Obama: Cut the deficit by taxing the rich

[Baalzamon]

numonex said:

In a country where there is less income inequality: poverty rates and crime rates are lower. Europe has lower crime rates and poverty rates than the the US. US does not provide for its most disdadvantaged citizens. Europe has universal health, universal welfare and universal education and adequate public transport. US has no universal health care, limited public education, limited timed welfare and inadequate public transport.

In a country like the US people have to work for as little as $5 per hour or less. They rely on tips to make ends meet. 50 million people in America live below the poverty line. 1 in 6 considerably higher than most other developed nations that are less than 10% living below the poverty line.

At the top of the pyramid of wealth are multi-millionaires and billionaires who are the best at ripping the people off below them. Income being transferred from the middle classes to wealthiest class ensures the income inequality widens. The elites at the top control the free market and they can manipulate markets and shut down operations locally and set them up overseas to save on labour costs. The rich elites have various plans they can evade taxes with tax loopholes. The bottom 90% can not escape paying the tax rates and pay a higher proprtion of their income in taxes. 

The measure of a civilized society is the way it treats its most disadvantaged members. Social justice is non existent in the corrupt corporate government regime in the US that has two main factions: Democrats and Republicans - lip service to the corporate mahine establishment. Lots of innocent people are forced to rot in prison in the US and they do not get legal representaion. 

Ok, I think you just put me over the edge with this comment.  Rely on tips to "make ends meet?"  You have got to be shitting me.  Do you have any clue how much money waiters/waitresses have the potential to make?  If you are actually good at your job (treat customers with good service, etc), you are going to make anywhere from 10-20 % on every single order that you handle.  Lets just say for convenience you average 3 tables per hour, and the average bill at those tables is $30, which is being extremely conservative considering that includes drinks, as well as larger families going out to eat.  That means you will have $90 * lets say an average of 15% tip.  $13.50 per hour.  So if you are also making $5 per hour wage, you are making $18.50 per hour.

$18.50 * 2000 hours worked (slightly less than full time all year long) = $37,000.  This is WELL above the poverty line.  Not only that, they don't even need a college degree for it!!!  I also want you to realize I was being conservative with my numbers, because I'm acting out the situation where you are just at a normal jon and jill bar/restaurant, not a Red Lobster, or a steakhouse, or anything of that sort, because you will be making more at one of these.

So if you have a husband and wife both doing this job, you are pulling in $74,000 per year with neither husband nor spouse needing a college degree.  This is quite considerably above the national per capita average income.  Tips sure are helping them "make ends meet" aren't they?

No offense, but you picked the WRONG job to say that certain Americans are having a tough time making ends meet.

***EDIT: I just want to make sure it is known again.  I think 3 tables per hour is relatively conservative.  I think 15% average tip is relatively conservative (considering people now think 20% is the norm, and even families such as ourselves that don't like that still pay 15%), and as mentioned already, I think an average of $30 per bill is on par to relatively conservative (depends on what time of the day you work...lunch generally seems to have more groups of 2 people, which it would be closer then).  So with that value of $37,000 per year, I am potentially being conservative on every aspect that was used to come up with that.