Um…she was asked how old she was by Rand.
Sorry, I was asking Rand. :o
Oh. Rand’s only point seems to be that he wants to give his tax dollars to people more fortunate than himself rather than let a dime go to those less economically fortunate. I get the impression that while handing over his hard earned money to millionaires he would like to blow them for the priviledge…
And shine their shoes simultaneously?
I would like to know how old Rand is. I remember feeling exactly as he does. At the time I was poor, smart and hard-working; 3 part-time jobs while going to school full time. I knew that eventually I would be one of the wealthy and didn’t want anyone to be taxing me more to support the lazy, dumb people I was surrounded by. I was 17.
I’m now 54 and we (have to include my SO and kids in here) have all done pretty damn well. We have all worked hard and still do. But as I’ve gotten older I have recognized that not everyone makes it. I’ve recognized that some have much larger hurdles to overcome than I did. I realize that sometimes people fail thru no fault of their own; because of illness, job loss, accidents or just plain bad luck. I don’t think it’s in the best interest of society to throw those folks under the bus.
And damn do we pay taxes. But all of us (save maybe one but we’re working on that one) will be voting for Obama. So yeah, I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
You are an intelligent and articulate individual.
I bet you’d pay less tax under Obama’s plan (this is my new insult, you like?).
Yes, so let’s make those people wards of the state. Let’s tell them that nothing in their lives is their own fault, that they deserve to eat and have shelter just for being alive, that they don’t have to get out there and fight every day to make this world a better place like those of us who have something to give that others are willing to pay for.
Throwing them under the bus is so passe (can’t get the accent ague, sorry). The Democrats REALLY know how to fuck them over (thus insuring a perpetual Democratic voter class). They give out the heroin to get the addicts to vote them into office. How’s that helping these poor creatures you describe?
The liberal douchebag view of human beings is so despicable it makes me want to vomit. You look at a poor person and see someone that needs help, that needs uncle Obama to help them up. Well fuck you very much! That poor person is a human being, dammit! You shouldn’t treat him like a dog that needs food in his bowl twice a day and a clean blanket to sleep on at night.
One day in law school a liberal douche friend and I were driving around and there was a black kid playing in his front yard. The friend mentioned that that kid didn’t have a chance in hell of growing up to make anything of his life because he was a black kid in a poor neighborhood. So I slapped the hell out of my friend and almost caused a wreck (not really).
That poor black kid could be the next president of these goddamn United States. And it won’t be any thanks to the liberal douches who wanted to hand him a check every month. It will be thanks to people like me who expects the best out of everyone, will hold people accountable for their actions (good or bad), and want to keep incentivizing the smart and hard-working to succeed.
I’m 31 by the way.
And maybe some day you’ll grow up. Why don’t consider what your life would be like if you didn’t more or less luck out in the intelligence department (though you seem to be doing your best not to show it here) or had one of a number of mental problems. You think it shows respect to poor people to let them go hungry? I’m betting you’d be against a new WPA to make sure everyone who wants one has a job.
I’m just a bit older than sinjin and in a similar situation, and I’m old enough to know that my good situation isn’t a result of my great virtue. I got born with brains. I got born into an environment that encouraged learning. I got born to parents who made something of themselves and gave me advantages. Sure I work hard, but plenty of people on this planet work harder than I do for less. Sure some poor kids are geniuses and can make something of themselves without any help, and some can become NBA stars, but what about those who can’t.
I lived in a town where there were a lot of adopted kids. They all went to really wonderful, loving homes, but a lot of the kids who came from bad environments, who had FAS, had big problems. Their parents could afford therapy (and it often didn’t work) - how about kids whose parents can’t.
Most of us here were born on second base, at least. Let’s not be so fucking proud of ourselves.
I just want to make the point that this little gem from Mr. Rover seems very revealing to me.
Personally I consider the government to be a part of society. It’s the part that the other parts have given the job of sorting stuff like this out, partly anyway.
Rand, just for you:
May you live as you have lived, and be done by as you did.
ETA: And, yes, before you ask, a lot of us actually do believe in that moralistic, sentimental drivel.
I pray for that to the god I don’t believe in every single night.
Pay the man . . .
I’m not asking every single person to do as well as I have done in life. All I’m saying is that if you are physically and mentally able to work and don’t, I’m not going to support you, and I don’t think the government should either.
Would that be This God? You’ve gotta believe in him, right?
Heard it before dude. I’m not an Obamasycophant so I’m a troll, I know, don’t need a reminder. The class will now wait while you go look up “sycophant.”
Oh very clever! You may now have a cookie.
I’m pretty sure that I’m not gonna be voting for Obama though…
That’s a fine bit of rationalization. Not only do we get to keep what we have, it does away with that nagging bad conscience as well.
No, my position is that using the government as a massive wealth redistributor to make cash payments to the poor doesn’t actually help them, it infantilizes them.
IOW, I burning your strawman!
On what planet does helping people to acquire job skills, either by college or vocational training, infantilize them?
Look, you don’t need to rationalize (which is what you’re doing here). If you want to hold on to every penny of your money rather than have it taxed, just admit it. It is, after all, pretty much what the right wing is about.
ETA: Well, lowering taxes and denying reproductive and sexual rights to other people. But not all the right wing agrees about the latter.
You, sir, are confused. You act as if I would be (or should be) ashamed to admit that I want to pay as little in taxes as possible. Well, I’m not and I do.
But there are all kinds of stupid things to spend tax money on besides giving it to the poor. I’m opposed to the Democrats’ view of the poor as a matter that is separate and apart from my desire to pay less tax.
I’m a ma’am.
It seemed to me you were ashamed, but hey, I could be wrong. I’m sure there are some stupid things you could come up with to spend tax money on. I haven’t seen many that if you look into in depth don’t have some rationale, but of course one does have to set priorities. I just think that helping poor people to acquire job skills and become more productive members of society should be a fairly high priority, as it saves us all money and trouble in the relatively short long run, if you follow.