Originally Posted by teethandclaws

LOL, tempting as it may be to not pay taxes because we don't like where the money is going, most people are too wrapped up in their own little lives to think about it. They think their taxes are going to education and to feed the poor.
Which I think is ridiculous because I just spent A LOT on school supplies for my kids, including backpacks, and all this required stuff like 3 ring binders and filler paper, single subject notebooks, pocket folders, pencils, colored pencils, different colored pens, and when I went to school, the only thing I needed to bring was myself and a "cold lunch" if I didn't like what they were serving for the day or it was field trip day.
In the next town over, they are cutting foreign languages. They've cut music and art in some schools, and I've even heard of school systems with no physical education.
Oh how I wish that we the tax-payers would stand up for ourselves and demand that our children, the future of this nation, was priority one. Bush's no child left behind act isn't cutting it, that just tells you your kids have to go to school a certain number of days or they will not pass.
If that was the case when I was a kid, I would have been in kindergarten for 7 years, because I was sick all the time, one year I missed over 60 days of school, but I did my make-up work and got A's and B's, but that wouldn't fly today.
Put the people first, that's what I say.

Originally Posted by ClassWarrior

I remember hearing some of the better off people talking about some of the less fortunate members of society how they were "undeserving" and "sorry." I asked them what they thought about Exxon Mobile getting 12 billion dollars in tax payer subsidies, which was nothing more than welfare. They were unaware of this. I also told them that in addition to the 12 billion of dollars of tax payer subsidies (which they do not pay back) they get another 7 billion over a period of 5-10 years as well. It is basically a huge return on investment for these private companies to use their money to get politicans elected and those politicans turn around and subsidized their companies which the subsidy in and of itself is far more than what the company gave to that politican's political campaign. It's quite funny, actually, to hear people scoff at welfare for the poor and less fortunate when the rich and wealthy become every more wealthy through welfare themselves in the form of corporate welfare. I think their are alot of people, at least where I live, who are unaware of the corporate welfare programs. What makes these corporations more deserving of welfare than the less fortunate members of our society? Shouldn't we be assisting and helping the less fortunate to where they become productive members of society? And doesn't corporate welfare go against the notions of free market competition by unfarily rigging the game in favor of the wealthy?

Originally Posted by sgtdmski

Your right we need to do away with all welfare payments. PERIOD. The problem again remains that as long as we use welfare to help the less fortunate, corporations will come to Washington with their hats in hand to get their share as well. We cry that we want cleaner burning engines, well guess who foots the bill?

Global Warming has become a billion dollar a year business if not more, of course energy companies will seek funding to help combat it.

dmk

Originally Posted by sgtdmski

Your right we need to do away with all welfare payments. PERIOD. The problem again remains that as long as we use welfare to help the less fortunate, corporations will come to Washington with their hats in hand to get their share as well. We cry that we want cleaner burning engines, well guess who foots the bill?

Global Warming has become a billion dollar a year business if not more, of course energy companies will seek funding to help combat it.

dmk

Originally Posted by sgtdmski

Year after year we spend more and more on education and what results have we seen? Year in and year out our children's test scores do not improve when compared to other countries. Teachers cry they do not make enough money, yet their salary is based on a 9 month work year, we all seem to forget that. $40,000 may not sound like a lot of money for a year, yet if they worked for 12 months they would be making 54,000 a year. Boo frackin hoo.

No Child Left Behind sought to hold schools accountable by testing the students, guess who cried the loudest??? The teachers. Obviously there is a reason for this, the most prominent is the fear that they have when the test shows they aren't teaching. The bill also sought to hold teachers and schools accountable, again the teachers cried the loudest.

Teachers are against vouchers, why? Because it threatens their jobs. God forbid we actually hold our teachers accountable for actually educating our children. No they just want their checks, screw the kids.

Blame Bush, join the club. Perhaps you can explain why education funding has increased 60% from Clinton's last budget to Bush 2007 budget. Inflation would only account for about an 18% increase. But it Bush's fault, and the teachers are just overworked and underpaid. Yeah right.


dmk

Originally Posted by hkbajwa

Well it IS a fact that those very same people could find employment in any number of state-subsidized industries. Instead of paying people to make weapons, perhaps you would consider paying them to take care of a free hospital.

In any case the military-industrial complex makes a few people VERY rich. Sure it provides people with employment but look at the cost these same people actually pay. THey make weapons that the companies sell to turn a profit. THey get their salaries but see none of the "benefits" of selling weapons.

However if even only HALF of current military spending was redirected to healthcare, it would provide the same level of employment. Only the advantages would trickle down to EVERY american and not just the company directors and shareholders.

And how does the sale support the US economy? They are SUBSIDIZED industries.. that means that the government actually SPENDS on them. And as is typical in america, the companies can expect tax breaks and other benefits, so i sincerely doubt the benefit these companies provide to the american people.

It's sort of insane that everybody is all too happy to produce weapons to sell to people so they may kill each other.. but you will not spend money on making your people healthier... unebelievable!

Originally Posted by indago

ClassWarrior wrote:

They can't put everybody in prison...

-------------------------------------------------
British Officer: "You don't think we're just going to walk out of India?"

Gandhi: "Yes. In the end, you will walk out, because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350,000,000 Indians if those Indians refuse to cooperate. And that is what we intend to achieve: peaceful, nonviolent, non-cooperation — till you, yourselves, see the wisdom of leaving"