Interesting artical about what government can and can't do. It's a bit longish, but worth the read.

[Isaac]

To be fair, even the poor should pay some taxes. After all, if they don't have "skin-in-the-game", they will have no interest in having a government that spends tax money efficiently.

Amen.

 

[Pat Hartman]

There are currently about 600 columns that I need to capture & currently there are just under 1300 rows (1 row per project number).

I assume that you do not subscribe to the Christian concept of "my brothers keeper". Don't you think the super rich should pay some more in taxes?

Moke's cheap shot distracted me earlier.

When the government takes money from me to give to someone it deems more worthy, it is not charity, it is theft. PERIOD. When I give money to people/causes I deem worthy, it is charity. No one should ever be forced to support a charity they don't believe in. Government should not be in the "charity" business because that requires them to pick winners and losers. They steal from me to give to you. When I was a child, my family was poor. I needed an operation. I got it for free in the Catholic charity hospital which was put out of business by the government.

The best the government should do is to provide tax relief to legitimate charities. But the rules should be more stringent than they currently are. The "overhead" for charities should be capped at x %. Someone who knows the details should be able to figure out what makes sense. You know all those calls you get from the "police associations" and "firemen's associations", and most of the "veteran's associations" are scams, right? At best, these nice sounding men donate 5% of what they collect to a charity.

 

[ColinEssex]

When the government takes money from me to give to someone it deems more worthy, it is not charity, it is theft.

So you disagree with possibly the richest country in the world (USA) helping third world countries by supplying aid. How caring you are.
If you don't like it, why not become an elected government minister and do something about it instead of moaning on continuously about how useless the government/president is?
Col

 

[Isaac]

So you disagree with possibly the richest country in the world (USA) helping third world countries by supplying aid. How caring you are.
If you don't like it, why not become an elected government minister and do something about it instead of moaning on continuously about how useless the government/president is?
Col

We show our caring by voluntarily donating more charity per capita than any country in the world.

 

[Isaac]

The key is, voluntarily

 

[Steve R.]

So you disagree with possibly the richest country in the world (USA) helping third world countries by supplying aid. How caring you are.

The US may be "rich", but money only goes so far. The US is spending more money that it takes in and is going bankrupt. When it comes to spending, the US is addicted and has no self control. Moreover, Western North Carolina was just devastated. Coastal Southern California is getting burnt to the ground. The US needs to take of itself first.

 

[ColinEssex]

We show our caring by voluntarily donating more charity per capita than any country in the world.

That isn't what I referred to.
Col

 

[moke123]

We show our caring by voluntarily donating more charity per capita than any country in the world.

According to the Charities Aid Foundation's (CAF) World Giving Index, Indonesia is the most generous country in the world. Indonesia has held this title for seven years in a row.

 

[NauticalGent]

When the government takes money from me to give to someone it deems more worthy, it is not charity, it is theft.

Amen, amen and AMEN.

 

[Pat Hartman]

So you disagree with possibly the richest country in the world (USA) helping third world countries by supplying aid

How many charities do you volunteer for? Do you develop free software for them? Do you help out in food kitchens or read to children in the library?

As usual, you choose to assume that I am evil and uncaring. Always showing us your best side.

In the case of natural disasters, one country helping another is quite different. Those are emergencies. Emergencies are different from offering free housing, food, and medical care for anyone who can cross our border illegally, frequently at the expense of American citizens. People in many small towns in southern Texas can't even use their own emergency rooms for actual emergencies because they are filled with illegals who have a cold.

Of course, I haven't heard of any help forthcoming to help the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fires in California. Nothing for the people in North Carolina last year after all the floods. Apparently only America is supposed to dig deep and help the rest of the world. When we have disasters, we're on our own. But I'm sure you dug deep and sent money to help us though because you are holier than thou in your persistent negative judgement of others. It must be hard to see no good in others. I pity you.

 

[Isaac]

That isn't what I referred to.
Col

I know. You omitted it, which is why I had to point it out

 

[ColinEssex]

How many charities do you volunteer for? Do you develop free software for them? Do you help out in food kitchens or read to children in the library?

As usual, you choose to assume that I am evil and uncaring.

1) what I do or give to charities is private. I don't brag about it like you.
2) if you are evil (and I have never said you are), that makes two of us because you called me evil amongst your string of verbal abuse you sent me.
Col

 

[Pat Hartman]

what I do or give to charities is private. I don't brag about it like you.

And yet you find no problem accusing me of being selfish and unfeeling. Then when I explain that I do contribute to charities with both time and money, you accuse me of bragging. Isn't that a little unfair even by your standards?

because you called me evil amongst your string of verbal abuse you sent me.

There you go exaggerating again. I have warned you about this. One sentence does not constitute a string of abuse AND when you KNOWINGLY attempt to cause harm to another who is innocent, you are evil. I asked you nicely to stop multiple times. You refused. You were warned several times and yet you persisted in the public personal attack on my family. You are on the wrong side of this argument. You started the conflict and you did it with malice and you continue it with malice. Why are you doubling down yet again?

 

[ColinEssex]

I think it's best I step back from your fantasy world. Your attempt at provoking a response so you can again threaten me with a ban is so obvious.
Col

 

[Thales750]

An absurd prostration. The poor don't pay taxes. In many cases they receive negative taxes (better know as welfare). Consequently the only people who would receive a Republican tax benefit would be rich people. How do you cut taxes of people who pay no taxes?

To be fair, even the poor should pay some taxes. After all, if they don't have "skin-in-the-game", they will have no interest in having a government that spends tax money efficiently.

PS: You also neglect the obvious question of cutting federal spending. The issue shouldn't be always increasing spending as the solution, but actually cutting federal spending by eliminating unnecessary programs. Even implementing austerity, as an extreme example.

Poor people do pay taxes. They pay sales tax and they directly or indirectly pay property tax.
If they are homeless, well they still pay some sales tax.

 

[Pat Hartman]

@Thales750 Apparently you are unaware of this but both sales taxes and property taxes go to the local communities or the state, not to the Federal government.

 

[Thales750]

@Thales750 Apparently you are unaware of this but both sales taxes and property taxes go to the local communities or the state, not to the Federal government.

I did not say Federal taxes. Is English your second language? Or, is it just a life long habit to jump to conclusions? Maybe it's just the cool aid talking.

 

[Thales750]

And yet you find no problem accusing me of being selfish and unfeeling. Then when I explain that I do contribute to charities with both time and money, you accuse me of bragging. Isn't that a little unfair even by your standards?

That is very commendable. No sarcasm intended. Having close relationships with a lot of Texas Conservatives, I find them to be overall, very moral, and giving folks.

 

[Steve R.]

Poor people do pay taxes. They pay sales tax and they directly or indirectly pay property tax.
If they are homeless, well they still pay some sales tax.

Again, to a degree that is an absurd proposition. They may "pay" taxes (in a sense), but many poor receive subsidies from federal, state, and NGO's, (better known as welfare) so the supposed taxes they are paying is derived from money that was given to them by other people and organizations. So the money that is supposedly used to pay taxes comes not from their work efforts, but the work efforts of other people.

 

[Thales750]

An absurd prostration. The poor don't pay taxes. In many cases they receive negative taxes (better know as welfare). Consequently the only people who would receive a Republican tax benefit would be rich people. How do you cut taxes of people who pay no taxes?

To be fair, even the poor should pay some taxes. After all, if they don't have "skin-in-the-game", they will have no interest in having a government that spends tax money efficiently.

PS: You also neglect the obvious question of cutting federal spending. The issue shouldn't be always increasing spending as the solution, but actually cutting federal spending by eliminating unnecessary programs. Even implementing austerity, as an extreme example.

This is literally the absolute worst Republican Cool Aid I have seen in this long drawn out discussion.

Again, to a degree that is an absurd proposition. They may "pay" taxes (in a sense), but many poor receive subsidies from federal, state, and NGO's, (better known as welfare) so the supposed taxes they are paying is derived from money that was given to them by other people and organizations. So the money that is supposedly used to pay taxes comes not from their work efforts, but the work efforts of other people.

I was merely correcting you on your statement. the poor do pay taxes, and since they have to spend every dime at the store or on rent, a substantial portion of their income does go to taxes.

The subsidies you speak of, they have among the highest economic multiplier effect on our economy.