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I'm not crying the blues. I sympathize with lower income families because as a child I was there. My wife and I are Greek immigrants, (rather she is immigrant stock). Our families came here with jack ****. We both grew up in Albany Park Chicago (look it up).
Are you suggesting that I should be happy that the government didn't take more from us?
No, I'm saying that you ought to be damn glad you have the wherewithal to live a comfortable life, and grateful that you have so many avenues open to you which are closed to those less prosperous.
It might be time to value and appreciate those skills.
The local deli clerk who gets your coffee and roll in the morning. You get a smile with that order.
The local fast food drive thru. They take your order, make suggestions, give you your total, and your order with a smile.
The person who cleans the public toilets you use. Perhaps the same person flips your burger. Who knows? I certainly appreciate a clean bathroom, especially when I travel.
The cashier at the grocery who listens to people blaming them for prices or a wrong price.
The person who folds the clothing strewn around the store. We do not like our stores messy, do we?
The kid putting gas in our cars, when it is freezing outside.
All valuable skills. Some one has to do those jobs. Yet we resent them for serving us with a smile.
Those are not valuable skills nor especially valuable jobs. Those jobs can be done by almost anyone. That doesn't mean the jobs are worthless. They are just worth less than other jobs that are harder to do.
Kid putting gas in our cars? Only in Oregon and New Jersey. The vast majority of Americans put gas in their cars without any help at all.
How much do you want to pay a person that folds clothes in the clothing store?
In his "State of the Union" speech to Congress (and to the American people, since it is always broadcast) I read that he is going to propose higher taxes on "high earners" in order to pay for "tax credits" for others. These "transfer payments" are also known as "wealth redistribution."
With the new Republican Congress, I predict: FAIL! Apparently Obama does not think these "high earners" are taxed enough. He really sees them as "cash cows" to be exploited; to be robbed of their hard earned money to reward the lazy, the 'slackers' who are already feeding off the wealth of others.
And don't bring up Social Security and those who receive it. Social Security is not funded by the government, but is paid for by American workers. In fact, the government owes Social Security millions of dollars (if not billions). And, the government continues to rob Social Security to add "benefits" that SS was never intended to provide (disability, for example), which is another reason why it is going broke.
It's time for a cut back in government spending. Why are tax increases always the solution that Democrats propose, and their ever increasing "programs" which are bankrupting our nation? Let's have some new ideas. How about we cut the size of government? Lets get rid of some of the "administrative agencies" and their worthless "studies" and thousands of "workers" who do not benefit society, but only feed on the largesse, the taxes that we pay.
I think we should end the "State of the Union" speech. There is no Constitutional requirement that the President give his "report" orally, and it isn't even a "report" anymore, but it is a Propaganda tool, another chance for the President to blame the opposing Party for the nations ills, and excuse himself from responsibility for anything. We don't need to hear it. Abolish it. Let him do as the Constitution requires, and make a written report.
I do not wish to speak for you. You own words speak volumes. How sad.
The plumber who can fix my leak, the doctor who can diagnose a rare disease in a loved one, the grocer who helps me feed my family, the car dealer who helps me get where I want to go, the store manager who makes sure I can feed and clothe my family...that's value. You can tell because society pays real money for these efforts.
$8 an hour work is worth $8 an hour. The employers of those you mention are offering the premier opportunity, the best available, for those workers. If the labor was worth a nickel more, those people would be working for that other employer who would pay more.
What is truly sad is that you would demean the efforts of those who have made themselves just a little more valuable to the rest of society, the $10 and $12 and $15 an hour workers, by pretending that $8 labor is really worth more. Pathetic.
The real rich will always have a way out so it's fruitless to go after them.
Money buys power and every Congress critter knows that. You don't bite the hand that feeds you.
$200K is middle class only Obama has redefined it to "rich".
They are going after the middle class..the upper end of it.
Obama is slick he knows none of his proposals have a snowballs chance in hell of passing but the spectacle of the republicans so determined to quash middle class taxcuts, free tuition, and calling for mass deportation by reversing his initiatives on immigration,spotlighting the new Congress war on social security, abortions banned and safety nets burnt
So is Obama an unqualified dolt or political mastermind....?
You right wingers need to make up your mind.
For years the right wing has accused him of raising taxes when he hadn't, and now when he intends to, you claim he doesn't really want to....
Those are not valuable skills nor especially valuable jobs. Those jobs can be done by almost anyone. That doesn't mean the jobs are worthless. They are just worth less than other jobs that are harder to do.
Kid putting gas in our cars? Only in Oregon and New Jersey. The vast majority of Americans put gas in their cars without any help at all.
How much do you want to pay a person that folds clothes in the clothing store?
I believe the minimum wage should be no less than $12.00 an hour. I like my toilet clean. I like to look at folded clothes.
The vast majority Disabled Americans do not pump their own gas. There are some days I willingly pay a few pennies more because of bitter cold.
What you are saying is YOU do not value these skills. I think they should be valued and appreciated.
You may not notice an immaculate bathroom, but you certainly notice a filthy one.
Uh, no we don't "resent" them. This is a very simple concept that people seem to have a suspiciously hard time grasping. I think it must be them being willfully ignorant, because I can't see so many people not understanding supply and demand being able to tie their own shoes, so it must be a conscious effort to put emotions before logic.
Only a few people can perform brain surgery. Approximately 6 billion people can hand you a cup of coffee and smile. Therefore the brain surgeon makes more money than the waitress.
That's all there is to it. It is not exploiting the poor. It is not selfishness. It is not devaluing people. It is supply and demand. The less there is of something, the more it is worth. Simple. As soon as the number of people capable of operating a cash register drops to the same number of people capable of successfully running a multinational conglomerate, then the cashier will be paid the same amount as the CEO.
We do not want to pay people a livable minimum wage. Why? Because we do not value what they supply to us. We resent them for wanting a livable minimum wage.
I do not value a waitress less than the brain surgeon.
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he knows none of his proposals have a snowballs chance in hell of passing but the spectacle of the republicans so determined to quash middle class taxcuts, free tuition, and calling for mass deportation by reversing his initiatives on immigration,spotlighting the new Congress war on social security, abortions banned and safety nets burnt
