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I started subscribing to their online paper last month. I had a trial version and really enjoyed it. I subscribe to the NYTimes also, but now I hardly read it - the Post is more interesting.
The subscription is 9 dollars a month - I used to buy lots of magazines, but now just stick to these two newspapers. The NYtimes is 14.99. I do get a couple of free subscriptions every now and then that I pass on to family members. Very tempted to just drop the NYTimes.
The NY Times is the nation's fish-wrap of record. The WaPo is better used to line parakeet cages.
Yes, I agree! The article seemed to present it as "desperation" though.
The author of the article and the paper in which it is written have an agenda, and it is clearly expressed in the article. The article is not about Truth with a capital T; it is about promoting an agenda for the government to step in and do something. Even the labor economist cited has separately been criticized for promoting the end of 401Ks because she wants to replace it with a system of generous mandatory federal pensions.
They need to take a deep breath and write on whiteboard 300 times: "It is NOT the job of the Federal Government to take care of me."
My youngest brother is 48 and he lives from paycheck to paycheck and has absolutely no assets. When I asked him how he planned to retire his answer was death or disability. Pretty sad. He would have had four years of college fully paid for but chose to drop out of high school. Now, he has nothing. And nothing to look forward to.
Three facts, not at all unrelated to each other. Sorry you have to watch your brother "crash and burn", but, he set himself on that course, quite different from your own situation.
Dropping out of high school is like having "stupid" tattooed on your forehead. It makes getting a decent job and getting ahead financially almost impossible.
This story which has been circulating the internet for years sums it up nicely (no attribution possible I’m afraid).
It’s all about social acceptance of a tax system, being able to run a decent government with acceptable services, and give-and-take — within reason. Tax the highest contributors too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore (move their money abroad). Here goes the story:
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Once a week, 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.
And the tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every week and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until, one day, the owner caused them a little problem. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your weekly beer by $20." Drinks for the ten men would 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 not only would the first four men still be drinking for free but the fifth and sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fairer to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage. They decided to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
And so, the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (a 100% saving).
The sixth man now paid $2 instead of $3 (a 33% saving).
The seventh man now paid $5 instead of $7 (a 28% saving).
The eighth man now paid $9 instead of $12 (a 25% saving).
The ninth man now paid $14 instead of $18 (a 22% saving).
And the tenth man now paid $49 instead of $59 (a 16% saving).
Each of the last six was better off than before with the first four continuing to drink for free.
But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got $1 out of the $20 saving," 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 $1 too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back, when I only got $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison, "we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and forcibly confiscated his $10 of tax savings, because he was rich and didn't need it.
The next week the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their 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 to pay for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy and they just might not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
For those who understand, no explanation is needed.
For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
The author of the article and the paper in which it is written have an agenda, and it is clearly expressed in the article. The article is not about Truth with a capital T; it is about promoting an agenda for the government to step in and do something. Even the labor economist cited has separately been criticized for promoting the end of 401Ks because she wants to replace it with a system of generous mandatory federal pensions.
They need to take a deep breath and write on whiteboard 300 times: "It is NOT the job of the Federal Government to take care of me."
True dat. These people are right out of Atlas Shrugged, and not the heroes of that novel either. These bad ideas have not got any better by aging since the 50's.
The author of the article and the paper in which it is written have an agenda, and it is clearly expressed in the article. The article is not about Truth with a capital T; it is about promoting an agenda for the government to step in and do something. Even the labor economist cited has separately been criticized for promoting the end of 401Ks because she wants to replace it with a system of generous mandatory federal pensions.
They need to take a deep breath and write on whiteboard 300 times: "It is NOT the job of the Federal Government to take care of me."
The government doesn't just support social programs, in case you've forgotten. What about the things that keep us ALL safe? What do you think would have happened if Ebola had gotten loose in Texas, with no CDC or state epidemiologists to catch it? What about forest fires? How would you like to volunteer to fight those because we have nobody to do that? What about hospitals, police, the FDA, OSHA, the people who keep our water clean?
That's right, you get taken care of by our government just like everyone else does and if our government can't take care of us, then why should they take care of you in any way? What makes you such a special butterfly?
And before you say anything, the people who use food stamps help keep our grocery stores open. The people who receive welfare almost all work - and anyone who works pays taxes, just like you. You aren't the only one giving to the government. Even in retirement, people in certain states still pay taxes. And in most of the states, they pay taxes every time they buy something that isn't food. I was on food stamps, and every time I bought soap, paper towels, toilet paper, or kleenex, I paid taxes.
So you people who think you're the only ones supporting everyone else, pull your heads out of your butts. If you think people receiving welfare and food stamps are the only ones being supported by the government, its time to take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Our government supports everybody with a variety of programs, and you benefit from them as much as any person on welfare benefits from that.
The government doesn't just support social programs, in case you've forgotten. What about the things that keep us ALL safe? What do you think would have happened if Ebola had gotten loose in Texas, with no CDC or state epidemiologists to catch it? What about forest fires? How would you like to volunteer to fight those because we have nobody to do that? What about hospitals, police, the FDA, OSHA, the people who keep our water clean?
That's right, you get taken care of by our government just like everyone else does and if our government can't take care of us, then why should they take care of you in any way? What makes you such a special butterfly?
And before you say anything, the people who use food stamps help keep our grocery stores open. The people who receive welfare almost all work - and anyone who works pays taxes, just like you. You aren't the only one giving to the government. Even in retirement, people in certain states still pay taxes. And in most of the states, they pay taxes every time they buy something that isn't food. I was on food stamps, and every time I bought soap, paper towels, toilet paper, or kleenex, I paid taxes.
So you people who think you're the only ones supporting everyone else, pull your heads out of your butts. If you think people receiving welfare and food stamps are the only ones being supported by the government, its time to take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Our government supports everybody with a variety of programs, and you benefit from them as much as any person on welfare benefits from that.
And the government subsidizes farmers, wheat, corn, sugar, rice.
Cotton, soybeans.. So if you buy anything made with these products, you are eating and being clothed partly off the government.
The government doesn't just support social programs, in case you've forgotten. What about the things that keep us ALL safe? What do you think would have happened if Ebola had gotten loose in Texas, with no CDC or state epidemiologists to catch it? What about forest fires? How would you like to volunteer to fight those because we have nobody to do that? What about hospitals, police, the FDA, OSHA, the people who keep our water clean?
The U.S. CDC did almost nothing, at the outset of the Ebola crisis, because they were too busy siphoning off dollars that were supposed to go towards monitoring and reacting to emergent threats, for politically motivated projects. Much of the early fight was carried by others.
Hospitals, historically, were created and run by Jewish and Christian organizations, and did a better job for less money, before the U.S. Government got involved.
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That's right, you get taken care of by our government just like everyone else does and if our government can't take care of us, then why should they take care of you in any way? What makes you such a special butterfly?
I worked for the U.S. Government for many years. They have a specific role, assigned to them by the Constitution. Much of what they do today is outside of that assigned role, and causes nothing by problems.
Quote:
And before you say anything, the people who use food stamps help keep our grocery stores open. The people who receive welfare almost all work - and anyone who works pays taxes, just like you. You aren't the only one giving to the government. Even in retirement, people in certain states still pay taxes. And in most of the states, they pay taxes every time they buy something that isn't food. I was on food stamps, and every time I bought soap, paper towels, toilet paper, or kleenex, I paid taxes.
People who use food stamps do NOT help keep our grocery stores open. The people who pay for those food stamps are doing that. People who receive welfare do NOT almost all work, else it would not be called welfare. Retirement is a different matter.
Quote:
So you people who think you're the only ones supporting everyone else, pull your heads out of your butts. If you think people receiving welfare and food stamps are the only ones being supported by the government, its time to take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Our government supports everybody with a variety of programs, and you benefit from them as much as any person on welfare benefits from that.
We are all in this together.
Some carry more than their fair share.
And some do not.
They are the ones who keep asking the Government to do things.
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