Is America greedy, selfish and uncaring?
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Is America greedy, selfish and uncaring?
The tea parties tell it all. They are people that don’t want to pay any taxes to help others. This group claims Americans are over taxed and yet all objective evidence shows Americans are the least taxed people out of 30 western democracies. In fact the average American paid just a 14% income tax rate. The richest American pay an average federal tax rate of just 17%, this while the tax table show it should be 36%.
So what is all the noise about from this small group of right-wing nut jobs?
They hate the idea that they have to pay for anything America does except for war. They are not calling for any reduction in military spending that is now equal to one-half of all military spending of the entire world. You got! America spends as much as the rest of the world combined, all 195 countries, on war.
This group is for the following:
- Elimination of income taxes on both individuals and corporations
- A New NATIONAL sales tax of 23% on all items including food (This is the most regressive tax as it impacts the poor more than the rich) Most objective studies show this will have to be MUCH HIGHER – 30% or more to replace the income taxes
- No federal government programs to help the poor, sick, children and the old
- Unlimited taxpayer spending on the military
- Taxpayer support for the occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan
- Taxpayer support for aggressive military actions in Pakistan, Iran, Yemen, and Somalia
- Continued support for Communist China and moving more American jobs there
- The elimination of Federal environmental, worker protection and product safety laws – these restrain Free market capitalism
- Reduced government regulation of business including regulations on banks and Wall Street – these restrain Free market capitalism
- Privatization of all government programs including Social Security and Medicare – these programs need to be controlled by for profit Wall Street firms
- Your Social Security will now be run by Goldman Sacks and the Wall Street crooks – the REPUBLICANS tried to do this in 2001
- No federal government help for poor public schools about $32 billion – it you are a child and are born poor – too bad is what they say
- Elimination of Head Start programs and federal lunch programs for poor kids
- Elimination of federal departments of Education, FDA, FAA, SEC and other government regulators that restrain FREE market capitalism
There is much more and you need to dig a little to find it before you sign up to destroy all citizen protections the federal government provides.
Keep in mind that the crooks that just created the worst recession since the great depression are in the “private sector”, the banks and Wall Street. This happened not because America had too much regulation – it happened because the regulators did NOT enforce the laws.
Now the right-wing nut-jobs says we should have even less regulation than before so the banks and Wall Street can go back to business as usual.
The Federal Reserve (Fed) didn’t do their job. If they had enforced the law the mortgage mess would not have happened. The problem isn’t the Fed, it is the people running the Fed and their lack of commitment to regulate and force banks and Wall Street to obey the law.
We need real change that helps America. Not change that destroys America.
Jesus says the following:
Matthew 22:37-40
39"The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
40" On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
Matthew 7:12 GOLDEN RULE
12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
John 14:15 “If ye love me keep my commandments.”
James 2:14-19 Faith and Deeds
14”What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
15”Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
16”If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
17”In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
18”But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds ." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
19”You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.”
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
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First thanks for reading my article and for taking time to comment.
A college professor once told me that anger doesn't trump FACTS.
I would love to read the facts about any distortions in the article and I agree to approve your comments without changes. Send them along and I’ll take a look and we can discuss them.
I don’t have unlimited faith in government, but I do think we need it as a civilization to work for all the people, not just corporations and the rich.
Have a great day.
You are right on this point and seem to understand something that the folks you are talking about don't get. It's not that we pay too much taxes, it's that we don't get enough in return. I wouldn't mind it so much if my tax money didn't end up the hands of so few (called government contractors). Tax money belongs to the people and should be spent to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty" etc not provide for war profiteering and ensure that the poor remain poor or die off like, what was it that the Republican SC Lt Gov said? Stray animals.
Jim,
I think you are correct. I also think there is a lot of misinformation in the system. We all feel helpless when it comes to taxes and how they get spent.
I think most people think their own taxes are too high because they don't understand where their taxes go and who gets them.
Too bad we the people can't vote on each line item, war,poverty, etc.
Thanks for reading and for your in-put...
Your college professor forgot to explain the difference between passion and anger. You are way off base as you try to assign religious motives to our government. Quite the contrary, our government will be quick to tell you they are neutral on this subject. I am a Christian, and I would never tithe to my government. You need to understand that governments are filled with corruption and waste and cannot be counted on to do the work of Christians. This is naive and irresponsible. Our founders originally intended for our government to have a limited role in our lives and they understood the dangers of giving them too much power.
Hello again…
First, the government reflects our values and isn’t neutral, we have laws that reflect our values.
Second, religion is a part of our core values and while NO one wants a religious state we do want a set of Christian values represented in our public policies.
The government was established for many reasons – “to promote the general welfare” is one and to do that we need to follow the second commandment and the golden rule.
I don’t think government was ever meant to play a limited role in our lives. The government collects taxes; fights wars, protects our shores and enforces national laws. We have an FAA, FDA, SEC, FDIC, etc that play a huge role in our lives. That doesn’t sound like a limit role.
Thanks for reading and keep commenting…
Have a great day
You are correct that government plays a large role in our lives. However, it was not intended this way. The peoiple have been run over by out-of-control government. You naively assume that we can trust them to take control over every aspect of our lives and we should turn over our hard-earned money to finance their efforts. THis is a bad idea.
I appreciate your view but I doubt we can go backwards from where we are. Fed Government now is deeply embedded in so much of what America is and does to try and do away with all government wouldn’t work.
Privatizing it is a very bad idea – the crooks that caused the recession were from private banks and Wall Streets. I don’t want Goldman and Wall Street running the Social Security trust fund.
We are left with trying to make government better since we can’t get rid of it.
The biggest tax burden on the taxpayer is the military – we must get this under control and stop trying to be the policemen to the entire world.
http://hubpages.com/hub/thejcrevelator2militaryspe
I do share your frustration with big government as I do with big corporations.
Thanks for your comments…
You are naive to say that Wall Street caused the recent economic breakdown. Wallstreet knows how to invest and take risk. Unfortunately, government sticks its nose into their affairs and upsets the apple cart. GOvernment passed laws and pressured the private sectors into lending money to the minorities and low-income sector. The problem is that a majority of these people had credit issues and a history of not paying their bills. Alot of money was lent out that would not have been except for governmemt intervention. These people defaulted on their mortgages and sent the system into a downward spiral. If left alone, the markets know how to operate. Liberal policies, supposedly designed to help the poor or disadvantaged, allowed high credit risk people to access the system that would have denied them.
That is a very interesting observation. The government doesn’t run BofA, Wells Fargo and the other huge banks that made the bad loans. The banks made these bad loans so they could charge fees and then sold the bad loans to Fanny Mae and Wall Street knowing they were bad.
The zero down loans went to the middle class as well as low income people. The bank’s created zero down loans and “no income and no asset loans” to make more money. They then sold about a trillion dollar worth of subprime bad loans to Wall Street (WS) and WS resold them as good investment knowing they were not, that is fraud.
They also created “credit swaps” as phony insurance against these bad securities based on the bad loans to convince pension funds, mutual funds and other investors to buy the fraudulent investments. WS made tens of billions selling fraudulent securities based on fraudulent loans and you and I had to bail them out according to Bush!
Yes it was Republican BUSH and his buddies that allowed this fraud and then used taxpayer money to bail out the crooks. Bush pushed through the TARP bailout money.
The Fed allowed this because Bernanke, Paulson (Goldman crook) and Geithner were all too close to the greedy bankers and Wall Street scammer jammers. There is no law requiring banks to make loans to people that can’t repay them. The banks did this to make tens of billions and then begged their buddies Bush, Bernanke, Paulson and Geithner to use taxpayer money to bail them out.
Your trust in the crooks on Wall Street is very naïve and almost amusing.
Thanks for reading and commenting…
You certainly do not know what you say in this regard. It was most definitely Clinton where this problem began and most definitely with the Dem leaders in congress who headed up the banking and housing depts. Government put pressure on banks to lend to the minorities and low-income sector, knowing that they had poor credit histories. The banks were threatened with equality and discrimination laws if they did not. They had no choice but to do so. The government then promised to guarantee the loans thru the freddie-macs and fannie maes. Government intervention is at the root cause of this fiasco. And you are very naive if you dont realize which political party promotes the sector of people this benefited. It is clearly a democratic policy to help the poor and minorities, which is a noble cause when done correctly. However, the dems rarely know what they are doing and designed a system that almost crashed the U.S. economy
We just don’t agree. The bad loans were made from 2000 to 2008, while the Republicans had complete control of everything.
The people that benefited are the CEOs of the banks and Wall Street (WS) and you say Democrats did this! These CEOs made and are making tens of billions off the taxpayers.
The Democrats didn’t force the banks to make bad loans, and it didn’t force Wall Street to sell the bad loans as securities. The REPUBLICANS looked the other way because they were brought and paid for by the fat cats at the banks and on WS.
Even if Banks were threatened they should, and they weren’t, they should have said NO to bad credit risks. They said yes because they made billions.
Get a grip! I know you hate the Democrats and that is fine with me. But your comments just aren’t factual.
Thanks and have a great day…
It is you who are blind to democrats actions. THe democrats were in charge of congress for the 2 years leading up to the economic collapse. They refused any hearing on the housing crisis and did their best to protect their creations called fannie mae and freddie mac. It was democratic policies that pressured banks into this game. Banks had to participate or be labeled discriminatory and biased. The NAACP and others were filing lawsuits. It is OK if you choose to look the other way, but I will attempt to enlighten you. Now, the republicans should have done more to stop this, but they always end up looking like the bad guy when they tell the truth about who the credit risks are in our country. They chickened out and the mess piled up.
Please read the hub referenced below. It is important in this discussion...
YOu cant be serious?? The definition of having no personal responsibility is the liberal party of democrats. You still miss the point of democrat political policies dating back to the nineties and even before that laid the groundwork for sub-prime mortgages to enable the bad-credit risk among us to buy a house. IT was all political and they had to strong-arm the banks with threats of discrimination to make them play along. Banks and mortgage companies know how to analyze credit risk but this was all thrown out the window with liberal policies of helping the poor and minorities get housing. Once forced to play, wall street made decisions to make profits where they could. Of course there were bad decisions and greed that played a factor in our economic melt-down, but it would never even occurred without democrats creating the sub-prime market in the first place. It is why the government felt obligated to bail out the banks, because the government forced them to play along in the first place. Open your eyes and see that democrats are in charge now and there is more bailing out than ever. If any political party enables bad behavior it is certainly the democrats who promise to take care of any bad decision or bad behavior just to buy votes.
Just look at what happened when the FCC decided to withdraw from regulating the internet, and turn the power back over to big businesses. Now, net neutrality is in danger. Sometimes the gov't is actually good for something.
I always see it this way. The way this country was made in the beginning was to accommodate a people who could handle liberty and freedom. When people start to become lawless, fierce, immoral, and greedy, it is the job of the government to do what they can, even if it will lead to a dictatorship. It's always about the lesser of evils for the moment. You can't continue to uphold constitutional amendments for people who can't handle liberty. Soon, you will have to take away their rights because by nature, you won't be left with any other choice. If the people of America start to become like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gommhorra, what else can you do? Surely, you wouldn't trust them with guns!!!
WV,
Interesting comments and perspectives, I am not sure how to respond. I do think government has a role to play in protecting society with rules and regulations.
Thanks for reading...
Bringing to light all these nonsense at the govt level is good infor yet it does not resolve anything. We can pull bible verses all day long and still no changes. Every thing we see stem from human beings being self-centered.
On Sundays, govt workers praise God, but from Tuesday to Friday, they each put on a different hat and then blame the system (build by humans) that immediate changes will take a while.
Pointing out that not everyone working in the govt supports corruption means nothing because everyone needs a paycheck. Therefore, these same people would rather play along or else find themselves in the street or face the consequences that the "have nots" are dealing with.
braudboy is highly misinformed. My guess is that he watches Fox News and believes what they say.
It's hard to blame him though. Some people just don't know how to search for and discern the truth.
Though I do blame him for blindly following his ideology. People should develop ideology based on facts rather than developing "facts" based on ideology.
SL,
I like your formula. Thanks for reading and taking time to comment...
Nevermind the fact that the majority of "bvad" loans were given by private banks that had no obligation to do so. But then Braudboy you seem more concerned about demonizing and blaming "liburals" for all your woes. You are so blinded by ideology you really can't see anything or asorb any information that isn't filtered through your narrow worldview. It always one side that to blame in a two party system. The information you constantly post has been debunked and only get rehashed but since I am almost certain you only get your information based on how much you agree with it (regardless of validity) I can see how you might be confused. Willful ignorance is a dangerous thing I hope you someday recover before the stress "of it being all the others fault" effects your health.
J,
Thanks for reading and for your comments...
Well I don't know about all Americans, but I personally am extremely greedy, selfish and uncaring.
DB1,
Wow! What can I say? I guess we can assume you aren’t a liberal.
Thanks for reading and for you honesty - I think?
I'm in the misanthrope party. We don't actively try and get people to join because we hate everybody. We don't even let ourselves join.
DB1,
Misanthrope = a person who hates or distrusts humankind
I think you are putting me on and having a little fun with me.
Misanthropes rarely blog and almost never engage a liberal.
Thanks for reading and for your comments...
A word of care, does the bible not also ask "why dost thou set at nought thy brother?" Romans 14v 10.
Yes the tea party and its beloved markets may want to see people povertised, losing jobs, homes, incomes and even their health as long as it is their income which is not affected.
But that does not mean they are "nut jobs". It just means that they are blinded by the love of money and forsaking all else and others, they chose to follow that love.
However, that does not mean they will not be judged either, in accordance with scriptures. For all will face that time, whether they are believers or not.
It is not wealth though that is the real problem it is the use of it, Abraham was blessed with much, but Israel of the Old Testament, knew that all was not well with everyone, thus they made the tithe.
Which also included the provision of food for all those within their community, who were not part of their community.
There are many intelligent people involved with the tea party, who begrudge others their necessities, thereby acting in the role of the Rich man and Lazarus. Christ clearly states the outcome of such actions.
Government though is different, in Daniel it tells of a fourth beast which will take control of the whole earth and if you look at politics, you will see that this beast has a global grip.
"Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces." KJV
Tell me this is not politics. Oddly with this, the Tea Party also share many of the same views as OWS only sadly, never the twain shall meet. Government is greedy, inefficient and in service, not to its people, but to its markets. The banks in their turn have behaved in a corrupt inefficient manner and have become subject to the most appalling financial mismanagement.
Both Government and banks have had their role to play in this current situation and both are equally responsible. As are those who have plunged themselves deeper and deeper into debt. So in fact the two separates, have much in common.
The Tea Party need to see through their own greed and look to the bigger picture, that as prices rise, taxes need to be increased. If they are Christian they should be helping others anyway, both through the church and in acceptance of the reasonable need of Government.
The liberals for their part need to see that their Government is just as much at fault, as the Markets and the Banks.
To the Tea Party I will give this!
Proverbs 28:27: "He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse."
Finally debt is also considered to be under a curse by God, although it is not specific, it is said of those who have indebtedness that they are the tail, rather than the head.
Finally, listen to God, then Listen to each other, because each has their story to tell. Fail to do this and you and your country will simply slip further into the mire of debt and damnation,as will we all As an unbelieving generation of Politicians will lead you straight down the ditch!
I Love Capitalism!!!
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braudboy 2 years ago
This is non-sense! Your facts are distorted and your absolute trust in government is naive. The real crooks are in Washington and they are the ones bankrupting this country. We pay way too much in taxes and this money is wasted and too often used to buy political power. Any real charity to help people must be done thru churches and charities and not thru the corrupt process in Washington. You try to assign some divine motives to government that just do not exist.