Attacks on religion will always get my attention.
freeman2 wrote:Some numbers, Steve...
Romney paid 13.9% tax on 20 million in income--unfair. Can't spin that one can you.
I don't have to spin it. It's the law. If President Obama and your Democratic heroes thought it "unfair," they could have raised the taxes. For two years, they had "some numbers," didn't they?
You can't spin that one.
Furthermore, that money he invested has already been taxed (unless he printed it in his basement). I note you don't even address that.
Here's another number you can't spin: $6T dollars. That's how much deficit spending this President will have done by the next election. That's more than GWB did in 8 years.
Spin those numbers.
And, please, don't start with the feeble "but, it's the Bush tax cuts . . . " Nothing stopped Obama from pushing to raise taxes "on day one" (a phrase he used over and over). The buck stops with him. If he didn't want to spend $6T, he sure had a funny way of protesting against it.
Class Warfare? What we are talking about with regard to the Bush Tax Cuts is 4%.
Yes, class warfare. Wiki: "a class conflict, or tensions between members of different social classes." The President is exhausting himself pillorying those with money, holding out the idea that if they will simply "pay their fair share" the US will be solvent. It's a lie, but a politically useful one.
So, what, we go from capitalist society to a Marxist society by making the rich pay 4% more in taxes?
No, but he's not stopping there. He's out campaigning, making more promises of "
investments."
President Obama offered a plan Friday to reduce the costs of higher education by increasing the amount of federal grant money available in low-interest loans and tying it directly to colleges’ ability to reduce tuition.
Obama’s proposal would significantly boost federal investment in the Perkins loan program from $1 billion to $8 billion and revamp the formula for distributing the money. Under the plan, colleges would be rewarded based on their success in offering relatively lower tuition prices, providing value and serving low-income students, the White House said.
The plan would not cost taxpayers additional dollars because students pay off the aid money with interest, officials stressed.
“We’re putting colleges on notice, that you can’t assume you’ll just jack up tuition every single year,” Obama said at a rally before about 4,000 students at the University of Michigan. “If you can’t stop tuition going up, your funding from taxpayers will go down. We should push colleges to do better; we should hold them accountable if they don’t.”
The administration also is proposing to provide $1 billion in aid to states that curb higher education costs and to create a competition that provides $55 million in start-up funding for higher education institutions to pursue innovation to boost productivity.
Obama’s appearance in Ann Arbor was the final stop of his three-day tour of five battleground states that comes in the wake of his State of the Union address. His college aid proposals are aimed at boosting support among a key base from 2008: young people.
The president has focused attention on taming the rising costs of higher education, which is one of the central concerns of the Occupy Wall Street protests over the past year.
Last fall, he announced a strategy to consolidate federal student loans and reduce interest rates to help college graduates pay off their debt.
Obama tied in access to higher education with his State of the Union address themes of creating an economy that offers more equity for the middle class.
In other words, he is proposing we borrow more money from China so he can spend it however HE pleases. You might like the idea, but it's not YOUR money. The money is being borrowed from future generations. He's going to keep spending and borrowing no matter how high the taxes go. And, the more money in the coffers, the more he will "spread the wealth."
How to deflect attention from this binge spending? Attack the evil 1%.
Please. How is the "War on Poverty" going? How many trillions have been spent to eradicate it? How many trillions on improving education? Weren't liberal, Federally-directed programs the answer to these problems? If you want to blame economic disparity on Republicans, then blame Democrats for the plight of the poor. They have funded it endlessly to no avail.
Ever been in a housing project? Tax money well spent. Not.
Of course, Republican candidates want to cut taxes for business and the wealthy even more.
And the Socialist President wants to raise taxes so he can spend, er, invest even more.
Again, from a personal perspective, what holds back the poor? I grew up, to be generous, on the lower end of the middle class. I'm not there any more. How did that happen? Luck?
It sure wasn't my parents. It sure wasn't investment income. It sure wasn't government programs. I paid my way through school.
My story is not unusual. America is a place where hard work is rewarded, no matter what the President may say. Look at his own story: did he get wealthy by hard work or high taxation of the rich?
You know, in the Middle-Ages the Church frowned on usury and making any excessive profits. There were all kinds of limits on what you charge for goods and even how much you could work because it would be unfairly competitive. It was thought that a merchant had a really tough time getting into Heaven. Of course, those kinds of limitations did not stop merchants from doing business and making profits--but at least they felt bad about it..
For centuries during the Middle Ages, who was the single most powerful man on Earth? Who could take down kings and cause massive armies to march?
Yes indeed--"the Vicar of Christ on Earth."
How was St. Peter's Basilica and other Catholic monuments/cathedrals built?
Please don't lecture me on what the Church of the Middle Ages taught. It was the most unjust institution to ever claim to act in the name of Christ.
But now the Christian Right thinks it is ok to be supporting policies that result in some people in our country not getting enough to eat, not getting adequate health care, and not getting decent jobs. Meanwhile, more and more of the country's wealth goes to the top 1% These kinds of policies seem to be inconsistent with Christianity.
This is absolute rubbish. Show me all the Atheist groups running soup kitchens and missions. There may be some, but I can point you to many, many churches who are doing this.
Please consider this for a moment, what if government is not supposed to be responsible for feeding able-bodied people who refuse to work? What if the government is not responsible for health care? What if it's not a right guaranteed by the Constitution?
If you have Constitutional back-up, bring it.
If you have Biblical back-up, feel free. What you'll find is that Jesus did not tell a government what it was responsible for. Paul said it was responsible for punishing evildoers. Never does the Bible say that a non-theocracy is responsible for feeding, housing, and caring for its citizens.
It's funny, you probably don't want a theocracy, but then want to use the Bible to guilt people into acting a certain way. That seems contradictory. In any event, you can't make your case.
My suggestion: leave the separation between Church and State right where it is.
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As for Ricky and his insistence, in spite of the pleading of many to stop with the polls, to continue posting them, I have two responses:
1. That NBC poll is adults. Pathetic. You ought to know better. That you don't is illustrative.
2. There is one poll that matters: the election. Want to bet how it goes? Or, are you too chicken?
26 Jan 2012, 12:52 pm 
