@thewag777 Yea, ain't that the kicker. There are actually more working class people in the GOP, their just to brain-washed by hate to realize they're voting against their interest.
Why would they want to invest in a business that borrows 4$ out off every 10$ it spends, not only that but 55% of what it does spend goes towards entitlement programs. Maybe If we learn to balance what we spend, they would seek to invest a little more.
I have many conservative fiscal views, but the whole class warfare argument is demonstrably stupid. Wealthy people benefit from gov services far more than poor people and therefor should pay more taxes. After all, wealthy people benefit from infrastructure more than I, they benefit from police and courts far more than I and benefit from a stable society far more than I. Most wealthy Americans simply could not be wealthy without these things, all provided by government.
@christo930 I do want to point out, however, that governments tend to do really stupid things with our money and that many government bureaucracies need to be eliminated. We can start with corn ethanol subsidies, for example.
I've recently started to watch your series, and noticed all the religious videos you've presented, at least the ones I've seen, are all about Atheism v. Christianity. I know most of my friends, who are mostly Christian, would rather see me be Atheist than Satanist; I have recently thought about converting to Satanism. Would you be willing to make a video on why Satanism is such a taboo? It would be much appreciated.
@BostonBoy00 If you already have realized god isn't real, why would you follow something else that isn't real? Maybe your version of satanism is more an anti-humanism more than a belief in a literal "satan" figure, but what would you get out of that?
@Zaunstar Good point; I think it'd be more for the purposes of giving all Christians a metaphoric "f*** you." Though, with all due respect, that didn't quite answer my question.
@BostonBoy00 Well, the answer is that I would be willing to, and I have been asked about that topic before. If I can think of a way to make it interesting, I will certainly make a video about it. It IS on my topic list. As for you "joining", I think you'd have more credibility as an atheist in terms of helping reduce the influence of religion, IF that is your goal.
@Zaunstar I think you're right, it would be hard to make it an interesting video. And I would assume that if one were to worship the Antichrist instead of God, then Christians would feel more peeved, since it'd be almost completely against the word of their God. Nonetheless, thank you very much for your insight and hopefully a video.
Well, we will only claim a higher living standard through class warfare. The companies will rape ressources, employees and people's living conditions eternally. Corporations won't suffice to simple regulation and taxation, but continue to put the burden of the crisis on us. Nationalize the banks and the largest corps. under democratic workers' control, capitalism has outplayed it's historical role.
My favorite was when all the GOP candidates called raising taxes on the rich "class warfare", but then immediately they all said the solution would be to "broaden the tax base," i.e. raise taxes on the poor. The former was labeled "class warfare", the latter was labeled "sound economic policy." To be a Republican nowadays is to forget what you say within five seconds of saying it...
People who work hard with the goal of making more money might incidentally do some good in the world but I think we should be focused on helping (or at least not getting in the way of) those people who actually want to make the world a better place and are willing to do the work. I'm just thinking out loud here but I believe there are a lot of people in this country working dead end jobs that would love to do work that had some deeper purpose then just making their employer some more money.
The only real Class Warfare in this country is the Radical Super Rich RepubliCONS
fighting a war against the Middle Class by off shoring our jobs.
I propose that we fight back against their Class Warfare against American Workers.
See my videos on "Voters for Jobs - Power to The People" and "Voters for Jobs - Victory Training Class" on how we can fight back against their Class Warfare against the 99 percent of Americans.
@gqunit69 fucking hate you morons using the word liberal as if it's satan himself. Bet you have no clue what liberalism even means outside of the US. (i'll give you a hint, it has to do with personal and economic freedom) retard
@gqunit69 you wanna pay 40 billion in subsidies to the most profitable companies in the world? that's republican 101 bullshit. do eerything to please big business and give them an unfair advantage. In reality the repuiblicans are so anti capitalism it isn't even funny annymore. giving out monopolies and subsidies and tax breaks left and right. and morons like you who know jack shit about the reality of politics will vote for them. sad sad sad
How about we just don't have taxes and people can just pay for the services they feel are necessary. Kinda like going to taco bell, I give the guy money and he gives me a burrito, is there some reason why voluntary exchanges couldn't work in other areas rather than involving government? Seems that the only fair thing to do is let people keep the money they earn rather than having it stolen by politicians with my "best interest" in mind.
@Zaunstar Haha..Just the though of seeing Newt naked, let alone with Jessica, I find repulsive. I wonder if Calista lets him play janitor in the bedroom?
Let me guess, you're not racist either, the N-word is just a classification for some black people.
There is ONE classification for homeless people.
HUMANS They're just as varied as everybody else. There are people from all class levels that steal, drink, are lazy, or whatever else you want to try to pin on homeless people.
You can't comprehend the abuse that homeless people have to deal with unless you've actually been there yourself. Why the hell should I give a shit about people who don't think I have the right to even exist even though I've done nothing to harm them, but I would literally kill myself before resorting to stealing, so bugger off.
I'd quite happily settle for just someplace that I can park my car without somebody calling the police on me.
and I bet almost all of those people that call the police on me are people who call themselves Christians, and think that makes them morally superior to atheists, but they ignore all the positive stuff Jesus was said to have preached about helping the poor, and just focus on the parts of the bible that tell them who to hate.
He never believed that anybody was actually suicidal, and just bitched people out for being there.
There was a bit of ironic justice when his wife drove to the beach and shot herself in the head. He didn't learn from it though. Next time I was in the psych ward, I asked one of the employees if he was still just releasing everybody regardless of their condition, and I was told that he was because it was about making money.
On the other hand, there are shrinks who went to medical school who are worse than useless and still make big bucks. Shrinks in psych wards make hundreds of dollars just for filling out release papers, sometimes without even bothering to evaluate the patients. One shrink here is infamous for just releasing ppl immediately regardless of how depressed they are. (cont.)
If you fail to organize society (any legitimate role for government) with a *fair* tax (i.e. all pay the same %, which already means you pay more if you make more) then you're not doing it right! And arguing that you need to raise it a bit more on some minorities according to arbitrary delimiter doesn't make it right (and no, a lot of people not affected by the raise cheering is not a good way of measuring if it's a valid/good argument/solution).
@Iamfatbrain Taxes based on something to do with a financial parameter is not a "minority". It's an interesting way of framing it, but you can't just pretend that taxes have nothing to do with money. The question here is should the wealthy ALSO have to sacrifice in bad times?
Seriously, I read your comment and I couldn't find anything that actually addressed anything I wrote. When/where/how did I say taxes had nothing to do with money!? Don't you realize that someone who makes more already pays more in taxes than someone who makes less!? What is the criterion on where to put the "you guys need to pay even more"-delimiter when dividing the tax-base?! Let me guess, the criterion would be "someone who makes more than me!".
@Iamfatbrain Nope, I should pay more too, because we are struggling as a country and the sacrifice should be shared. Should Mitt pay 14% and a schoolteacher pay 25%? Is this OK? I don't think it is. Is there anyone that should not have to sacrifice more, and if so, why?
@Zaunstar "as a country", epic. "sacrifice should be shared"? Socialistic dogma. And I already said there should be fair tax. So your question about Mitt and the schoolteacher seems a bit off. I wonder why the government has accumulated a 15T dept and 65T unfunded liabilities. It's probably because the rich isn't paying their "fair" share and has nothing to do with government running drunk with a 40 year long spending spree.
@Iamfatbrain The concept of sharing of sacrifice is "socialist dogma"? That is seriously the most ridiculous comment I have heard in at least a couple weeks, and I get a LOT of comments from creationists. So tell me then, who should be the only ones to bear the burden, who is exempt, and why?
@Iamfatbrain Did you perhaps forget that the way that many of those people got so wealthy is that they screwed us and the economy. Should they not pay for that? Plus, some of them WANT to pay more taxes, because they realize the current economic system is biased against those that are less wealthy, and they have this thing (you may have, at some point, heard of it) called a heart.
@PalulukanMakto they screwed us and the economy!? I don't even understand what you mean by that. And who's "the economy"? I agree that some companies has very successfully lobbied government for special benefits and goodies, which is very bad. And if someone "WANTS" to pay more taxes (as you put it), why don't they just sign a check and send it to Washington? Strange that "I want to do something" is an argument for "therefore everyone should do it".
the biggest problem is not taxes. It all the laws that rich pass that only favor them. This greatly limits the freedom for people to make good living for them selves through self employment or a starting business. By starting business you are challenging the rich. scary thing is the elites control both parties. The political system is as corrupt as third world country so it is not surprise that wealth distribution looks like third world country.
I can see the trama surgeon who put my shattered ankle back together easily actually EARNING over a million dollars a year. I've seen him listed as the busiest orthopedic surgeon in the area, and he actually invents new procedures. He had to spend a lot of time an money to get to where he is, and he saves huge numbers of people from being crippled for life, so he's easily worth what he earns and not a parasite on society like most rich people.
I mostly agree with you except on the flat tax issue, or the ilusion that it already is not in affect, its basic logic if you tax the rich they are going to have to pay less for their employs and and their services and products and if you tax midle class and poor they are going to have to get payed more either way government can give tax break to anyone , but in the big picture its going to be the same thing.
Hey! Don't compare the homeless to those multi-million dollar theives. At least we don't screw people over to get obscenely rich.
Working for less than a living wage without benifits and no job security is voluntary slavery, and you still don't make enough to rent an apartment. There are many working homeless. I'd lose my health insurance, and I have multiple medical problems.
The 1% are exactly the same as street bums. They live off of the hard work of others and think they deserve more. Most financial rapists, I mean 1%'ers, need to go on that reality show, y'know, Hoarders?
@TheCraich I've got no problem with the 1% as long as they aren't trying to make the rules even MORE favorable to them. Some people have skills in demand, and that's fine. Golden parachutes for failed CEOs sucks too, but until companies decide that it's nonsense, that will continue too.
@Zaunstar I may have been too sweeping in my statement but do you think that anyone should be paid a million dollars a year? For anything? Who NEEDS more than that? Science would have cancer beaten in a year if there was a wealth cap that overflowed into medical research. Does that make me a socialist?
@TheCraich No, it's never that simple. There are some people that are talented enough and can make their companies millions because of their efforts. I have no problem with them being paid over a million.
@Zaunstar The super rich have not earned their income, that's a total myth. Check out " Now a proven fact that executive pay is a form of theft" by R.G. Price, quick post on the issue, since I don't have time right now to discuss it in detail.
@TheCraich I may be wrong but street bums are starving people who eat and live off other peoples charity and if given the chance most would rather work and have a better normal life, kinda harsh to compare the poor fucks who at 1 point had something go wrong and have their lives ruined to the top 1%
@MitchofSmeg All I'm proposing is that they share the same mental illness. That, and I can tell you from professional experience in the field that most street bums do not want a home and a normal life. They'll tell you so to your face. Those who had something go wrong and want to return to a good life, we call homeless. Most of the time they succeed because they don't have the mental illness mentioned above.
@TheCraich I disagree - 'street bums' tend to have reasons for why they're in that situation; there are some that mooch the system but a fair number are there due to a failing mental health system, lack of education and nothing in place that offers a hand up etc. I don't know about you but I don't mind paying a few extra dollars if it means that someone has a roof over their head, a warm meal in their stomach and they can live a life of relative dignity.
@kawaiigardiner Then you are more compassionate than a 1%er who also tend to have reasons for why they're in their own situations. I work at ground level with the whole spectrum of street individuals and they always get respect and a fair shake from me. Street bum is merely a classification. There is however a pervading sense of desperate greed among most of them. The same desperate greed that the billionaires share, and on occasion both feel justified in thievery.
@gulbirk Wow, you are completely off base. What I said was that the same mental illness that makes people extremely poor also makes people extremely rich. Read whatever you want into that.
@gulbirk Do my job for a day and you would change your tune. Desperate feral greed can destroy you completely or make you extremely successful and I count it as a mental illness.
@TheCraich The one percent are the best players of capitalism, hey there will always be losers and winners, if you have billions you played well and hard or you were just born rich, in other words you got lucky.
What do you mean when you said that the tax complexity is based on the type of income? How would a flat tax not break the unfair social trend if it was for the total amount gained in a fiscal year?
@Soulcrusher105 The problem is the different rates on income. Mitt can make millions on investments and pay 15%, and then a teacher makes 60K or whatever and pays 25% on what he/she makes. I'm OK with keeping capital gains at 15% actually, IF there is a means test for the rate to go higher if the total gain is higher. This would make sure retirees and so on wouldn't get nailed by it.
The disconnect many super wealthy suffer from is a fundamental one, comparable with religion I would argue. They do not see how the value created by their employees time and effort invested in their company is what makes them rich. Instead they think its the employees that ought to be greatful for being given the chance to serve them and even be given a paycheck to put food on the table. The real entitlement mentality isnt among the poor. Million dollar bonuses for bankrupting a company anyone?
@jaxeedcom VERY much so. Like I said, to be fair, I know a lot of wealthy people that do NOT think that way at all, but clearly there are many that do. This "be GRATEFUL" is a theme. Some respect for someone that is able to build a successful business is certainly warranted though, if they are treating people reasonably.
Soccer moms don't like to see homeless people even if you're sitting in your car minding your own business. What pisses me off is that I bet half of those soccer moms in their expensive SUV's looking down their noses at me, are being supported by their husbands and don't do anything but popping out babies.
Homeless people are fucked with whereever they are.
Hell, Foxconn, the company in China that makes much of electronics, actually has to put nets outside it's buildings to keep people from killing theirselves, and the Rebuplicans won't be happy until we have the same working conditions here.
The rich people are actually sitting in the cart with whips lashing the backs of the people harnessed to the cart working two jobs at minimum wage and still not making enough to get by or have health care.
They want us making all their goods and providing them their services for free.
A conservative friend of mine said that Buffet and Gates are hypocrites and should "lead by example" and honestly I couldn't think of a good reply. But that doesn't change the fact that billionaires should pay more. His point was nothing but a red herring.
@melowar78 They lead by example, by advocating for something that is not in their best interests personally, but is in the best interests of society as a whole, instead of blaming the economic trouble on the poor, the ones with the least power and the least control over the system. THAT is what you could reply.
Not that I know of, but it sounds like fun. There are no words to describe how pissed off I am at people calling the police on me just for sitting in my car in a public park reading a book.
Last pig threatened to inpound my car when I didn't want to leave and reached for his handcuffs with great glee when I pointed out that it was impossible to both be alive and not be somewhere at the same time.
I've always thought we should allow each state to collect its own taxes.The feds should just send each state a bill every quarter based on GDP and population.That way I can have more say in how taxes are collected and will force states to compete.
Or we could just end the unconstitutional practice of issuing companies Certificates of Incorporation, stripping them of their completely legally unjustifiable "rights" granted to them by one judge's misinterpreting the heck out of the 14th amendment.
Watching a Gop debate is like masturbating with a cheese grater......it might seems like an interesting idea at the drunken time, but all it is is painful. It used to be good for a chuckle but now it is just sad.
Here's my idea of class warfare. Give the hobos AK-47's, and send them into the wealthy neigborhoods. A large percentage of them are vet's, so they should be able to give instructions to the rest. If the homeless are going to be treated like criminals, they might as well act like criminals.
I had this discussion with a co-worker last Friday while trying to leave work. He kept talking about carts and who was in them and who was pulling them and who deserves to eat lobster. It was all very silly and myopic.
@Zaunstar Yes, exactly! And he thought that once people got in the cart it would be so appealing they would never want to get out, carts being so luxurious and all! It's insulting on so many levels. I come from poverty and while I was motivated and did work hard to get out of it I would have had zero chance without government assistance. You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps without access to boots and instructions on how the straps work.
@Zaunstar Hungary. It raised(!!!) the tax on those who had the lowest income and decresed on the highest. The IMF report said that as a direct result consumption decreased as well as some other stuff I can't translalte because I don't know the english terms for them:D
@Ignorantf00l From what I've been hearing about Hungary lately I'm not surprised. Its becoming a Christian conservative paradise with all the constitution changes.
@anubis2814 Exactly. They win with a super majority. But to be honest, I don't care if they say that now I have to go to church every sunday, but atleast fix the economy with that power. They seemed like a good choice for this, but they couldn't. Unfortunately there's no replacement.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't care about 'fairness' (impossible to determine), but about pragmatic tax policies. You need to raise *effective* tax rates (lower marginal, tax all sources of income equally, remove most loopholes/etc), reform much of our welfare/entitlement system (incl. introducing universal health care), etc if you want this country to stay afloat & maintain the level of services our people have come to expect.
@Rithrandil There is no Universal health care and welfare was reformed in 1996 and then again 2003. There is no completely fair system, I agree, but if you look at history, when 10% of the population controls 63% of the wealth the economic system fails and there is revolution. The numbers today are coming dangerously close to that scenario. That's just history. I don't really have a stake in this either way. I'm just pointing something out.
I also know there is no universal health care in the United States, which is why I said we need to introduce it. And I know welfare was reformed previously, like replacing AFDC with TANF, etc. I'm obviously saying it needs to be reformed further along with the entitlements in this country. I'm rather confused as to what your reply to me actually means, since it doesn't really address much of what I said.
@Rithrandil A flat tax can only work when wages and prices are controlled and that sounds a really bad idea. The tax system has to be designed to prevent a few people from getting most of the money because when that happens the wealthy usually gain complete control over the political systems. And when that happens there is no democracy or freedom.
That implies that America has democracy in the first place, looking at how it actually is, they are basically an oligarchy and have been since the rise of the modern republican party under Reagan, where they finally removed all vestiges of the more liberal traditions dating back to Lincoln.
I don't care how much you raise taxes, it won't be enough. The issue is overspending, not revenue shortages. You could confiscate the entire value of every billionaire in America right now and still not balance the budget, much less pay down any of the debt.
We need to re-evaluate the role of government itself. If you want the government to coddle everyone cradle-to-grave then ya, tax and tax is the only way. Me, I'd rather take my own chances and keep more of what I earn.
@sorienor But hey, if you feel you are not paying enough taxes then go right ahead and send all the checks you want to the Treasury..they will spend it. Same goes for Buffet or Gates. Or just give the money to the charity of your choice.
Last point: being against the government doing something is NOT the same as being against that thing being done. That is a point most people on the "left" tend to completely ignore or don't understand.
@sorienor I understand that. That isn't what I'm advocating for here. EVERYone is going to have to sacrifice a bit. Please explain to me why the wealthy should be exempt.
@sorienor I'm not advocating for cradle to grave anything necessarily here. Yours is the perfect recipe for an extremely stratified society. All of the money will pool at the very top, because they'll make the rules and keep it all. Cheap, unregulated labor. It would be like the dawn of the industrial age. Great prosperity, built on the backs of the working poor. It all needs some balance. Again I ask, WHY should the wealthy be exempt from paying more during hard times?
@Zaunstar "All of the money will pool at the very top, because they'll make the rules and keep it all. "
No. The whole idea is to get the money out of politics for just that reason. As long as the government is run by people, and people can be "influenced" to adjust the rules in the favor of the rich, then it will happen. The answer is get the government out of the rule-making business to start with, and not have more and more rules as band-aids to an inherently corrupt system.
@sorienor Without government or regulation, there is absolutely zero checks on what the already powerful can do, and it would be pointless who we elect to put checks on that power. I do of course agree about getting money out of politics overall.
@sorienor Who do you think runs most governments? That's right, the people who pool all the money at the very top, because they make the rules and keep it all.
@sorienor Can I please call bullshit on that. I live in Canada, we here pay slightly more in taxes than Americans do and for that extra money we get some of the best healthcare in the world, a highly effective welfare system and one of the highest standards of living. Taxes are not evil, nor is government spending. Americans don't need to reduce government spending, they need to reallocate it, you don't need a military budget that is 50% of the worlds total, you need education or welfare reform.
I was listening to Doris Matsui a Democratic California state representative and she said when she and her late husband Robert who she succeeded in office say that when she was in Washington it didn't matter what party you were from at the end of the day all the families knew each other and turned to each other for support.
I kinda feel that's the way American politics really is, they bluster and fillibustrer each other on the senate floor but don't take their work home with them life we do.
Amen, dude. I love when I say these things to people making less than me, and they accuse me of class warfare, as if I was some guy on the bottom. It's like "hey dumbass, I'm trying to help YOU, at MY EXPENSE".
Why is it only class warfare when you talk about taxing the rich more? If one parent makes more than the other, isn't it logical to expect the higher-earning parent to contribute more to the household? This is why I hate politics. Up is down. Light is dark.
@hollyhoodjoe123 A good analogy. The problem is these people don't see us as a family, or even a community. They see us as completely separate individuals who just happen to be living in the same general area.
Even if it was a good idea, there is no government that is really going to tax the rich to any great degree. Because the really rich are in bed with the government. Even if you see some country taxing the rich in some way, there are other taxes that are lowered, or there are loopholes. It's pointless. Besides, they can usually always relocate their resources in such a way that they barely get taxed at all.
@Zerafinel I'm not for any sort of "punitive" taxation like O'Reilly and various straw man creators talk about, but yes, these laws can be fixed. You are correct though that there is probably not the will to do so.
Good job bro. Subscribed.
capt251978 1 week ago
@Zaunstar 1:28 GET OUT OF THE WAY!
thewag777 1 week ago
You mean the rich should pay the same rate as school teachers? COMMUNIST!
thewag777 3 weeks ago in playlist More videos from Zaunstar
@thewag777 99% of us are commies according to Republicans
cantstoptheseeker 1 week ago
@cantstoptheseeker Including most Republicans
thewag777 1 week ago
@thewag777 Yea, ain't that the kicker. There are actually more working class people in the GOP, their just to brain-washed by hate to realize they're voting against their interest.
cantstoptheseeker 1 week ago
Why would they want to invest in a business that borrows 4$ out off every 10$ it spends, not only that but 55% of what it does spend goes towards entitlement programs. Maybe If we learn to balance what we spend, they would seek to invest a little more.
MrPumkin404 3 weeks ago
I have many conservative fiscal views, but the whole class warfare argument is demonstrably stupid. Wealthy people benefit from gov services far more than poor people and therefor should pay more taxes. After all, wealthy people benefit from infrastructure more than I, they benefit from police and courts far more than I and benefit from a stable society far more than I. Most wealthy Americans simply could not be wealthy without these things, all provided by government.
christo930 3 weeks ago
@christo930 I do want to point out, however, that governments tend to do really stupid things with our money and that many government bureaucracies need to be eliminated. We can start with corn ethanol subsidies, for example.
christo930 3 weeks ago
I've recently started to watch your series, and noticed all the religious videos you've presented, at least the ones I've seen, are all about Atheism v. Christianity. I know most of my friends, who are mostly Christian, would rather see me be Atheist than Satanist; I have recently thought about converting to Satanism. Would you be willing to make a video on why Satanism is such a taboo? It would be much appreciated.
BostonBoy00 4 weeks ago in playlist More videos from Zaunstar
@BostonBoy00 If you already have realized god isn't real, why would you follow something else that isn't real? Maybe your version of satanism is more an anti-humanism more than a belief in a literal "satan" figure, but what would you get out of that?
Zaunstar 4 weeks ago 5
@Zaunstar Good point; I think it'd be more for the purposes of giving all Christians a metaphoric "f*** you." Though, with all due respect, that didn't quite answer my question.
BostonBoy00 3 weeks ago
@BostonBoy00 Well, the answer is that I would be willing to, and I have been asked about that topic before. If I can think of a way to make it interesting, I will certainly make a video about it. It IS on my topic list. As for you "joining", I think you'd have more credibility as an atheist in terms of helping reduce the influence of religion, IF that is your goal.
Zaunstar 3 weeks ago
@Zaunstar I think you're right, it would be hard to make it an interesting video. And I would assume that if one were to worship the Antichrist instead of God, then Christians would feel more peeved, since it'd be almost completely against the word of their God. Nonetheless, thank you very much for your insight and hopefully a video.
BostonBoy00 3 weeks ago
@Zaunstar It would be LaVeyan Satanism, or he wants to be a Theistic Satanist just to piss off his friends, i think that is what he is getting at
blickluke 2 weeks ago in playlist More videos from Zaunstar
Woah, what's that riff at the very end?!?
ttaz4dqm 4 weeks ago
@ttaz4dqm I said "Save your class warfare defense for someone more easily fooled." (Referring to people who would use such a defense in an argument.
Zaunstar 4 weeks ago
@Zaunstar - yes, and well said sir! But I was referring to the last few moments of music in the final 5 seconds of the vid?
ttaz4dqm 4 weeks ago
@Zaunstar It was just clips from the videos that were linked there.
Zaunstar 4 weeks ago
If only we had 14,000 billionaires, we could tax our way out of debt.
Who gives a fuck about taxes? There isn't enough income in this country to support the way our government spends.
WhatDeFrock 1 month ago
Well, we will only claim a higher living standard through class warfare. The companies will rape ressources, employees and people's living conditions eternally. Corporations won't suffice to simple regulation and taxation, but continue to put the burden of the crisis on us. Nationalize the banks and the largest corps. under democratic workers' control, capitalism has outplayed it's historical role.
KammeratGak 1 month ago
My favorite was when all the GOP candidates called raising taxes on the rich "class warfare", but then immediately they all said the solution would be to "broaden the tax base," i.e. raise taxes on the poor. The former was labeled "class warfare", the latter was labeled "sound economic policy." To be a Republican nowadays is to forget what you say within five seconds of saying it...
cyanmanta 1 month ago 2
People who work hard with the goal of making more money might incidentally do some good in the world but I think we should be focused on helping (or at least not getting in the way of) those people who actually want to make the world a better place and are willing to do the work. I'm just thinking out loud here but I believe there are a lot of people in this country working dead end jobs that would love to do work that had some deeper purpose then just making their employer some more money.
ReadLearnandBecome 1 month ago
Great points on their propaganda.
The only real Class Warfare in this country is the Radical Super Rich RepubliCONS
fighting a war against the Middle Class by off shoring our jobs.
I propose that we fight back against their Class Warfare against American Workers.
See my videos on "Voters for Jobs - Power to The People" and "Voters for Jobs - Victory Training Class" on how we can fight back against their Class Warfare against the 99 percent of Americans.
ShadePanther 1 month ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Typicall dumbass Liberal
blame some1 else instead of come up with a viable solution,
NOVEMBER COME AND OBAMA BITCH ASS IS OUT
ENJOY YOUR COMMIE VERSION OF AMERICA FOR ANOTHER 7 MONTHS
ROMNEY 2012
gqunit69 1 month ago
@gqunit69 I think the solution is everyone sacrifices a bit and we lift ourselves out of it together monetarily.
Are you a POE? It's sad for people that argue like you do that I'm actually not sure...
Zaunstar 1 month ago 9
@gqunit69 Please look up communism in a dictionary. Until then "You are made of stupid!"
ronnystoehr 1 month ago
@gqunit69 fucking hate you morons using the word liberal as if it's satan himself. Bet you have no clue what liberalism even means outside of the US. (i'll give you a hint, it has to do with personal and economic freedom) retard
alliencedful 1 month ago 2
@gqunit69 you wanna pay 40 billion in subsidies to the most profitable companies in the world? that's republican 101 bullshit. do eerything to please big business and give them an unfair advantage. In reality the repuiblicans are so anti capitalism it isn't even funny annymore. giving out monopolies and subsidies and tax breaks left and right. and morons like you who know jack shit about the reality of politics will vote for them. sad sad sad
alliencedful 1 month ago
How about we just don't have taxes and people can just pay for the services they feel are necessary. Kinda like going to taco bell, I give the guy money and he gives me a burrito, is there some reason why voluntary exchanges couldn't work in other areas rather than involving government? Seems that the only fair thing to do is let people keep the money they earn rather than having it stolen by politicians with my "best interest" in mind.
llamaczar 1 month ago
@llamaczar So the military and federal highways and food safety and the rest is funded by... tooth fairy maybe? What country could work this way?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
The game is rigged. The world is run by criminals. We're.....screwed.
t4705mb6 1 month ago
lol.. The dream turns into a nightmare when you open the door and Family Values Newt beat you to the punch.
army2k08 1 month ago 2
@army2k08 Oh THAT would be VERY disturbing. I don't want him defiling Jessica!
Zaunstar 1 month ago 3
@Zaunstar Haha..Just the though of seeing Newt naked, let alone with Jessica, I find repulsive. I wonder if Calista lets him play janitor in the bedroom?
army2k08 1 month ago
Teabagger favorite Ice Cream flavor: Vanilla/Vanilla Swirl
xephyr1000 1 month ago
Mr. Zaunstar, it's always a good way to start my day with one of your vid. I thank you sir!
MrZeroTerrorRide 1 month ago
I love your jokes so much!
Quiestre 1 month ago
@Quiestre Hehheh, thanks! "What's the frequency, Kenneth?"
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@TheCraich
Let me guess, you're not racist either, the N-word is just a classification for some black people.
There is ONE classification for homeless people.
HUMANS They're just as varied as everybody else. There are people from all class levels that steal, drink, are lazy, or whatever else you want to try to pin on homeless people.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@TheCraich
You can't comprehend the abuse that homeless people have to deal with unless you've actually been there yourself. Why the hell should I give a shit about people who don't think I have the right to even exist even though I've done nothing to harm them, but I would literally kill myself before resorting to stealing, so bugger off.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@kawaiigardiner
I'd quite happily settle for just someplace that I can park my car without somebody calling the police on me.
and I bet almost all of those people that call the police on me are people who call themselves Christians, and think that makes them morally superior to atheists, but they ignore all the positive stuff Jesus was said to have preached about helping the poor, and just focus on the parts of the bible that tell them who to hate.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
He never believed that anybody was actually suicidal, and just bitched people out for being there.
There was a bit of ironic justice when his wife drove to the beach and shot herself in the head. He didn't learn from it though. Next time I was in the psych ward, I asked one of the employees if he was still just releasing everybody regardless of their condition, and I was told that he was because it was about making money.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@Zaunstar
:-) I like being able to walk.
On the other hand, there are shrinks who went to medical school who are worse than useless and still make big bucks. Shrinks in psych wards make hundreds of dollars just for filling out release papers, sometimes without even bothering to evaluate the patients. One shrink here is infamous for just releasing ppl immediately regardless of how depressed they are. (cont.)
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
If you fail to organize society (any legitimate role for government) with a *fair* tax (i.e. all pay the same %, which already means you pay more if you make more) then you're not doing it right! And arguing that you need to raise it a bit more on some minorities according to arbitrary delimiter doesn't make it right (and no, a lot of people not affected by the raise cheering is not a good way of measuring if it's a valid/good argument/solution).
Iamfatbrain 1 month ago
@Iamfatbrain Taxes based on something to do with a financial parameter is not a "minority". It's an interesting way of framing it, but you can't just pretend that taxes have nothing to do with money. The question here is should the wealthy ALSO have to sacrifice in bad times?
Zaunstar 1 month ago 8
Seriously, I read your comment and I couldn't find anything that actually addressed anything I wrote. When/where/how did I say taxes had nothing to do with money!? Don't you realize that someone who makes more already pays more in taxes than someone who makes less!? What is the criterion on where to put the "you guys need to pay even more"-delimiter when dividing the tax-base?! Let me guess, the criterion would be "someone who makes more than me!".
Iamfatbrain 1 month ago
@Iamfatbrain Nope, I should pay more too, because we are struggling as a country and the sacrifice should be shared. Should Mitt pay 14% and a schoolteacher pay 25%? Is this OK? I don't think it is. Is there anyone that should not have to sacrifice more, and if so, why?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar "as a country", epic. "sacrifice should be shared"? Socialistic dogma. And I already said there should be fair tax. So your question about Mitt and the schoolteacher seems a bit off. I wonder why the government has accumulated a 15T dept and 65T unfunded liabilities. It's probably because the rich isn't paying their "fair" share and has nothing to do with government running drunk with a 40 year long spending spree.
Iamfatbrain 1 month ago
@Iamfatbrain The concept of sharing of sacrifice is "socialist dogma"? That is seriously the most ridiculous comment I have heard in at least a couple weeks, and I get a LOT of comments from creationists. So tell me then, who should be the only ones to bear the burden, who is exempt, and why?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Iamfatbrain Did you perhaps forget that the way that many of those people got so wealthy is that they screwed us and the economy. Should they not pay for that? Plus, some of them WANT to pay more taxes, because they realize the current economic system is biased against those that are less wealthy, and they have this thing (you may have, at some point, heard of it) called a heart.
PalulukanMakto 1 month ago
@PalulukanMakto they screwed us and the economy!? I don't even understand what you mean by that. And who's "the economy"? I agree that some companies has very successfully lobbied government for special benefits and goodies, which is very bad. And if someone "WANTS" to pay more taxes (as you put it), why don't they just sign a check and send it to Washington? Strange that "I want to do something" is an argument for "therefore everyone should do it".
Iamfatbrain 1 month ago
the biggest problem is not taxes. It all the laws that rich pass that only favor them. This greatly limits the freedom for people to make good living for them selves through self employment or a starting business. By starting business you are challenging the rich. scary thing is the elites control both parties. The political system is as corrupt as third world country so it is not surprise that wealth distribution looks like third world country.
spark300c 1 month ago
I can see the trama surgeon who put my shattered ankle back together easily actually EARNING over a million dollars a year. I've seen him listed as the busiest orthopedic surgeon in the area, and he actually invents new procedures. He had to spend a lot of time an money to get to where he is, and he saves huge numbers of people from being crippled for life, so he's easily worth what he earns and not a parasite on society like most rich people.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago 3
@Primalxbeast Very good example. There are actually more of those than you might think.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
tide goes in, tide goes out. you cant explain that with science, noooo way.
BrantFortunate 1 month ago
You people really got a hard time over there i can see.
I though people WOULD LIKE A SIMPLE SOLUTION in general... Hmm.
CYellowan 1 month ago
I mostly agree with you except on the flat tax issue, or the ilusion that it already is not in affect, its basic logic if you tax the rich they are going to have to pay less for their employs and and their services and products and if you tax midle class and poor they are going to have to get payed more either way government can give tax break to anyone , but in the big picture its going to be the same thing.
rodrigodet 1 month ago
well put sir.
TheBadcop69 1 month ago
Taxing the rich is not class warfare. Beheading the rich in the French Revolution was class warfare.
ProgressiveAudio 1 month ago 5
The Craich
Hey! Don't compare the homeless to those multi-million dollar theives. At least we don't screw people over to get obscenely rich.
Working for less than a living wage without benifits and no job security is voluntary slavery, and you still don't make enough to rent an apartment. There are many working homeless. I'd lose my health insurance, and I have multiple medical problems.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
we need a flat tax, and by that I mean a system where the rich are actually forced to pay at least as much in taxes as the poor.
TheReaverOfDarkness 1 month ago
Business corruption has many defenders and screaming, crying, or (in this case) implying socialism is their weapon of choice.
RakaTheTenacious 1 month ago
The 1% are exactly the same as street bums. They live off of the hard work of others and think they deserve more. Most financial rapists, I mean 1%'ers, need to go on that reality show, y'know, Hoarders?
TheCraich 1 month ago 17
@TheCraich I've got no problem with the 1% as long as they aren't trying to make the rules even MORE favorable to them. Some people have skills in demand, and that's fine. Golden parachutes for failed CEOs sucks too, but until companies decide that it's nonsense, that will continue too.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar I may have been too sweeping in my statement but do you think that anyone should be paid a million dollars a year? For anything? Who NEEDS more than that? Science would have cancer beaten in a year if there was a wealth cap that overflowed into medical research. Does that make me a socialist?
TheCraich 1 month ago
@TheCraich No, it's never that simple. There are some people that are talented enough and can make their companies millions because of their efforts. I have no problem with them being paid over a million.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar ...and I should add, I have no problem with it if they are paying an amount of tax commensurate with their income, and not the Romney 14%.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar The super rich have not earned their income, that's a total myth. Check out " Now a proven fact that executive pay is a form of theft" by R.G. Price, quick post on the issue, since I don't have time right now to discuss it in detail.
ProgressiveAudio 1 month ago
@TheCraich I may be wrong but street bums are starving people who eat and live off other peoples charity and if given the chance most would rather work and have a better normal life, kinda harsh to compare the poor fucks who at 1 point had something go wrong and have their lives ruined to the top 1%
MitchofSmeg 1 month ago
@MitchofSmeg All I'm proposing is that they share the same mental illness. That, and I can tell you from professional experience in the field that most street bums do not want a home and a normal life. They'll tell you so to your face. Those who had something go wrong and want to return to a good life, we call homeless. Most of the time they succeed because they don't have the mental illness mentioned above.
TheCraich 1 month ago
@TheCraich I disagree - 'street bums' tend to have reasons for why they're in that situation; there are some that mooch the system but a fair number are there due to a failing mental health system, lack of education and nothing in place that offers a hand up etc. I don't know about you but I don't mind paying a few extra dollars if it means that someone has a roof over their head, a warm meal in their stomach and they can live a life of relative dignity.
kawaiigardiner 1 month ago
@kawaiigardiner Then you are more compassionate than a 1%er who also tend to have reasons for why they're in their own situations. I work at ground level with the whole spectrum of street individuals and they always get respect and a fair shake from me. Street bum is merely a classification. There is however a pervading sense of desperate greed among most of them. The same desperate greed that the billionaires share, and on occasion both feel justified in thievery.
TheCraich 1 month ago
@TheCraich Street bums dont deserve help? Their children dont deserve healthcare or schooling?
What you essentially argue for is that people who come from poor families should have absolotely no chance in life.
gulbirk 1 month ago
@gulbirk Wow, you are completely off base. What I said was that the same mental illness that makes people extremely poor also makes people extremely rich. Read whatever you want into that.
TheCraich 1 month ago
@TheCraich Yes, what I will read into that is that you are compleatly insane. There is no mental illness that makes people rich or poor.
gulbirk 1 month ago
@gulbirk Do my job for a day and you would change your tune. Desperate feral greed can destroy you completely or make you extremely successful and I count it as a mental illness.
TheCraich 1 month ago
@TheCraich The one percent are the best players of capitalism, hey there will always be losers and winners, if you have billions you played well and hard or you were just born rich, in other words you got lucky.
Tethloach1 1 month ago
@TheCraich Spot on and Hilarious!!
parkj238 3 weeks ago
@TheCraich Id disagree to an extent, but you said "most" so there you are.
Zephanus 3 weeks ago in playlist More videos from Zaunstar
That damn alarm clock.
endwar589 1 month ago
What do you mean when you said that the tax complexity is based on the type of income? How would a flat tax not break the unfair social trend if it was for the total amount gained in a fiscal year?
Soulcrusher105 1 month ago
@Soulcrusher105 The problem is the different rates on income. Mitt can make millions on investments and pay 15%, and then a teacher makes 60K or whatever and pays 25% on what he/she makes. I'm OK with keeping capital gains at 15% actually, IF there is a means test for the rate to go higher if the total gain is higher. This would make sure retirees and so on wouldn't get nailed by it.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
The disconnect many super wealthy suffer from is a fundamental one, comparable with religion I would argue. They do not see how the value created by their employees time and effort invested in their company is what makes them rich. Instead they think its the employees that ought to be greatful for being given the chance to serve them and even be given a paycheck to put food on the table. The real entitlement mentality isnt among the poor. Million dollar bonuses for bankrupting a company anyone?
jaxeedcom 1 month ago
@jaxeedcom VERY much so. Like I said, to be fair, I know a lot of wealthy people that do NOT think that way at all, but clearly there are many that do. This "be GRATEFUL" is a theme. Some respect for someone that is able to build a successful business is certainly warranted though, if they are treating people reasonably.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar
Yeah, living in my car isn't as bad as renting a room from some crazy off of craigslist.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
Very Nice Zaun. Take that Creationist Cat, Zaun lives.
dtm52 1 month ago
@dtm52 Hah! Just saw that video. Hilarious! Made me two years younger too.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
The top 1% only control 43% of the wealth? I thought it was a bit more than that.
Elitistb616 1 month ago
@Elitistb616 When you expand it to the top 20%, I think it goes to 80+. I saw the stats recently.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
Hell, I live in the Orlando area, people get arrested just for feeding homeless people here.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@Zuanstar
Soccer moms don't like to see homeless people even if you're sitting in your car minding your own business. What pisses me off is that I bet half of those soccer moms in their expensive SUV's looking down their noses at me, are being supported by their husbands and don't do anything but popping out babies.
Homeless people are fucked with whereever they are.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@Primalxbeast You're homeless now? No bueno. *:-(
Zaunstar 1 month ago
Hah, I love the anti Union ads playing on this vid for some reason.
razoras 1 month ago in playlist More videos from Zaunstar
Hell, Foxconn, the company in China that makes much of electronics, actually has to put nets outside it's buildings to keep people from killing theirselves, and the Rebuplicans won't be happy until we have the same working conditions here.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@Primalxbeast Yes, I've heard of that. That is really awful. It could happen anywhere when conditions get bad enough and people feel trapped enough.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@LJonYT
The rich people are actually sitting in the cart with whips lashing the backs of the people harnessed to the cart working two jobs at minimum wage and still not making enough to get by or have health care.
They want us making all their goods and providing them their services for free.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
what about the inflation tax
popomp1 1 month ago
A conservative friend of mine said that Buffet and Gates are hypocrites and should "lead by example" and honestly I couldn't think of a good reply. But that doesn't change the fact that billionaires should pay more. His point was nothing but a red herring.
melowar78 1 month ago
@melowar78 They lead by example, by advocating for something that is not in their best interests personally, but is in the best interests of society as a whole, instead of blaming the economic trouble on the poor, the ones with the least power and the least control over the system. THAT is what you could reply.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar
"Isn't there a movie like that?"
Not that I know of, but it sounds like fun. There are no words to describe how pissed off I am at people calling the police on me just for sitting in my car in a public park reading a book.
Last pig threatened to inpound my car when I didn't want to leave and reached for his handcuffs with great glee when I pointed out that it was impossible to both be alive and not be somewhere at the same time.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@Primalxbeast Damn! What kind of backwater doesn't let people read in their car in a public park?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
Warren Buffet > «There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.»
SuperPostman 1 month ago
I've always thought we should allow each state to collect its own taxes.The feds should just send each state a bill every quarter based on GDP and population.That way I can have more say in how taxes are collected and will force states to compete.
Or we could just end the unconstitutional practice of issuing companies Certificates of Incorporation, stripping them of their completely legally unjustifiable "rights" granted to them by one judge's misinterpreting the heck out of the 14th amendment.
RationalismDefined 1 month ago
you look really pale next to Jessica Alba...
radicalbacon 1 month ago
Watching a Gop debate is like masturbating with a cheese grater......it might seems like an interesting idea at the drunken time, but all it is is painful. It used to be good for a chuckle but now it is just sad.
Mahoivlich 1 month ago
@Mahoivlich I'm not sure how drunk you would have to be for that to sound like a good idea!
Zaunstar 1 month ago 8
Oh the "grand entitlement", it blows their brains straight out of their head...
"What? No? I don't have megalomania!!! Nothing, but a nonsense!
Great grand entitled high society gentleman don't suffer from megalomania!!!"
SEThatered 1 month ago
It's not class warfare. It's class welfare.
claudiaquat 1 month ago
@claudiaquat good play on words :)
DeeDemonwitch 1 month ago
Here's my idea of class warfare. Give the hobos AK-47's, and send them into the wealthy neigborhoods. A large percentage of them are vet's, so they should be able to give instructions to the rest. If the homeless are going to be treated like criminals, they might as well act like criminals.
Primalxbeast 1 month ago
@Primalxbeast Isn't there a movie like that?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
Capital gains tax is a bunch of crap!!!
silentkarma 1 month ago
I had this discussion with a co-worker last Friday while trying to leave work. He kept talking about carts and who was in them and who was pulling them and who deserves to eat lobster. It was all very silly and myopic.
LJonYT 1 month ago
@LJonYT To people like that, the people that serve him at McDonald's are probably in the cart and not pulling it.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar Yes, exactly! And he thought that once people got in the cart it would be so appealing they would never want to get out, carts being so luxurious and all! It's insulting on so many levels. I come from poverty and while I was motivated and did work hard to get out of it I would have had zero chance without government assistance. You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps without access to boots and instructions on how the straps work.
LJonYT 1 month ago
Flat tax was introduced in my country. It was indeed a total failure. Just sayin'.
Ignorantf00l 1 month ago
@Ignorantf00l Which country, and was it repealed? What were the problems with it?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar Hungary. It raised(!!!) the tax on those who had the lowest income and decresed on the highest. The IMF report said that as a direct result consumption decreased as well as some other stuff I can't translalte because I don't know the english terms for them:D
Ignorantf00l 1 month ago
@Ignorantf00l Hmmm, I'm going to look that up and see what's happening. I doubt it's having a great affect on the economy.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar Oh and it's not yet been repealed. Hopefully it will be, but unfortunately our goverment sticks to it as if was the best idea in the world.
Ignorantf00l 1 month ago
@Ignorantf00l From what I've been hearing about Hungary lately I'm not surprised. Its becoming a Christian conservative paradise with all the constitution changes.
anubis2814 1 month ago
@anubis2814 Exactly. They win with a super majority. But to be honest, I don't care if they say that now I have to go to church every sunday, but atleast fix the economy with that power. They seemed like a good choice for this, but they couldn't. Unfortunately there's no replacement.
Ignorantf00l 1 month ago
I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't care about 'fairness' (impossible to determine), but about pragmatic tax policies. You need to raise *effective* tax rates (lower marginal, tax all sources of income equally, remove most loopholes/etc), reform much of our welfare/entitlement system (incl. introducing universal health care), etc if you want this country to stay afloat & maintain the level of services our people have come to expect.
Yay for fiscal conservatism!
Rithrandil 1 month ago
@Rithrandil Makes sense to me! Sub that man! How'd you get the old channel back? Hah!
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar
This is my watching/commenting channel. I'm not video doing, just writing my blog.:P
Rithrandil 1 month ago
@Rithrandil There is no Universal health care and welfare was reformed in 1996 and then again 2003. There is no completely fair system, I agree, but if you look at history, when 10% of the population controls 63% of the wealth the economic system fails and there is revolution. The numbers today are coming dangerously close to that scenario. That's just history. I don't really have a stake in this either way. I'm just pointing something out.
fatouche99 1 month ago
@fatouche99
I also know there is no universal health care in the United States, which is why I said we need to introduce it. And I know welfare was reformed previously, like replacing AFDC with TANF, etc. I'm obviously saying it needs to be reformed further along with the entitlements in this country. I'm rather confused as to what your reply to me actually means, since it doesn't really address much of what I said.
Rithrandil 1 month ago
@Rithrandil A flat tax can only work when wages and prices are controlled and that sounds a really bad idea. The tax system has to be designed to prevent a few people from getting most of the money because when that happens the wealthy usually gain complete control over the political systems. And when that happens there is no democracy or freedom.
fatouche99 1 month ago
@fatouche99
That implies that America has democracy in the first place, looking at how it actually is, they are basically an oligarchy and have been since the rise of the modern republican party under Reagan, where they finally removed all vestiges of the more liberal traditions dating back to Lincoln.
ShouldersofGiants100 1 month ago
@fatouche99
I didn't argue for a flat tax.
Rithrandil 1 month ago
Haha I died laughing when you said Chubby Hubby!
TheSH1N1GAM1 1 month ago
I don't care how much you raise taxes, it won't be enough. The issue is overspending, not revenue shortages. You could confiscate the entire value of every billionaire in America right now and still not balance the budget, much less pay down any of the debt.
We need to re-evaluate the role of government itself. If you want the government to coddle everyone cradle-to-grave then ya, tax and tax is the only way. Me, I'd rather take my own chances and keep more of what I earn.
sorienor 1 month ago
@sorienor But hey, if you feel you are not paying enough taxes then go right ahead and send all the checks you want to the Treasury..they will spend it. Same goes for Buffet or Gates. Or just give the money to the charity of your choice.
Last point: being against the government doing something is NOT the same as being against that thing being done. That is a point most people on the "left" tend to completely ignore or don't understand.
sorienor 1 month ago
@sorienor I understand that. That isn't what I'm advocating for here. EVERYone is going to have to sacrifice a bit. Please explain to me why the wealthy should be exempt.
Zaunstar 1 month ago 3
@sorienor I'm not advocating for cradle to grave anything necessarily here. Yours is the perfect recipe for an extremely stratified society. All of the money will pool at the very top, because they'll make the rules and keep it all. Cheap, unregulated labor. It would be like the dawn of the industrial age. Great prosperity, built on the backs of the working poor. It all needs some balance. Again I ask, WHY should the wealthy be exempt from paying more during hard times?
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar "All of the money will pool at the very top, because they'll make the rules and keep it all. "
No. The whole idea is to get the money out of politics for just that reason. As long as the government is run by people, and people can be "influenced" to adjust the rules in the favor of the rich, then it will happen. The answer is get the government out of the rule-making business to start with, and not have more and more rules as band-aids to an inherently corrupt system.
sorienor 1 month ago
@sorienor Without government or regulation, there is absolutely zero checks on what the already powerful can do, and it would be pointless who we elect to put checks on that power. I do of course agree about getting money out of politics overall.
Zaunstar 1 month ago 8
@sorienor Who do you think runs most governments? That's right, the people who pool all the money at the very top, because they make the rules and keep it all.
DeeDemonwitch 1 month ago
@sorienor Can I please call bullshit on that. I live in Canada, we here pay slightly more in taxes than Americans do and for that extra money we get some of the best healthcare in the world, a highly effective welfare system and one of the highest standards of living. Taxes are not evil, nor is government spending. Americans don't need to reduce government spending, they need to reallocate it, you don't need a military budget that is 50% of the worlds total, you need education or welfare reform.
ShouldersofGiants100 1 month ago
I was listening to Doris Matsui a Democratic California state representative and she said when she and her late husband Robert who she succeeded in office say that when she was in Washington it didn't matter what party you were from at the end of the day all the families knew each other and turned to each other for support.
I kinda feel that's the way American politics really is, they bluster and fillibustrer each other on the senate floor but don't take their work home with them life we do.
Curas1 1 month ago
Zaunstar , move so I can fap to the picture of Jessica Alba.
gaglamesh731 1 month ago 12
1% pays 40% of the taxes!? wtf? arent they doing enough already? :P
geganobo 1 month ago
@geganobo Did you not watch the video? I think I addressed that.
Zaunstar 1 month ago 2
@Zaunstar The " :P " emoticon might indicate sarcasm.
TheSH1N1GAM1 1 month ago
@TheSH1N1GAM1 Didn't seem to in that case, but if so, then never mind.
Zaunstar 1 month ago
@Zaunstar It is the internet. I can never figure it out sometimes.
TheSH1N1GAM1 1 month ago
No I am!
SuperDESTROYER71 1 month ago
No I am!
SuperDESTROYER71 1 month ago
24th.
SuperDESTROYER71 1 month ago
24th.
SuperDESTROYER71 1 month ago
Amen, dude. I love when I say these things to people making less than me, and they accuse me of class warfare, as if I was some guy on the bottom. It's like "hey dumbass, I'm trying to help YOU, at MY EXPENSE".
They still don't get it .
SiriusMined 1 month ago
@SiriusMined How about "I don't want your fucking help!" as an answer? Did you ever think about that as a possibility?
sorienor 1 month ago
@sorienor
So you'd rather pay more proportionally than someone making more thna you?
SiriusMined 1 month ago
@sorienor
Remember, we're talking about taxes here, not assistance programs.
Did you ever think about THAT?
SiriusMined 1 month ago
What do you think of the Fair Tax proposal, which eliminates all income tax and instead has a 23% sales tax for all purchases made in the US?
GlamorousGamine 1 month ago
@GlamorousGamine
That disproprotionally hurts the poor, since MOST of their income is spent.
It'd crush them.
SiriusMined 1 month ago
@SiriusMined Agreed
DeeDemonwitch 1 month ago
Why is it only class warfare when you talk about taxing the rich more? If one parent makes more than the other, isn't it logical to expect the higher-earning parent to contribute more to the household? This is why I hate politics. Up is down. Light is dark.
hollyhoodjoe123 1 month ago
@hollyhoodjoe123 A good analogy. The problem is these people don't see us as a family, or even a community. They see us as completely separate individuals who just happen to be living in the same general area.
vexgodglove 1 month ago
The left wing talks about class warfare, and the right wing wages it...
SiriusMined 1 month ago
Paying your "fair share" is subjective and completely arbitrary. What you really want is people to "pay more" because taxes are not a fair period.
MrGreeneggsnham 1 month ago
Erik, will yu speak at the Reason Rally please?
joestfrancois 1 month ago
I demand you go in that room and Fuck Jessica Alba!
If you don't do it, I'll kill myself.
ShallowBeThyGames 1 month ago
Even if it was a good idea, there is no government that is really going to tax the rich to any great degree. Because the really rich are in bed with the government. Even if you see some country taxing the rich in some way, there are other taxes that are lowered, or there are loopholes. It's pointless. Besides, they can usually always relocate their resources in such a way that they barely get taxed at all.
Zerafinel 1 month ago
@Zerafinel I'm not for any sort of "punitive" taxation like O'Reilly and various straw man creators talk about, but yes, these laws can be fixed. You are correct though that there is probably not the will to do so.
Zaunstar 1 month ago