[excon]

Hello, again, Steve:

It's impossible for right wingers to believe that anybody would vote for the nations interest over their own.

That's a fault that needs fixing...

excon

[NeedKarma]

No one is preventing these morons from sending their money to the feds, it's time for them to put up AND shut up.

You don't think they should be allowed to voice their opinions?

[speechlesstx]

It's impossible for right wingers to believe that anybody would vote for the nations interest over their own.

Let me ask, do you suppose there are more liberals than conservatives in the military? I didn't think so, you don't really want to go into putting country before self do you?

[tomder55]

I'll help the Patriotic Millionaires out :

How do you make a contribution to reduce the debt?
There are two ways for you to make a contribution to reduce the debt:

•You can make a contribution online either by credit card, checking or savings account at Pay.gov
•You can write a check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt, and in the memo section, notate that it's a Gift to reduce the Debt Held by the Public. Mail your check to:

Attn Dept G
Bureau of the Public Debt
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

Government - Frequently Asked Questions about the Public Debt

There is also there a line item on the income tax forms that allow people to contribute more tax $$ if they'd like to.

It's nice that they'd give the shirt of my back to solve the nations fiscal and employment problems.

[Synnen]

If YOU want to pay MORE--great!

I already feel like I pay too much to contribute to the welfare of those that contribute little or nothing.

Screw them. I'm not that altruistic.

I still think it would be great if they put it to a PUBLIC vote as to where to spend tax dollars. Make a list of all the areas that money goes to, and let the public choose what percentage of their own contributions goes toward it.

Bet the military, the bloated benefits of the government, things like NASA, and pet projects would lose a LOT of money VERY fast.

I also bet that teachers and schools would get more than they have been.

I ALSO bet that things like "bailouts" would be non-existant.

[tomder55]

Got a great way to deal with taxes. Stop the automatic employer withdrawal from the pay check . We should be required to cut a check to the government for taxes due.

I also got a great idea for these so called Patriotic Millionaires. Stop hiring expensive accountants who's only job is to make sure their tax obligation is as small as it can be. File an 1040EZ form yourselves and don't take the allowable deductions .

Here's another useful address for them :

Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782

[paraclete]

What a novel concept; voluntary payment of taxes and even paying what you do not owe as if the government were a charity. I guess that's what happens in basket case economies

[tomder55]

What is novel is millionaires who have their wealth sheltered in investments ,sanctimoniously proclaiming their income is undertaxed .

[paraclete]

what is novel is millionaires who have their wealth sheltered in investments ,sanctimoniously proclaiming their income is undertaxed .

Give me a break, Tom, we all know taxation is theft. If some dulluded folk feel remorse for lying about their status to the government that is one thing, but taking with one hand and giving back with the other?

[speechlesstx]

Obama, who is not a partisan by the way, has told us why there are no jobs. It's those darn ATMs and ticket kiosks.

In his eventful Today show interview this morning, President Obama advanced this penetrating insight to explain why unemployment has been hovering between 9% and 10% throughout his presidency:

“There are some structural issues with our economy, where a lot of businesses have learned to become much more efficient with a lot fewer workers. You see it when you go to a bank and you use an ATM, you don’t go to a bank teller… or you go to the airport and you use a kiosk instead of checking in at the gate. So all these things have created changes.”

As Rush Limbaugh observed, we had lots of ATMs during the Bush years, and his unemployment rate was half of Obama’s. Did the number of automated tellers and airline ticket machines double since 2008?

Personally, I rarely use an ATM any more and I bet there are a lot like me who basically quit using them when debit card use exploded and stores began offering cash back. Who needs an ATM?

Besides groping for any possible excuse to evade responsibility for skyrocketing unemployment, Obama’s comments represent the convergence of two lines of populist liberal thought. One is the Left’s curious conviction that people absolutely hate ATM machines, based on the occasional round of complaints that fees for using the machines are too high. I suspect most people would be far more upset if automated tellers were not readily available – a distinct possibility, given legislative attempts to cap the amount of money banks can charge for debit card transactions. Price controls always come with a reduction in quality.

The other, much older, criticism Obama raises is the fear of productivity, which is part of the Left’s overall critique of capitalism. Machines are cheaper than people; businessmen want to reduce cost, and do not care about people; therefore, they can’t wait to automate and fire everyone in sight.

This betrays a deep misunderstanding of the power of productivity. Machines don’t really “replace” human employees. They make humans more productive. ATM machines allow banks to service their customers with many more convenient locations – a machine built into the wall of a grocery store, or located in a small booth, can provide easy access to funds for customers.

Hmm, that's twice I've read that sort of thing today. Jonah Goldberg wrote about the "steady-state economy" movement holds that "We will have to get beyond growth as a society in order to realize a sustainable future."

That sounds like a typical progressive idea, kill progress.

Is every 20 or 30 ATMs roughly equivalent to one bank office that doesn’t need to be built, and staffed with human tellers? It doesn’t really work that way. ATMs increase the productivity of the existing bank staff. If they didn’t exist, the banks wouldn’t be making a lot of big investments in bricks, mortar, and tellers. Instead, people would drive further to get their money, spend more time standing in line, and arrange their affairs so they didn’t have to go to the bank as often. If you’re not old enough to remember what that was like, watch movies from the 60s and 70s, and look for scenes set in banks.

I don't know about where you live, but we seem to be having a competition between 3 area banks to see who can build the most branches. And that doesn't include the many new banks that have popped up the last few years. It's certainly helped me keep my job with all that new construction.

Yep, if it weren't for those darn ATMs America could get back to work.

[paraclete]

Yep, if it weren't for those darn ATMs America could get back to work.

Well speech you didn't take the argument far enough, what about all those foreign call centres, do they make local employees more efficient? No, they replace them. There is no recovery because jobs have been exported at a massive rate, those entry level jobs just aren't there any more

[speechlesstx]

Well speech you didn't take the argument far enough, what about all those foriegn call centres, do they make local employees more efficient? no, they replace them. There is no recovery because jobs have been exported at a massive rate, those entry level jobs just arn't there any more

I'm just commenting on the president's excuse. It's ridiculous.

[paraclete]

No news there speech

[talaniman]

I think you miss the point, there are jobs being created, are you qualified is the issue. Can you move to where they are? These are critical factors in shrinking unemployment, and sadly, many have not taken advantage of it. Sure technology will always account for less human input as far as numbers go, but that's been going on since Henry Ford came of with the mass assembly line, and that's not going to change any, nor will the need for more human to human services diminish any time soon.

Energy, and health care are the heart of a growing field of employment, I mean red hot, and if you look at where humans and technology are most needed now, you would be hard pressed to find any better. So the real question becomes, are you qualified, and can you go to the job, or are you stuck waiting for the job to come to YOU.

I think that the president was conveying the message of getting with the new technologies, that are creating new opportunities. His message has always been education to be qualified for YOUR own future, and that's where the country is headed. You live in Texas Steve, so I know you see the same things I do. I bet your local hospitals are not just hiring, but training, and educating too!

[Synnen]

Even hospitals are paying less than they used to---and I work in a school that offers some of the new "unskilled" medical programs (not nursing or medical doctors) like medical assistants.

Believe me, you don't want some of these people taking your temperature, much less having a greater impact than that on your medical file. AND---it's a lower paying job because it takes less education than a nurse or doctor, so guess how many more MA's a hospital is going to hire than RNs?

So yeah... there are SOME jobs. Mostly there are jobs that require people either to get an entirely new 4-10 year degree or to take the same significant pay cut you'd take in any other field and still require at least a certification program.

I don't know about you, but without tuition reimbursement, there's no way I could afford to go back to school. School loans are harder to get because of the higher default rate, and grants and scholarships are extremely competitive and take almost as much work as going to school part time to research, apply for, and maintain. Well, unless you're not middle class. If you're lower class, you have way more opportunities for education and changing your career path than the middle class does.

Once again--if you're responsible, you get screwed.

[talaniman]

That's what corporations want above all else, CHEAP labor, but when you have NO income, you have to get something. And changing a lifestyle isn't easy, nor is moving. A big difference between a 40 year olds, laid off a year, and a single 20's something first time job seeker, and a single mom/dad.

One thing this recession has brought out, I believe, is how fast we can lose things through no fault of your own, and how helpless we all are, even the smart ones who were prepared. They have been destroying the middle class for years, and now they want to dismantle the safety nets, and social programs that allow you to rebuild, instead of languishing in limbo with no hope at all.

I think that only informed voters can get jobs created, not those that are bound to the strict constraints of ideology. Why should there be only two classes of people? Working poor, or filthy rich?

[excon]

Once again--if you're responsible, you get screwed.

Hello again, Synn:

It's really a matter of the glass being half full or half empty. I'm responsible. My housekeeper lives in Section 8 housing. I don't feel screwed because of that. Frankly, I'm glad I can take care of myself with enough left over for those without.

If you want to know where I feel SCREWED, it's that home OWNERS get a tax deduction that I, a renter, DON'T. THAT pisses me off. I'm subsidizing RICH people. That AIN'T OK! I suppose it's fine with you...

excon

[Synnen]

Hello again, Synn:

It's really a matter of the glass being half full or half empty. I'm responsible. My housekeeper lives in Section 8 housing. I don't feel screwed because of that. Frankly, I'm glad I can take care of myself with enough left over for those without.

If you wanna know where I feel SCREWED, it's that home OWNERS get a tax deduction that I, a renter, DON'T. THAT pisses me off. I'm subsidizing RICH people. That AIN'T ok! I suppose it's fine with you...

excon

Hey, I'm okay with everyone paying a flat tax and no one getting breaks.

NO ONE.

No breaks for kids, or houses, or donating to charity. You pay X% of your earnings or a minimum amount if you have no earnings as taxes to contribute to the upkeep of your country.

I'm all for paying 30-50% and giving specific benefits to EVERYONE (like... maternity and paternity leave, or paid FMLA time, or childcare and/or education subsidies ) to EVERYONE in this country, instead of only the poor getting it from taxpayer money and the rich getting it from tax shelters/exemptions/deductions.

[paraclete]

Hello again, Synn:

It's really a matter of the glass being half full or half empty. I'm responsible. My housekeeper lives in Section 8 housing. I don't feel screwed because of that. Frankly, I'm glad I can take care of myself with enough left over for those without.

If you wanna know where I feel SCREWED, it's that home OWNERS get a tax deduction that I, a renter, DON'T. THAT pisses me off. I'm subsidizing RICH people. That AIN'T ok! I suppose it's fine with you...

excon

Ex, forget this glass half empty, half full, crap, What is needed is fair distribution of wealth and that means stopping exploitation whether it be in excessive pricing or low wages. Government incentives are often offered through the tax system and often left long after they have achieved their purpose. This is a wrong use of the tax system which should be simple, one rate, no deductions and subsidies given out where it is specifically targeted instead of the lazy system we have now and inadept attempts of social engineering through the tax system

It must be nice that you can afford a housekeeper that makes your glass half full in comparison to those who can't, but how well do you pay that person? Do you get a tax deduction for them? Some could say they are subsidising your life style

[speechlesstx]

John Watson, CEO of Chevron, says oil companies can create jobs if congress would get out of the way a little. I think that would also allow us to use less foreign oil and see gas prices drop, but then this president wants to price us out of energy use as it is.