I don't know what kind of clowns were answering those polls you put out Mafoo, but I'm with you as the question was written. 

I don't think that actually has a lot to do with the current travails of our country or faults of our government, but New Zealand is probably more fun anyway. 

Wow you're a republican tea party nut aren't you? Let me guess, you watch fox news all day? And you're going to a country that's right for precisely the reasons you say it should be wrong, you made America into the corporate hell that it is today and now you're jumping ship? Kinda reminds me of those muslims which fucked up their country with religion and now come to western nations to impose the same fucked up ideology that made them leave their homeland in the first place.

kergeten -

I suggest you read Mafoo's post history before you lobby attacks against him, you ignorant jerk.

I was raised on ~30k/yr my entire life, so it can work.

Depending on where you live, 50k/yr would do wonders for a lot of people. Its all about your drive and what you decide to do with that $50k that can make you rich, or poor. I doubt my grandparents, with all their wealth, ever earned anywhere near that (1 parent income household).

Heck, my fiancee and I earn ~40k/yr, and we've managed to buy an apartment complex and a house for rentals in a few years, despite paying most regular bills, and me earning $8.00/hr for awhile, and having part time work for a few years...So I am going to say that your absolutely wrong when it comes to arguing that 50k is dead end. You must be horrible on budgeting as not to survive on 50k/yr.

$50k/yr is $4,166 a year. Take out 25% taxes, and you have $3,125 a month.

$3,125 a month could be enough to be a millionaire upon retirement if you were smart. Question is, if you really would want to do what's needed to use that money smartly.

I have read it and how Am I lobbying? Lobbying means super rich corporations hiring people to go to senators and bribe them in the millions to vote for the interest not of the people but of the corporations they get money from. did I give anyone any money am I hired by a super rich corporation? Then I'm not a lobbyist. Please enlighten me on how I'm ignorant and how I'm a jerk. Also parts of his initial post make no sense "The wrong people are not in office", isn't that a good thing? also isn't the second option against people caring more about their relative position compared to everyone else?

In the 50's the rich paid around 90% tax, yet it was the period of the biggest economic boom in American history and guess what? The rich we're still filthy rich. Then when taxes started dropping on the rich with Reagan the quality of life dropped, only to get back up again with Clinton and then drop again with Bush,all the while the rich kept getting richer. Simple fact of the matter is the wealth has been redistributed, with the rich now owning more money then eve relative to the rest of the population. Also a house isn't stock in a company, it's a house and it should be sold at a fair price not inflated artificially, If I just bought a house and am happy I have place to live in, I don't care about it's market value. That's why the housing market is fucked up, it's treating houses like oil or diamonds, jacking up the prices to get as larger a profit as possible and guess what, people stop buying? Gasp, what people can't pay 400k for a house that cost under 50k to build? Good luck with fascist  America.

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini

Lets see:

1. Mafoo isn't a tea-partier. He does hold *some* views they do (such as reduction of the federal government), but he is socially liberal. Mafoo is a libertarian. He's been posting about libertarian ideals well before the tea party was established, and has railed against many Republican candidates.

He doesn't like Fox news, either. Also, last I checked, he wasn't for the corporate bailouts that ocurred under Bush and Obama that sent trillions to bad companies that made bad decisions....Look at all his posts concerning the big bank bailout in 2008...Well before the tea party was anything.

You are ignorant because I don't believe you've ever read or posted in any of Mafoo's threads. I've debated with him for 2 years on VGC, and I have yet to see a single post by you in any of his threads. Lobbying attacks against him without knowing his ideology, and calling him names, is very, very stupid.

*adding second reply to discuss your edit*

As a Canadian who has no association to either the Republican party nor the Tea Party, and has never seen Fox news (I’m not going to pay for that) I find your comment bizarre; and it is mostly a symptom of your own ignorance.

Compare the US to Canada, Canada’s debt level (as a percentage of GDP) is smaller than the US, Canada’s deficit (as a percentage of GDP) is smaller than the US, Canada’s government spending (as a percentage of GDP) is smaller than the US and more services are provided by the Canadian government, corporate taxes are lower in many regions of Canada, income taxes in many regions of Canada are more evenly applied across tax brackets, and tax-benefits for investing (RRSPs and TFSAs) encourage investing while sales taxes (GST and HST) discourage spending. And as a result of all of these things, Canada's economy is rapidly healing and our unemployment rate is shrinking.

This isn't to say that Canada doesn't have problems, but when you consider that the "Ultra-socialist" Canada is a more fiscally conservative country than the United States, and Canada is becomming more fiscally conservative while the US is moving in the opposite direction, it isn't difficult to understand the point of view of Mafoo.

Thanks mrstickball, you got it all right.

Not only do I not watch Fox News, I don't even have cable/satellite. I am listening to "wait wait don't tell me" right now from NPR, and I am not sure how many Fox News watchers would do that.

Funny how in my perfect world, due to the economic collaps many major banks and corporations would no longer exist. I want a government so small, there is no way for corporations to utilize government to better there profits. If they want more profits, they need to make a product or service with a better value.

I want the consumer to have all the power, and corporations to be at the mercy of them.

In my perfect world, rich people would have far less power over you and me. Sorry if you think that's a bad idea.

@mrstickball, yea I am bad at budgeting but I make barely over 20k.  I would have to have another person/partner income to do anything like investing.  I wouldn't be able to invest on my own if I lived by myself (rented apt, paid all bills) on 20k.  If you make about 20k you make 1,600 at most after tax (I claim 2 dependents, myself and only working one job that makes less than whatever the amount is).   You've invested in a few things but I am pretty sure you were approved for loan for what you mentioned.   Banks don't approve shit now a days.  They get money "lent" by the government at almost 0 percent interest and go around and charge people crappy interest rates.  Sure they have to make money but to charge rates they are charging is pure bs.  I went to Wells Fargo to ask about car loan few years back.  The guy basically told me to go elsewhere (was about 10-14 percent interest, and I agreed with him I did go elsewhere).  I went to local credit union and got a bellow 5 percent interest rate (recently borrowed 2k more on car (to get ahead of bills) and reduced interest to below 4 percent interest)).  Basically, if I was smart I would have invested in google stock when it became public, and I would have invested in Microsoft in the early 90s (to about time the anti trust came up).  I know which companies I should have invested in but I had zero money available at the time to do so.  Anyways, you must be supreme at budgeting mrstickball to have a kid and support them and be able to invest making less than 50k combined (I thought kids cost over 100k per first few years).  So you are saying you and your partner have a kid and rely on zero government assistance (food stamps, chips, medicare)?  Grandparents (1 parent income) making less than 50k back then would be like making 100k or more now a days so I don't see how that is relevant.