I AM WHITE/AMERICAN PRIVILEGE

[caulfield12]

Thought this was interesting, not because it could ever realistically ever happen, but just provides a sense about the sheer numbers involved...

 

A post/reply From "Gary Penton (Payton?) Wear Sissy Britches" at yahoo message boards

https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-offi...-224829653.html

 

 

 

REPEAL and REPLACE the Income Tax with a NET WORTH TAX!

 

1% of the GREEDY HOARDERS control 43% of America's Assets, and produce 85% of America's pollution!

 

Put a 10% annual NET WORTH TAX on the WEALTHIEST 20% of the HOARDERS, who CONTROL 85% of ALL American Assets!

 

This will produce $6.86 TRILLION dollars!

 

Add an ADDITIONAL 20% NET WORTH TAX on assets the hoarders and multinationals that are hiding assets/profits overseas! This will generate an ADDITIONAL $53.8 TRILLION dollars!

 

In ONE YEAR, that $60.66 TRILLION AMERICAN TAX DOLLARS would pay off the ENTIRE $21.8 TRILLION in National Debt run up by the Borrow and Spend RepubliCONS, with their tax breaks to the wealthy these past 50 years.

 

The ENTIRE $3.2 TRILLION of HEALTH CARE COSTS in America can be paid, so ALL AMERICANS can have Single Payer Universal Health Care, as we work to make American Healthcare, THE MOST EXPENSIVE IN THE WORLD, and 37th in QUALITY, ....as we work to make American Healthcare more cost efficient and better quality.

 

This would FUND our Military, which already spends more than the 15 next countries COMBINED, and is primarily used to protect the assets of the HOARDER Billionaires, as well as all other Federal Programs.

 

America would STILL have a SURPLUS of $35.56 TRILLION from the NET WORTH TAX to rebuild our nation's infrastructure, from the poison water pipes in Flint, MI and Corpus Christi, TX, our roads, airports, and seaports, and allow America to INVEST in CLEAN, RENEWABLE Energy to make America ENERGY INDEPENDENT from Coast to Coast.

 

Money would be INVESTED in AMERICA, creating AMERICAN businesses and jobs OWNED by AMERICANS who WORK to create the wealth.

 

In 5 years, a NET WORTH Tax Reform Plan could create a LEVEL playing field for ALL Americans, correcting the damage of 50 year of tax code that TRANSFERRED the WEALTH of the AMERICAN PEOPLE into the hands of the richest 1%.

 

That would MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

 

I encourage you to call or e-mail your Congressman and Senator, and tell them to REPEAL and REPLACE the INCOME TAX with the much fairer NET WORTH TAX, and PROVIDE Universal Health Care for ALL Americans!

 

Our Founding Fathers, both in the Declaration of Independence, and in the Constitution, that followed, believed that the WEALTHIEST AMERICANS OWED the country and "mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."

 

Health Care IS a RIGHT of All Americans, PROMISED by our Founding Fathers in their pledge of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness".

 

 

 

"Only" $6.3 trillion of the $19 trillion Federal debt is owed to other countries....the rest is owed to the US government itself.

 

Mutual funds - $1.379 trillion

State and local government, including their pension funds - $874 billion

Private pension funds - $544 billion

Banks - $570 billion

Insurance companies - $304 billion

U.S. savings bonds - $169 billion

Other (individuals, government-sponsored enterprises, brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts and estates, corporate and non-corporate businesses, and other investors) - $1.349 trillion. (Sources: “Factors Affecting Reserve Balance,” Federal Reserve, January 18, 2017. “Treasury Bulletin,” Table OFS-2, Ownership of Federal Securities, U.S. Department of the Treasury, June 2016.)

 

This debt is not only in Treasury bills, notes and bonds but also Treasury Inflation Protected Securities and special State and Local Government Series securities.

 

As you can see, if you add up the debt held by Social Security and all the retirement and pension funds, nearly half of the U.S. Treasury debt is held in trust for your retirement. If the United States defaults on its debt, foreign investors would be angry, but current and future retirees would be hurt the most.

 

https://www.thebalance.com/who-owns-the-u-s...al-debt-3306124

 

 

So basically, lots of really rich people/banks/investment/insurance companies and foreign governments are earning profits from the US government...which is why the Republicans don't actually care as much as they paid lip service to it while Obama was president but largely ignored this "pending catastrophic crisis" while Bush and now Trump led/lead the country.

Edited June 2, 2017 by caulfield12

[ptatc]

Um. My post you quoted was me saying the very opposite of that.

Really, that's not the way I read it. I thought you were saying the way they voted due to their views was hurting themselves economically.

 

My bad.

[iamshack]

and you can change the way you talk about these issues with your friends and family. that's probably more valuable than your money.

This sounds like a campaign for talking to your children about abstinence or something.

 

I mean come on, stop being naive. This is the way of the world you are talking about. It's human nature you are fighting against.

 

 

[caulfield12]

If everyone simply followed the simple precepts of Pay It Forward, the country (and the world by extension) would have far fewer problems.

[Reddy]

This sounds like a campaign for talking to your children about abstinence or something.

 

I mean come on, stop being naive. This is the way of the world you are talking about. It's human nature you are fighting against.

that's what civilization has been fighting for thousands of years... We're just supposed to stop trying in 2017?

[iamshack]

that's what civilization has been fighting for thousands of years... We're just supposed to stop trying in 2017?

Keep trying it...and it will take thousands of more years.

 

What is needed is another solution.

[Reddy]

Keep trying it...and it will take thousands of more years.

 

What is needed is another solution.

Are you seriously suggesting humanity hasn't made progress in the last couple thousands of years? What the heck is your argument here? lol

[Reddy]

Like... slavery and misogyny and patriarchy and brutal dictatorships and survival of the fittest and all the s***ty f***ing things about humans are a part of "human nature", but you don't suggest we don't work on those issues do you?? Your argument is "if it's human nature, no point worrying about it!" ??

[caulfield12]

Well, there is yet another Planet of the Apes movie coming out this summer...and it sure feels like humanity is going in the wrong general direction.

 

Guess we have to look to Europe for the time being.

Edited June 3, 2017 by caulfield12

[iamshack]

Like... slavery and misogyny and patriarchy and brutal dictatorships and survival of the fittest and all the s***ty f***ing things about humans are a part of "human nature", but you don't suggest we don't work on those issues do you?? Your argument is "if it's human nature, no point worrying about it!" ??

Not at all...I'm arguing the exact opposite.

 

Encouraging we all become better human beings is great, but that isn't going to cut it.

 

We need more regulation/law.

[caulfield12]

Not at all...I'm arguing the exact opposite.

 

Encouraging we all become better human beings is great, but that isn't going to cut it.

 

We need more regulation/law.

 

From the GOP Congress?

 

Deregulation is the only word that comes to mind, unless the issue is marijuana to one of the social/moral touchstones.

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-chinese-fo...-175435160.html

Canadian Woman Tells Workers To 'Go Back To China’.. While Ordering Chinese Food in a Toronto grocery

 

[Texsox]

Here's the fundamental impasse. I completely disagree that your assessment of the most fair scenario is, in fact, fair at all.

 

That doesn't take into account people being born into poor socio-economic situations through no fault of their own. Is it then fair if they can't afford to pay for medical treatments that someone like me was able to afford, simply out of sheer luck?

 

Perhaps fair is the wrong word. But it's the best I have. And how is it an impasse? I moved right pass it and said that we would have to divide up the bill not based on each person paying their exact bill. Did you just stop reading at that point?

 

Is it fair that people are born into different situations? No. But why create another unfair situation by taking from one person and giving it to another? Now we've created a second unfair situation. Which, as I noted, is what we must deal with.

[Reddy]

Perhaps fair is the wrong word. But it's the best I have. And how is it an impasse? I moved right pass it and said that we would have to divide up the bill not based on each person paying their exact bill. Did you just stop reading at that point?

 

Is it fair that people are born into different situations? No. But why create another unfair situation by taking from one person and giving it to another? Now we've created a second unfair situation. Which, as I noted, is what we must deal with.

call me a bleeding heart, but the "unfair situation" of taking a little from someone who has a lot, to give a little to someone who has nothing, is something I'm ok with. I understand that others aren't. But there we have the fundamental disagreement between Democrats and Republicans.

[greg775]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-chinese-fo...-175435160.html

Canadian Woman Tells Workers To 'Go Back To China’.. While Ordering Chinese Food in a Toronto grocery

What crap to say that at all, much less desiring the product the person you are insulting is providing you. I always think of that scene in that movie where people give the waiter s*** so they put all kinds of junk in their food to get even.

[LittleHurt05]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/woman-chinese-fo...-175435160.html

Canadian Woman Tells Workers To 'Go Back To China’.. While Ordering Chinese Food in a Toronto grocery

 

But that's not America!

[greg775]

call me a bleeding heart, but the "unfair situation" of taking a little from someone who has a lot, to give a little to someone who has nothing, is something I'm ok with. I understand that others aren't. But there we have the fundamental disagreement between Democrats and Republicans.

Why didn't you support Bernie harder then?

[Reddy]

Why didn't you support Bernie harder then?

Because 1) I didn't think he would win, 2) I find him incredibly disingenuous and narcissistic and 3) Because he had no actual plans, and he's never able to actually ACCOMPLISH anything. He has a terrible track record, is unwilling to compromise and is unwilling to budge from his positions. I want all the things he wants, but I'm not going to stand in the way of progress on an issue because it isn't the EXACT thing I want.

[caulfield12]

You have a fundamental misunderstanding of what happens when people in poverty end up in the hospital. Look up uncompensated care. Look up the recent trends in bad debt expense for hospitals following Obamacare and the accompanying increase in high deductible plans countrywide. This isn't a humanitarian issue. This is a business issue.

 

The people getting killed financially by healthcare in this country are the middle class and lower-middle class - most of whom are insured. The people who are by no means living luxuriously, but have a house/savings/positive net worth/whatever. The destitute people are taken care of and their expenses that they can't afford are written off by the hospital as a part of routine operations.

 

 

The nearly universal acceptance and praise for the CHIP program would argue otherwise...if you make an exception to cover the children of poor people (penalized through no fault of their own, other than being born to the "wrong" parents), then it's not easy to understand where the slippery slope begins and ends in terms of rights and privileges.

 

Heck, you can even argue the government is setting conditions in place to protect/provide/secure your "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." That life is just protection from invaders like the British? Or also inclusive of one's mental and physical well-being, including educational opportunities?

[caulfield12]

Again, emotional argument.

 

If a poor kid from the hood born to a single mother gets hit by a stray bullet the hospital will take care of the kid's wound and then the kid's expense once it is learned that the collectability of that account is deemed uncollectible based on the family income. This process is becoming quite a burden on hospitals because of all the high deductible plans Obamacare has skewed the market with.

 

 

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) – now known more simply as the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)[1] – is a program administered by the United States Department of Health and Human Services that provides matching funds to states for health insurance to families with children.[2] The program was designed to cover uninsured children in families with incomes that are modest but too high to qualify for Medicaid.Wikipedia

 

 

If the "average" middle class kids are getting hit by stray bullets on a constant basis in America, we have YUGE problems.

 

Because you simply assumed a situation (the spectre of inner city drug and gang related violence) that has nothing to do with this particular program...it's actually the kind of thing Trump promised to do during throughout the election, to help middle class and "working poor" provide a better life for their kids. Of course, the GOP doesn't believe in a livable wage, so not surprised.

Edited June 7, 2017 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-senator-admo...--politics.html

 

In recent Senate history, when have TWO MEN ever been admonished like this (by members of the opposing party) for speaking out in a hearing...the examples of Liz Warren and now Kamala Harris by McCain?

 

The GOP is just giving the Dems the 2018/2020 elections with all these talking points. The problem is there's too many to put into one 30 second ad, starting with the Gianforte attack on reporters in MT, Eric Trump saying Dems "aren't people" and Handel in GA-6 saying she doesn't support a livable wage.

 

 

 

[EvilMonkey]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-senator-admo...--politics.html

 

In recent Senate history, when have TWO MEN ever been admonished like this (by members of the opposing party) for speaking out in a hearing...the examples of Liz Warren and now Kamala Harris by McCain?

 

The GOP is just giving the Dems the 2018/2020 elections with all these talking points. The problem is there's too many to put into one 30 second ad, starting with the Gianforte attack on reporters in MT, Eric Trump saying Dems "aren't people" and Handel in GA-6 saying she doesn't support a livable wage.

Do you disagree that she needed to STFU and let the guy answer the question she asked?

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_pol...nna_finish.html

Joe being told to shut up

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-senat...-001638791.html

Dems on a state level doing the same to a woman.

Edited June 8, 2017 by Alpha Dog

[GoSox05]

I support anyone who tells Joe Lieberman to stop talking.

[Dick Allen]

Do you disagree that she needed to STFU and let the guy answer the question she asked?

 

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_pol...nna_finish.html

Joe being told to shut up

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-senat...-001638791.html

Dems on a state level doing the same to a woman.

Why do you guys always say what dems are horrible, destroying everything, yet justify poor behavior because previously a dem did it somewhere?

 

If you are so superior, acting like a dem shouldn't be tolerated, and certainly shouldn't be brought up as a free pass.

[EvilMonkey]

Why do you guys always say what dems are horrible, destroying everything, yet justify poor behavior because previously a dem did it somewhere?

 

If you are so superior, acting like a dem shouldn't be tolerated, and certainly shouldn't be brought up as a free pass.

he asked if it ever happened. Talking over people you are asking questions of is poor behavior.