Please explain why you Republicans support the wealthy over your own middle class?

[PredFan]

The Soviets were propagandized into worshipping the state.

Similarly, we've been brainwashed to worship wealth.

And you've been brainwashed to envy wealth. So what?

The thing about being brainwashed, that's similar to being insane...is that you don't know it if you're insane, or have been brainwashed.

Simply by recognizing it in others....I don't think Utilitarian has been brainwashed

You're statement doesn't follow. Recognizing it in others isn't the same as recognizing it in ones self. Ergo, thinking others brainwashed doesn't mean one is not himself brainwashed.

 

[Avatar4321]

This is the United States of America. We aren't divided into classes. All men whether rich or poor are to be treated equally. Which is why we need to do away with the Progressive income tax and establish a flat tax where we all pay the same percentage.

 

[MikeK]

You forget, those jobs don't belong to the employees, they belong to the owners of the corporations that control the benefits and pay. They can pay whatever they want to and provide wnatever benefits they want to, or even none at all.

You forget that those who are in a position to employ others have achieved that status by virtue of the American system of commerce which is intolerant of the kind of exploitation you've advanced.

One wonders if you really believe this kind of nonsense or if you are just another right-wing shill. Unless you are among those who live by exploiting the labor of others you should understand that those whom you support by spewing such elitist propaganda regard you not as a friend but as a useful idiot.

 

[deepthunk]

Please explain Americans why you Republicans support the wealthy over your own middle class?

I could never understand why the misguided mouthpieces in the Republican Party continue to make excuses for the top 1% wealthiest while dissing their own in the middle class. Cowards and Traitors, the bunch of ya. While the middle class is trying to unite against the wealthiest, some in the middle class are playing the Benedict Arnold role - all in the name of the Grand Ol' Party.

Shameless Cowards - the lot of you

-----

The Soviets were propagandized into worshipping the state.

Similarly, we've been brainwashed to worship wealth.

And you've been brainwashed to envy wealth. So what?

You want to talk about brainwashed? How is it that fox news, the same news agency that railed against giving free lunches to school children is the primary news source for American Christian conservatives?

After all, according to the bible, Christ himself said
“Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."- Luke 18:25

How is it that rich people are so popular with Christians? Could it be……(insert churchlady voice) brainwashing?

I noted that you haven’t denied that any brainwashing has taken place

 

[Avatar4321]

The Soviets were propagandized into worshipping the state.

Similarly, we've been brainwashed to worship wealth.

And you've been brainwashed to envy wealth. So what?

You want to talk about brainwashed? How is it that fox news, the same news agency that railed against giving free lunches to school children is the primary news source for American Christian conservatives?

After all, according to the bible, Christ himself said
“Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."- Luke 18:25

How is it that rich people are so popular with Christians? Could it be……(insert churchlady voice) brainwashing?

I noted that you haven’t denied that any brainwashing has taken place

You do realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch right? You do realize that encouraging parents not to take care of their children is a bad thing right?

 

[The T]

Refraining from demonizing the 'wealthy', supporting equal treatment by government under law, belief in personal responsibility instead of forced charity by government, etc is NOT "supporting the wealthy over your own middle class"

What a ******* idiot

Indeed. Those that have worked long and hard to get where they are being constantly under attack by those that refuse to work as hard...buying into the class warfare horseshit?

How about that government intrusion that makes things worse, more difficult...penalizing those that have excelled in order to give to those that refuse to better themselves?

Where is the incentive any longer?

We have a nation of wimps...slackers...spoiled children...with few of us paying the bills, while the moochers scream for more.

This shit has to cease.

 

[Utilitarian]

Please explain Americans why you Republicans support the wealthy over your own middle class?

I could never understand why the misguided mouthpieces in the Republican Party continue to make excuses for the top 1% wealthiest while dissing their own in the middle class. Cowards and Traitors, the bunch of ya. While the middle class is trying to unite against the wealthiest, some in the middle class are playing the Benedict Arnold role - all in the name of the Grand Ol' Party.

Shameless Cowards - the lot of you

-----

The Soviets were propagandized into worshipping the state.

Similarly, we've been brainwashed to worship wealth.

And you've been brainwashed to envy wealth. So what?

There is nothing I envy about the greed in this country. I tend to pity it more than anything.

 

[Utilitarian]

This is the United States of America. We aren't divided into classes. All men whether rich or poor are to be treated equally. Which is why we need to do away with the Progressive income tax and establish a flat tax where we all pay the same percentage.

That's a nice thought, but it's not reality. It's not reality in any country, honestly.

Some of us are more equal than others. That's just the nature of humanity.

 

[toxicmedia]

And you've been brainwashed to envy wealth. So what?

The thing about being brainwashed, that's similar to being insane...is that you don't know it if you're insane, or have been brainwashed.

Simply by recognizing it in others....I don't think Utilitarian has been brainwashed

You're statement doesn't follow. Recognizing it in others isn't the same as recognizing it in ones self. Ergo, thinking others brainwashed doesn't mean one is not himself brainwashed.

Utilitarian was talking about others when he characterized many of us as worshippers of wealth and power.

If you think he's brainwashed in some other way.....that's different

 

[Mr Liberty]

I don't mind that the rich have more money.........

I just want them to pay their fair share of taxes instead of the 17 percent only they pay on capital gains (which is how most of the wealthy make their money).

Us working stiffs with real jobs? We're in for 28 percent.

I am a middle class American. I am limited in the amount of money I can make through payroll. There are a limited number of hours in a week. The way I increase my wealth is by investing. If you raise capital gains, you make it harder for me to reach my financial goals.
The super rich you are trying to tax will simply invest off shore, where you cannot tax them.

 

[toxicmedia]

Refraining from demonizing the 'wealthy', supporting equal treatment by government under law, belief in personal responsibility instead of forced charity by government, etc is NOT "supporting the wealthy over your own middle class"

What a ******* idiot

Indeed. Those that have worked long and hard to get where they are being constantly under attack by those that refuse to work as hard...buying into the class warfare horseshit?

How about that government intrusion that makes things worse, more difficult...penalizing those that have excelled in order to give to those that refuse to better themselves?

Where is the incentive any longer?

We have a nation of wimps...slackers...spoiled children...with few of us paying the bills, while the moochers scream for more.

This shit has to cease.

I'm paying the bills......I'm not a slacker.....and I haven't seen any class warfare at all.....even though conservative media has been saying it's happening.

OWS could be the first I've seen of that kind of thing....but all I see is crazy people out there.

 

[MikeK]

If he isn't, he ought not to be. Because that isn't the case at all. The rich are richer. And the poor are richer. But the poor aren't as much richer as the rich are richer.

But you'd probably be happier if everyone were poorer. Right?

Ordinarily I would not respond to this kind of Shylockian gimmickry but for the benefit of anyone naive enough to be swayed by it the following excerpt and URL is the path to enlightenment:

(Excerpt)

As of 2006, the United States had one of the highest levels of income inequality, as measured through the Gini index, among high income countries, comparable to that of some middle income countries such as Russia or Turkey,[8] being one of only a few developed countries where inequality has increased since 1980.

(Close)

Go here to read the full explanation: Income inequality in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[toxicmedia]

Shylockian gimmickry.......that's funny

 

[MikeK]

You should be very careful with the data...and how it is ascertained.
It is misleading.

1. If you don’t see it, is it still there?? The stock market boom of the ‘90’s caused IRA and 401(k) plans to triple:
http://federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/Current/annuals/a1995-2004.pdf

Yet while the largest part of the gain went to the bottom 99% of income earners, none was reported on income tax returns, and therefore none of it showed up in income distribution studies based on income tax return data. But the greatest part of the capital gains of the rich were outside such accounts and thus were reported on returns. This exaggerated and misidentified changes in income distribution. Remember, before the changes in the tax code, late ‘80’s, investment income of our middle-income earners was all counted on tax returns. Thus, once it was no longer counted, it appeared that the income of the middle was sharply decreased, while that of the rich appeared to receive the major portion of said distributution!

a. Capital gains tax rate cuts in ’97 and in 2003 caused a surge in reportable capital gains realizations outside of tax-protected retirement accounts. The sharp cut in the rate on dividends in 2003 caused a similar surge in dividends paid and reported. These changes caused distortions in comparing trends in incomes for top income earners versus others.


2. Let’s be clear: the broadest and most accurate measure of living standard is real per capita consumption. That measure soared by 74% from 1980 to 2004. U.S. Department of Commerce. Bureau of Economic Analysis

a. A study of table 7.1 would show that between 1973 and 2004, it doubled. And between 1929 and 2004, real per capita consumption by American workers increased five fold. The fastest growth periods were 1983-1990 and 1992-2004, known as the Reagan boom.


BTW...the increases in wealth of every quartile increased at least as fast as the top.

what is the bottom line to all that? Are you saying the upper income brackets have not increased exponentially over the past three decades while the lower income brackets have diminished in proportion?

In simpler terms, are you saying the rich haven't become substantially richer while more Americans have become proportionately poor, or poorer?

1. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.

And, if you read carefully, proving.

2. And, see if you believe this, as well....the 'rich' have been hit hardest by the meltdown, far from "rich have become substantially richer."

From Northwestern:
WASHINGTON – A new report shows double-digit decreases in the number and wealth of the United States’ richest individuals last year.

The declines were the steepest since 1996, when the Merrill Lynch and Capgemini World Wealth Report was first published, leading some to ponder the ripple effects on the economy.

The 2008 declines in the population and wealth of U.S. High Net Worth Individuals – or those owning $1 million or more in financial assets minus the worth of primary residences – closely mimicked world-wide declines. In fact, the 2008 global HNWI population and wealth retreated below 2005 levels, undoing three years of consistent growth.
The U.S. population of HNWIs – the wealthiest Americans -- fell 18.5 percent to 2.5 million in 2008, while North American HNWI wealth (the report did not break out figures for U.S. HNWI wealth) dipped 22 percent to $9.1 trillion. Nevertheless, the U.S. continues to retain the largest number of HNWIs in the world – about 29 percent of the total HNWI population.
Super rich faced steep declines in wealth last year


3. What has "increased exponentially over the past three decades" is the power of the Left to convince folks like you that the sky is falling.
a. Bogus 'poverty level' increases.
b. Stoking the flames of envy.
c. Control of means of dissemination of information

“The radicals were not likely to go into business or the conventional practice of the professions. They were part of the chattering class, talkers interested in policy, politics, culture. They went into politics, print and electronic journalism, church bureaucracies, foundation staffs, Hollywood careers, public interest organizations, anywhere attitudes and opinions could be influenced. And they are exerting influence.” Robert H. Bork, “Slouching Toward Gomorrah,” p. 51

Welcome to the real world.

So in simpler terms, what you seem to be saying with all this redundantly academic dogma is the rich are hurting far more than the poor. I wonder how many here, including the rest of the right wing shills and the brainwashed Tories, are taken in by it.

 

[MikeK]

Not really, because we've got a national debt problem.

Would be nice if the wealthy would pony up their fair share of at least 28 percent though.

what you nutshells keep glossing over is the fact that they the rich paid that 28% or more on the original money the 17 per cent is paid on the interest on the money they saved. Now you working stiffs go to work save 25% of what you earn and the interest you accrued will be taxed at 17% see how that works. in the end you've ended up paying 17% + 28% which = 45%. Now get busy

Forget it. It's math, they won't understand.

One does not need math skills to understand millions of formerly employed Americans made homeless because their jobs have been exported by the greedy corporations their labor made successful, or to understand why tent cities are springing up all over America, or to learn that millions more Americans have lost their homes because of greed motivated sub-prime mortgage schemes.

In fact one can acquire one hell of an education by watching a two hour video called, Inside Job!

Go here: Netflix - Unlimited TV Shows & Movies Online

 

[MikeK]

Democrats: Explain why you favor Moscow economics over America's?

I'm not a Democrat, but I don't know any Democrats who favor Moscow economics over America's

Neither do those who make such inane statements.

 

[noose4]

You forget, those jobs don't belong to the employees, they belong to the owners of the corporations that control the benefits and pay. They can pay whatever they want to and provide wnatever benefits they want to, or even none at all.

I forget nothing, without the workforce the corporation makes nothing, and the person that dedicates years of their life working for a company is more invested than some speculator that throws a few dollars into it by buying stock.

Of course the corporation needs the workforce, I'm not debating that. A balance will be agreed upon between the two parties, but the corporation has the right to give whatever benefits and pay they want without government or other outside interference. It's their jobs, it's their pay and they can choose to keep more of it if they want to.

Thing being the scale is greatly tilted towards their favor by the government.

 

[ABikerSailor]

I don't mind that the rich have more money.........

I just want them to pay their fair share of taxes instead of the 17 percent only they pay on capital gains (which is how most of the wealthy make their money).

Us working stiffs with real jobs? We're in for 28 percent.

I am a middle class American. I am limited in the amount of money I can make through payroll. There are a limited number of hours in a week. The way I increase my wealth is by investing. If you raise capital gains, you make it harder for me to reach my financial goals.
The super rich you are trying to tax will simply invest off shore, where you cannot tax them.

Hey stupid...........they've been doing that since the late 80's.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't mind that the rich have more money.........

I just want them to pay their fair share of taxes instead of the 17 percent only they pay on capital gains (which is how most of the wealthy make their money).

Us working stiffs with real jobs? We're in for 28 percent.

Not every dollar you earn is taxed at the same rate. At the bottom line of your 1040 what was the actual percent of your gross income that was pain in taxes?

I'll bet it was less than 17%

 

[theliq]

Its not the poor you have to worry about,WHAT ABOUT SUPERANNUATION BETWEEN 2008-2010 these funds have been reduced by 40-60% forcing those close to retirement to work years longer and reduced the living standards of those retired.If you had $1 million it could now be worth as little as $400,000!!!!!!!!!!!FACT.

The FAT CATS lobby the congress members to such a degree,that it is they that are making policy NOT whichever Government is in power.Your analysis is limited and FLAWED,WHY YOU WOULD SUPPORT THE FILTHY RICH CORRUPT ....IS BEYOND ME.

WHAT PLANET HAVE YOU BEEN LIVING ON OR ARE YOU A DUMB ASS REPUBLICAN WHO BELIEVES ALL THE BULLSHIT YOUR SPEWED!!!!!!!!????????theliq...I KICK DUMB ASS BIG TIME

Refraining from demonizing the 'wealthy', supporting equal treatment by government under law, belief in personal responsibility instead of forced charity by government, etc is NOT "supporting the wealthy over your own middle class"

What a ******* idiot

Indeed. Those that have worked long and hard to get where they are being constantly under attack by those that refuse to work as hard...buying into the class warfare horseshit?

How about that government intrusion that makes things worse, more difficult...penalizing those that have excelled in order to give to those that refuse to better themselves?

Where is the incentive any longer?

We have a nation of wimps...slackers...spoiled children...with few of us paying the bills, while the moochers scream for more.

This shit has to cease.