. That’s contemptible, anti-american and counter-productive. To get out of a recession you need lots of people spending money: which they can’t if you’ve cut their salaries to the bone.
Mr. Field, the purpose of your suggestion to yank the rug out from under employees appears to have very little to do with any concern for people who are struggling in this economy and everything to do with lowering your own taxes.
Come on you can do better than that you didnt even mention george bush once.Obama has spent more money than any president in history and none of it has benefited anyone but him and his agenda.You cant truly be serious stating that bloated government has not caused problems How about Barney Frank are you still cheering for him also give me a break!!!
Poor segue, and straw man arguements about alleged villains not even named in the comment.
most villains are behind the scenes
Or in your head : )
LOL
What stats are you looking at? Certainly not the ones posted by credible reports.
unemployment numbers and deficit hows that for credible stats
Kathryn Bourgoin, MD, good letter. Aren’t you afraid that the insurance companies will black ball you or double your malpractice rates? They don’t like anyone messing around with their golden goose.
Kathryn Bourgoin, MD–Thank you for advocating for Single Payer Healthcare. I agree that a medicare for all approach is the only reasonable approach to solving our current healthcare crisis. As a doctor, your voice should come across a little louder than mine or than the volumes of naysayers, insurance company flaks and “free marketeers”. The preamble to our constitution gives the term “general welfare” as one of the core reasons for the formation and codification of our union. I am hesitant to translate this as to mean that everyone has a right to healthcare, but I most certainly translate it to mean that our country has the mandate to provide that service to its citizens. By standing alone as the only wealthy industrialized country on the planet that does not offer a universal health care plan, we also stand out as the only country that places other interests, i.e. the profits of a privileged few” above the general welfare of all the citizens. Yes on HR 676!
Julia Emily Hathaway–good letter. I believe the “personal responsibility” chant we hear from the right wingers is a smoke screen to divert us from how the wealthy have decided that they do not wish to be responsible for giving back to the country and society that allowed them to become wealthy.
Top 1% pay 40% of the fed income taxes. Top 10% pay 67% of all fed income taxes. Is it your thinking that the top 10% pay all the taxes and everyone else rides for free? What percentage do you think the top 10% should pay?
If we had a wealth tax and/or an investment tax then the income tax would be less important to our society. The bottom line is that wealth is being extracted from the citizenry and is transferring to a very limited few neo-aristocrats at unprecedented rates and the distribution of wealth in this country is the most unbalanced it has been in almost a hundred years if not ever. This maldistribution of wealth is the root cause of our social ills and our economic woes.
I think that those who have too much should bear a greater portion of the tax burden than those who have too little.
Sorry, duplicate post. Disqus acting strange again.
Define how much is “too much”.
And what is your response when the rest of the world says that EVERYONE in the US has too much and wants the UN to tax it out of us and give it to them?
The top 10% already bear a much greater portion of the tax burden than the bottom 90%. And you still have not answered the question of what percentage you think they should pay.
An investment tax is a simplistic idea with far reaching negative consequences. It will disproportionately hurt the retirement accounts such as 401K’s of the middle class and working people. Such taxes decrease sharply during recessions exacerbating the problem of decreased tax revenues during recessions. This is also the reason that federal income taxes have been hit so hard during this recession. The top 10% sees a much larger variation in income associated with the overall health of the economy than does the bottom 90%. As the percentage of income taxes paid by the top 10% has gone up so has the dependence of the federal government on those individuals. Their income drops disproportionately during recessions and therefore so does the income tax collected by the government.
Be careful what you wish for with a “wealth” tax. At present spending levels the government would spend the majority of the wealth of the top 10% in a very few years. The only solution at that point would be to progressively tax lower and lower levels of wealth as the wealth of the rich is eliminated. Eventually this tax would be applied to almost everyone. All you have to do is look at the history of the income tax to see how this would happen.
yep–disqus is messed up this morning. gtg
Donald Trump suggested a one-time 14.25% tax on wealth above $10 million as a way to eliminate the federal debt. Radical, perhaps, but the sort of “outside the box” thinking that we need to return our ship of state to an even keel.
Many economists and countries are now proposing and instituting investment taxes. I will gladly pay my percentage if it will help to keep the Wall St. casino crowd from gambling with our national economy in hopes to extract massive fortunes for themselves. It is obvious to anyone paying attention that the new “vulture capitalism” model of business does not create jobs or grow the economy but actually destroys jobs wholesale and crashes the economy as more and more wealth is amassed by fewer and fewer people. In 1946, businesses paid $1.50 in taxes for every $1.00 that citizens paid. Now, businesses pay $0.25 in taxes for every $1.oo that citizens pay. You can dispense with the platitudes about “job creators” because history proves that the shift has run concurrent with the change from a vital robust economy to our current state of affairs.
It is not my job to choose tax rates or to define “too much”. It is my right and duty as a citizen to monitor the trends and the health of our government and our economy. Our overall tax burden is currently the lowest it has been since before WWII. All the economic growth in our country has gone to the 1% over the past 40 years. It is past time to reverse that trend by one means or another.
It is also your right, codified by the Supreme Court, to spend as much money as you want buying candidates for public office that will represent your greedy desires. Government is not the problem. The problem is government run for the express purpose of protecting wealth, even at the cost of destroying the general welfare of the citizenry. GreedIStheproblem.
Another disqus double
Trump proposed that in 1999 when the Total US debt was about 5.6 trillion dollars. I doubt if it would work now. Another thing that I don’t think even Trump thought about was the disruption to the economy that would be caused by the conversion of that much wealth from mostly fixed and paper assets, (real estate and stocks for instance), into liquid assets, (cash), and turning that over to the government. Also, unless spending is brought under control this would be a temporary fix at best.
As usual you refuse to answer how much the wealthy should pay while spouting the talking point that they should pay more.
Your investment tax will not stop the present questionable practices of Wall Street. It will hurt the middle class the most by reducing the growth of retirement accounts significantly. If you wish to reduce speculation what you have to do is increase the risk for speculating. The secret to this is to stop the practice of allowing investors to purchase options or stock with only a small percentage of cash backing the transaction.
You are confusing vulture capitalism with crony capitalism.
That two trends run concurrently is in itself meaningless. You assume that such a relationship indicates a cause and effect relationship and assume as well which factor is the cause based on your preconceived bias. Reality is that both trends may be the result of a third factor or of entirely unrelated factors.
Taxes as a percentage of GDP collected has stayed remarkably constant for decades now despite massive changes in tax rates over time. (WWII in particular is an arbitration.) This in itself is revealing and indicative that there are more complex trends and forces at work. What has changed is the growth of government spending. An interesting correlation, (I’m not claiming direct cause and effect), is the downward trend of overall economic health as total government spending, (including all levels of government), has increased.
Greed, by people in government, is ONE of the problems.
Republicans are the problem. Look how they put our economy in the toilet because incomps like Bush.
Spending more then whats taken in is the problem
A wealth tax is a mindless tax idea. Will you reimbursement me if my wealth decreases? If a buy a trinket and bring it on Antique Roadshow and find out it’s worth $500K, in your world I would now have to pony up a couple of $100K?
Whats too much? Do you decide? You talk like a looter.
According to the latest census, half of America is now poor or living in poverty. You being the arbiter of fair and just taxation, what percentage of the tax load should they be bearing? Are you so blind that you can not see the reason why the top 10% are paying the lion’s share of the taxes? Maybe because they have all the money? 6 people in Arkansas now have more wealth that the bottom 96 million Americans, or 30% of our population. Shouldn’t they be paying 30% of the taxes needed to fund government? It is going to get really awkward when they have ALL the money and still want a tax break.
Your rant about the Waltons is getting old. Broken record time.
But lets take your idiocy at face value. You say they should pay 30% of the income tax. The Federal government collects between $2 and $2.5 TRILLION in taxes. Lets use the low number of 2 trillion or 2,000 billion. The 6 Walton heirs are worth collectively about $96 billion according to posts you have previously made. This means that if They were responsible for 30%, $600 billion, their entire wealth would be taxed in only 58.4 days.
I’m sure that would satisfy your desire to punish them for the crime of being rich but it won’t really solve the problem. But after them we can go after Buffet and Gates and Michael Moore.
The problem is that you are going to run out of rich people to hate and confiscate their wealth in only a year or so.
Talk about old rants! You’ve been on this fact-less schtick since the President Obama took office. How come we didn’t hear it during the Bush presidency?
Your whining about the rich paying most of the taxes is beyond old, it’s prehistoric.
Its also true.
Weren’t you going to say something about disenfranchisement?
I appreciate TCFTR’s continued posts about boycotting Wal-Mart. In fact, I boycotted Wal-Mart today because of it. Please keep beating that drum!
The Waltons paying 30% of the total U.S. tax tab was a sarcastic question. Sorry, I’ll slow it down a little. The Walton brats are worth 93 billion, not 96 billion yet. You will be correct in a couple of months though. Their average employee earns $13, 600 a year, or half the federal poverty level, HALF! My history book says that this is the kind of inequity that has started the bloodshed every single time since the dawn of man. You are willing to defend them with your keyboard. We you be so motivated to defend them with your gun? I am guessing they would be on their own. They have more wealth than 30% of America right now. How long do you see this going on before the unwashed masses say enough? 40%? 50%? What is the magic number, in your opinion? Just to humor an idiot, please let me know.
——————————
Flat: You really ought to inform yourself. Instead of listening to short, titillating, hate filled sound bites from right wing ideologues that support your depressing world view, read something intelligent, factual and dull. The change might be bracing.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3505
Ah Flat_lander, it would seem you live in a Faux News bubble where they only discuss income taxes. Look at every other tax out there and see who pays a greater percentage of his or her income towards those taxes: the average middle class worker making $40,000 per year or Mitt Romney. For example, for FICA taxes Romney likely pays none as he claims to be unemployed, while the $40K worker pays a 7.4% tax on dollar one of income (14.8% if you count the employer share). This is likely true for primary residence real estate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc.. It’s hard to say with precision as Romney hasn’t released his tax returns and it’s not clear which home he claims as his primary residence.
Please note that county and local government are funded by real estate taxes, which the middle class pays at a higher effective rate than the rich, and that most state governments are funded by sales taxes, which are regressive as well. You can talk only about income taxes and would be a true flat earther if you do. However, you need to look at the earth as a globe and consider all taxes, not just those on which Faux News tells you to focus.
The top income tax rate should be 40% of the dollars earned above $1 million. They can afford it and a progressive income tax is supposed to be based on ability to pay, NOT whether they are paying most of the taxes.
So, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”? If I may, how many hours a week do you volunteer to help the less fortunate? What percentage of your income goes to helping those who have less than you? If you own a nice house, a nice car, or nice things, why don’t you sell them and buy an acceptable house, and acceptable car, and acceptable things? After all, how many people have none of what I’ve mentioned? As far as a 40% income tax, don’t you think that same 40% could instead go into the economy instead of government coffers? Unless, of course, you believe that government is more financially responsible than the private sector. Under your system, what motivation do I have to pursue financial success? Why not keep my income at a modest $999,999 a year?
That 40% won’t go into the economy and the proof is that since Bush reduced the top tax bracket down from 39.6% to 35%, jobs have not been produced and NOTHING has trickled down to the masses. Yes I believe the government will spend it better by reducing our deficit and making sure the poor can survive. All that would be saved by keeping your income $999,999 instead of a $1 million would be 5% of of $1 ie 5¢ because ONLY those dollars above $1million would be taxed the additional amount. It’s so little especially to the very rich so why are GOP cheerleaders whining like the sky will fall if the rich pay a little more. GEEZ they were paying 39.6% before Bush cut their taxes and the economy was much better than it is now. I guess the Bush tax cuts were JOBKILLERS!
The private sector didn’t cause us to be trillions of dollars in debt. Governments job is not to create jobs, nor can it (except government jobs). How is it right for government (remember now, that government is force, not reason) to say, “create jobs, or else”? I’m a firm believer that, since “we the people” are government, what’s wrong for a private citizen is equally wrong for government. I assume that you’ll agree that it is wrong for me to take your possessions by force because you have more than I do. Why then, is it right for a group of citizens ie government?
Did you make the same comparisons and complaints with the Bush administration? If not, why not?
When you allow something, it implies that you have the power, as well as the right, to stop it from happening.
Interesting how the letters from Ms Hathaway, Ms Sims, Dr. Bourgoin contrast with that of Mr. Field.
Mr. Field should feel quite proud. He’s the only one that’s right.
Nope. His is the only one that’s politically to the “right’, not to be confused with accurate.
And the other letters aren’t “politically to the left”? I guess that must make them accurate.
Julia Emily Hathaway – I’ve been around for a while, and I can’t remember when America was a socialist country. I think you have your timeline backwards.
Kathryn Bourgoin, MD – No, ALL other developed countries do NOT have universal healthcare. And the ones that do are going bankrupt, one by one. Is that what you want for America? Bankruptcy?
John Field – I’m surprised that the BDN printed your letter. I did notice, however, that the put it last. It should have been the first letter. You’re right.
So Hathawy’s letter was advocating Socialism? More like she was questioning if current conservative philosophies are Christian. Are they?
Better do a fact check. Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, Canada all seem to weathering things quite nicely. Social responsibility is one of the benchmarks of a civilized society. You would like to go back to Dicken’s time, I am thinking. And, there is a warning to employers now put out by Forbes….. better be taking care of your workers or they just might walk out on you. No, low paying public assistance jobs are not the answer. You simply subsidize corporate profits with taxpayer money.
Interesting thing about checking facts: one usually finds out more that supports his or her side of an issue. For example, in checking out the facts, I did learn that only 2/3 of the developed nations have universal healthcare. And of the 2/3, the countries that are doing well are those that promote private AND public involvement, in that they allow the private sector to provide what it can, and the government handles the rest (much like Romneycare). That’s NOT what Obamacare does. The goal of Obamacare is to eventually ruin the private healthcare sector and take over everything. That’s why it is unconstitutional and has to go.
OMG, LOL Romney care isn’t Obama care. Is that what the Republicans are feeding you conservatives to get you on board? You’re are going to have a really, really hard time making that statement and making it stick. And so the spin of the election cycle begins.
It’s the left that want’s everyone to think the two (Romneycare and Obamacare) are just alike. That way, if Romney gets the nomination, they can beat him down with the misinformation they have repeated over and over and over. There is a big difference between the two plans. Educate yourself for a change and get the facts.
EJ the plan was by and large the Mass Care plan with a few tweaks. Your party can build those mole hill tweaks into huge mountains of difference but most people can still recognize a molehill when they see one. Even if there is some significant difference your party has spent a lot of time and money telling you Romneycare was Obamacare and it had to be repealed because it was from that godless Democratic state of Massachusetts and enacted by a (whisper) Mormon. I love it. The candidate you hate is the candidate you now have to swallow. LOL
A few tweaks? Like 2630 additional pages? Like ruining the private sector healthcare industry? Like unconstitutionally forcing people to purchase a government plan? Like provisions for denying specific care for certain elderly, handicapped, or women? Like waivers for ALL elected officials, unions, and friends of the administration? Like provisions to cover government funded abortions and care for illegal aliens?
And I don’t hate Romney. He’s just the easiest for Obama to beat. That’s why the mainstream media beats the drum for him all the time.
Only 2/3? Only 2/3!?! Isn’t that considered a healthy majority? The same number needed to override a Presidential veto which is almost impossible to do. Yes, a very healthy number of developed nations have universal healthcare. Thanks for pointing that out.
Marie Sims: Why aren’t these people working 1, 2 or 3 jobs to remove themselves from taxpayer supported programs?
Julia Emily Hathaway: I don’t want to live in country that confiscates money that I earned legally to someone else that you decide is worthy. At work I try to exhaust all avenues before I ask for help. Our fellow citizens simply fill out an application as they have been conditioned not to look anywhere other than government entitlements for help to solve their problems. We no longer try to help ourselves.
Kathryn Bourgoin, MD: Are watching Europe go broke under the weight of their many entitlement programs? How many Yanks do you see traveling to England for cancer treatment. It will cost much more if you give it away for free. BTW, who extends this human right?John Field: Good letter, spot on. Let’s get the unions out of taxpayer funded workplaces. The municpal unions are nothing more than a money laundering scheme for the Democratic party. The irony is that its taxpayer money that funds the pro-union anti taxpayer agnda
For every job opening there are 4-5 people out of work. So if someone works 3 jobs, there are another 11-14 who still cannot find a job. These 11-14 may end up needing help in some way from the welfare system. They are then called lazy bums, socialists, drug addicts, accused of committing fraud, etc. by the right wing nuts.
The view that everyone can just go get 3 jobs is so removed from reality that it means there will not be a quick solution. The problem will persist for as long as corporations continue to sit on their huge cash reserves.
MARIE,
I say No to my tax money sending folks to college, and No to paying for childless adults MaineCare.
JULIA,
Are you for real? America and life in general is all about self responsibility, and this Social Justice bandwagon simply needs to crash!
KATHRYN,
Do you think I actually care who supports the socialist agenda here in America? I say no to medicare, obama care, or any other paid for by the taxpayers care. FYI, Your Clinton fuzzy math don’t cut it.
JOHN,
Well Said.
Yawn …
To those who have criticized the social responsibility letters of Ms Hathaway, Ms Sims, Dr. Bourgoin and lauded the selfishness of Mr. Field and yet consider themselves Christians you might recall the words of Luke
“For everyone to whom much is given, of him shall much be required.” — Luke 12:48
This speaks to sharing rather than “mine, mine, all mine”
God helps those that help themselves!
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
And your citation for that chestnut?
What is so “unchristian” about asking the government to trim their staff or cut pay in tough times? Is every small business owner that has to lay off employees in a recession a bad christian?
Perhaps government would be more efficient and deliver better services if they didn’t have a permanent and endless supply of revenue!
That’s what the left loves about the Bible: they can take anything they want out of context and use it to support their socialistic agenda. But when the truth of the Bible is mentioned, they run for the hills.
Who’s “out of context”? Who’s running? What truths? Which hills?
LOL at the accusations from the person most likely to quote out of context and who most often quits posting when the facts start appearing.
Negative on both counts. If I quote the Bible, and I do it rarely, I always make sure it is completely in context. And I only quit posting if the one posting is rude, demeaning or calls names.
You stripped out a portion of a verse within a parable that Jesus was telling. Christ was talking about being vigilant until His return. He was warning us that we need to use the talents and gifts He has provided us to tell others about His return, about salvation, and about eternity.
Of course, you’re not the first liberal I’ve heard misquoting and misusing this portion of a verse. It’s the popular thing to do, nowadays, to take things out of context from a book that liberals actually despise in a veiled attempt to rub it in the face of Christians.
You better start reading Luke:12 a bit more carefully if you think Christ is simply telling his followers to be vigilant. Sheesh,quoting out of context is one thing. But thinking out of context shows significant lack of understanding about the message your religion is trying to tell you.
At least I have an understanding.
Of what?
The point of the quote is that the person must want to *give* to other people. What government does is *take* from other people, which is stealing… Please refer to Exodus 20:15 on the subject of stealing. Thank you.
And if everybody gave willingly the government would not have to “take”. You can put what ever spin you like on that quote, the fact is the bible says the Lord expects everybody to be cheerful givers. They aren’t, so you have governments that legally require you to give.
There you go again. When the Bible refers to being a “cheerful giver” it is referring to giving to the church and the cause of Christ, not to the government. The Bible does say that we are to pay our taxes, but there is nothing “cheerful” in the Word when it comes to giving money to the government.
By the way, there is no law in existence that prohibits anyone from writing a check to the government.
I have yet to meet any of these people who honestly want government to tax them more. Speaking of the Bible, I recall a passage about pointing out a speck in your brothers eye when there’s a plank in your own.
I will willingly pay more taxes, if it means the single mom(her husband died) down the road and her severely mentally and physically disabled boy get the medical services they need: that the unemployed man on the next block gets job retraining; that the kids in this town get the best education possible; if it means another USDA meat inspector is put into action making sure nobody dies from E. coli; if it means that rural places in Maine get broad band service. Yes I will pay more taxes. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization. What is the alternative to being a civilized country?
That way of thinking seems akin to that of an abusive spouse saying, “Look what you made me do! If you didn’t do X, then I wouldn’t have to X!”
Not at all. That’s a false comparison. Taxation and spousal abuse start from two entirely different basic assumption and have entirely different goals.
Civilization starts with the assumption that people choose to live together in a group because it is beneficial to all. If they did not see any benefit to civilization they would not choose to join the group. Living in groups requires some mutual responsibility for the well-being of everyone or the group idea disintegrates. In tribal societies everyone contributed food and services according to their status and their ability. As tribal societies evolved into formalized governments it was apparent that not everyone wanted to contribute willingly their fair share but still remained in the group and enjoyed the benefits of its protection. Required, legally enforceable contributions were invented when it became apparent that war wasn’t a very satisfactory way of requiring contributions from the slackers.
“He also who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew
you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and
gathering where you did not scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid
your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.”
But his lord answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant. You knew
that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You
ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away
therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten
talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have
abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be
taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
— Matthew 25:24–30
I find it ironic that you speak of the “mine, mine, all mine!” mentality. What is more selfish and greedy than to say, “that individual has more in the way of material possessions than I do and I want it, so I’m going to take it”?
Is it good for people with much to give? Of course it is, but I don’t remember any scripture excusing people who are not wealthy from being charitable. The problem is, once government takes the role of “charity”, as in taking by force, keeping most of the loot, and distributing the rest as they see fit (that same government would call it armed robbery if you or I did it). Once government steps in, you’re introducing the element of force.
“He also who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew
you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and
gathering where you did not scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid
your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.”
But his lord answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant. You knew
that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You
ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away
therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten
talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have
abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be
taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
— Matthew 25:24–30
I find it ironic that you speak of the “mine, mine, all mine!” mentality. What is more selfish and greedy than to say, “that individual has more in the way of material possessions than I do and I want it, so I’m going to take it”?
Is it good for people with much to give? Of course it is, but I don’t remember any scripture excusing people who are not wealthy from being charitable. The problem is, once government takes the role of “charity”, as in taking by force, keeping most of the loot, and distributing the rest as they see fit (that same government would call it armed robbery if you or I did it). Once government steps in, you’re introducing the element of force.
“He also who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew
you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and
gathering where you did not scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid
your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.”
But his lord answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant. You knew
that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You
ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away
therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten
talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have
abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be
taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
— Matthew 25:24–30
I find it ironic that you speak of the “mine, mine, all mine!” mentality. What is more selfish and greedy than to say, “that individual has more in the way of material possessions than I do and I want it, so I’m going to take it”?
Is it good for people with much to give? Of course it is, but I don’t remember any scripture excusing people who are not wealthy from being charitable. The problem is, once government takes the role of “charity”, as in taking by force, keeping most of the loot, and distributing the rest as they see fit (that same government would call it armed robbery if you or I did it). Once government steps in, you’re introducing the element of force.
“He also who had received the one talent came and said, “Lord, I knew
you that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and
gathering where you did not scatter. I was afraid, and went away and hid
your talent in the earth. Behold, you have what is yours.”
But his lord answered him, “You wicked and slothful servant. You knew
that I reap where I didn’t sow, and gather where I didn’t scatter. You
ought therefore to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my
coming I should have received back my own with interest. Take away
therefore the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten
talents. For to everyone who has will be given, and he will have
abundance, but from him who doesn’t have, even that which he has will be
taken away. Throw out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
— Matthew 25:24–30
I find it ironic that you speak of the “mine, mine, all mine!” mentality. What is more selfish and greedy than to say, “that individual has more in the way of material possessions than I do and I want it, so I’m going to take it”?
Is it good for people with much to give? Of course it is, but I don’t remember any scripture excusing people who are not wealthy from being charitable. The problem is, once government takes the role of “charity”, as in taking by force, keeping most of the loot, and distributing the rest as they see fit (that same government would call it armed robbery if you or I did it). Once government steps in, you’re introducing the element of force.
John: Have a few more generalized comments with no hard evidence why don’t you….
Marie Sims, Julia Hathaway, Kathryn Bourgoin: good letters.
John Field – excellent letter, I could not agree more.
I could not agree at all.
Come on. You can do better than that. You know darn well Bush and the R’s EXPLODED the nation’s debt. after having been handed a SURPLUS from Bill Clinton, with unpaid taxes for the rich, unpaid wars, and the unpaid Medicare-D bill (even with its donut hole and refusal to allow for prescription bargaining). Under Bush we had flat wages and near zero net job growth. Obama INHERITED a Great Recession from Bush with an economy in freefall. A stimulus was necessary to stop the bleeding. It saved or created two to three million jobs and prevented another Great Depression. Obama also saved the auto industry. Interesting REPUBLICAN governors and congress members all over country appeared at the stimulus project ribbon cuttings and gladly accepted the money to keep their teachers and firefighters on the job, and fixed a heck of a lot of roads with it. Obama has approved over a trillion dollars in cuts with more to come. So enough of the Fox News propaganda talking points and enough of the right wing lies and hypocrisy. Republican trickle down economics is a FAILURE. It has never worked, and it is anti-American.
Trickle down economics is double speak for a golden shower.
Love your post. Wanted to “like” it but the mechanism seems to be not working. Take heart, there are probably lots more “likes” who couldn’t make it work!
John Field- You have the same mistaken assumption as everyone else. You believe government is too bloated. The problem is not bloat, it is a lack of revenue flowing into government to fund all of it’s daily needs. The lack of revenue is due to a lack of jobs paying enough in taxes. Our wages are stuck in the early 90’s for the jobs that didn’t get shipped off to China and revenues for local, state, and federal governments have fallen off a cliff. Too bad in their rush to serve their real employer’s interests that our “public servants” did not take into consideration all of the ramifications of sending all the jobs overseas. Do not despair though John, in November we will have the chance to send the same dim wits back to Washington and expect a different result.
In tough times, companies tighten their belts, reduce staff, cut pay, reduce benefits and otherwise cut costs. Government, however, has the luxury of increasing revenue even in bad economic times because they have permanent access to our wallets.
Why can’t government contract and expand with the economy, just like a corporation? Why does it have to endlessly grow?
And even most moderates think government is bloated. Only the most bed-wetting of liberal actually advocate government (and revenue) growth.
“Why can’t government contract and expand with the economy, just like a corporation? Why does it have to endlessly grow?’
Do a little fact checking and you will find that all levels of government have been cut, many to the point where they can no longer operate effectively. One example: the FDA cut food inspectors, corporations now self inspect. Food recalls have gone up. Deaths from E.coli have increased.
How many Maine state employee positions have been eliminated (not just left unfilled) in the last 4 years? Very few…
Explain why leaving an unfilled position is not a reduction in employees.
Head count in government remains the same. Costs remain the same.
Only in government would firing a non-existent employee count as a cut…
Bed wetting? Does the third grade get easier over the years? Revenue has to increase to government, it’s called inflation. The government buys the same gas, milk, and bread as it’s citizenry. When a private business fails because of a reduction in revenue, another will absorb or replace them. When governments fail, it is called anarchy. You will cover this in the 4th grade, should you ever get there. Bed wetting? Is that really your best gutter ball?
——————————
Oh, take it easy. Bed-wetting liberal is a playful jab. Like right wing nut or religious wacko.
Hmmm…government is only growing at the rate of inflation. Well, I’m not sure, but I don’t have the data so can’t comment.
So government can only grow? We can never cut back on services or reduce waste or ask people to do more with less? I’m not saying the government shuts down, but in tough times, let’s see it contract, leaving more taxes in the hands of the citizens.
Funny how there are no comments from the Rt peanut gallery (Am, EJ, etc ad naseum) regarding the Indefinate Detention letter. Pres Obama, with broad support signed the Defense Authorization Act, part of which allows the US Military to round up and imprison idefinately any US citizen on US soil. No Attorney, No trial, No charges, you can now legally be locked up forever with no recourse.
All of you decrying the “Socialist State” we are becoming don’t seem to have a problem with becoming a “Facist State”
We used to have a constitution.
You’re 100% right: this is a horrible law and I’m mad that my two senators voted for it, and the president I voted for signed it. I may vote against all of them because of it…
This is an Act that has to be signed yearly. I’m guessing that part of the bill will not pass muster next year and will not be signed.
I’m glad you trust your government so much. If they are so inclined to leave it out next time, why did they let it pass the first time?
Republicans wanted it left in?
Only 13 Senators in the democratic majority Senate voted against the bill. 6 of those 13 were democrats. Our democrat president signed the bill.
Not a fan of republican senators or their homeland security policies, but you can’t blame them here.
chicken hawks all. the leadership in both parties are the same as far as I am concerned. the dems might say that they want the 1% to pay more but if you look at who recieves contributions from where, and who is making bank, you would see that congress is full of 1%ers, or close to it, on both sides of the isle. None of them have to worry about laws like this because they will never apply to them. just like most of the laws that they pass.
I AM voting against all of them for it. Today they detain the American that they and 99% of Americans think is a potential terrorist. Tomorrow, it will be the person that has the wrong political affiliation.
I didn’t comment on that because it didn’t come up in the BDN. Surprise. But, this sort of legislation is just what he needs if he wants to turn this nation into a dictatorship. And that’s what he’s working toward. After all, Obama already considers himself a king.
How about the legislation presented by Sen. Leiberman and Sen. Brown allowing the Congress to pull an American’s citizenship based on vague criteria? That means that retired military, gun owners, and far right conservatives can have their citizenship pulled just because Napolitano doesn’t like us. You do remember that early in her reign, she declared that we should be considered dangerous.
Then why did all the Republicans support it?? In fact it was a Republican sponsored bill to begin with. To be fair, most Dem’s voted for it as well. I am begining to think that the 2 parties are truly a facade to keep the voters happy. Their policies are becoming very similiar.
Marie Sims, it isn’t about “classifying” citizens, it’s about making choices. The governor wants to invest in education versus funding people who could do more to help themselves (noncategoricals). I don’t usually agree with LePage, but I do here.
Marie
disenfranchise:
to deprive of a franchise, of a legal right, or of some privilege or immunity; especially : to deprive of the right to vote.
This is not the case with Mainecare.
Please explain.
Isn’t MaineCare an entitlement, which is, by definition, a legal right to a specific privilege? Of course, that legal right is defined by eligibility criteria…
Tony – nice letter. The balt salts paranoia is being perpetuated by a city council member with a hidden agenda. The guy who ran on the anti-methadone treatment, let’s – take- our city-back platform is trying to drum up paranoia to help him in his Tea-driven effort to rid Bangor of people he determines to be unsavory. Just ignore it, he’ll fade away.
Marie:
I don’t want to spend tax dollars on ANY of the things you mentioned.
Tony:
It isn’t just the bath salts downtown. It’s ALL the druggies and low-lifes downtown that is the reason I avoid doing anything there.
Julia:
What you describe as the social responsibility of the past has a core of truth. The well to do were expected to contribute willingly to help the poor. While that is true you leave out the other half of that unwritten social contract. That the poor would try to help themselves and take responsibility for themselves as well. Help from the well to do was to be a hand up, not a hand out. And it didn’t hurt any that the poor were appreciative for that hand up and thanked people for the help they were given.
Kathryn Bourgoin:
Lets say we do get your “Medicare for all” bill passed. How long will you continue to practice medicine if you are paid less than your actual cost of providing services? If you are not being paid even the cost of providing services how will this affect the quality of the health care you provide?
GITProblem: You are confusing Medicaid and Medicare. If there was universal Medicare there would be no need for Medicaid.
Private insurance doesn’t pay the cost of providing services either. In fact the only ones paying the full cost of health care services are uninsured people.
Ah Flat_lander, it would seem you live in a Faux News bubble where they only discuss income taxes. Look at every other tax out there and see who pays a greater percentage of his or her income towards those taxes: the average middle class worker making $40,000 per year or Mitt Romney. For example, for FICA taxes Romney likely pays none as he claims to be unemployed, while the $40K worker pays a 7.4% tax on dollar one of income (14.8% if you count the employer share). This is likely true for primary residence real estate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc.. It’s hard to say with precision as Romney hasn’t released his tax returns and it’s not clear which home he claims as his primary residence.
Please note that county and local government are funded by real estate taxes, which the middle class pays at a higher effective rate than the rich, and that most state governments are funded by sales taxes, which are regressive as well. You can talk only about income taxes and would be a true flat earther if you do. However, you need to look at the earth as a globe and consider all taxes, not just those on which Faux News tells you to focus.
Ah Flat_lander, it would seem you live in a Fox News bubble where they only discuss income taxes. Look at every other tax out there and see who pays a greater percentage of his or her income towards those taxes: the average middle class worker making $40,000 per year or Mitt Romney. For example, for FICA taxes Romney likely pays none as he claims to be unemployed, while the $40K worker pays a 7.4% tax on dollar one of income (14.8% if you count the employer share). This is likely true for primary residence real estate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc.. It’s hard to say with precision as Romney hasn’t released his tax returns and it’s not clear which home he claims as his primary residence.
Please note that county and local government are funded by real estate taxes, which the middle class pays at a higher effective rate than the rich, and that most state governments are funded by sales taxes, which are regressive as well. You can talk only about income taxes and would be a true flat earther if you do. However, you need to look at the earth as a globe and consider all taxes, not just those on which Faux News tells you to focus.
Ah Flat_lander, it would seem you live in a Fox News bubble where they only discuss income taxes. Look at every other tax out there and see who pays a greater percentage of his or her income towards those taxes: the average middle class worker making $40,000 per year or Mitt Romney. For example, for FICA taxes Romney likely pays none as he claims to be unemployed, while the $40K worker pays a 7.4% tax on dollar one of income (14.8% if you count the employer share). This is likely true for primary residence real estate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc.. It’s hard to say with precision as Romney hasn’t released his tax returns and it’s not clear which home he claims as his primary residence.
Please note that county and local government are funded by real estate taxes, which the middle class pays at a higher effective rate than the rich, and that most state governments are funded by sales taxes, which are regressive as well. You can talk only about income taxes and would be a true flat earther if you do. However, you need to look at the earth as a globe and consider all taxes, not just those on which Fox News tells you to focus.
Let me ask you this. I’m certainly fine with increasing taxes. Are you willing to acknowledge that our government does a poor job spending WHATEVER money they get. If I knew that we would work on fixing problems instead of investing in thing we have no business investing in with our economy in this condition I would have a lot more confidence.. Putting people to work with government money can NEVER be a long term solution.
There are some things our government does far more efficiently than the private sector.
The administrative cost for Medicare is much less than the administrative cost for private health insurance. Intuitively, the costs should be less for private insurers, as they are dealing with a healthier population; however, the bureaucratic snarl of private insurers and the desire to deny claims and make a significant profit raises that administrative overhead. A small fix in the Medicare tax will eliminate any funding problem and still deliver those services more cheaply than any private insurer can. Proof of this is the fact that under Bush we had to subsidize Medicare Advantage programs to get private insurers interested.
Our military in both Iraq and Afghanistan delivered services far more cheaply than the Blackwater mercenaries. Privatizing part of the military, which began in earnest when Cheney was Defense Secretary under Bush I, has been a financial windfall for the likes of Halliburton and a burden for the taxpayers.
When Fed-Ex or UPS needs to make a delivery to a rural area, guess who they ask to deliver? If you guessed the USPS, you are right. If the Congress in 2006 had not placed upon it a health care funding set-aside for retirees of $75 billion, the USPS would not be facing a financial crisis. No other governmental or private entity faces this sort of actuarial demand.
There are public/private partnerships out there that desperately need to be done: rebuilding roads, bridges, and rails, burying power lines, and improving internet infrastructure. None of this can be done by private entities alone. Lincoln helped build the transcontinental railroad, Eisenhower, the interstate highway system, and FDR, the TVA and rural electrification in general. All of these projects involved progressive income taxation used to create an infrastructure that made businesses more profitable in the long run. If you want low taxes and government sloth, go to Mississippi. It remains the poorest state in the nation.
Putting people to work with government and private money has made the very internet we are using possible.
I didn’t compare between private and public anything. I said, IF it was out of balance. , Some areas Public employees are paid less then their private counterparts. Might I suggest those are not the people usually in the middle of any work dispute. generally, those that know they can be replaced are more worried about their position. Kids turn 18 everyday that could do the job of many a government employee, given a few days to catch up. That’s why merit pay is so important. Why do any better? Why strive for anything? Ya get the same thing regardless right?? The American Dream is to work hard and it will happen. Right? If your given opportunities, your not mentally or physically unable to work what is your excuse? Your making the max on unemployment and your going to ride it out before heading down to the local Wendys ? I don’t blame you. But what happens when you have no choice, and you’ll only have a third of the money coming in because yes, you can get a lot of jobs, but none pay, none are full time, and none have benefits.
Or, your a kid that knows the stereotype of fast food and would sooner die.
No matter what the economy. Mickey D’s is always hiring. Argue the point if you like, the ideals have become loftier but the willingness to be true to them is on a continuing downward spiral. We want it all!! Go to college?? Why bother, post a video on you tube and become famous. Isn’t that everyone’s dream now? To be on youtube? Parents letting the kids stay home until 30 to “find themselves”. Life revolving around the XBOX I’m not sure some of us really know what the twenty-somethings are doing now. It’s a different world, I’m not talking about any particular class of people, this is across the board. Our country is going to ****
I would love to see a return of the WPA. Most of the unemployed would rather work for their benefits.
There are some things our government does far more efficiently than the private sector.
The administrative cost for Medicare is much less than the administrative cost for private health insurance. Intuitively, the costs should be less for private insurers, as they are dealing with a healthier population; however, the bureaucratic snarl of private insurers and the desire to deny claims and make a significant profit raises that administrative overhead. A small fix in the Medicare tax will eliminate any funding problem and still deliver those services more cheaply than any private insurer can. Proof of this is the fact that under Bush we had to subsidize Medicare Advantage programs to get private insurers interested.
Our military in both Iraq and Afghanistan delivered services far more cheaply than the Blackwater mercenaries. Privatizing part of the military, which began in earnest when Cheney was Defense Secretary under Bush I, has been a financial windfall for the likes of Halliburton and a burden for the taxpayers.
When Fed-Ex or UPS needs to make a delivery to a rural area, guess who they ask to deliver? If you guessed the USPS, you are right. If the Congress in 2006 had not placed upon it a health care funding set-aside for retirees of $75 billion, the USPS would not be facing a financial crisis. No other governmental or private entity faces this sort of actuarial demand.
There are public/private partnerships out there that desperately need to be done: rebuilding roads, bridges, and rails, burying power lines, and improving internet infrastructure. None of this can be done by private entities alone. Lincoln helped build the transcontinental railroad, Eisenhower, the interstate highway system, and FDR, the TVA and rural electrification in general. All of these projects involved progressive income taxation used to create an infrastructure that made businesses more profitable in the long run. If you want low taxes and government sloth, go to Mississippi. It remains the poorest state in the nation.
Putting people to work with government and private money has made the very internet we are using possible.
I certainly don’t believe in “outsourcing” “privatizing” of anything of more then needed.. I’m suggesting that what we have in place be updated, to ensure we are getting the most bang for our buck. just imagine, it would be like seeing a politician tell the whole truth. No one would know how to react.
I’m pleased with the Recent announcement made of streamlining the commerce department. That’s a step in the right direction. Good job Mr. President Roads, absolutely, I drive, I get it. Stop putting words in my mouth. I REPEAT, I am fine with raising taxes. My concern is how that additional money is perceived. It will not be EXTRA MONEY , it will be money towards our bills.
Once again, IMPROVE on social services, If MORE money used PROPERLY is needed anywhere, it’s there. STREAMLINE the paper pushing whenever possible. It’s not the time to look towards subsidizing anybody’s anything. Spend where we should. not on idealistic unicorns.
Take a close look at Germany’s success in preserving manufacturing jobs and remaining a net exporter. Unemployment insurance is used to supplement the worker who works part-time at the same manufacturer. Union reps make up half of the board of major corporations, which puts a break on frenzied outsourcing. Education is better and more evenly funded so the workforce is prepared to be productive. The problem is not the social service support system, but the lack of faith of Wall Street investors in the American worker.
Honestly, I don’t care who is on the board as long as everyone is in agreement. I will never agree that a company’s board should be dictated by the government. You may claim corruption otherwise but I would suggest that there is corruption in every sector, private AND public.
You say they have “better” education. Can you quantify that? Per pupil we outspend Germany and It doesn’t matter whether it be in what you may maintain are underfunded areas or a higher end areas. Our kids are just getting dumber. I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again. I think good teachers should be paid more. Just show me who the heck the good teachers are. That’s where the discussion should start.
I believe our problems are systemic. Right off the top parents are failing their children in our country and it just goes down hill from there.
My concern for social services ls that WE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH. We are knowingly allowing children to live in unsafe environments. We are watching someone get high instead of dragging them to treatment. Do you know what the most difficult aspect of staying clean and sober is? Finding new friends, staying away from people you may have known your entire life. Unless we want that person’s offspring to be PRETTY MUCH THE SAME PERSON shouldn’t we try to stop these cycles?? You want our country to regain it’s dignity? You want people to take care of themselves??? THEN YOU PUT THEM IN A POSITION TO DO SO. YOU DON’T KNOWINGLY ALLOW THEM TO BE RAISED IN IGNORANCE… In other words, The only way to fix our country is THROUGH social services.
Seems many prefer we have a few ignorant in the country. Some use it as an excuse, they need protection. Others ridicule them. Is that the appeal?? Both sides can use the ignorant as a tool???? How admirable.
There are some things our government does far more efficiently than the private sector.
The administrative cost for Medicare is much less than the administrative cost for private health insurance. Intuitively, the costs should be less for private insurers, as they are dealing with a healthier population; however, the bureaucratic snarl of private insurers and the desire to deny claims and make a significant profit raises that administrative overhead. A small fix in the Medicare tax will eliminate any funding problem and still deliver those services more cheaply than any private insurer can. Proof of this is the fact that under Bush we had to subsidize Medicare Advantage programs to get private insurers interested.
Our military in both Iraq and Afghanistan delivered services far more cheaply than the Blackwater mercenaries. Privatizing part of the military, which began in earnest when Cheney was Defense Secretary under Bush I, has been a financial windfall for the likes of Halliburton and a burden for the taxpayers.
When Fed-Ex or UPS needs to make a delivery to a rural area, guess who they ask to deliver? If you guessed the USPS, you are right. If the Congress in 2006 had not placed upon it a health care funding set-aside for retirees of $75 billion, the USPS would not be facing a financial crisis. No other governmental or private entity faces this sort of actuarial demand.
There are public/private partnerships out there that desperately need to be done: rebuilding roads, bridges, and rails, burying power lines, and improving internet infrastructure. None of this can be done by private entities alone. Lincoln helped build the transcontinental railroad, Eisenhower, the interstate highway system, and FDR, the TVA and rural electrification in general. All of these projects involved progressive income taxation used to create an infrastructure that made businesses more profitable in the long run. If you want low taxes and government sloth, go to Mississippi. It remains the poorest state in the nation.
Putting people to work with government and private money has made the very internet we are using possible.
Every time there is a recession Republicans like John Field pull long serious faces, put on their concerned voices and declare that the way out of a recession is to cut workers wages, benefits and pensions; to repeal safety and environmental laws, cut government programs for the poor, increase government support for business and cut personal and business taxes.
This has never sounded like a way out of recession for the many. It’s always sounded like the way for the few to concentrate wealth and power for themselves.
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world were a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
I think your ENTER key is sticking.
Nothing was sticking but I hit resend and all of a sudden 20 copies showed up. Sorry guys.
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world were a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had apresident that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!”
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!” Once again, the likelihood of our country going back to abusive labor laws is as likely as Roe.WADE being overturned next week. It won’t happen so why deceive people into thinking it could? When there is a specific I understand that, point it out by all means, but this, ” THEY are the bad guys “is so boring. I know your an intelligent women but if you like Bill Mahar then I have no respect for you whatsoever. yes he’s right a lot of the time but it’s his demeanor that irritates me. he’s a mean spirited pious id. Loves to ttellothers how to live all the while living an incredibly decadent life themselves. I would love to see him sit down with president Obama and give him as much grief over believing in God. WON’T HAPPEN.
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!” Once again, the likelihood of our country going back to abusive labor laws is as likely as Roe.WADE being overturned next week. It won’t happen so why deceive people into thinking it could? When there is a specific I understand that, point it out by all means, but this, ” THEY are the bad guys “is so boring. I know your an intelligent women but if you like Bill Mahar then I have no respect for you whatsoever. yes he’s right a lot of the time but it’s his demeanor that irritates me. he’s a mean spirited pious id. Loves to ttellothers how to live all the while living an incredibly decadent life themselves. I would love to see him sit down with president Obama and give him as much grief over believing in God. WON’T HAPPEN.
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!” Once again, the likelihood of our country going back to abusive labor laws is as likely as Roe.WADE being overturned next week. It won’t happen so why deceive people into thinking it could? When there is a specific I understand that, point it out by all means, but this, ” THEY are the bad guys “is so boring. I know your an intelligent women but if you like Bill Mahar then I have no respect for you whatsoever. yes he’s right a lot of the time but it’s his demeanor that irritates me. he’s a mean spirited pious id. Loves to ttellothers how to live all the while living an incredibly decadent life themselves. I would love to see him sit down with president Obama and give him as much grief over believing in God. WON’T HAPPEN.
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!” Once again, the likelihood of our country going back to abusive labor laws is as likely as Roe.WADE being overturned next week. It won’t happen so why deceive people into thinking it could? When there is a specific I understand that, point it out by all means, but this, ” THEY are the bad guys “is so boring. I know your an intelligent women but if you like Bill Mahar then I have no respect for you whatsoever. yes he’s right a lot of the time but it’s his demeanor that irritates me. he’s a mean spirited pious id. Loves to ttellothers how to live all the while living an incredibly decadent life themselves. I would love to see him sit down with president Obama and give him as much grief over believing in God. WON’T HAPPEN.
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!” Once again, the likelihood of our country going back to abusive labor laws is as likely as Roe.WADE being overturned next week. It won’t happen so why deceive people into thinking it could? When there is a specific I understand that, point it out by all means, but this, ” THEY are the bad guys “is so boring. I know your an intelligent women but if you like Bill Mahar then I have no respect for you whatsoever. yes he’s right a lot of the time but it’s his demeanor that irritates me. he’s a mean spirited pious id. Loves to ttellothers how to live all the while living an incredibly decadent life themselves. I would love to see him sit down with president Obama and give him as much grief over believing in God. WON’T HAPPEN.
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
If the pay for a PUBLIC sector job is out of whack with what the public sector is paying YES, there should be roll backs./ DO you believe a FUNCTION of the government is to employ people? I don’t, I believe it a necessary evil. the more automation the less employees, the better. Do you disagree? I’m referring to the bureaucracy of course, not vital programs that do require an actual person. Positions are disappearing as many retire, as it should be.
By the way, I would never suggest agencies such as the EPA be dissolved, and neither would most DNC or RNC, but for some reason every time over reach is discussed someone looks back 70 years to how terrible things were. NO ONE,I repeat, NO ONE is suggesting that we return to those days. Independents think anyone who would make this kind of accusation have as much credibility as some one running around screaming ” They love killing babies!!” Once again, the likelihood of our country going back to abusive labor laws is as likely as Roe.WADE being overturned next week. It won’t happen so why deceive people into thinking it could? When there is a specific I understand that, point it out by all means, but this, ” THEY are the bad guys “is so boring. I know your an intelligent women but if you like Bill Mahar then I have no respect for you whatsoever. yes he’s right a lot of the time but it’s his demeanor that irritates me. he’s a mean spirited pious id. Loves to ttellothers how to live all the while living an incredibly decadent life themselves. I would love to see him sit down with president Obama and give him as much grief over believing in God. WON’T HAPPEN.
We live in a world where a 16 year old girl got a state supreme court to force a school to take down a religious banner that had been there for over 20 years because she’s atheist. And I could be wrong but I believe the name of the school had a religious ring to it. What kind of a world do we live in??????
I DON’T BELIEVE IN GOD AND I COULD CARE LESS WHETHER THAT BANNER WAS UP.
I grew up indoctrinated into the catholic religion and yet somehow I managed to identify that I had FREE WILL.
Let me ask you this , who would you rather have as a role model, Tim Tebow or a rapper??? Or for that matter George Clooney.telling us how we should live our lives, all the while living an incredibly decadent life.
One more point, as far as I know we have never had president that didn’t believe in god. I wonder what that says about us?
There has got to be a better choice than Tebow and a rapper. LOL Neither are particularly good role models for a number of reasons.
Put aside the Bill Mahar stuff. He isn’t running around telling people, “have ya heard the word” The media is responsible for this. Just because A kid is religious he bothers you? Great, so you can honestly say, “lemme see, I have a guy that demeans women, acts as though he is above the law and spews nonsense about the “gansta ” life and I have Tebow. and you actually would say one isn’t any better. Do you have any idea how incredibly closed MINDED that sounds??? Exactly what has TEBOW himself done that wouldn’t be a good role model????? RELIGION, It’s always about religion with some of you. I don’t care what religion someone practices as long as they lead a good life WHY SHOULD YOU???????? If that really is the case then you disgust me. It’s tolerance of anything YOUR okay with I suppose.Again, every President we have ever had believed in God. let’s start talking about how Naive President Obama is. How ignorant he must be to believe in some silly book. Why aren’t we piling on there too?
ONE LAST TIME… I DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD. This isn’t coming from someone that even likes to think about religion. The idea of it makes me cringe. I do know that if it makes someone else life better then why in the world should it bother me.
Good for them. ROEv WADE is settled law so that isn’t the issue. so what is it???? Are you envious>???? Is your life so empty that all you can do is spew venom on those that you envy??
Grow up and starting worrying about the REAL issues.
Correct. I don’t think that Tebow gives a crp about what we think either. It’s the press that’s making this an issue not him. And I don’t care what someones religion is either. Met alot of atheists who were fantastic human beings and so called devout religious people that totally were anything but in their daily lives. I would rather trust the tree worshipper that was a good person than an bum hle who went to church every sunday.
By the way, You want to talk about people who ABUSE religion, WHO ABUSE THE POSITION IT HAS GIVEN THEM??????? Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson Come to mind without even having to think about it. ASK TAWANA. If you don’t get that reference then perhaps you aren’t qualified to speak on the matter.
Ah Flat_lander, it would seem you live in a Faux News bubble where they only discuss income taxes. Look at every other tax out there and see who pays a greater percentage of his or her income towards those taxes: the average middle class worker making $40,000 per year or Mitt Romney. For example, for FICA taxes Romney likely pays none as he claims to be unemployed, while the $40K worker pays a 7.4% tax on dollar one of income (14.8% if you count the employer share). This is likely true for primary residence real estate taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, etc.. It’s hard to say with precision as Romney hasn’t released his tax returns and it’s not clear which home he claims as his primary residence.
Please note that county and local government are funded by real estate taxes, which the middle class pays at a higher effective rate than the rich, and that most state governments are funded by sales taxes, which are regressive as well. You can talk only about income taxes and would be a true flat earther if you do. However, you need to look at the earth as a globe and consider all taxes, not just those on which Faux News tells you to focus.
How does it feel to know exactly how everyone feels about every issue? It must be great to know your always right. That because someone identifies with the RNC they must be evil. God forbid his/her opinion is based on how the money in our society is being spent and has absolutely nothing to do with CONTROVERSIAL SOCIAL ISSUES. That although someone may agree with the DNC on social issues they cringe at the continuous snarky condescending comments. The lack of respect given the opposition.
If only 1.4 miliion people are considered the “one percent” then what about the rest of the nation that leans towards the RNC? Some absurd charicatures, religious zealots. SOME, as i’ve stated just can’t get behind an agenda that says everyone should have more but other then increasing taxes have no sound solutions. taking every penny the wealthiest among us has will not change every american’s life. Increased revenues should be used to roll back our debt and improve what we currently have,
And by the way. using race every time you disagree with them is wrong. It’s nothing more then attempt to shout someone down. Of course there are still race problems. but the country is made up of only 13 percent African Americans. White Americans put President Obama in the Whitehorse. You don’t know who is racist and who isn’t. I would wager that there are UNION MEMBERS that vote Democratic due to policy issues that are racist. Although i’m sure there are many very enlightened teamsters I suspect there are plenty that may not be quite as progressive.
I have to keep saying it, look at the big picture. beyond antagonizing some, why exactly do you say such things as “faux news” do you feel superior? Your not that special trust me.
And neither am I so i’ll await your more then likely mean spirited comeback to what I consider honest observations.
How does it feel to know exactly how everyone feels about every issue? It must be great to know your always right. That because someone identifies with the RNC they must be evil. God forbid his/her opinion is based on how the money in our society is being spent and has absolutely nothing to do with CONTROVERSIAL SOCIAL ISSUES. That although someone may agree with the DNC on social issues they cringe at the continuous snarky condescending comments. The lack of respect given the opposition.
If only 1.4 miliion people are considered the “one percent” then what about the rest of the nation that leans towards the RNC? Some absurd charicatures, religious zealots. SOME, as i’ve stated just can’t get behind an agenda that says everyone should have more but other then increasing taxes have no sound solutions. taking every penny the wealthiest among us has will not change every american’s life. Increased revenues should be used to roll back our debt and improve what we currently have,
And by the way. using race every time you disagree with them is wrong. It’s nothing more then attempt to shout someone down. Of course there are still race problems. but the country is made up of only 13 percent African Americans. White Americans put President Obama in the Whitehorse. You don’t know who is racist and who isn’t. I would wager that there are UNION MEMBERS that vote Democratic due to policy issues that are racist. Although i’m sure there are many very enlightened teamsters I suspect there are plenty that may not be quite as progressive.
I have to keep saying it, look at the big picture. beyond antagonizing some, why exactly do you say such things as “faux news” do you feel superior? Your not that special trust me.
And neither am I so i’ll await your more then likely mean spirited comeback to what I consider honest observations.
Hey you, Republican, your a Christian right, you want to make sure everybody is okay, right?
Hey you Democrat, you understand that no matter how much money we take in we need to spend less , that by all means increase taxes but that doesn’t mean we start MORE programs. it means we ensure the ones we have are run efficiently. You get that right?
THEN WHAT’S THE PROBLEM????????
Stop acting like five year olds with no interest beyond NAUSEATING pandering to those that ALREADY AGREE WITH YOU.
Congress is jet setting just to “see what’s going on” in different parts f the world. ARE YOU????
Seems as though they could get the information a heck of a lot cheaper.
TERM LIMITS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!!
“System ERROR”, The BDN editorial staff and webmasters appear more incompetent everyday. Trying to post a comment is becoming quite a chore.
So I post a comment on how I can’t post, it goes through no problem. I go back and attempt to resend the response I made to someone and of course… IT STILL WON’T GO THROUGH.
You people get paid to do this do ya?
Still lets me post and yet can’t reply. Oh yea, this is ALL ABOUT MY LAPTOP. NOT,
Maybe your comments are not appropriate
Not sure how I should take that but, no, that’ wasn’t the case.
So I type a thoughtful Frackin book in response to someone and now I can’t post it…
BDN STAFF=INCOMPETENCE.
LEMME SEE, lEPAGE IS A JERK.
BET THAT GETS THROUGH.
Of course it did. lmao
Three letters calling for social responsibility and the conservatives come unglued trying to justify their unholy stand against a civil society in which we have a shared responsibility for each other.
It would be interesting if just one of these conservatives would describe in detail their society based on selfishness, disrespect for everyone except the richest and most powerful, dismissal of legal rights for many and the human needs of most, contempt for capitalism, contempt for education and unchecked financial assault as a legitimate business practice.
How would this actually work in the real world. How would this government be set up? What would it look like? What laws would it have? How would it manage a country like the US? How would it be governed? How would monies be collected to govern it?
It’s not black and white, just a tweak of the system. By characterizing those who argue for less government as advocating “society based on selfishness, disrespect for everyone except the
richest and most powerful, dismissal of legal rights for many and the
human needs of most, contempt for capitalism, contempt for education
and unchecked financial assault as a legitimate business practice.” is just silly hyperbole. I want a safety net for folks, just a less cushy one.
I for one found the first letter to have contempt for education: that noncategorical health insurance should be favored over high-falutin AP classes. I would argue otherwise. We should use the money saved from cuts in social programs for additional education for kids.
See, we’re not all easy to pigeon hole. Many fiscal conservatives (like myself) aren’t advocating an end of government, just a shift in the size. I’m sure there are many fiscal liberals who understand there is a limit to government’s role.
I realize you do not belong the unglued category. Many conservatives that post here, however, have membership in that club.
What we need is a set of gay marriage, abortion, religious ranting or medical marijuana letters so I can join the other “team”…LOL…
Holy crap Commonsense…..power down and take a break…..your computer is having a seizure….
mine is as well. multiple posts. can’t power down though. watching ARCHER
Marie is absolutely correct.
Sorry Tony I am scared of down town Bangor, everyone up there is on Bath Salts?
boy that sure was tough getting past the censors lol