Anyway but the extortion of civilians. Reduce the government. Use tariffs on imports. But ridding the country of unnecessary wars, war on drugs, corporate/domestic/foreign welfare, and so on and so on would do wonders.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com...Federal Debt As Percent Of GDP&state=US&col=c Welfare spending is a whopping 4% of US GDP. Yep, it's all those handouts that got us into this mess! Strangely enough, a couple of the others things you mention, such as wars, actually make sense, a pleasant surprise.
You act like your wealth is purely a function of your hard work and sweat. Well....that's a lot of baloney. It's infact a result of the hard work of others - that's capitalism. It's our a system works...and while I like it personally, please don't tell people that your money isn't a result of others hard work. A successful business requires 100's, and in many cases 1000's of hard working people who work at far more nominal wages to be successful. And ye tyou are against helping those who work hard and struggle - yet make your life a possibility. Just imagine if you were stuck on an island with all the resources - coal, oil, minerals in rock, water, trees, etc.....I bet you wouldn't make it very far. See how much your MBA will get you without other people. Nothing. At the end it's jsut a piece of paper. It's great that you have tasted some of the American dream, but are you going to rub your feces in other people's faces to remind them that they are bums and beneath you? You are truly an aristocrat - exactly what this country and the founding fathers stood against, my lord!
Here the independents go again with the” there is no difference” argument. If we had a president who was independent, he would still have to satisfy his base just like any Democrat or Republican, so that's B.S. There is no way you can receive 61 million votes and not have to listen to any special interest big or small. There are big differences the two. There are a lot of privileges you probably take for granted that the democrats have put into place that republicans fought against. Civil rights act Voting rights act F.D.I.C Which protects your money in the bank? Child Labor laws Workers comp Clean water act Minimum wages Maximum weekly hours so you wouldn’t have to put in 19 hour work days Affirmative action Social Security Medical leave so you won’t lose your job when you get sick or if your wife is about to have a baby. Hate crime bill Background checks for people who attempt buy firearms A woman’s right to vote Labor unions Health insurance for families kids who don’t qualify for Medicaid Medicare Medicaid Federal funding programs for schools Student aid Head start Jon corps Welfare reform which aims at reducing recipient dependence on the government. Strengthening of the F.D.A This is just to name a few, so don’t tell me there isn’t a difference because the G.O.P fought against these things.
I'm glad they did for the most part. There isn't a difference when it comes to Liberals and Conservatives trying to legislate their morality (war on drugs or smoking laws). Also, both major parties have expanded government in the past 10 years. From the Patriot Act to the Stimulus Bill, it's nothing but more government intrusion and debt.
Working as an accountant in GA, I've noticed many companies that don't pay the sales tax they collected or report it. Same with payroll taxes, i. e. FICA, FWH, SWH, & Unemployement. You see companies posting loss after loss, but sustaining a positive cash flow, and it usually because they aren't paying some of their taxes in. It takes the GA DOR years to do anyting about these people. Complicated tax codes are part of why I have a job. Income taxes are my favorite part of being an Accountant.
Even if independents came into power, do you really think 100% of the population would be satisfied? I do believe there should be more then two parties, but just because the two parties agree on certain issues, it doesn't mean that they are the same. I doubt I missed the point, I hear the same arguments off the board from so called independents as well. I listen to both parties, and I am conservatives on some issues and liberal on others. I respect the independent party, but they use this argument as a wedge because they are excluded (unfairly I might add) by the two parties.
I don't know when you left the PRC but I think you are holding onto a romanticized view of how the elderly are taking care of than they actually have been in recent decades. While Chinese tradition does emphasize filial piety and traditional elderly have been taken care of by families one of the actions of the PRC was to institute a cradle to grave welfare system that took off much of the burden of caring for the elderly. In the recent years a lot of that welfare system has been dismantled and elderly in the PRC are starting to face harder times as the one child policy has greatly reduced the number of children that could take care of the elderly. The PRC faces a potential demographic nightmare regarding taking care of the elderly that no amount of filial piety will address. At the same time with the loss of pensions, changing culture, movement of young from rural to urban and few nursing homes many elderly in the PRC deal with poverty and hardship worse than what elderly here in the US. Here is a good piece about the state of elderly in the PRC. http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=106&catid=4&subcatid=21
The problem lies in the existing power structure of both parties which is a simmering ***** pile of corruption. That's where they are the same. The problem also exerts itself in the incessant chattering of partisan fanboys and their blind allegiance to a party rather than think for themselves. Face it folks, both your parties suck ass and are one of the reasons this country is swirling down the toilet at the moment. I'm not saying independents are not any better, we're the same as anyone else. But at least we're able to stand back and see the festering corpulent beast that washington politics is these days.
You made my point, but Politics is corrupt period. It's easy to sit on the bench and criticize the players playing on the court until you actually get out there and play. If independents came into power, do you think they could avoid influence from the corporations, special interest groups, and their base needs? I like the independent party because their closer to what I believe then the G.O.P_ssy. I doubt the independent party is the answer to corruption in American politics.
And there's my point.....you just accept the fact that your party is inherently corrupt and you just chalk it up to business as usual. At some point someone has grow some balls and refuse to put up with it. Obviously you can never rid politics of scumbags completely, but you have to start pushing back on your OWN party to reform instead of just pointing fingers at the other douchebag party. Agreed, it's always easier to point fingers when your team isn't in the fray, but it also lends itself to a clearer view of the playing field at times. The independent party itself is not the answer. Power corrupts. If they had the power, they would look just the same. I feel the answer lies in breaking up the rotting democratic/republican parties and allowing multiple parties(independent, greens) to grab some of the power there. Is that practical? Probably not...because the two ruling parties are so dug into their greedy foxholes of entitlement and filth, it would take a major event to clean them out. I don't have all the answers, nor do I claim to. I wished I could say I would always vote 3rd party, but if I do that, then I fall into the same trap as partisans. Blindly voting for the party and not the individual. I think some states are loosening rules and allowing people to vote for whoever they want regardless of what they are registered as. I think this is a step in the right direction. It loosens the control at the polls and allows a person to ignore the party bs and vote for a person based on their ideas and principals, not the party byline.
Having lived in a state with an independent governor I think it in general was good and for all of Jesse Ventura's bombast and personal drawbacks he actually did a good job. His appointments were widely praised for being non-ideological, pragmatic and came from both parties while he passed some very sensible and balanced legislation. What really got him in trouble though is without a power base in the legislature when things got bad there wasn't a natural base that could advance his legislation. An inherrent problem with the US governing system is that it is geared towards parties. Its hard for an independent to do much without the natural support that a party can provide. For that matter given the amount of money and infrastructure needed it is difficult for independents to win major offices and practically impossible to win the Presidency.
I don't have much respect for people who b**** about the corruption in a party or the two party system, but don't get involved to do anything about it. The fact is that both parties desperately want your help, and if you get involved, they give you a say. It takes some time sacrifice, and a lot more thought about politics than is normal, but for most of the people that post in this forum, they have the time to sacrifice and think about politics a lot more than normal. Odds are that your precinct doesn't have a chairman, so if you want to be a chairman, all you have to do is ask. (And be approved, but they'll almost always approve you.) Being a precinct chairman puts you on the county party executive committee, which directs county party business. Show up to meetings, and when they ask for committee persons about something that you care about, volunteer. They won't turn you down. It won't be long, and they'll be asking you to do all kinds of party business, show up to lobby for all sorts of things, even run in some longshot race. With just a little interest, you can make a lot of difference. If everyone who b****ed about party corruption got involved, they'd either clean it up or institute their own corruption within an election cycle. Get involved, show up, and make a difference.
I was always told...you can't b**** if you don't vote. I voted, therefore I have basic b****ing rights. As for getting involved, I have no desire to deal with politics or politicians. I prefer to try to make the world a better place in ways more suited to my talent and demeanor.
Thank you, sir. I am truly honored. I enjoy your posts as well...even though we disagree on many things. I think this is the first time I have been part of somebody's sig. You have my sincere thanks.
