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Hey Long Island....Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?
The hallmark of the Republicans has been corporate freedom and personal resposibility.
The hallmark of the Democrats has been personal freedom and corporate responsibility.
Is it working???
I look around on LI and it seems the Middle Class has been abadoned.
Everythings up threefold but wages.
People are mortgaged to the death and being taxed right out of their homes.
Our streets are overrun with undocumented migrant workers, gangs and drugs....what happened?
We pay our police a 120k, school superintendants 250k, then scream when we get the bill.
Why?
I am not better off now than I was eight years ago.
(The only folks I know who are better off are living off of dividend income and own their homes outright)
I was born and raised here on L.I..I have come to HATE it here.English has become a second language, half the houses on my block have been rented to illegals, and all the bleeding heart libs that "just wanna get along and move them out of the shadows" are living in incorporated NIMBY neighborhoods where they don't have to deal with the problems of illegal immigration.I'm not long for this island.Currently trying to sell my house in this impossible market and getting out.
I am much better off, but there is a reason why. Eight years ago I was a single mother trying to survive on 1/4 of what I live on now. Being a single person on this island-especially with a child(ren) is damn near impossible.
Now that I'm married, I still work full time & my DH makes a decent living. We also chose to buy LOW instead of high & we do everything we can to conserve energy & keep our overhead that we control low. I just greived our taxes & won.
Maybe married couple were better off eight years ago, I know I could have paid $129,000 for my eight years ago, that sure would have been nice.
I'm all for a consolidation of school districts & elimination of more than half the superintendant salaries. I'm also in favor of changing the insane "unused sick time" policy that cops have allowing them to take 100k+ at retirement plus their pension.
I'd like to eliminate town governments too.
And I'm especially ready for our illegals to start paying their share of taxes & health care.
We sure need a change, I'm not sure the "party" really has anything to do with it. They are all in bed with eachother & its a mess.
I am much better off, but there is a reason why. Eight years ago I was a single mother trying to survive on 1/4 of what I live on now. Being a single person on this island-especially with a child(ren) is damn near impossible.
Now that I'm married, I still work full time & my DH makes a decent living. We also chose to buy LOW instead of high & we do everything we can to conserve energy & keep our overhead that we control low. I just greived our taxes & won.
Maybe married couple were better off eight years ago, I know I could have paid $129,000 for my eight years ago, that sure would have been nice.
I'm all for a consolidation of school districts & elimination of more than half the superintendant salaries. I'm also in favor of changing the insane "unused sick time" policy that cops have allowing them to take 100k+ at retirement plus their pension.
I'd like to eliminate town governments too.
And I'm especially ready for our illegals to start paying their share of taxes & health care.
We sure need a change, I'm not sure the "party" really has anything to do with it. They are all in bed with eachother & its a mess.
Awesome Kelly.
I guess I shouldve asked are we better off now(as an Island) then we were eight years ago.
Has our quality of life on LI improved?
Your right both parties suck.
One thinks we should water the tree from its leaves....the other from its roots...yet somehow, some way, the tree still manages to suffer.
Hey Long Island....Are you better off now than you were eight years ago?
The hallmark of the Republicans has been corporate freedom and personal resposibility.
The hallmark of the Democrats has been personal freedom and corporate responsibility.
Is it working???
I look around on LI and it seems the Middle Class has been abadoned.
Everythings up threefold but wages.
People are mortgaged to the death and being taxed right out of their homes.
Our streets are overrun with undocumented migrant workers, gangs and drugs....what happened?
We pay our police a 120k, school superintendants 250k, then scream when we get the bill.
Why?
I am not better off now than I was eight years ago.
(The only folks I know who are better off are living off of dividend income and own their homes outright)
How's things by you?
C
I am better off than I was 8 years ago, mostly because I moved here. I used to live in an area where people complained about taxes so much they got rid of them. In doing so, they heaped all the tax burden on municipalities in the form of property taxes. Now, the property taxes have become burdensome that housing has slowed to a sputter.
Now that I live here, I don't worry that the schools will be bad places for my son. I don't worry that the schools are so ovecrowded that mischievous students go undisciplined. I don't worry that the too few cops won't catch people breaking and entering when I call them only to get a private answering service. Nope, I don't live in Florida any longer.
This idea that the middle class has been abandoned is an important idea, but it hardly lands on the government for over-taxing people. It falls on business for not improving pay. According to census figures, median incomes nationally haven't budged (when controlled for inflation) since 1970. That's since Nixon and the other free market reformists took control. Yet, the blame gets heaped on state and local governments for the tax burden? This is silly.
The entire thread barely warrants a response because it is entirely supported by "common sense" conjecture, the likes of which you encounter when you listen to Savage or O'Reilly.
Everything has gone up threefold but wages? Since when? Seems like an important thing to include here. And what has increased? Statistics show food is cheaper when controlled for inflation than it was a generation ago. Gas is expensive, but that was a public choice to embrace automobiles instead of public transportation. Home costs have gone up, but you can only blame that on demand. Heck, taxes actually play a role in keeping demand low, suppressing home market demand. Thus, we should praise taxes (keeping homes affordable while providing world-class quality of life).
People are mortgaged to death, largely because they purchased silly mortgage products. We know that nationally that is the case. Three quarters of foreclosures nationally between now and 2009 are believed to be a result of ARMs locking at higher rates. Moreover, people bought more house than they could afford. Mortgages never, by the way, go up in relation to one's income. Because of inflation, mortgages decrease vis a vis incomes every year. So, mortgages inherently decrease.
In the same breath one slams the cost of living, illegal immigrants are slammed for, well, being here - despite the ill-logic; these people make your cost of living decline. That has been demonstrated. Would you buy a $5.00 apple?
Gangs and drugs existed a generation ago. How much worse are they now? Actually, over a generation, violent crime has declined significantly. And if one doesn't like gangs, the best way to exacerbate that problem is to take money away from the so-called exorbitantly paid teachers and superintendents.
If you complain about the incomes of public servants, than insist that their incomes decline. Soon, you find only the rich can serve in government. I think that people, provided they are accountable, deserve good salaries.
When I get the bill, I don't complain. I pay it, and am happy I'm here for another year. Things are tight for me too! I'm not tapping this in on my Blackberry in my Mercedes. I live on a modest income, with a spouse who stays home. We are just very frugal.
I am better off than I was 8 years ago, mostly because I moved here. I used to live in an area where people complained about taxes so much they got rid of them. In doing so, they heaped all the tax burden on municipalities in the form of property taxes. Now, the property taxes have become burdensome that housing has slowed to a sputter.
Now that I live here, I don't worry that the schools will be bad places for my son. I don't worry that the schools are so ovecrowded that mischievous students go undisciplined. I don't worry that the too few cops won't catch people breaking and entering when I call them only to get a private answering service. Nope, I don't live in Florida any longer.
This idea that the middle class has been abandoned is an important idea, but it hardly lands on the government for over-taxing people. It falls on business for not improving pay. According to census figures, median incomes nationally haven't budged (when controlled for inflation) since 1970. That's since Nixon and the other free market reformists took control. Yet, the blame gets heaped on state and local governments for the tax burden? This is silly.
The entire thread barely warrants a response because it is entirely supported by "common sense" conjecture, the likes of which you encounter when you listen to Savage or O'Reilly.
Everything has gone up threefold but wages? Since when? Seems like an important thing to include here. And what has increased? Statistics show food is cheaper when controlled for inflation than it was a generation ago. Gas is expensive, but that was a public choice to embrace automobiles instead of public transportation. Home costs have gone up, but you can only blame that on demand. Heck, taxes actually play a role in keeping demand low, suppressing home market demand. Thus, we should praise taxes (keeping homes affordable while providing world-class quality of life).
People are mortgaged to death, largely because they purchased silly mortgage products. We know that nationally that is the case. Three quarters of foreclosures nationally between now and 2009 are believed to be a result of ARMs locking at higher rates. Moreover, people bought more house than they could afford. Mortgages never, by the way, go up in relation to one's income. Because of inflation, mortgages decrease vis a vis incomes every year. So, mortgages inherently decrease.
In the same breath one slams the cost of living, illegal immigrants are slammed for, well, being here - despite the ill-logic; these people make your cost of living decline. That has been demonstrated. Would you buy a $5.00 apple?
Gangs and drugs existed a generation ago. How much worse are they now? Actually, over a generation, violent crime has declined significantly. And if one doesn't like gangs, the best way to exacerbate that problem is to take money away from the so-called exorbitantly paid teachers and superintendents.
If you complain about the incomes of public servants, than insist that their incomes decline. Soon, you find only the rich can serve in government. I think that people, provided they are accountable, deserve good salaries.
When I get the bill, I don't complain. I pay it, and am happy I'm here for another year. Things are tight for me too! I'm not tapping this in on my Blackberry in my Mercedes. I live on a modest income, with a spouse who stays home. We are just very frugal.
Ill be more specific...energy and housing.
What would a decline in Superintendant salaries have to do with gangs and drugs?
Do you really believe we have accountability on LI?
What specifically did you do to correct your tax burden in Florida?
C
BTW I dont think we dont incude energy and food in our inflation metric....those are "little people" problems....right?
So, in otherwords, it's none of the items that have only dropped. You don't care about those. You only want us to focus on the ones that have increased. That is convenient for your argument. Only, when controlled for inflation, gasoline prices are where they were in the early '70s. Besides, did anyone predict in the 60s or 70s that gas prices would decline? Did you move closer to work to offset these predictable increases?
The cost of housing only goes up with demand. You can only control that by making this a bad place to live. Cut taxes and services and you will succeed.
"What would a decline in Superintendant salaries have to do with gangs and drugs?"
Look at the indirect relationship between support for school districts and crime. Washington DC has some of the highest crime rates in the country, and its per pupil expenditures are among the lowest. So, start paying the people who run our schools less, and you will get what you pay for.
"Do you really believe we have accountability on LI?"
First, I said, "as long as there is accountability" or something like it. I haven't been here long, but I do know that you all vote a lot and for a lot of positions. Accountability is a public responsibility. If your contributions end with the check that you write, then you are handing it over to a bunch of unobserved individuals. Attack the press, while you are at it (dismantle them like Murdoch is doing) and you deconstruct the only institution intended to keep a public eye on matters when you don't have time to do so yourself.
"What specifically did you do to correct your tax burden in Florida?"
I voted for Democrats each chance I could so that a progressive income tax would be institituted. It is the only fair way to operate. That's what I did. I also attended forums to discuss taxes and benefits throughout my county. I also gave heck to people standing by tables with signs that read "Cut our Taxes," and other naive drivel like it.
I don't know the meaning of your postscript. I don't know exactly how inflation is gauged, but nationally incomes have been stable for nearly 40 years when inflation is factored in. And, despite that fact that homes cost more (leaving the poor poor Long Islanders with massive amounts of home equity), other services and goods are significantly cheaper.
NYNewbie, are you an educator or at least in that line of work? You appear very pro-education in your posts.
Also your point regarding DC and the link between per-pupil expenditures and crime would appear to be a direct relationship, not indirect as you indicated.
Are you suggesting that higher taxes directly equate to better support services? Because the lions share of tax increases during my ten plus years of ownership on Long Island went almost entirely to the school system. I didn't get better street cleaning or a greater police presence during that time, only well cared for teachers. Now, mind you, I'd rather pay the teachers $100k per year and the policemen $65k in terms of their impact on our lives. However I'm certain that those increases did nothing to enhance the Long Island experience.
So, in otherwords, it's none of the items that have only dropped. You don't care about those. You only want us to focus on the ones that have increased. That is convenient for your argument. Only, when controlled for inflation, gasoline prices are where they were in the early '70s. Besides, did anyone predict in the 60s or 70s that gas prices would decline? Did you move closer to work to offset these predictable increases?
The cost of housing only goes up with demand. You can only control that by making this a bad place to live. Cut taxes and services and you will succeed.
"What would a decline in Superintendant salaries have to do with gangs and drugs?"
Look at the indirect relationship between support for school districts and crime. Washington DC has some of the highest crime rates in the country, and its per pupil expenditures are among the lowest. So, start paying the people who run our schools less, and you will get what you pay for.
"Do you really believe we have accountability on LI?"
First, I said, "as long as there is accountability" or something like it. I haven't been here long, but I do know that you all vote a lot and for a lot of positions. Accountability is a public responsibility. If your contributions end with the check that you write, then you are handing it over to a bunch of unobserved individuals. Attack the press, while you are at it (dismantle them like Murdoch is doing) and you deconstruct the only institution intended to keep a public eye on matters when you don't have time to do so yourself.
"What specifically did you do to correct your tax burden in Florida?"
I voted for Democrats each chance I could so that a progressive income tax would be institituted. It is the only fair way to operate. That's what I did. I also attended forums to discuss taxes and benefits throughout my county. I also gave heck to people standing by tables with signs that read "Cut our Taxes," and other naive drivel like it.
I don't know the meaning of your postscript. I don't know exactly how inflation is gauged, but nationally incomes have been stable for nearly 40 years when inflation is factored in. And, despite that fact that homes cost more (leaving the poor poor Long Islanders with massive amounts of home equity), other services and goods are significantly cheaper.
Youre new here...arent you?
You sound very bitter....you'll fit right in.
; )
C
PS
Translation :The biggest bite out of the LI Middle class paycheck is Housing, Food and Energy.
NYNewbie, are you an educator or at least in that line of work? You appear very pro-education in your posts.
Also your point regarding DC and the link between per-pupil expenditures and crime would appear to be a direct relationship, not indirect as you indicated.
Are you suggesting that higher taxes directly equate to better support services? Because the lions share of tax increases during my ten plus years of ownership on Long Island went almost entirely to the school system. I didn't get better street cleaning or a greater police presence during that time, only well cared for teachers. Now, mind you, I'd rather pay the teachers $100k per year and the policemen $65k in terms of their impact on our lives. However I'm certain that those increases did nothing to enhance the Long Island experience.
Agreed Tarheel
I think we got it backasswards too.
I'm not too clear on how the salary of one person can combat crime so effectively but Im pretty sure we're gonna get an earful shortly.
C
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Loaded with conjecture
