Thursday, September 4, 2008
HUH?
That was mindbogglingly twisted logic almost impossible to comprehend, but it sounded like what McCain and his convention was trying to convince the country of, was that the solution to all the problems that have been brought about by eight years of Republican rule is to put some more Republicans in charge. (loud cheers) If they win on that, we need more than a better educational system, we need new brains.
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8 comments:
guess that's one of the advantages to lowering standards in education and diminishing opportunities - keep the vast majority of the american public stupid, gullible, and desperate enough to believe that salvation is in the elixir of a patriotic hero maverick that looks like the grand pappy they never had that will protect them from the evils of those that threaten our 'walmart way of life' because they're not as just and prudent as us and they envy our 'democratic' principles that our forefathers fought and died for while always pinning the blame on something or someone else and you got it suss'd ...
what a lovable, brave, and wise old man with his fiesty young woman vp candidate willing to sacrifice the next four years of their lives and family for the benefits we can reap from their 'hard work', bravery in the face of opposition, leadership, and experience ...
bom, bom, bom - bom, bomb iran ...
so clever ...
america is raised on cartoons - we going from the dunce cowboy to popeye and olive oyle - and as of yesterday, 42% of registered voters believe in this magic spin(ach) ...
ugh !!!
Sarah has already done it in Alaska. Maybe you should eat healthier food like spinich, sea food, carrots, SOMETHING, to boost that brain power.
It seems that some do not understand that a nation like ours is strong from the bottom up, not the top down. When that idea breaks down so does our nation.
For the religious or well read, Jesus warned people not to build their house on sand. Daniel wrote of the idol with all the metals at the top, but with clay feet.
If every American fights the temptation to do nothing and gets up to do something, our nation is strong. If you want intelligent children, teach them well (almost a Crosby, Stills and Nash Woodstock allusion). Don't expect someone else to do it. If you want a better job, get one or start your own business. etc. etc.
In this nation, we have the freedom to get up and do for ourselves. We are not tied to the land or occupation of our fathers.
If you don't like the government, run to replace the elected officials. (Take note of the above base references)
The freedoms that we have, others in other nations cannot even fathom.
McCain made a very good point about humility. He was humbled by his captors. He thought the world revolved around him until he was helpless. It may have taken this harsh experience to realize that he was not the center of the universe.
Humility has a bad reputation most often because we cannot relate to the term, only in its form 'humiliation'. Some say that humility is putting others before yourself, I picture this as a martyr. In my view, taking care of one's self is the first step before one can help another.
We seem at times to have too many 'needy' people and not enough 'giving' people.
Tax Policy (a bit long, sorry)
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So , that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar,
too. It's unfair that he got TEN times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back
when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get
anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine
sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the
bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between
all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
Am I the only one having a problem with the above Tax Policy analogy?
"The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up."
When has anything even remotely like this occurred in this country?
And doesn't making these guys beer drinkers (ie, drunks too lazy to work) twist your perceptions about them ever so slightly? What if they were buying medicine for their sick children instead of beer?
And how wealthy is "Wealthy"? Is he a CEO that earned more in an day than the other guys earn in a year?
And when does it occur to the bar owner that he's created a needlessly complicated system that if nothing else, creates the impression of inequity and may even threaten his bar's continued existence?
There's probably more holes in this guy's little story but who's got the time?
Most often people in this country go on strike which has the same effect. Or take some other action to minimize or punish the wealthy (higher taxes).
The ignorance of the nine would only be more pointed if they were buying medicine.
Without wealth, success and innovation countries never get started or they come to an abrupt end.
Because "Tax Policy" still seemed way too simplistic to have been written by a true Ph.d in economics, I googled the supposed author (he seems quite accomplished in real life) and found his own website. The opening sentence reads:
"Contrary to Internet folklore, Dr. Kamerschen is NOT the author of "Tax Cuts: A Simple Lesson in Economics." Additionally, he does NOT know who wrote it."
If anyone else want to make a "Yeah, well, it still makes sense to me" response, that's fine with me but I consider the issue closed.
Thank you for the clarification.
The logic does still hold true.
Maybe we should do away with taxes and have the government just collect 'user fees'.
The poor and the unemployed would then still be responsible for the 'user fees' as 'users' of various services provided by government.
Or is our attempt at sharing the cost of our society more reasonable and compassionate?
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