Tyrants in Maryland do it again

[Larry Gude]

Yeah...

Thanks for clarifying. I guess I’m just not in the practice of calling people stupid. I can’t expect everyone to take the time (like I do) to do their homework. I believe it falls more in the lines of laziness and ignorance.
And I think we have seen from some of our past presidents (that have been deemed so intelligent, Rhodes Scholars and such) what worth you can place in the IQ scale. I’m sure both of us can attest to seeing some of the most intelligent people live the most unintelligent lives. Intelligence without wisdom is useless.

...you and your homework and some lazy dumbazz who just flipped the R are stuck in the same boat. I'm in there to. We all are. My point is we expect an awful lot of people who really have a good deal less power, rightly so, than we think they do. That's why they have to be so right in the decisions they do make.

 

[2ndAmendment]

...point. That is the backbone of economic policy for any president; as long as the holders of that debt are comfortable that their debt is safe, we're in decent shape. So, all the variables of money policy go to serve that interest first and foremost.

No 2a, he's correct. It's about 25% foreign held.

OK.
I hold a few U.S. bonds, but I won't buy more. I don't trust the feds.

We had the greatest country in the history of the world in my opinion, but we have lost it to political correctness, greed, and power mongering. The U.S. may be the most powerful, but it is no longer the greatest. Greatness demands something above and beyond what we currently have. I hope that the citizens of the U.S. can take the country back from the D.C. elite but with McCain-Feingold and other attempts to limit free speech and the latest desire by Demigods(crats) in Congress to regulate talk radio, it may not happen. I consider it a good sign that the "Amnesty Bill" went down in flames, but it took three massive efforts by citizens to convince the Senate that the people do not want illegals rewarded with citizenship for doing something illegal.

I really hope Ron Paul wins the Republican nomination. That will send a very large message to the D.C. elite; that just like Superman, the citizens of the U.S. want truth, justice, and the American way.

 

[2ndAmendment]

... Intelligence without wisdom is useless.

Absolutely.

But there are stupid people. Lots of them. It is a fact. And, using the IQ as the measure, about half the population has less than average intelligence.

 

[PsyOps]

Absolutely.

But there are stupid people. Lots of them. It is a fact. And, using the IQ as the measure, about half the population has less than average intelligence.

Are you lumping stupidity and intelligence (or lack thereof) in the same pile?

 

[2ndAmendment]

Are you lumping stupidity and intelligence (or lack thereof) in the same pile?

There is a subtle difference. An intelligent person can act stupidly. A stupid person can have common sense. A person with less than average intelligence is stupid by comparison to someone of greater than average intelligence, but may act with more common sense.

Whether a person is stupid because of lack of intellectual ability or is intelligent and acts stupidly, they are stupid people. Two defining criteria.

 

[ylexot]

Pay tax when you buy, pay tax on the profit when you sell. Remove the interest deduction from income taxes.

 

[2ndAmendment]

Pay tax when you buy, pay tax on the profit when you sell. Remove the interest deduction from income taxes.

Wow! A VAT. Wish I had said that.

 

[Larry Gude]

You did...

Wow! A VAT. Wish I had said that.

...but it never hurts to spell out what it is again and again so people new to the discusion know what you mean.

Down with a VAT or any other tax that makes me even more of an employee of the state.

 

[PsyOps]

There is a subtle difference. An intelligent person can act stupidly. A stupid person can have common sense. A person with less than average intelligence is stupid by comparison to someone of greater than average intelligence, but may act with more common sense.

Whether a person is stupid because of lack of intellectual ability or is intelligent and acts stupidly, they are stupid people. Two defining criteria.

I'll take a "stupid" person with common sense over an "intelligent" person with no common any day.

Someone of lesser intelligence is not stupid by comparison. They are just incapable of processing certain ideas as well. A person that is stupid is someone that behaves in an irrational or abnormal way.

To put it a different way, a highly intelligent person can still behave in an extremely stupid manner, in the same way a less intelligent person can behave in a much more rational (less stupid) manner, which would discredit your claim that because one has more intelligence over the other they must be less stupid by comparison.

Intelligence is what you have, stupidity is what you do.

 

[forestal]

Actually, taxes aren't high enough. They need to go higher if we want to pay off this massive mountain of debt we've borrowed over the years.

Soak the Rich I say. Make them pay their fair share, they who have benefited from our society more than the rest of us.

Or would you rather your children pay it off?

It is frustrating when 6.2% of your salary goes to SST off the top. Then you have state, local and federal. Then anything you buy is taxed.

Why does it have to be so high and so much in the first place? Taxes have gotten to be beyond... far beyond... ridiculous.

The government needs to learn the word "NO" and use it to every Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane that has some request for some money for the latest special interest project. This all adds up. If I ran my household the way the government runs theirs, I'd be belly up in no time. Yet, slowly but surly we are doing just that. Buy now, pay later!

But you know what? We have ourselves to blame for buying into the whole thing.

We allowed this! Those before us allowed this.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/debt/debtguide2004/debt-trivia1.asp


^ amazing isn't it? And those are 2003's numbers. They have greatly increased since then.

 

[forestal]

No, i wasn't talking about indians that were here when the Europeans arrived. They didn't own any land. I'm talking about modern day indians and their reservations. They don't pay taxes for the land they own.

That much is true. As for...


You have it dead wrong. The American Indians prided themselves on being caretakers of the land and guardians of the Earth. Their tribal lands were communal properties and no one person owned any part of it. But that all changed when the white settlers appeared. Read up on The Dawes Act:



They forced them first into reservations and then forced the Western lifestyle and values on them. It was a disaster for their culture in every way, shape, and form.

 

[forestal]

Really, now your'e talking like a communist!

I'm somewhat shocked at your attitude. A person shouldn't have to take out a mortgage on their house to pay their property taxes. The very thought of that is absurd.

We dole money to every deadbeat human and country that comes around with their hand out - why can't we say that old people on a fixed income don't have to pay taxes anymore?

 

[vraiblonde]

Really, now your'e talking like a communist!

Hello? The government confiscates someone's private property that they paid for, and *I'M* a Communist?????

 

[Pandora]

Actually, taxes aren't high enough. They need to go higher if we want to pay off this massive mountain of debt we've borrowed over the years.

Soak the Rich I say. Make them pay their fair share, they who have benefited from our society more than the rest of us.

Or would you rather your children pay it off?

I would rather they stop spending like there is a hole in the damn bank. Taxes are plenty high. When I notice the funds getting a bit low, I reassess my spending. The government shouldn't be any different.

15% to SST and Medicare off the top then federal, state, gas tax, property tax, tax on my money saved, tax on the crap I buy, tax, tax, tax....

Enough taxing the crap out of us already. It is causing a huge burden on all of us.

 

[2ndAmendment]

Actually, taxes aren't high enough. They need to go higher if we want to pay off this massive mountain of debt we've borrowed over the years.

Soak the Rich I say. Make them pay their fair share, they who have benefited from our society more than the rest of us.

Or would you rather your children pay it off?

Say that when you are old enough to earn your own way and not have mommy and daddy pay your bills.

 

[2ndAmendment]

I'll take a "stupid" person with common sense over an "intelligent" person with no common any day.

Someone of lesser intelligence is not stupid by comparison. They are just incapable of processing certain ideas as well. A person that is stupid is someone that behaves in an irrational or abnormal way.

To put it a different way, a highly intelligent person can still behave in an extremely stupid manner, in the same way a less intelligent person can behave in a much more rational (less stupid) manner, which would discredit your claim that because one has more intelligence over the other they must be less stupid by comparison.

Intelligence is what you have, stupidity is what you do.

Duh. Gee, I wish I'd said that.

Sometimes I think you are so interested in debate, you don't bother to read; you just jump.

But then there are stupid people, and lack of intelligence is one measure of stupidity. Check Webster if you doubt that.

My point is that those that are not aware of what is going on beyond their own immediate surrounding, whether they are not intelligent enough to discern the events or are intelligent and too lazy to investigate, are stupid and should not be allowed to vote.

 

[PsyOps]

Duh. Gee, I wish I'd said that.

Sometimes I think you are so interested in debate, you don't bother to read; you just jump.

But then there are stupid people, and lack of intelligence is one measure of stupidity. Check Webster if you doubt that.

My point is that those that are not aware of what is going on beyond their own immediate surrounding, whether they are not intelligent enough to discern the events or are intelligent and too lazy to investigate, are stupid and should not be allowed to vote.

I respect your opinion but I can’t get myself to the point where I can deem someone stupid. I’ve done my share of stupid things and don’t think of myself as stupid. But if that’s yours (not saying it is) or anyone else’s opinion then so be it.

 

[PsyOps]

Yeah... you and your homework and some lazy dumbazz who just flipped the R are stuck in the same boat. I'm in there to. We all are. My point is we expect an awful lot of people who really have a good deal less power, rightly so, than we think they do. That's why they have to be so right in the decisions they do make.

You mean the same “good deal less power” that defeated the immigrations debacle?

 

[PsyOps]

Actually, taxes aren't high enough. They need to go higher if we want to pay off this massive mountain of debt we've borrowed over the years.

Yeah, I guess expecting the government to spend less is out of the question.

Soak the Rich I say. Make them pay their fair share, they who have benefited from our society more than the rest of us.

Yeah, the top 5% of wage earners paying over 53% of the federal taxes isn’t their fair share. The top 50% of wage earners pays over 96% of the federal taxes just isn’t quite enough. Perhaps of the top 50% were paying 100% so the lower 50% pays nothing would probably fit your bill right? I mean what’s another 4%?

Or would you rather your children pay it off?

I can remember the adults saying, when I was a kid, "I don’t want to leave this mess to our kids". Well, here I am and we’re still saying it.

 

[Larry Gude]

???

You mean the same “good deal less power” that defeated the immigrations debacle?

...I'm talking about the power of pols; not the people. Did I miscommunicate that?