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Forums - General - Socialism and communism

@Kazs216,

Obama wants to redistribute the wealth, and I'm all for that. The only ones I hear calling it socialist are either those that don't like the man because of his skin color or those in the over $250,000.00 a year bracket that don't want to pay a more significant proportion of their money in taxes to help us poor folks out.



Heavens to Murgatoids.

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BTFeather55 said:
@Kazs216,

Obama wants to redistribute the wealth, and I'm all for that. The only ones I hear calling it socialist are either those that don't like the man because of his skin color or those in the over $250,000.00 a year bracket that don't want to pay a more significant proportion of their money in taxes to help us poor folks out.

After all, after Robert Mugabe redistributed the wealth Zimbabwe became the shining example for all countries to follow ...

Anyways, on this topic I received a good email today:

Now back to some BARSTOOL Economics 101.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until on day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

Folks, that's your BARSTOOL Economics. I offer you this because in recent days you have heard a lot of empty nonsense about how if tax rates can be hiked on the rich money, more money will trickle down from the heavens for the rest of us. You have heard a lot of nonsense about how corporate taxes should not come down because that would only be assisting the rich. The reason I have no use - intellectually speaking - for Jack Layton's economics is because unlike BARSTOOL economics, his numbers don't add up. He and the Liberals sometimes lean in this direction especially in these times of high anxiety; they lean in the direction of wanting you to think that if only the government punishes the top two earners on those bar stools, Man Number Ten and Man Number Nine, it will be good for the other eight.



BTFeather55 said:
@Kazs216,

Obama wants to redistribute the wealth, and I'm all for that. The only ones I hear calling it socialist are either those that don't like the man because of his skin color or those in the over $250,000.00 a year bracket that don't want to pay a more significant proportion of their money in taxes to help us poor folks out.


That's good.  Fight logic and facts presented in a well thought out way with broad generalzations, slander and ignorance.

Good show.



How the have nots can really even up society:

 



Heavens to Murgatoids.

Oh wow, I hate that email so much. But then, I never read Atlas Shrugged.



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"Also if you'd notice. Obama is trying to pass a law that caps how much money someone can donate to charity and get deductions. He wants to stop people from donating to charity because he'd rather the government have that money. He's actually basically stealing from charities."

Lol wut, not true. First, source plz. Second, not getting deductions for giving isn't the same as being FORBIDDEN from giving.



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My advice to fanboys: Brag about stuff that's true, not about stuff that's false. Predict stuff that's likely, not stuff that's unlikely. You will be happier, and we will be happier.

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Final-Fan said:
"Also if you'd notice. Obama is trying to pass a law that caps how much money someone can donate to charity and get deductions. He wants to stop people from donating to charity because he'd rather the government have that money. He's actually basically stealing from charities."

Lol wut, not true. First, source plz. Second, not getting deductions for giving isn't the same as being FORBIDDEN from giving.

That's exactly what i said.... and you've never heard of this?

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is urging the Obama Administration to reconsider its proposal to cap the rate that high-income taxpayers can claim for charitable deductions.

"This proposal will have a devastating effect on nonprofits by removing a prime source of funding for our missions at a time when we are already grappling with severely reduced financial resources," wrote AJC Executive Director David A. Harris in a letter to Peter R. Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
"The Administration should not strike an ill-considered blow at private philanthropy that would undermine charities already buffeted by the economic crisis," said Harris.


The implication is obvious.  By hurting charity donations the government gets more money. 


Nope, hadn't heard. My news exposure is ... irregular.

Now that I've enlightened myself, I want to make sure we're on the same page: it would cap the percentage of the money saved on the deductions (at $280 per $1000 as opposed to currently up to $350 per $1000), not a cap like "no donations past $1 million are deductible" as I had presumed based on what you said. I'm not sure if you thought it was something else, or just wrote it wrong, or possibly you'll be able to convince me that I misinterpreted you.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123621392108135233.html

And I seriously, seriously doubt this was proposed with the GOAL of taking money away from charities, which seems to be what you are saying. That would only be a probable side effect, admittedly a side effect that I think the administration should not risk. (And I think I'd oppose this even if it wouldn't affect giving, on principle.)



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My advice to fanboys: Brag about stuff that's true, not about stuff that's false. Predict stuff that's likely, not stuff that's unlikely. You will be happier, and we will be happier.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Sen. Pat Moynihan
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personally I say a spoonful of socialism helps the capitalism go down



 

Predictions:Sales of Wii Fit will surpass the combined sales of the Grand Theft Auto franchiseLifetime sales of Wii will surpass the combined sales of the entire Playstation family of consoles by 12/31/2015 Wii hardware sales will surpass the total hardware sales of the PS2 by 12/31/2010 Wii will have 50% marketshare or more by the end of 2008 (I was wrong!!  It was a little over 48% only)Wii will surpass 45 Million in lifetime sales by the end of 2008 (I was wrong!!  Nintendo Financials showed it fell slightly short of 45 million shipped by end of 2008)Wii will surpass 80 Million in lifetime sales by the end of 2009 (I was wrong!! Wii didn't even get to 70 Million)

P.S. The same WSJ article refers to an estimate that charitable giving would drop by 2.1% due to this if it were put in place.



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My advice to fanboys: Brag about stuff that's true, not about stuff that's false. Predict stuff that's likely, not stuff that's unlikely. You will be happier, and we will be happier.

"Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Sen. Pat Moynihan
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The old smileys: ; - ) : - ) : - ( : - P : - D : - # ( c ) ( k ) ( y ) If anyone knows the shortcut for , let me know!
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