@cessnafan100 Our nation is paying the price for "Reaganomics." The problem is with both parties. The working class plays into this perpertual myth that government is the problem. The problem is that corporations and financial oligarchs are the problem.
True, wealth can't save them, it'll just give them a softer cushion to lay on for a while before they show up at the soup kitchens like everyone else. Let's do them a favor, treat them as they do us, and eat all the fucking soup before they show up!
There are no greater welfare queens than those that also supply our military with $200 bolts and $10,000 latrines. The arrogant greed of the very wealthy is being fed by these peoples' power to get our political representatives into or out of office. THE UNITED STATES MUST STOP CORPORATE LOBBYING! CORPORATIONS ARE THE BEAST THAT IS DEVOURING THE AMERICAN DREAM.
As far as "welfare queens" go, they exist. They may not be driving Cadi's, but they are scamming the system. Every time you see a person on welfare (now called section 8 or WIC (food stamps)) that has a smart phone, ipod, Air Jordans, jewelry - they are cheating the system. They spend money on these items and then claim they don't have enough to buy food. Basically, they are stealing from the tax payer. I see this every day in NYC. It's not our biggest fiscal problem, but it is one.
@m015094 Johnston is 100% correct: when he went to college you didn't have to take out loans. Today, I don't care what college you go to most americans take out $30-$130k loans which guarantees that a good portion of their top earning years will be wasted on interest rates paid for some rich wall street bastard who's not contributing to the real economy. Instead that money should be going on buying a house and starting a family much earlier because that's what's stimulating the real economy.
The idea that if your parents don't make enough money is complete bullshit. Ever heard of Stafford loans and scholarships? My grandparents didn't pay for my parent's college, nor my parents for mine. If you are smart enough (not a dumb ass), you can go to college. Mr. Johnston has this completely wrong.
Sure, government loans can help you get into college. But what good are they went the public hasn't heard about them because Wall Street crammed THEIR loans down our throats' with the government's blessing so they can charge high interest rates? Or, even after college, due to the recession, you can't get that high-paying job you hoped for because Wall Street again, sent those jobs overseas? Other countries thrive off our generous hands, now we're getting screwed by Wall Street's GREEDY hands!
@NatTurnerIsAlive Don't group all white people, it's a fatal mistake.... that you'll never understand. White people don't call themselves 'white' unless it's an American, all other people you might call white, have thousands of years of heritage around their locality. Ireland was around before the Roman Empire and like Scotland was never conquered by Roman Legions.
@NatTurnerIsAlive No black man was associated with the emancipation proclamation. I figured white skinned men dying in the name of black skinned men's freedom was a repayment and if not, then what about the real and the fake, not the black and the white.
Republican Jesus says: "Even as you have done this to the least of these, my brethren, so too you have done it unto the Cadillac Driving Welfare Queens."
@AtlasShruggery Welfare Queens? Nancy Reagan? ANY conservative woman? Remember, you Reaganazis don't like it when your worthless doormats, er, garbage, er whores, er, feminazis, er, WIVES work.
Yes, welfare is one of those programs that needs to be ELIMINATED, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER GOVERNMENT SCAMS. I would start with all of the WOMEN who get pregnant on purpose to get on the government dole (and/ or to trap the man). That's right, you get pregnant it is on your own dime----no wic, welfare, food stamps, well baby care, medicaid or ANY OF THOSE GOVERNMENT GOODIES. And if you cannot take care of your kids, you lose custody. With my plan, watch the illegitimate births go very very low.
hi you peice of shit...guess what,...ronald reagan is the worst fucking president of all time.obamais ten time better.....that cracker ass no good of a peice of shit,,and i defy anybody to say im wrong
@TACOBIVOID You ARE wrong. Obama has done nothing except to spend way too much tax money, raise the deficit, raise unemployment to 10%, blame Bush for everything, raise taxes, etc.... Reagan lowered taxes, unemployment and inflation were the lowest ever, ended the ussr, AND MUCH MORE. Get an educattion.
@hannityforpres You should get an education,you stupid, confused Reaganazi. Reagan raised taxes, and almost bankrupted the U.S. God, you stupid Reaganazis would rape and murder your children if some right-wing moron told you to. Start to use your brains for once, you lazy-minded,misguided fools.
@hannityforpres Who are you to decide how much tax money is "too much." Unemployment was already skyrocketing when Obama took office and no one could have done anything about it given the situation, and it kinda is Bush's fault. Actually unemployment and inflation were lowest ever during Clintons terms. Also some economists would argue that the Reagan tax cuts are what led to the recession during Bush Sr.'s term and To give Reagan sole credit for the collapse of the USSR is just ignorant.
Nobody couldn't have done anything about the recession??? BULLSHIT!! Look at Germany- they gave workers 6 months' pay from the taxpayers pocket and the companies they worked for paid them for 6 months rather than laying them off. Because the German government gave Main Street a bailout, they avoided the misery of this recession and are now out of debt. US? We'll forever be in debt and nobody will get jobs now.
@TACOBIVOID And another thing, even if you dont like Reagan, you cant say he was the worst pres of all time. Thats just stupid. No one says that. Read about U.S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, ( he spent his time as pres drunk all the time, and did nothing), Harding ( who admitted he wasnt smart enough to be pres, and he wasnt., Or Fillmore.
Free information, abolish intellectual property rights and force pratical knowledge into the public domain, like the exact temperature and pressure and metal catalyst needed to isomerize diesel into gasoline, or, a detailed description of ethanol dehydration to ethylene and polymerization into polyethylene, which just requires some metal vessels, high pressure and a certain mix of reactive catalyst, that nobody seems to want to share.
With these, people could make gas&plastic from land&sunshine
It was a hard knock life before Annie, and before Jay-Z. It still is and forever will be. People need to take care of themselves. That is what they should be taught: production. Not a bunch of useless management/political/marketing psychology. If you give someone something good they will consume it and want more, if you teach someone to get that good thing they will consume it and then go get more. Based on a renowned fishing parable.
Quoting John Edwards(of all people) is a laugh. The guy all his millions of dollar(gives very little to charity) from lawsuits and acts like he's the poors savior, while living in a 25,000 SF house.
Reagan's economy created many millionaires that at one time were "middle class". Free trade and unions have hurt many industries and that has affected the middle class. Reagan and no other President can do anything about it. Our innovative spirit and FREE ECONOMY is the only thing that can do it.
If your business/job or a corporation makes X number of dollars per year, while creating jobs, producing something of value and you got a lowered Federal % tax rate, BUT YOU STILL PAY FAR MORE TAX THAN ANYONE, how is this transfer of wealth to the rich? The "wealth" wouldn't exist without the efforts of someone's hard work or a corporation creating it. The GOV only spends, it doesn't create anything. This whole premise of the video in regards to Reagan is faults.
You are so far off the topic it's not even funny. I suggest you read Johnston's book, although I'm not gonna hold my breath. Stats are the way we measure performance in the world just like in sports, not partisan talking points!
opencrs . com / document / RL34175
This was put together by CRS, Congress's research service. CRS is like the CBO or GAO, look it up, u might learn!
US is part of the "self serving" OECD, u dumbass! (and WHO was talking about the WHO?!)
You can make stats to like like you want. In those same OECD reports some Nations gave lower grades from it's own citizens but were rated higher. We are an unhealthy Nation because we're over fed. Innovation and Lawyers are a large part of why our cost is so high.
I've said this before you idiot. We need make our system better, but the free market system is the best way to go it, with the help and regulation of the Fed gov. We need to stream line the Ins. companies...BTW>>>I'm not a Repub
you keep saying that the "free market" is the best while you are unable to prove it with solid numbers and also maintaining that anybody can make up stats as they like. In fact a grandiose statement like "free markets" or "communism is the best system" is the type of enunciation people just make up to justify being slaves to an ideology.
The type of innovation synthetic biology or stemcell r is going to create will drop prices but that's exactly what the conservative establishment is fighting
America has been and will continue to be the most powerful Nation on the planet. "Free Markets" are the reason why. If I have to draw you a picture then you'll have to wait while I get out my crayons.
Again...I'm liberal on many things and conservative on the others. I just don't want my government to control my life...funny..."liberals" complain about government intrusion but don't care how powerful it has become. Washington is becoming another Chicago. The dems will bribe their way to power.
"we are responsible for about 36 trillion dollars in next 75 years"
LOL, that's like saying: "the average person makes $40,000/yr and spends $2 million throughout his/her entire life", therefore he is in DEBT! WTF?! Another proof of what brainless lemmings u ppl really r. SS has a $2.5 trillion surplus that has been raided by EVERY retardican pres starting with Reagan just to give a free lunch to welfare queens in their own constituents: mostly rich lazy aristocrats born into privilege.
Our debt obligations for SS, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare and other programs will be an extremely high % of our budget over the next 50-75 years and beyond. We had a 2.5 trillion surplus...dems in congress for the last 60 years raided it during the 60-70's..lukitup
Reagan re instituted the Income tax credit for the poor which rarely gets mentioned and BAILED OUT SS The idiot "pulitzer price winner" author fails to mention this...again...tell me where this massive transfer of wealth occurred?
When u say that u seem to be completely oblivious to the meaning of the words; perhaps because you are parroting GOP talking points from Pete Peterson but have no clue about what SS is or how it works. There is no way a gov program like that can fail unless it's "failed" on purpose. The reason: taxpayers guarantee gov income indefinitely, the only question is what is the national priority: enriching GOP swindlers on Wall Street or benefiting the people.
It's because of the post WW2 advantage that's being dismantled by republicans. It's called FDR's New Deal, the idea that you can get a free or almost free education. That's not the case anymore and the US is falling behind fast. 15 years ago the US trained 60,000 scientists and engineers, China 30,000. Today we are at 53,000, China at 300,000. the top undergrad progs feeding PHD programs in the US:
AHhh...you forget to mention the huge population that China...do you really want to use a Nation and system like China as an example of anything we do in the US? Yes..they are creating more patents and stealing ours, but that is not a system of gov to use as an example...
but that is the perfect example of what I mean about stats.
Bright KIDS that would have gone into engineering and science choice to get into Finance and Law(where the money is)...it has nothing to do with "free" education.
u forget the trend: China up 10 fold, US down 10%. There is no country in history, including the USA that achieved anything by indenturing a whole generation and erecting artificial barriers to education.
China is up 10 fold because we trade with them and "allow" them to produce items we consume and use to make for ourselves. Their economy was built off of US's consumption...understand?
It's easy to grow 10 fold when most of it's population were peasants 30 years ago.
Our universities are full..everyone of them....what barriers are you talking about? Student loans are an investment in your future. Low interest rates, or if you're bright enough or live in SC and other States it's free.
Such loans and especially the interest payed on them are a hidden tax on the real economy payed directly to money managers and as such it's a gross missallocation of resources: it takes away earnings that could go toward shoring up demand in the real economy and instead fills the pockets of politically connected hustlers and conmen.
yeh...someone gives you a low interest rate loan and you say they're "lining their pockets"?
Do you realize you can go to a University like UNC or NC State for a little more 4K a year? I guess tax payers should also pay for your room and board...why not throw in a meal or 2 a day, while you skip class, drink beer, smoke dope, worship Satan and major in Art? Yeeeeheee...sign me up!
That's the point you dumbass...bright students and especially bright POOR PEOPLE get FREE EDUCATIONS. Many of these "research" projects you talk about are funded by "EVIL CORPORATIONS" you left wing peanut brain! Open your eyes dude
BTW>>>WHO is the world health org...I figured you were going to enlighten me with their self serving left wing stats and rankings.
Many "degrees" are not productive to society...these grads end up in jobs that have nothing to do with their majors.
Last thing with you...These Universities have to make money. They need to attract top teaching talent and admin. Our Universities are the best in the world because they attract top talent. SOMEONE HAS TO PAY THE TALENT AND THE ELECTRICITY. Many of these Nations have HIGHER TAXES. In many cases the poor pays higher taxes. The BRIGHTEST KIDS worthy of free education, because of their achievements get free rides. Schools also benefit from "evil" corporations, creating many patents and jobs.
bullshit! american universities had been leading since WW2. Student loans are relatively recent. High tuition fees are part of a 3 decade long republican anti education agenda. It was obvious when Bush cut education across the board the last 8 years, but Reagan was the 1st to end free tuition in CA, instituted a 20% across the board cut in education saying that the "state should not subsidize intellectual curiosity".
"Reagan was the 1st to end free tuition in CA, instituted a 20% across the board cut in education saying that the "state should not subsidize intellectual curiosity"."
Yet... oddly the schools are still at full enrollment, with high SAT score students.
LIKE I SAID BEFORE...many of these students will do jobs that have nothing to do with their major. Sadly...many could have done the same job without ever going to College.
I fully support grants and free rides to the brightest kids.got it?
"Student loans are relatively recent. High tuition fees are part of a 3 decade long republican anti education agenda."
It's hard to debate with a liar...typical dem
They've had federal loans for students since just after WWII. The National Defense act then named Federal Perkins Loan program was the first. Then in the 60's they had TARGETED loan programs for students...it's been around since education became important to our societies growth. In the 30's States had programs of their own.
"Student loans are relatively recent. High tuition fees are part of a 3 decade long republican anti education agenda."
JESS6TY: "It's hard to debate with a liar...typical dem"
Hey dummy, projecting again?! u know exactly what I meant, Johnston is saying it on this video! How much was a state college tuition cca 1965? No student going to college, public or private had to be in debt for years after graduation like they are today!
Why do I keep debating idiots? Have you ever heard of "Student Loan Consolidation and Technical Amendments Act"..the gov has been dealing with student loan problems for decades. Tuition's have risen like every other fucking thing in this world...what are you 21?
Reagan cut back on subsidizing students that could afford to pay their own. Nothing is free. Someone is paying. I'm saving for my kids future like most families try and do...what I can't take care of my kids will have to pay the rest.
The reason why there is more of a problem today than in the past is because...
1...more students attend college which creates more demand and drives cost up.
2...more students end up getting meaningless degrees that won't allow them to make shit for a living to pay back the debt.
Why anyone thinks our country could afford to pay for everyone to go to college scares the fuck out of me. States have their own programs for its residents. You seem rather smart...get your head out of your ass.
No that's not the reason. the reason why EVERY country, including the USA subsidizes tuition is because tuition increases at a rate 2X inflation EVERY YR. that means if your average wages keep up w inflation u are STILL GUARANTEED to reach a time in the future when average wage earners will not be able to keep up.
now, if wages don't even keep up w inflation the picture is even worse. In absolute numbers an annual 6% growth means that the cost will double every 100*ln2 / 6 = 11 years. that's an exponential function of course and you can't beat exponential growth: as far as the US citizen is concerned today is the day when the chickens came home to roost: stagnant wages and exponential tuition growth. there is no way the US can remain a leading power is it disenfranchises millions of its citizens.
I realize we need to subsidize Universities. We need help keep cost down as best we can, so it's affordable to go to get a higher level of learning.
All I'm saying is...the fed govn't shouldn't be involved in paying for education without something in return....charity work, social work,...whatever it is to help pay off their debt.
Poor and extremely bright kids shouldn't have to pay for college, but the States with business and alumni support should caring much of the load.
this is about a lot more than just subsidy. Subjecting public education to the rules of private business such as the law of compound interest has enormous macroeconomic consequences on aggregate demand:
More and more people will graduate with larger and larger debt burden which will defer their decisions to start a new business, a new family or enroll for a graduate degree. A $24k college debt translates to $2 million in lost retirement savings.
That's true on medical students as well who ow might be well off and have no financial difficulties. Fact is however they will have to pay back more than $100k w interest which is money they are not spending in the real economy.
Of course poor students are even worse off. Google: "ED466814 - Empty Promises"
"Because of record high financial barriers, nearly one-half of all college-qualified low- and moderate-income high school graduates, more than 400,000 students, will be unable to attend a four-year college in 2002, and 170,000 of these students will not be able to attend college at all. Over a decade, 4.4 million qualified students will not attend college. For the United States, this loss of human capital will exact a serious economic and social toll for much of the century."
Look...I understand your premise, I still don't think FREE education is realistic. At least not for everyone.
There should be "free lunch programs" for degrees that will help our country get back on track technology wise. Every students that shows promise in many productive degrees should be subsidized so kids can afford it, providing they make good grades.
Most college kids debt is what???...300-400 bucks a month? They benefited! Again...many States provide real cheep quality educations.
In principle you seem to agree, although I still don't think you realize the deeper econ implications of a for profit private education system as opposed to a mostly free public syst like Scand or Asian countr. 4 profit education cannot deliver education bellow wage inflation in any society, never could, never will, the #s don't add up. Trick is to find an ideal sized private edu so that your middle class doesn't opt out of pub schools or else u get where the US is: an inflationary spiral.
I do understand...for the most part, students that graduate from private Universities get out with higher paying jobs and can afford to pay back their loans...It depends on the field you choose to follow. If you choose to get a degree in your field of interest and the market has no demand for your skills you may struggle to pay back loan. That's your choice...it's a free country. I understand the implications of young people having debt...but everyone has to pay their fair share. Nothing is free
No you still don't understand, it's like your brain is not wired to see it. You are still talking about the individual's ability to pay for his/her loans
My point was much larger: about the free market introducing far more inflation into education than any society can tolerate over a long time
I showed numbers proving that markets tend to inflate education costs at a rate 2X CPI, ie. private edu is not viable economically as a solution 2 educate a whole population, only a small part of it.
If we didn't subsidize every idiot to go to college (and make it so easy), colleges wouldn't charge so much. It's like when you sell a car to someone on payments, you can charge a bunch of crazy fees and people don't care because the payment is OK. When you buy a car for cash, you care more. Too many people who don't belong in college go for no discernible reason and it drives up costs for the rest of us. If those kids had to pay cash out of pocket, they wouldn't go.
no.... actually regulation is what started the mortgage.real estate meltdown and it snowballed from there. When you force banks to lend to people that aren't qualified and then "encourage" fanny and freddy to expand the concept...that's what started all this crap.
They were warned for 8 years that it was going to bust and didn't do shit about it.
I'm sorry...my freedom is well worth the 6k I spend on health care(which I can write off). My FREEDOM to choose is more important!...can our system be more efficient??? yes! Should there be more money for local clients? Should there be money for people that can't afford insurance...yes..but with strings attached...you take you should give back.
Or military is too important in the World...don't be stupid. We live in a dangerous world.
Hey JESS6TY, stop the anti communist bullshit, It's been 20 years now: not even weak minded american conservatives buy it anymore!
Instead tell me about 1 modern industrialized capitalist country in the OECD outside the USA, in which corporations provide health insurance to their workers instead of gov, people give their life savings to money managers in 401k plans instead of defined pension benefits and pay $50,000-100,000 for an undergrad degree and have no social safety net to speak of.
hey dude....communist...socialist...they still think they're the answer to all the greedy people in the world, while most of them line their pockets with money. I'm not getting into the a healthcare debate anymore. The US has many complicated problems to deal with when it comes to healthcare. One being immigration...legal and illegal....see....we still have people all over the world that want to live here. 401k's??? you're worried about 401k's when SS takes far more of your dollars every year.
JESS6TY: answer the question! I am not interested in the latest talking point from FAUX NEWS COLLECTIVE DELUSION NETWORK. Put up, or shut up! fact is, what morons like you call "socialism", ie. government provided universal health insurance, free education for all, guaranteed retirement benefits, generous welfare and unemployment benefits 4 the needy etc are the standard social safety net in every well regulated modern free market capitalist country except the USA.
Many corporations in the US provide the best health care in the WORLD. More corp's should be encouraged to do the same. Many people have no insurance because they CHOOSE not to. I pay 500 per month for a family of 4. I'm self employed and do it on my own. My concern is the growth and power of the FED in my life...you guys that proudly proclaim to be "liberal"...don't seem to get it. Free markets done efficiently(which we aren't) can do far more than the gov. We have to do it better...no doubt
JESS6TY: "Many corporations in the US provide the best ..." "Free markets..."
PROVE IT!
WTF is that have to do with the point I was making?! Plus, even if that was true, which is not, US companies are at a competitive disadvantage in doing so: they shouldn't have to get into some side business like healthcare if their foreign competitors aren't!
Again, you failed show another capitalist country that doesn't have "socialist" unions, healthcare, education etc, but thanks for playing anyways.
Most National fortune 500 Companies provide excellent health care for their employees. Some even have on staff doctors. SAS is an example...there are 100's of more examples.
Most of these great industrialized nations you speak of have serious financial problems with their systems. All these "free" health care programs have a cost. Most of the time the care is substandard, poor hospitals in poor condition and understaffed. Unions are corrupt and usually obsolete in a free market system.
Complete nonsense u just pulled that from your arse. Serious studies show that as far as end results go US healthcare even for the most well insured is sub standard.
"OECD data indicate that the United States has far fewer doctor visits per person compared with the OECD average; for hospitalizations, the United States ranks well below the OECD"
4 this the US spent more than double of the OECD average:
I agree that our system can be more efficient and streamlined. I also agree that 15% of our population who doesn't have health care should have help through local gov, charities, religious organizations and other methods. I just don't want our Fed Gov to fuck around with it outside of helping streamline.
Your stats are meaningless without looking at the big picture. We have FAR MORE doctors per patient than Canada and most other nations. WE ARE THE LEADERS IN INNOVATION!!!
Oh..and please spare me the WHO stats...they're as meaningless and self serving as the OCED.
We have BY FAR the most innovative, best doctors and equipment in the World. NOBODY can debate that truth and if you're honest, or older than 25, you know it!
"Most National fortune 500 Companies provide excellent health care"
Another problem of course is that a corporation is not designed to be around forever. No corporation can guarantee that it will be around longer than the government. the reason for that is because no corporation has guaranteed future income indefinitely, governments do: it's called taxpayers. As long as you have taxpayers, gov will have revenue, but if your benefits depend on a bankrupt corporation u won't see a dime.
many 401k are invested in the stock market and over the long term do much better than SS. BTW...we are responsible for about 36 trillion dollars in next 75 years with nothing in the bank but more debt. Do you have the money to pay it? Our government wasted the SS trust and Reagan(yes Reagan) bailed it out. These politicians(mostly Dem) wasted this money when they put it into the general fund. I trust my money over long term with business rather than Washington.
As far as competitive advantages to other nations by gov providing health care..they .look at their bottom line. I don't mind a different system that the LOCAL gov can administer to help poor people with health care...better local clinics which can be subsidized by taxes...but these clinics can be sponsored by charities and volunteerism. The poor needs standard care. Doctors can work these clinics to help pay off their student loans. There are many ways to HELP without Washington fucking it up.
NO...tax payers shouldn't pay for some liberal arts major that choices to go to an expensive University when they can get a freaking job like I did. Engineers??? Yes...the gov should provide funds for the brightest kids that can actually contribute to our future. Certain programs should be pushed to encourage certain types of education. Lawyers??? pay your on fucking education! give me give me give me..."guaranteed retirement benefits"...the gov has done a great job with that!...jeezzz...
"universities are full, full of people getting government financial aid". LOL! what a joke! Average US undergrad is $30,000 in debt by the time they finish a degree. there is no "financial aid" in the US. What they call "financial aid" is a figleaf. the whole US system is designed to breed criminals and enrich financial institutions, not to benefit average americans.
LOL! So let me get this straight: it's people in public housing and unions to be blamed and the solution is to stop spending on education?! What a delusion! Germany is the most competitive nation on the planet: #1 in per capita exports, has free education, 80% unionized workforce, and social programs americans can't even imagine. 1 thing they don't have is billionaires. There is no country on the planet that both charges young people for a college education and locks them up at USA rates!
Our Universities are full! We spend more money on Public education per child than anyone in the world. Our prisons are filled mostly with...ah...wait...let me think...CRIMINALS! Usually kids that never had a father. You can thank our glorious welfare system decades ago for this travesty. BTW...
communist prisons were also filled with "criminals"! It's society's failure if it produces criminals instead of productive members. My guess is that the lack of welfare and social safety net helping single moms has to do with it. Also the disregard for teachers unions and the lack of pay for teachers' work. This is mostly Reagan's and the republicans' work: the dismantling and discrediting of the social welfare state. U ppl should stop spewing right wing talking points and travel 4 a change
you're plan stupid...read a fucking book...communist had children labor camps. They put people in prison for political reasons. Poets, writers, business people. Your liberal rants are so fucking stupid...you have know clue what you're talking about...Teacher Unions are the worst thing that has happened to our ed system. It's not about money...it's about who control what and how our kids are taught. Reagan was a great man and President...you are a piece of left wing shit that probably has no job.
LOL, that sure stroke a retardican nerve! I not only "read a book" I know the exact prison stats in the USA and communist Romania in 1985: The USA locks up 1 in every 136 citizens, or 2.3. million, Romania under the dictator Ceausescu was locking up 72,000 or 1 in every 300. As for political prisoners, what do you call Don Siegelman?!
BTW calling me names while being unable to make a cogent factual point is an admission of defeat: or just another proof cons are pathetic maroons!
No...you see..I get frustrated when I see our nation going towards the left like it has...in fact...I get mad.
Do you really want to compare the prisons in Eastern Europe during communist rule to ours...have you lost your mind?
We do need to change our drug laws...I agree with that, if that is what you're suggesting, but we have laws in this country and fatherless or bad parents created most of the pieces of shit we have in prison....our "welfare" system created the problem...remember LBJ?
it's not quite so simple. The "debt" Reagan created by REBUILDING our military freed Eastern Europe. The main reason we have a housing problem is because too many American Citizens purchased homes they couldn't afford. While Wall St and the greed of Fanny, Freddie and others contributed greatly, the "people" are also greatly responsible for the problem. Greed comes in all shapes and sizes...BTW...the "donkeys" in congress had a lot to do with the spending back in the 80's.
"education is a bottomless pit as is the military. "
typical US attitude, responsible for the US becoming the largest debtor nation on the planet from the largest creditor nation just in 1980. Every civilized country that produces stuff that people need on the world markets and it's doing so at a competitive price like Germany or Japan has free college education granted to every citizen. you can't build an economy on used car salesmen and financial advisers.
the real enemies of this country live in multimillion $ mansions in places like Greenwich CT, not in housing projects. they are the ones buying politicians who decide that we'll be spending copious amounts of money on a police state that incarcerates 1 in every 136 US citizens instead of spending money on education. the reason is simple: a stupid population is easier to control and they are not only more susceptible to gov propaganda but they are also easy to manipulate w mass marketing.
America's economic problems are the result of the Liberal Democrat's efforts at social re- engineering(IE)The Community Reinvestment Act. Wake up and stop twisting reality to suit your argument.
dude 096756, what does Israel have to do with anything? I am not Jewish, but fully support it. Unlike, every other country in the middle east which is ruled by an unelected king or president etc., who passes the job along to his kid after he is dies-Israel is a Democracy where one is free to believe in what ever he chooses. 096756, get a grip and try and improve your personal disposition. You will never be anything basing your existence blaming other unrelated nonsense for your shortcomings.
dude 096756, what does Israel have to do with anything? I am not Jewish, but fully support it. Unlike, every other country in the middle east which is ruled by an unelected king or president etc., who passes the job along to his kid after he is dies-Israel is a Democracy where one is free to believe in what ever he chooses. 096756, get a grip and try and improve your personal disposition. You will never be anything basing your existence blaming other unrelated nonsense for your shortcomings.
Israel is not a democracy . their nationality law excludes non jews. If you are a palestinian who's ancestors go back centuries living in the same village you have less rights to become citizen of the state than an eastern european immigrant who can show some shoddy proof of some jewish ancestry. It's as if Hungary denied citizenship to jews living in Budapest 4 generations but granted citizenship to hungarians living in the US. That was perhaps the standard 2000 years ago, but not today.
that's a non sequitur, his point was about citizenship not about voting: non citizens can't vote anywhere. there are millions of displaced palestinians who's ancestors lived in Israel for centuries and despite that fact cannot return to become citizens of Israel.
Obama admits in debate against Hillary and accepts the premise that when capital tax rates are cut, revenue from those cuts increased. He said he didn't care, it was about "fairness"...what a bunch of babble. The whole idea should be to create as much revenue as you can without harming the economy. The goal should be to expand the middle and upper classes.
Of course, the Rich got richer...wealth grows in many different ways and the stock market soared under RR. The rich can generate income without any "man hours", all they have to do is invest it. Which helps the economy and poor
Here's a fact...
1973 "Upper" income made up 10.3% of population. 1986 Upper income made up 15.3 %. Reagan got inflation under control which makes a HUGE difference. When Carter was Prez interest rates were over 20%. you need to read a different book.
LOL, you seem not to live in the real world. While wages are stagnating the price of essentials like food, housing education and transportation grows exponentially. What book would that be? The book of "Petitio Principii" or the big book of "non sequiturs"?! what data supports your crazy theory about the "rich" generating anything other than untaxed offshore paper wealth for themselves. you are out of touch on how taxes and the economy works lately.
Oh...I thought we were talking about Reagan you shit...the fact is the clown that wrote that book lied to you. The middle class shrunk slightly because they got fucking rich! As the % of middle class shrunk from 81-86, the upper class grew at a faster rate.
Why is the Swiss tax system so low, and yet they have the highest standard of living compared the the EU?
There are many reasons for the food, housing and transportation problems...none of them have shit to do with Reagan.
"the upper class grew at a faster rate". Ok, so a few people making it into the Forbes list should make 47 million americans who have no healthcare feel better?!
assets . opencrs . com / rpts / RL34175 _ 20070917 . pdf
Unlike in the US in the Swiss tax system all corporations pay their fair share:
reuters . com / article / newsOne / idUSN1249465620080812
Google: S. 681
Making stats up and calling people names perhaps goes well in high school, it's kinda sad when it happens to adults.
I've gotten too upset the past few days arguing with far left-wing people and I'm sorry for the poor use of words. I'm very familiar with the Swiss tax structure. So are the EU Nations who are upset with their low tax structure.
Citizens on a local basis SHOULD do more to help their inner cities and poor. Local governments should encourage "evil" corporations, churches, charities, clinics to have safety mechanisms for poor people and IMPROVE the life. The federal government should stay out
there is no reason to reinvent the wheel here. The US already figured out how to create jobs for low income people through public works and social programs and how to educate them through public education. It was called the New Deal. In fact it was so successful in building a middle class between 1932 and 1968 that the whole free world copied it. The irony is that the US abandoned it in the 70s while other countries got better at it.
So we need a NEW NEW Deal? We're still paying for the last one. Where are we at now?...50 trillion? Reagan bailed out SS and they'll have to do it again. LOOK...I'm a conservative who believes local governments should be involved helping their on poor. I believe in limited Federal intrusion. It will make our Republic stronger. They should rebuild areas and give life back to their communities and it will take tax money...but it ALSO REQUIRES PARTICIPATION. Kids need GOOD PARENTS...Not the FED.
the whole reason we incarcerate people instead of educating them stems from the moral bankruptcy of our leaders and the political elite which has to do with the emergence of inherited wealth and econ aristocracy. That's why Bush's 1st priority was the estate tax.
LOL...the Swiss have a 8.5% flat tax rate and a 25% corporate rate which also allows tax deductions. There rate is less than ours, and their FLAX TAX is regressive.
The Swiss have Cantons(districts) that tax much like our States and Cities.
BTW...minority businesses flourish during the Reagan years.
Again, the Swiss force corporations and rich tax cheats to pay those taxes. The US doesn't. Besides: the Swiss are the offshore tax haven capital of the world specialized in hiding wealth for the world's super rich. They just don't like freelancers competing with them. Remember, the Swiss have national single payer health care. If you live there for more than 3 months it's deducted from your paycheck like medicare in US.
wikileaks . org / wiki / Clouds _ on _ the _ Cayman _ tax _ heaven
The Swiss allow check and balances with their banking structure. Countries have much less ability to impose and enforce BAD tax laws that discriminate against capital income.
Without the RICH...we wouldn't have a MIDDLE CLASS!!!!
Example...you may have a house that your parents left you because of their success and SACRIFICE. It's a million dollar home that you can't afford to live in or maintain but that's all they left you. The taxes are 15k per year...on and on...WHO'S GOING TO BUY IT? You've got to have wealth to buy a home like that. Wealth triclkes down people...Yacht...who's builds it? Many during Reagan left the "middle class" and became wealthy.
JESS6TY: you would clearly do yourself a huge favor if you read a book before you dismissed the whole idea right off the bat based on a 10 min interview segment with the author which you clearly don't understand... at all! BTW, there are these stubborn things called "facts", I'd especially recommend: Johnston is using them heavily in his footnotes ;)
When he says shrinking "middle class" how does he define it? Many thousands of people(at least) went from middle class to wealthy during the 80 and 90's...that's a fact. Why is allowing higher income individuals keep more of their money a "transfer of wealth"?..beacuse they are allowed to invest, take risk or BTW...it's illegal for realtors to take "kickbacks" from title insurance companies.
"When he says shrinking "middle class" how does he define it?". That's what I meant: you have to read the book, it's in there. Page 276 in the hard cover edition has a table on "Average annual Income": The vast majority, 99% of all americans had an income increase of 3% since 1975 in real terms. the top 1% which is today about 3 million rich had an income increase of 209% and the "super rich" ie top 30k incomes rose by 650%. In the meantime education and healthcare is less available.
"meantime education and healthcare is less available"
what a bunch of left wing propaganda. We spend more money on education per child than any in the world. Our universities are full! Healthcare is more available than ever...many don't take advantage on the clients or simply choose not to have health insurance. I'm not saying more couldn't be done, and I'm not saying a lot of money wasn't wasted during the Reagan years, but we have a big fat SS(which Reagan bailed out), medicare, medicaid.
I don't think Reagan intended for money to be taken from the working class and given to the politically connected elite. I think he really wanted to shrink the size of the govt. but did not succeed and the one's who came after him made corparate welfare and govt. excess even bigger. The tecnoloigical advances produced by the private sector not by the govt. have improved our standard of living in spite of govt. coruption favoring the elites.
Just a little clarification here. The average College cost is 10,000 a year IF you stay on campus. If you stay home and drive to school, like I did, its more like 1,000. Also, anyone who is making 15,000 a year as this man stated would be eligible for a PELL grant, which would pay the entire tuition, AND books, AND a little gas money left over. I KNOW! That's how I went to College.
MUM AND DAD!? I got married at 19. I was a 30 year old mother of 2 when I went to college. We barely scraped by on what my husband was making as a drafting engineer (He went to college on a Pell Grant too, while I worked. We took turns. He went first while our boys were small.)
I will reiterate my point. ANY American who really wants to go to college CAN! There are MANY programs to assist people who want to better themselves. Too bad some just want to sit around feeling sorry for themselves.
Yes, with 20-50k loans to pay back. You don't have a clue what other countries offer to their citizens. I also got Pell Grant and low interest Federal Stafford Loans. your assertion that it's $10,000 to go to school for a year is just not true. Besides: college in Denmark and Finland is free up to PHD level and hence they have a more productive and more educated workforce, they make more money w pension plans and healthcare: they are not indentured servants for precious years of their career
OH for Pete's sake. What part of "free" do you not understand? I am not talking about student loans. I'm talking about GRANTS! Money our government gives, and you don't pay back. I worked while he went to school and he worked while I went. And, for single parents there is even more money available, for childcare and housing. All people have to do is fill out some forms. Don't talk about America when you don't know what we offer our citizens.
i know exactly what we offer, I am an American I went to college here, except I also lived for years in other countries. The US is treating their undergrad and high school level education very badly by erecting various barriers to entry mostly by underfunding the whole system and making it hard to compete for poor people. The way we make up for this deficiency is that we then allow 40% of the graduate students to come from other countries. that's a fact, look it up.
There are many careers that do not require a graduate degree. For many a Bachelor's is enough. So we subsidise our colleges with tuition from students from other countries who want an American Doctorate or Masters (I wonder why they want that), what's wrong with that? Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, then we would have no Engineers, Teachers, Technicians, Machinists, Mechanics, Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters, etc, etc.
Except those are the ones who's wages are slipping. The USA since Reagan is involved in skewing the playing field against it's own citizens with lower income. Today the US doesn't have an education program 4 them: it has an imprisonment program. Highest incarceration rate in the world, among black males 5,000/100,000 ie 6X that of apartheid south africa. The irony is that this police state social policy costs many times more than it would be to educate them.
szatmar666: I'm not sure how long you've been in the US, but you should understand this nation's culture if fundamentally different than Scandanavia. We are a multi-ethnic society with all kinds of problems primarily related to the underclass (substantially white, but primarily black). Scandanavia is mono-ethnic with, I'm sure, far fewer cultural pressures and problems. BTW, I'm not convinced european socialism is sustainable/affordable in the long run. "Free" education? How do you pay for it?
This culture excuse sounds like the Chicoms'. In the late 60s and before that, incarceration rates in the USA were the same as anywhere else, like Scandinavia. Since the passage of the civil rights act it started rising and today the USA is the leading jailer in the world incarcerating 1 in every 130 of its own citizens. At the same time US high school students are constantly and increasingly underperforming in international tests. there is nothing much to misunderstand about that.
szatmar: 1/2. Cutlture is 100% at the heart of our crime problem in this country. I wonder what our incarcaration rate would be if we factored out drug crime (a huge % of the prison pop is in for minor drug use) and black crime. Not to be racist, but about 25% of the black population is in the underclass and there's not a developed nation in the world that has ANYTHING close to this kind of problem. But, in the end this is just an excuse.
szatmar: 2/2. Your argument seems to be that the govt can reduce this problem through more govt spending (socialism); I doubt that VERY much. European nations have less crime because they're mono-ethnic cultures that have existed for far far longer than the US. Also, re tax rates, I hope you understand the theory that lower tax rates on capital gains spurs investment by the private sector which in turn spurs job growth. Europe has intentionally sacrificed growth to fund their socialism.
No, your argument is totally missing my point: incarceration rates in 1970 were about 1 in every 1000 in the USA, as they have been for a very long time all over the free world and as they are today all over the free world. Today however they are 1 in every 130 US citizen. There is no excuse for that.
With all due respect, YOU are missing MY point. We had a left wing social "revolution" in this country between 1965-1973; all things "establishment" were rejected by the youth (and some adults) and many forms of hedonistic behavior (e.g. drug use, promiscuous sex, divorce rates) spiraled out of control. It was bad in the white community but much worse in the black. I reiterate my point...It's the CULTURE, and it has changed radically for the worse in the last 40 years.
the USA has never had a "left wing" anything, party, movement let alone revolution. you want to know what a "left wing revolution" looks like try 1917 Russia or 1919 Hungary. What you had in the USA in the 60s was desperate blacks asking kindly to be allowed to sit in front of a bus and not to be called negroes and young white college students supporting them. All this propaganda about drugs is just lies to justify the war on Americans. they cannot excuse incarceration rates like we have today.
oh yeah, if CULTURE changed that's different: I guess it's ok to underfund education and jail your fellow americans, after all they are "cultural criminals" or something.
Listen carefully cocksucker. If you were here with me I'd slap your fucking mouth shut for calling me a nazi. I doubt you even know what it means; just a generic pejorative you throw at anything you don't like. Also, I was born and raised here; I'm 49 and LIVED THROUGH the 60s/70s, and you, as a foreign born outsider know as much about american "culture" as the you know about the dark side of the moon. So, stfu and stop talking about things you don't fully understand. Got it?!!
JohnR22926: yours are the words a spoiled hysterical suburban brat who's not intelligent enough to answer a simple question: are there more black males in the USA than South Africa?! If not, how come they are incarcerated at a rate 6X higher in today's USA than they were under the apartheid regime?! Simple question, needs a simple answer, I know you don't have it hence the temper tantrum and the juvenile whining ;)
Sundanze007: do you dispute that the USA today is incarcerating blacks at a rate 6X higher than Apartheid South Africa?! Other than that you have no leg to stand on, please learn the simple rules of a conversation. BTW newsflash: saying the word "clearly" does not prove your point outside of a kindergarden.
I got an idea...why don't we pay each poor Black man 5k per year if they promise to stay out of trouble? It would be a hell of a lot cheaper.***sarcasm***
You want to change the laws or what? No crack dealing? Legalize drugs? The only way you're going to improve the lives of the poor in inner cities is by cleaning up the streets. Maybe we could do a better job of rehab and rehabilitation but it won't change until the mentality changes... Obama as Prez it just might. Kids need GOOD fathers
this nazi argument about "mono-ethnic" societies is also a lie. I said that US incarceration rates of black males is 6X that of apartheid south africa. you want to say that south africa had fewer blacks in 1992?!
bookhound: thx for your posts. Szatmar666 has some nice points about the societal advantages of free govt funded education through the PHD level. But...he never mentions how it gets paid for. My experience is people abuse and do not value that which they perceive is "free". Hell, I'd still be in school (at 49) enjoying life as a "professional student" if it was all free. I think our K-12 system needs a radical overhaul, but anyone can get a university degree if they work hard.
That's the thing with liberals, they want our Government to offer all these "programs" but they don't want to talk about how to pay for them. Or, they fall back on the Socialist ideal, "Oh we'll just tax the rich...some more." But, when they say "rich" they don't mean their favorite Basketball stars, or their latest actor/guru. NO! It's those evil corporations. You know, the ones who sign their paychecks. The ones who drive the economy. Liberalism is hypocrisy in it's truest form.
Are you my undiscovered twin? I could have written that post myself. Have you ever seen how the Left tap dances when asked to define who is "rich"? They hesitate because the fact is they have to raise taxes on the huge middle class to get the really big bucks to finance all the programs they want. Fortunately most voters can see through this class warfare tactic.
Liberal definition of "Rich": Anyone who can actually AFFORD the house they live in and the two cars in the garage. Anyone who has saved for the future, and invested their OWN hard-earned money wisely. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to inherit grampa's old derelict farm. Should I go on? I don't know about twins, but we do think alike.
what is the dividend tax rate in the USA? Whos' paying taxes on over the counter derivatives transactions?! there is plenty of money out there, if instead of oil companies and republican political cronies on WS it would go to the american people it would be enough for education.
If and when Obama ever begins to talk about SCRAPPING the current income tax code and starting over, I'll listen. Everyone knows it's utter nonsense and tied to literally EVERYTHING!
Until then, I believe that a clear record of my "wasted vote" along with MILLIONS of other "wasted votes" is the shortest path to a REAL revolution of libertarian ideas. This is NOT Perot 1992. It's about ideas that cut through the BS that has blinded BOTH parties AND the country. It's MUCH bigger than Ron Paul.
Scandinavians pay as lot more taxes than you and I in % but take home a lot more in net income too while their car companies are not burdened with healthcare costs and their people get free education to Phd level.
what Obama would do about taxes is much more important than what Paul would do: Obama would close offshore taxshelters and crack down on CEO stock options. these 2 are the most important reasons behind our econ troubles today.
I agree with much of that. I don't mind paying a bit more or less in terms of %. My point is that 99% of the code (the "system", whatever you want to call it) is junk. Even if Obama "tinkers" with this and that, we'll STILL be spending WAY too much time doing make-work or PAYING somebody to do it. Time = $. We could be creating something. Every year more people become part of the REAL "welfare" system (tax industry, big medicine, MIC, etc.), making it THAT much harder to change. Follow the $.
Michelle has 26 servants.
JawsJaws 3 weeks ago
Reagan was a fraud
cessnafan100 11 months ago
@cessnafan100 Our nation is paying the price for "Reaganomics." The problem is with both parties. The working class plays into this perpertual myth that government is the problem. The problem is that corporations and financial oligarchs are the problem.
Mr40acresandamule 7 months ago
@Mr40acresandamule your name says it all
KingSlimjeezy 1 month ago
@KingSlimjeezy Truth hurts!
Mr40acresandamule 1 month ago
@cessnafan100 regan was the BEST president this country has had in last 40 yrs.. you are a idiot for not understandig that..
realussoldier45 1 day ago
America is coming to an end. Get over yourselves...Apocalypse is coming and your wealth can't save you....
Conduit13C 1 year ago
True, wealth can't save them, it'll just give them a softer cushion to lay on for a while before they show up at the soup kitchens like everyone else. Let's do them a favor, treat them as they do us, and eat all the fucking soup before they show up!
betatalk357 1 year ago
@Conduit13C every generation says that
imagine if you lived at the start of world war two! You'd probably shit yourself into the stratosphere
KingSlimjeezy 1 month ago
There are no greater welfare queens than those that also supply our military with $200 bolts and $10,000 latrines. The arrogant greed of the very wealthy is being fed by these peoples' power to get our political representatives into or out of office. THE UNITED STATES MUST STOP CORPORATE LOBBYING! CORPORATIONS ARE THE BEAST THAT IS DEVOURING THE AMERICAN DREAM.
realcreature 1 year ago
As far as "welfare queens" go, they exist. They may not be driving Cadi's, but they are scamming the system. Every time you see a person on welfare (now called section 8 or WIC (food stamps)) that has a smart phone, ipod, Air Jordans, jewelry - they are cheating the system. They spend money on these items and then claim they don't have enough to buy food. Basically, they are stealing from the tax payer. I see this every day in NYC. It's not our biggest fiscal problem, but it is one.
m015094 1 year ago
@m015094 Johnston is 100% correct: when he went to college you didn't have to take out loans. Today, I don't care what college you go to most americans take out $30-$130k loans which guarantees that a good portion of their top earning years will be wasted on interest rates paid for some rich wall street bastard who's not contributing to the real economy. Instead that money should be going on buying a house and starting a family much earlier because that's what's stimulating the real economy.
madashelldude 1 year ago
The idea that if your parents don't make enough money is complete bullshit. Ever heard of Stafford loans and scholarships? My grandparents didn't pay for my parent's college, nor my parents for mine. If you are smart enough (not a dumb ass), you can go to college. Mr. Johnston has this completely wrong.
m015094 1 year ago
Sure, government loans can help you get into college. But what good are they went the public hasn't heard about them because Wall Street crammed THEIR loans down our throats' with the government's blessing so they can charge high interest rates? Or, even after college, due to the recession, you can't get that high-paying job you hoped for because Wall Street again, sent those jobs overseas? Other countries thrive off our generous hands, now we're getting screwed by Wall Street's GREEDY hands!
betatalk357 1 year ago
@madashelldude
are you anti-Ron Paul?
yahlers 1 year ago
@yahlers You mean am I well informed?! I think I am ;)
madashelldude 1 year ago
@madashelldude
How informed can someone be if they think they already know everything?
yahlers 1 year ago
@yahlers not getting fooled by demagogues is hardly "knowing everything". It's just not being a child.
madashelldude 1 year ago
@madashelldude but you still want children to pay for you?
KingSlimjeezy 1 month ago
@NatTurnerIsAlive Don't group all white people, it's a fatal mistake.... that you'll never understand. White people don't call themselves 'white' unless it's an American, all other people you might call white, have thousands of years of heritage around their locality. Ireland was around before the Roman Empire and like Scotland was never conquered by Roman Legions.
MotesTV 1 year ago
@NatTurnerIsAlive No black man was associated with the emancipation proclamation. I figured white skinned men dying in the name of black skinned men's freedom was a repayment and if not, then what about the real and the fake, not the black and the white.
MotesTV 1 year ago
Jimmy Carter - Ronald Reagan
Barak Obama - ??? (Can't wait to find out)
TumisHumis 1 year ago
democracy now,
getting the points right
greenhell666 1 year ago
Republican Jesus says: "Even as you have done this to the least of these, my brethren, so too you have done it unto the Cadillac Driving Welfare Queens."
AtlasShruggery 1 year ago
@AtlasShruggery Welfare Queens? Nancy Reagan? ANY conservative woman? Remember, you Reaganazis don't like it when your worthless doormats, er, garbage, er whores, er, feminazis, er, WIVES work.
ItsChillyBrrr 1 year ago
Remember Detroit
ibimw 1 year ago
you mean the 1980 GOP convention?! what do you mean?!
madashelldude 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Yes, welfare is one of those programs that needs to be ELIMINATED, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER GOVERNMENT SCAMS. I would start with all of the WOMEN who get pregnant on purpose to get on the government dole (and/ or to trap the man). That's right, you get pregnant it is on your own dime----no wic, welfare, food stamps, well baby care, medicaid or ANY OF THOSE GOVERNMENT GOODIES. And if you cannot take care of your kids, you lose custody. With my plan, watch the illegitimate births go very very low.
tickyul 1 year ago
hi you peice of shit...guess what,...ronald reagan is the worst fucking president of all time.obamais ten time better.....that cracker ass no good of a peice of shit,,and i defy anybody to say im wrong
TACOBIVOID 2 years ago
@TACOBIVOID You ARE wrong. Obama has done nothing except to spend way too much tax money, raise the deficit, raise unemployment to 10%, blame Bush for everything, raise taxes, etc.... Reagan lowered taxes, unemployment and inflation were the lowest ever, ended the ussr, AND MUCH MORE. Get an educattion.
hannityforpres 1 year ago 2
@hannityforpres You should get an education,you stupid, confused Reaganazi. Reagan raised taxes, and almost bankrupted the U.S. God, you stupid Reaganazis would rape and murder your children if some right-wing moron told you to. Start to use your brains for once, you lazy-minded,misguided fools.
ItsChillyBrrr 1 year ago
@ItsChillyBrrr Once again, Harding, Grant, A. Johnson and others were worse.
hannityforpres 1 year ago
@ItsChillyBrrr Also, i don't have time to read your crap. Im signing a petition to get Reagans face on Mt Rushmore.
hannityforpres 1 year ago
@hannityforpres Who are you to decide how much tax money is "too much." Unemployment was already skyrocketing when Obama took office and no one could have done anything about it given the situation, and it kinda is Bush's fault. Actually unemployment and inflation were lowest ever during Clintons terms. Also some economists would argue that the Reagan tax cuts are what led to the recession during Bush Sr.'s term and To give Reagan sole credit for the collapse of the USSR is just ignorant.
Killacamm34 1 year ago 2
Nobody couldn't have done anything about the recession??? BULLSHIT!! Look at Germany- they gave workers 6 months' pay from the taxpayers pocket and the companies they worked for paid them for 6 months rather than laying them off. Because the German government gave Main Street a bailout, they avoided the misery of this recession and are now out of debt. US? We'll forever be in debt and nobody will get jobs now.
betatalk357 1 year ago
@TACOBIVOID And another thing, even if you dont like Reagan, you cant say he was the worst pres of all time. Thats just stupid. No one says that. Read about U.S. Grant, Andrew Johnson, ( he spent his time as pres drunk all the time, and did nothing), Harding ( who admitted he wasnt smart enough to be pres, and he wasnt., Or Fillmore.
hannityforpres 1 year ago
REA GONE- Because of Ron the middle class is GONE....
jaker2880 2 years ago
Free information, abolish intellectual property rights and force pratical knowledge into the public domain, like the exact temperature and pressure and metal catalyst needed to isomerize diesel into gasoline, or, a detailed description of ethanol dehydration to ethylene and polymerization into polyethylene, which just requires some metal vessels, high pressure and a certain mix of reactive catalyst, that nobody seems to want to share.
With these, people could make gas&plastic from land&sunshine
MikeMotes 2 years ago
that's all nice just has nothing to do with this video.
madashelldude 2 years ago
the government should hand-out information and instruction, not real material goods or money.
MikeMotes 2 years ago
good, I'll pass on to it next time I see "The Government". Now seriously: you guys are completely brainwashed by talk radio and cable TV.
madashelldude 2 years ago
I Youtube, I don't subscribe to any public broadcast. I pick and choose what information I watch, and still barely trust it.
MikeMotes 2 years ago
It was a hard knock life before Annie, and before Jay-Z. It still is and forever will be. People need to take care of themselves. That is what they should be taught: production. Not a bunch of useless management/political/marketing psychology. If you give someone something good they will consume it and want more, if you teach someone to get that good thing they will consume it and then go get more. Based on a renowned fishing parable.
MikeMotes 2 years ago
It should be noted the Minority Business expanded more than ever under Reagan.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
Quoting John Edwards(of all people) is a laugh. The guy all his millions of dollar(gives very little to charity) from lawsuits and acts like he's the poors savior, while living in a 25,000 SF house.
Reagan's economy created many millionaires that at one time were "middle class". Free trade and unions have hurt many industries and that has affected the middle class. Reagan and no other President can do anything about it. Our innovative spirit and FREE ECONOMY is the only thing that can do it.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
Back to the topic.
If your business/job or a corporation makes X number of dollars per year, while creating jobs, producing something of value and you got a lowered Federal % tax rate, BUT YOU STILL PAY FAR MORE TAX THAN ANYONE, how is this transfer of wealth to the rich? The "wealth" wouldn't exist without the efforts of someone's hard work or a corporation creating it. The GOV only spends, it doesn't create anything. This whole premise of the video in regards to Reagan is faults.
BTW...
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Back to the topic."
You are so far off the topic it's not even funny. I suggest you read Johnston's book, although I'm not gonna hold my breath. Stats are the way we measure performance in the world just like in sports, not partisan talking points!
opencrs . com / document / RL34175
This was put together by CRS, Congress's research service. CRS is like the CBO or GAO, look it up, u might learn!
US is part of the "self serving" OECD, u dumbass! (and WHO was talking about the WHO?!)
szatmar666 2 years ago
You can make stats to like like you want. In those same OECD reports some Nations gave lower grades from it's own citizens but were rated higher. We are an unhealthy Nation because we're over fed. Innovation and Lawyers are a large part of why our cost is so high.
I've said this before you idiot. We need make our system better, but the free market system is the best way to go it, with the help and regulation of the Fed gov. We need to stream line the Ins. companies...BTW>>>I'm not a Repub
JESS6TY 2 years ago
you keep saying that the "free market" is the best while you are unable to prove it with solid numbers and also maintaining that anybody can make up stats as they like. In fact a grandiose statement like "free markets" or "communism is the best system" is the type of enunciation people just make up to justify being slaves to an ideology.
The type of innovation synthetic biology or stemcell r is going to create will drop prices but that's exactly what the conservative establishment is fighting
szatmar666 2 years ago
America has been and will continue to be the most powerful Nation on the planet. "Free Markets" are the reason why. If I have to draw you a picture then you'll have to wait while I get out my crayons.
Again...I'm liberal on many things and conservative on the others. I just don't want my government to control my life...funny..."liberals" complain about government intrusion but don't care how powerful it has become. Washington is becoming another Chicago. The dems will bribe their way to power.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"America has been and will continue to be the most powerful Nation on the planet. "
u r just as deluded as any good german and soviet citizen, good 4 u!
szatmar666 2 years ago
LOL...who is then Einstein?
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"we are responsible for about 36 trillion dollars in next 75 years"
LOL, that's like saying: "the average person makes $40,000/yr and spends $2 million throughout his/her entire life", therefore he is in DEBT! WTF?! Another proof of what brainless lemmings u ppl really r. SS has a $2.5 trillion surplus that has been raided by EVERY retardican pres starting with Reagan just to give a free lunch to welfare queens in their own constituents: mostly rich lazy aristocrats born into privilege.
szatmar666 2 years ago
Our debt obligations for SS, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare and other programs will be an extremely high % of our budget over the next 50-75 years and beyond. We had a 2.5 trillion surplus...dems in congress for the last 60 years raided it during the 60-70's..lukitup
Reagan re instituted the Income tax credit for the poor which rarely gets mentioned and BAILED OUT SS The idiot "pulitzer price winner" author fails to mention this...again...tell me where this massive transfer of wealth occurred?
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Our debt obligations for SS"
When u say that u seem to be completely oblivious to the meaning of the words; perhaps because you are parroting GOP talking points from Pete Peterson but have no clue about what SS is or how it works. There is no way a gov program like that can fail unless it's "failed" on purpose. The reason: taxpayers guarantee gov income indefinitely, the only question is what is the national priority: enriching GOP swindlers on Wall Street or benefiting the people.
szatmar666 2 years ago
"WE ARE THE LEADERS IN INNOVATION!!!"
It's because of the post WW2 advantage that's being dismantled by republicans. It's called FDR's New Deal, the idea that you can get a free or almost free education. That's not the case anymore and the US is falling behind fast. 15 years ago the US trained 60,000 scientists and engineers, China 30,000. Today we are at 53,000, China at 300,000. the top undergrad progs feeding PHD programs in the US:
1. Tsinghua U
2. Beijing U
3. UC Berkeley
szatmar666 2 years ago
AHhh...you forget to mention the huge population that China...do you really want to use a Nation and system like China as an example of anything we do in the US? Yes..they are creating more patents and stealing ours, but that is not a system of gov to use as an example...
but that is the perfect example of what I mean about stats.
Bright KIDS that would have gone into engineering and science choice to get into Finance and Law(where the money is)...it has nothing to do with "free" education.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
u forget the trend: China up 10 fold, US down 10%. There is no country in history, including the USA that achieved anything by indenturing a whole generation and erecting artificial barriers to education.
szatmar666 2 years ago
China is up 10 fold because we trade with them and "allow" them to produce items we consume and use to make for ourselves. Their economy was built off of US's consumption...understand?
It's easy to grow 10 fold when most of it's population were peasants 30 years ago.
Our universities are full..everyone of them....what barriers are you talking about? Student loans are an investment in your future. Low interest rates, or if you're bright enough or live in SC and other States it's free.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Student loans are an investment".
Such loans and especially the interest payed on them are a hidden tax on the real economy payed directly to money managers and as such it's a gross missallocation of resources: it takes away earnings that could go toward shoring up demand in the real economy and instead fills the pockets of politically connected hustlers and conmen.
szatmar666 2 years ago
yeh...someone gives you a low interest rate loan and you say they're "lining their pockets"?
Do you realize you can go to a University like UNC or NC State for a little more 4K a year? I guess tax payers should also pay for your room and board...why not throw in a meal or 2 a day, while you skip class, drink beer, smoke dope, worship Satan and major in Art? Yeeeeheee...sign me up!
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"skip class, drink beer, smoke dope, worship Satan and major in Art?!"
yupp, that's exactly what gets chinese and indian undergrad students into US grad programs on US taxpayer financed research projects.
your capacity of denial is colossal, it's amazing how pathetic and dumb u people really are!
szatmar666 2 years ago
That's the point you dumbass...bright students and especially bright POOR PEOPLE get FREE EDUCATIONS. Many of these "research" projects you talk about are funded by "EVIL CORPORATIONS" you left wing peanut brain! Open your eyes dude
BTW>>>WHO is the world health org...I figured you were going to enlighten me with their self serving left wing stats and rankings.
Many "degrees" are not productive to society...these grads end up in jobs that have nothing to do with their majors.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
Last thing with you...These Universities have to make money. They need to attract top teaching talent and admin. Our Universities are the best in the world because they attract top talent. SOMEONE HAS TO PAY THE TALENT AND THE ELECTRICITY. Many of these Nations have HIGHER TAXES. In many cases the poor pays higher taxes. The BRIGHTEST KIDS worthy of free education, because of their achievements get free rides. Schools also benefit from "evil" corporations, creating many patents and jobs.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"SOMEONE HAS TO PAY THE TALENT"
bullshit! american universities had been leading since WW2. Student loans are relatively recent. High tuition fees are part of a 3 decade long republican anti education agenda. It was obvious when Bush cut education across the board the last 8 years, but Reagan was the 1st to end free tuition in CA, instituted a 20% across the board cut in education saying that the "state should not subsidize intellectual curiosity".
szatmar666 2 years ago
"Reagan was the 1st to end free tuition in CA, instituted a 20% across the board cut in education saying that the "state should not subsidize intellectual curiosity"."
Yet... oddly the schools are still at full enrollment, with high SAT score students.
LIKE I SAID BEFORE...many of these students will do jobs that have nothing to do with their major. Sadly...many could have done the same job without ever going to College.
I fully support grants and free rides to the brightest kids.got it?
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Student loans are relatively recent. High tuition fees are part of a 3 decade long republican anti education agenda."
It's hard to debate with a liar...typical dem
They've had federal loans for students since just after WWII. The National Defense act then named Federal Perkins Loan program was the first. Then in the 60's they had TARGETED loan programs for students...it's been around since education became important to our societies growth. In the 30's States had programs of their own.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Student loans are relatively recent. High tuition fees are part of a 3 decade long republican anti education agenda."
JESS6TY: "It's hard to debate with a liar...typical dem"
Hey dummy, projecting again?! u know exactly what I meant, Johnston is saying it on this video! How much was a state college tuition cca 1965? No student going to college, public or private had to be in debt for years after graduation like they are today!
szatmar666 2 years ago
Why do I keep debating idiots? Have you ever heard of "Student Loan Consolidation and Technical Amendments Act"..the gov has been dealing with student loan problems for decades. Tuition's have risen like every other fucking thing in this world...what are you 21?
Reagan cut back on subsidizing students that could afford to pay their own. Nothing is free. Someone is paying. I'm saving for my kids future like most families try and do...what I can't take care of my kids will have to pay the rest.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
The reason why there is more of a problem today than in the past is because...
1...more students attend college which creates more demand and drives cost up.
2...more students end up getting meaningless degrees that won't allow them to make shit for a living to pay back the debt.
Why anyone thinks our country could afford to pay for everyone to go to college scares the fuck out of me. States have their own programs for its residents. You seem rather smart...get your head out of your ass.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
No that's not the reason. the reason why EVERY country, including the USA subsidizes tuition is because tuition increases at a rate 2X inflation EVERY YR. that means if your average wages keep up w inflation u are STILL GUARANTEED to reach a time in the future when average wage earners will not be able to keep up.
finaid . org / savings / tuition - inflation . phtml
Easy 2 calc. 8% tui. infl and 4% CPI 8-4=4% is what wages can't subsidize and that amount doubles every 100ln2/4 ie 17 years.
szatmar666 2 years ago
now, if wages don't even keep up w inflation the picture is even worse. In absolute numbers an annual 6% growth means that the cost will double every 100*ln2 / 6 = 11 years. that's an exponential function of course and you can't beat exponential growth: as far as the US citizen is concerned today is the day when the chickens came home to roost: stagnant wages and exponential tuition growth. there is no way the US can remain a leading power is it disenfranchises millions of its citizens.
szatmar666 2 years ago
I realize we need to subsidize Universities. We need help keep cost down as best we can, so it's affordable to go to get a higher level of learning.
All I'm saying is...the fed govn't shouldn't be involved in paying for education without something in return....charity work, social work,...whatever it is to help pay off their debt.
Poor and extremely bright kids shouldn't have to pay for college, but the States with business and alumni support should caring much of the load.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"we need to subsidize Universities"
this is about a lot more than just subsidy. Subjecting public education to the rules of private business such as the law of compound interest has enormous macroeconomic consequences on aggregate demand:
More and more people will graduate with larger and larger debt burden which will defer their decisions to start a new business, a new family or enroll for a graduate degree. A $24k college debt translates to $2 million in lost retirement savings.
szatmar666 2 years ago
That's true on medical students as well who ow might be well off and have no financial difficulties. Fact is however they will have to pay back more than $100k w interest which is money they are not spending in the real economy.
Of course poor students are even worse off. Google: "ED466814 - Empty Promises"
szatmar666 2 years ago
"Because of record high financial barriers, nearly one-half of all college-qualified low- and moderate-income high school graduates, more than 400,000 students, will be unable to attend a four-year college in 2002, and 170,000 of these students will not be able to attend college at all. Over a decade, 4.4 million qualified students will not attend college. For the United States, this loss of human capital will exact a serious economic and social toll for much of the century."
szatmar666 2 years ago
Look...I understand your premise, I still don't think FREE education is realistic. At least not for everyone.
There should be "free lunch programs" for degrees that will help our country get back on track technology wise. Every students that shows promise in many productive degrees should be subsidized so kids can afford it, providing they make good grades.
Most college kids debt is what???...300-400 bucks a month? They benefited! Again...many States provide real cheep quality educations.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
In principle you seem to agree, although I still don't think you realize the deeper econ implications of a for profit private education system as opposed to a mostly free public syst like Scand or Asian countr. 4 profit education cannot deliver education bellow wage inflation in any society, never could, never will, the #s don't add up. Trick is to find an ideal sized private edu so that your middle class doesn't opt out of pub schools or else u get where the US is: an inflationary spiral.
szatmar666 2 years ago
I do understand...for the most part, students that graduate from private Universities get out with higher paying jobs and can afford to pay back their loans...It depends on the field you choose to follow. If you choose to get a degree in your field of interest and the market has no demand for your skills you may struggle to pay back loan. That's your choice...it's a free country. I understand the implications of young people having debt...but everyone has to pay their fair share. Nothing is free
JESS6TY 2 years ago
No you still don't understand, it's like your brain is not wired to see it. You are still talking about the individual's ability to pay for his/her loans
My point was much larger: about the free market introducing far more inflation into education than any society can tolerate over a long time
I showed numbers proving that markets tend to inflate education costs at a rate 2X CPI, ie. private edu is not viable economically as a solution 2 educate a whole population, only a small part of it.
szatmar666 2 years ago
If we didn't subsidize every idiot to go to college (and make it so easy), colleges wouldn't charge so much. It's like when you sell a car to someone on payments, you can charge a bunch of crazy fees and people don't care because the payment is OK. When you buy a car for cash, you care more. Too many people who don't belong in college go for no discernible reason and it drives up costs for the rest of us. If those kids had to pay cash out of pocket, they wouldn't go.
ajhmogul 2 years ago
no.... actually regulation is what started the mortgage.real estate meltdown and it snowballed from there. When you force banks to lend to people that aren't qualified and then "encourage" fanny and freddy to expand the concept...that's what started all this crap.
They were warned for 8 years that it was going to bust and didn't do shit about it.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
I'm sorry...my freedom is well worth the 6k I spend on health care(which I can write off). My FREEDOM to choose is more important!...can our system be more efficient??? yes! Should there be more money for local clients? Should there be money for people that can't afford insurance...yes..but with strings attached...you take you should give back.
Or military is too important in the World...don't be stupid. We live in a dangerous world.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
096756 and madashelldude should start the idiot club. Both with completely opposite views but its hard to tell which one is the dumbest. Classic!
madashelldude "Castro and Chavez are great men who care about their people"
096756 "David Duke is the smartest person I know"
LOL
JESS6TY 2 years ago
Hey JESS6TY, stop the anti communist bullshit, It's been 20 years now: not even weak minded american conservatives buy it anymore!
Instead tell me about 1 modern industrialized capitalist country in the OECD outside the USA, in which corporations provide health insurance to their workers instead of gov, people give their life savings to money managers in 401k plans instead of defined pension benefits and pay $50,000-100,000 for an undergrad degree and have no social safety net to speak of.
szatmar666 2 years ago
hey dude....communist...socialist...they still think they're the answer to all the greedy people in the world, while most of them line their pockets with money. I'm not getting into the a healthcare debate anymore. The US has many complicated problems to deal with when it comes to healthcare. One being immigration...legal and illegal....see....we still have people all over the world that want to live here. 401k's??? you're worried about 401k's when SS takes far more of your dollars every year.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
JESS6TY: answer the question! I am not interested in the latest talking point from FAUX NEWS COLLECTIVE DELUSION NETWORK. Put up, or shut up! fact is, what morons like you call "socialism", ie. government provided universal health insurance, free education for all, guaranteed retirement benefits, generous welfare and unemployment benefits 4 the needy etc are the standard social safety net in every well regulated modern free market capitalist country except the USA.
szatmar666 2 years ago
Many corporations in the US provide the best health care in the WORLD. More corp's should be encouraged to do the same. Many people have no insurance because they CHOOSE not to. I pay 500 per month for a family of 4. I'm self employed and do it on my own. My concern is the growth and power of the FED in my life...you guys that proudly proclaim to be "liberal"...don't seem to get it. Free markets done efficiently(which we aren't) can do far more than the gov. We have to do it better...no doubt
JESS6TY 2 years ago
JESS6TY: "Many corporations in the US provide the best ..." "Free markets..."
PROVE IT!
WTF is that have to do with the point I was making?! Plus, even if that was true, which is not, US companies are at a competitive disadvantage in doing so: they shouldn't have to get into some side business like healthcare if their foreign competitors aren't!
Again, you failed show another capitalist country that doesn't have "socialist" unions, healthcare, education etc, but thanks for playing anyways.
szatmar666 2 years ago
Most National fortune 500 Companies provide excellent health care for their employees. Some even have on staff doctors. SAS is an example...there are 100's of more examples.
Most of these great industrialized nations you speak of have serious financial problems with their systems. All these "free" health care programs have a cost. Most of the time the care is substandard, poor hospitals in poor condition and understaffed. Unions are corrupt and usually obsolete in a free market system.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Most of the time the care is substandard"
Complete nonsense u just pulled that from your arse. Serious studies show that as far as end results go US healthcare even for the most well insured is sub standard.
"OECD data indicate that the United States has far fewer doctor visits per person compared with the OECD average; for hospitalizations, the United States ranks well below the OECD"
4 this the US spent more than double of the OECD average:
opencrs . com / document / RL34175
szatmar666 2 years ago
I agree that our system can be more efficient and streamlined. I also agree that 15% of our population who doesn't have health care should have help through local gov, charities, religious organizations and other methods. I just don't want our Fed Gov to fuck around with it outside of helping streamline.
Your stats are meaningless without looking at the big picture. We have FAR MORE doctors per patient than Canada and most other nations. WE ARE THE LEADERS IN INNOVATION!!!
JESS6TY 2 years ago
Oh..and please spare me the WHO stats...they're as meaningless and self serving as the OCED.
We have BY FAR the most innovative, best doctors and equipment in the World. NOBODY can debate that truth and if you're honest, or older than 25, you know it!
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"Most National fortune 500 Companies provide excellent health care"
Another problem of course is that a corporation is not designed to be around forever. No corporation can guarantee that it will be around longer than the government. the reason for that is because no corporation has guaranteed future income indefinitely, governments do: it's called taxpayers. As long as you have taxpayers, gov will have revenue, but if your benefits depend on a bankrupt corporation u won't see a dime.
szatmar666 2 years ago
many 401k are invested in the stock market and over the long term do much better than SS. BTW...we are responsible for about 36 trillion dollars in next 75 years with nothing in the bank but more debt. Do you have the money to pay it? Our government wasted the SS trust and Reagan(yes Reagan) bailed it out. These politicians(mostly Dem) wasted this money when they put it into the general fund. I trust my money over long term with business rather than Washington.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
As far as competitive advantages to other nations by gov providing health care..they .look at their bottom line. I don't mind a different system that the LOCAL gov can administer to help poor people with health care...better local clinics which can be subsidized by taxes...but these clinics can be sponsored by charities and volunteerism. The poor needs standard care. Doctors can work these clinics to help pay off their student loans. There are many ways to HELP without Washington fucking it up.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
watch?v=bZnwTrCJ4eU
madashelldude 2 years ago
NO...tax payers shouldn't pay for some liberal arts major that choices to go to an expensive University when they can get a freaking job like I did. Engineers??? Yes...the gov should provide funds for the brightest kids that can actually contribute to our future. Certain programs should be pushed to encourage certain types of education. Lawyers??? pay your on fucking education! give me give me give me..."guaranteed retirement benefits"...the gov has done a great job with that!...jeezzz...
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"universities are full, full of people getting government financial aid". LOL! what a joke! Average US undergrad is $30,000 in debt by the time they finish a degree. there is no "financial aid" in the US. What they call "financial aid" is a figleaf. the whole US system is designed to breed criminals and enrich financial institutions, not to benefit average americans.
szatmar666 2 years ago
LOL! So let me get this straight: it's people in public housing and unions to be blamed and the solution is to stop spending on education?! What a delusion! Germany is the most competitive nation on the planet: #1 in per capita exports, has free education, 80% unionized workforce, and social programs americans can't even imagine. 1 thing they don't have is billionaires. There is no country on the planet that both charges young people for a college education and locks them up at USA rates!
madashelldude 2 years ago
Our Universities are full! We spend more money on Public education per child than anyone in the world. Our prisons are filled mostly with...ah...wait...let me think...CRIMINALS! Usually kids that never had a father. You can thank our glorious welfare system decades ago for this travesty. BTW...
JESS6TY 2 years ago
communist prisons were also filled with "criminals"! It's society's failure if it produces criminals instead of productive members. My guess is that the lack of welfare and social safety net helping single moms has to do with it. Also the disregard for teachers unions and the lack of pay for teachers' work. This is mostly Reagan's and the republicans' work: the dismantling and discrediting of the social welfare state. U ppl should stop spewing right wing talking points and travel 4 a change
madashelldude 2 years ago
you're plan stupid...read a fucking book...communist had children labor camps. They put people in prison for political reasons. Poets, writers, business people. Your liberal rants are so fucking stupid...you have know clue what you're talking about...Teacher Unions are the worst thing that has happened to our ed system. It's not about money...it's about who control what and how our kids are taught. Reagan was a great man and President...you are a piece of left wing shit that probably has no job.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
LOL, that sure stroke a retardican nerve! I not only "read a book" I know the exact prison stats in the USA and communist Romania in 1985: The USA locks up 1 in every 136 citizens, or 2.3. million, Romania under the dictator Ceausescu was locking up 72,000 or 1 in every 300. As for political prisoners, what do you call Don Siegelman?!
BTW calling me names while being unable to make a cogent factual point is an admission of defeat: or just another proof cons are pathetic maroons!
madashelldude 2 years ago
No...you see..I get frustrated when I see our nation going towards the left like it has...in fact...I get mad.
Do you really want to compare the prisons in Eastern Europe during communist rule to ours...have you lost your mind?
We do need to change our drug laws...I agree with that, if that is what you're suggesting, but we have laws in this country and fatherless or bad parents created most of the pieces of shit we have in prison....our "welfare" system created the problem...remember LBJ?
JESS6TY 2 years ago
it's not quite so simple. The "debt" Reagan created by REBUILDING our military freed Eastern Europe. The main reason we have a housing problem is because too many American Citizens purchased homes they couldn't afford. While Wall St and the greed of Fanny, Freddie and others contributed greatly, the "people" are also greatly responsible for the problem. Greed comes in all shapes and sizes...BTW...the "donkeys" in congress had a lot to do with the spending back in the 80's.
JESS6TY 2 years ago
"education is a bottomless pit as is the military. "
typical US attitude, responsible for the US becoming the largest debtor nation on the planet from the largest creditor nation just in 1980. Every civilized country that produces stuff that people need on the world markets and it's doing so at a competitive price like Germany or Japan has free college education granted to every citizen. you can't build an economy on used car salesmen and financial advisers.
szatmar666 2 years ago
the real enemies of this country live in multimillion $ mansions in places like Greenwich CT, not in housing projects. they are the ones buying politicians who decide that we'll be spending copious amounts of money on a police state that incarcerates 1 in every 136 US citizens instead of spending money on education. the reason is simple: a stupid population is easier to control and they are not only more susceptible to gov propaganda but they are also easy to manipulate w mass marketing.
szatmar666 2 years ago
America's economic problems are the result of the Liberal Democrat's efforts at social re- engineering(IE)The Community Reinvestment Act. Wake up and stop twisting reality to suit your argument.
poldiddy 2 years ago
Corporate Welfare Emperors
finefilth 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
dude 096756, what does Israel have to do with anything? I am not Jewish, but fully support it. Unlike, every other country in the middle east which is ruled by an unelected king or president etc., who passes the job along to his kid after he is dies-Israel is a Democracy where one is free to believe in what ever he chooses. 096756, get a grip and try and improve your personal disposition. You will never be anything basing your existence blaming other unrelated nonsense for your shortcomings.
poldiddy 3 years ago
dude 096756, what does Israel have to do with anything? I am not Jewish, but fully support it. Unlike, every other country in the middle east which is ruled by an unelected king or president etc., who passes the job along to his kid after he is dies-Israel is a Democracy where one is free to believe in what ever he chooses. 096756, get a grip and try and improve your personal disposition. You will never be anything basing your existence blaming other unrelated nonsense for your shortcomings.
poldiddy 3 years ago
Israel is not a democracy . their nationality law excludes non jews. If you are a palestinian who's ancestors go back centuries living in the same village you have less rights to become citizen of the state than an eastern european immigrant who can show some shoddy proof of some jewish ancestry. It's as if Hungary denied citizenship to jews living in Budapest 4 generations but granted citizenship to hungarians living in the US. That was perhaps the standard 2000 years ago, but not today.
szatmar666 3 years ago
Wake up szatmar, Arab Israel Citizen can vote.
poldiddy 2 years ago
that's a non sequitur, his point was about citizenship not about voting: non citizens can't vote anywhere. there are millions of displaced palestinians who's ancestors lived in Israel for centuries and despite that fact cannot return to become citizens of Israel.
madashelldude 2 years ago
It kind of like this ....
Obama admits in debate against Hillary and accepts the premise that when capital tax rates are cut, revenue from those cuts increased. He said he didn't care, it was about "fairness"...what a bunch of babble. The whole idea should be to create as much revenue as you can without harming the economy. The goal should be to expand the middle and upper classes.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
Of course, the Rich got richer...wealth grows in many different ways and the stock market soared under RR. The rich can generate income without any "man hours", all they have to do is invest it. Which helps the economy and poor
Here's a fact...
1973 "Upper" income made up 10.3% of population. 1986 Upper income made up 15.3 %. Reagan got inflation under control which makes a HUGE difference. When Carter was Prez interest rates were over 20%. you need to read a different book.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
LOL, you seem not to live in the real world. While wages are stagnating the price of essentials like food, housing education and transportation grows exponentially. What book would that be? The book of "Petitio Principii" or the big book of "non sequiturs"?! what data supports your crazy theory about the "rich" generating anything other than untaxed offshore paper wealth for themselves. you are out of touch on how taxes and the economy works lately.
madashelldude 3 years ago
Oh...I thought we were talking about Reagan you shit...the fact is the clown that wrote that book lied to you. The middle class shrunk slightly because they got fucking rich! As the % of middle class shrunk from 81-86, the upper class grew at a faster rate.
Why is the Swiss tax system so low, and yet they have the highest standard of living compared the the EU?
There are many reasons for the food, housing and transportation problems...none of them have shit to do with Reagan.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
"the upper class grew at a faster rate". Ok, so a few people making it into the Forbes list should make 47 million americans who have no healthcare feel better?!
assets . opencrs . com / rpts / RL34175 _ 20070917 . pdf
Unlike in the US in the Swiss tax system all corporations pay their fair share:
reuters . com / article / newsOne / idUSN1249465620080812
Google: S. 681
Making stats up and calling people names perhaps goes well in high school, it's kinda sad when it happens to adults.
madashelldude 3 years ago
I've gotten too upset the past few days arguing with far left-wing people and I'm sorry for the poor use of words. I'm very familiar with the Swiss tax structure. So are the EU Nations who are upset with their low tax structure.
Citizens on a local basis SHOULD do more to help their inner cities and poor. Local governments should encourage "evil" corporations, churches, charities, clinics to have safety mechanisms for poor people and IMPROVE the life. The federal government should stay out
JESS6TY 3 years ago
there is no reason to reinvent the wheel here. The US already figured out how to create jobs for low income people through public works and social programs and how to educate them through public education. It was called the New Deal. In fact it was so successful in building a middle class between 1932 and 1968 that the whole free world copied it. The irony is that the US abandoned it in the 70s while other countries got better at it.
madashelldude 3 years ago
So we need a NEW NEW Deal? We're still paying for the last one. Where are we at now?...50 trillion? Reagan bailed out SS and they'll have to do it again. LOOK...I'm a conservative who believes local governments should be involved helping their on poor. I believe in limited Federal intrusion. It will make our Republic stronger. They should rebuild areas and give life back to their communities and it will take tax money...but it ALSO REQUIRES PARTICIPATION. Kids need GOOD PARENTS...Not the FED.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
the whole reason we incarcerate people instead of educating them stems from the moral bankruptcy of our leaders and the political elite which has to do with the emergence of inherited wealth and econ aristocracy. That's why Bush's 1st priority was the estate tax.
bp0 . blogger . com / _ ALIAl0ASfTs / RrD7S - IjUcI / AAAAAAAAABE / rFx53VRtpn4 / s1600 - h / State%26Fed . jpg
bp2 . blogger . com / _ ALIAl0ASfTs / RrD7MeIjUbI / AAAAAAAAAA8 / nvMDoj5Jocc / s1600 - h / World + Incarceration.jpg
madashelldude 3 years ago
LOL...the Swiss have a 8.5% flat tax rate and a 25% corporate rate which also allows tax deductions. There rate is less than ours, and their FLAX TAX is regressive.
The Swiss have Cantons(districts) that tax much like our States and Cities.
BTW...minority businesses flourish during the Reagan years.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
Again, the Swiss force corporations and rich tax cheats to pay those taxes. The US doesn't. Besides: the Swiss are the offshore tax haven capital of the world specialized in hiding wealth for the world's super rich. They just don't like freelancers competing with them. Remember, the Swiss have national single payer health care. If you live there for more than 3 months it's deducted from your paycheck like medicare in US.
wikileaks . org / wiki / Clouds _ on _ the _ Cayman _ tax _ heaven
madashelldude 3 years ago
The Swiss allow check and balances with their banking structure. Countries have much less ability to impose and enforce BAD tax laws that discriminate against capital income.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
Without the RICH...we wouldn't have a MIDDLE CLASS!!!!
Example...you may have a house that your parents left you because of their success and SACRIFICE. It's a million dollar home that you can't afford to live in or maintain but that's all they left you. The taxes are 15k per year...on and on...WHO'S GOING TO BUY IT? You've got to have wealth to buy a home like that. Wealth triclkes down people...Yacht...who's builds it? Many during Reagan left the "middle class" and became wealthy.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
JESS6TY: you would clearly do yourself a huge favor if you read a book before you dismissed the whole idea right off the bat based on a 10 min interview segment with the author which you clearly don't understand... at all! BTW, there are these stubborn things called "facts", I'd especially recommend: Johnston is using them heavily in his footnotes ;)
madashelldude 3 years ago
When he says shrinking "middle class" how does he define it? Many thousands of people(at least) went from middle class to wealthy during the 80 and 90's...that's a fact. Why is allowing higher income individuals keep more of their money a "transfer of wealth"?..beacuse they are allowed to invest, take risk or BTW...it's illegal for realtors to take "kickbacks" from title insurance companies.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
"When he says shrinking "middle class" how does he define it?". That's what I meant: you have to read the book, it's in there. Page 276 in the hard cover edition has a table on "Average annual Income": The vast majority, 99% of all americans had an income increase of 3% since 1975 in real terms. the top 1% which is today about 3 million rich had an income increase of 209% and the "super rich" ie top 30k incomes rose by 650%. In the meantime education and healthcare is less available.
madashelldude 3 years ago
"meantime education and healthcare is less available"
what a bunch of left wing propaganda. We spend more money on education per child than any in the world. Our universities are full! Healthcare is more available than ever...many don't take advantage on the clients or simply choose not to have health insurance. I'm not saying more couldn't be done, and I'm not saying a lot of money wasn't wasted during the Reagan years, but we have a big fat SS(which Reagan bailed out), medicare, medicaid.
JESS6TY 3 years ago
I don't think Reagan intended for money to be taken from the working class and given to the politically connected elite. I think he really wanted to shrink the size of the govt. but did not succeed and the one's who came after him made corparate welfare and govt. excess even bigger. The tecnoloigical advances produced by the private sector not by the govt. have improved our standard of living in spite of govt. coruption favoring the elites.
lexrex3 3 years ago
Just a little clarification here. The average College cost is 10,000 a year IF you stay on campus. If you stay home and drive to school, like I did, its more like 1,000. Also, anyone who is making 15,000 a year as this man stated would be eligible for a PELL grant, which would pay the entire tuition, AND books, AND a little gas money left over. I KNOW! That's how I went to College.
bookhound63 3 years ago
your point is well taken: mum and dad got you through college. Fine. Problem is not everybody has mommy and daddy covering for them.
szatmar666 3 years ago
MUM AND DAD!? I got married at 19. I was a 30 year old mother of 2 when I went to college. We barely scraped by on what my husband was making as a drafting engineer (He went to college on a Pell Grant too, while I worked. We took turns. He went first while our boys were small.)
I will reiterate my point. ANY American who really wants to go to college CAN! There are MANY programs to assist people who want to better themselves. Too bad some just want to sit around feeling sorry for themselves.
bookhound63 3 years ago
Yes, with 20-50k loans to pay back. You don't have a clue what other countries offer to their citizens. I also got Pell Grant and low interest Federal Stafford Loans. your assertion that it's $10,000 to go to school for a year is just not true. Besides: college in Denmark and Finland is free up to PHD level and hence they have a more productive and more educated workforce, they make more money w pension plans and healthcare: they are not indentured servants for precious years of their career
szatmar666 3 years ago
OH for Pete's sake. What part of "free" do you not understand? I am not talking about student loans. I'm talking about GRANTS! Money our government gives, and you don't pay back. I worked while he went to school and he worked while I went. And, for single parents there is even more money available, for childcare and housing. All people have to do is fill out some forms. Don't talk about America when you don't know what we offer our citizens.
bookhound63 3 years ago
i know exactly what we offer, I am an American I went to college here, except I also lived for years in other countries. The US is treating their undergrad and high school level education very badly by erecting various barriers to entry mostly by underfunding the whole system and making it hard to compete for poor people. The way we make up for this deficiency is that we then allow 40% of the graduate students to come from other countries. that's a fact, look it up.
szatmar666 3 years ago
There are many careers that do not require a graduate degree. For many a Bachelor's is enough. So we subsidise our colleges with tuition from students from other countries who want an American Doctorate or Masters (I wonder why they want that), what's wrong with that? Not everyone can be a doctor or a lawyer, then we would have no Engineers, Teachers, Technicians, Machinists, Mechanics, Plumbers, Electricians, Carpenters, etc, etc.
bookhound63 3 years ago
Except those are the ones who's wages are slipping. The USA since Reagan is involved in skewing the playing field against it's own citizens with lower income. Today the US doesn't have an education program 4 them: it has an imprisonment program. Highest incarceration rate in the world, among black males 5,000/100,000 ie 6X that of apartheid south africa. The irony is that this police state social policy costs many times more than it would be to educate them.
szatmar666 3 years ago
szatmar666: I'm not sure how long you've been in the US, but you should understand this nation's culture if fundamentally different than Scandanavia. We are a multi-ethnic society with all kinds of problems primarily related to the underclass (substantially white, but primarily black). Scandanavia is mono-ethnic with, I'm sure, far fewer cultural pressures and problems. BTW, I'm not convinced european socialism is sustainable/affordable in the long run. "Free" education? How do you pay for it?
JohnR22926 3 years ago
This culture excuse sounds like the Chicoms'. In the late 60s and before that, incarceration rates in the USA were the same as anywhere else, like Scandinavia. Since the passage of the civil rights act it started rising and today the USA is the leading jailer in the world incarcerating 1 in every 130 of its own citizens. At the same time US high school students are constantly and increasingly underperforming in international tests. there is nothing much to misunderstand about that.
szatmar666 3 years ago
szatmar: 1/2. Cutlture is 100% at the heart of our crime problem in this country. I wonder what our incarcaration rate would be if we factored out drug crime (a huge % of the prison pop is in for minor drug use) and black crime. Not to be racist, but about 25% of the black population is in the underclass and there's not a developed nation in the world that has ANYTHING close to this kind of problem. But, in the end this is just an excuse.
JohnR22926 3 years ago
szatmar: 2/2. Your argument seems to be that the govt can reduce this problem through more govt spending (socialism); I doubt that VERY much. European nations have less crime because they're mono-ethnic cultures that have existed for far far longer than the US. Also, re tax rates, I hope you understand the theory that lower tax rates on capital gains spurs investment by the private sector which in turn spurs job growth. Europe has intentionally sacrificed growth to fund their socialism.
JohnR22926 3 years ago
No, your argument is totally missing my point: incarceration rates in 1970 were about 1 in every 1000 in the USA, as they have been for a very long time all over the free world and as they are today all over the free world. Today however they are 1 in every 130 US citizen. There is no excuse for that.
szatmar666 3 years ago
With all due respect, YOU are missing MY point. We had a left wing social "revolution" in this country between 1965-1973; all things "establishment" were rejected by the youth (and some adults) and many forms of hedonistic behavior (e.g. drug use, promiscuous sex, divorce rates) spiraled out of control. It was bad in the white community but much worse in the black. I reiterate my point...It's the CULTURE, and it has changed radically for the worse in the last 40 years.
JohnR22926 3 years ago
the USA has never had a "left wing" anything, party, movement let alone revolution. you want to know what a "left wing revolution" looks like try 1917 Russia or 1919 Hungary. What you had in the USA in the 60s was desperate blacks asking kindly to be allowed to sit in front of a bus and not to be called negroes and young white college students supporting them. All this propaganda about drugs is just lies to justify the war on Americans. they cannot excuse incarceration rates like we have today.
szatmar666 3 years ago
oh yeah, if CULTURE changed that's different: I guess it's ok to underfund education and jail your fellow americans, after all they are "cultural criminals" or something.
szatmar666 3 years ago
Listen carefully cocksucker. If you were here with me I'd slap your fucking mouth shut for calling me a nazi. I doubt you even know what it means; just a generic pejorative you throw at anything you don't like. Also, I was born and raised here; I'm 49 and LIVED THROUGH the 60s/70s, and you, as a foreign born outsider know as much about american "culture" as the you know about the dark side of the moon. So, stfu and stop talking about things you don't fully understand. Got it?!!
JohnR22926 3 years ago
JohnR22926: yours are the words a spoiled hysterical suburban brat who's not intelligent enough to answer a simple question: are there more black males in the USA than South Africa?! If not, how come they are incarcerated at a rate 6X higher in today's USA than they were under the apartheid regime?! Simple question, needs a simple answer, I know you don't have it hence the temper tantrum and the juvenile whining ;)
szatmar666 3 years ago
Szatmar,
Its funny you are calling people Nazis (National SOCIALIST party) when you are clearly a socialist.
Sundanze007 3 years ago
Sundanze007: do you dispute that the USA today is incarcerating blacks at a rate 6X higher than Apartheid South Africa?! Other than that you have no leg to stand on, please learn the simple rules of a conversation. BTW newsflash: saying the word "clearly" does not prove your point outside of a kindergarden.
madashelldude 3 years ago
I got an idea...why don't we pay each poor Black man 5k per year if they promise to stay out of trouble? It would be a hell of a lot cheaper.***sarcasm***
You want to change the laws or what? No crack dealing? Legalize drugs? The only way you're going to improve the lives of the poor in inner cities is by cleaning up the streets. Maybe we could do a better job of rehab and rehabilitation but it won't change until the mentality changes... Obama as Prez it just might. Kids need GOOD fathers
JESS6TY 3 years ago
Szatmar is clearly a collectivist and a socialist. The purpose of the government is to protect individual rights. That is it.
If you do not like the constitution. Move to europe or even a communist country.
Sundanze007 3 years ago
Much of that has to do with the so called "war on drugs" how many of those people locked up are non-violent drug offenders?
jeAh7 3 years ago
this nazi argument about "mono-ethnic" societies is also a lie. I said that US incarceration rates of black males is 6X that of apartheid south africa. you want to say that south africa had fewer blacks in 1992?!
szatmar666 3 years ago 4
bookhound: thx for your posts. Szatmar666 has some nice points about the societal advantages of free govt funded education through the PHD level. But...he never mentions how it gets paid for. My experience is people abuse and do not value that which they perceive is "free". Hell, I'd still be in school (at 49) enjoying life as a "professional student" if it was all free. I think our K-12 system needs a radical overhaul, but anyone can get a university degree if they work hard.
JohnR22926 3 years ago
That's the thing with liberals, they want our Government to offer all these "programs" but they don't want to talk about how to pay for them. Or, they fall back on the Socialist ideal, "Oh we'll just tax the rich...some more." But, when they say "rich" they don't mean their favorite Basketball stars, or their latest actor/guru. NO! It's those evil corporations. You know, the ones who sign their paychecks. The ones who drive the economy. Liberalism is hypocrisy in it's truest form.
bookhound63 3 years ago
Are you my undiscovered twin? I could have written that post myself. Have you ever seen how the Left tap dances when asked to define who is "rich"? They hesitate because the fact is they have to raise taxes on the huge middle class to get the really big bucks to finance all the programs they want. Fortunately most voters can see through this class warfare tactic.
JohnR22926 3 years ago
Liberal definition of "Rich": Anyone who can actually AFFORD the house they live in and the two cars in the garage. Anyone who has saved for the future, and invested their OWN hard-earned money wisely. Anyone who is unfortunate enough to inherit grampa's old derelict farm. Should I go on? I don't know about twins, but we do think alike.
bookhound63 3 years ago
what is the dividend tax rate in the USA? Whos' paying taxes on over the counter derivatives transactions?! there is plenty of money out there, if instead of oil companies and republican political cronies on WS it would go to the american people it would be enough for education.
szatmar666 3 years ago 3
The modern-day Republican presidential philosophy of governing by credit card is a virus that must be destroyed.
It has been a disaster, not to mention setting a terrible example for the people of our country.
Reagan Bush Bush
Debt! Debt! Debt!
The hole is now WAY too deep. This is NOT the time for (more) establishment candidates.
Write in Ron Paul.
RonPaulGeorgeRingo 3 years ago
instead of throwing your vote away, why not Obama?
szatmar666 3 years ago 2
If and when Obama ever begins to talk about SCRAPPING the current income tax code and starting over, I'll listen. Everyone knows it's utter nonsense and tied to literally EVERYTHING!
Until then, I believe that a clear record of my "wasted vote" along with MILLIONS of other "wasted votes" is the shortest path to a REAL revolution of libertarian ideas. This is NOT Perot 1992. It's about ideas that cut through the BS that has blinded BOTH parties AND the country. It's MUCH bigger than Ron Paul.
RonPaulGeorgeRingo 3 years ago
Scandinavians pay as lot more taxes than you and I in % but take home a lot more in net income too while their car companies are not burdened with healthcare costs and their people get free education to Phd level.
what Obama would do about taxes is much more important than what Paul would do: Obama would close offshore taxshelters and crack down on CEO stock options. these 2 are the most important reasons behind our econ troubles today.
szatmar666 3 years ago
I agree with much of that. I don't mind paying a bit more or less in terms of %. My point is that 99% of the code (the "system", whatever you want to call it) is junk. Even if Obama "tinkers" with this and that, we'll STILL be spending WAY too much time doing make-work or PAYING somebody to do it. Time = $. We could be creating something. Every year more people become part of the REAL "welfare" system (tax industry, big medicine, MIC, etc.), making it THAT much harder to change. Follow the $.
RonPaulGeorgeRingo 3 years ago