25th January 2004, 7:03 PM
A Black Falcon Wrote:And he actually believes it too. It's pretty scary.
You say there are conservative conspiracies to do the following:
1. Keep the poor poor.
2. Make the rich richer.
3. Keep Blacks, Mexicans, Indians, Orientals, Jews, Muslims, Gays, Lesbians, Buddhists, Hindus, Women, Hobbits, Elves, The French, and Cute Little Kittens safely subservient and destitute, so that they will pose no threat to some imaginary Rich White Christian Male oligarchy.
4. Pollute the environment as much as humanly possible, as if we were Captain Planet villians.
5. Conquer the world, one step at a time.
All in all, you have no right to speak about ridiculous conspracies.
Besides, if blacks, et. al., were financially stable and realized that there isn't nearly as much racism as liberals claim there is, they'd never vote Democratic.
Quote:The US overall has worse health care than pretty much the whole first world. We're way down on the list. Why? Because 40 million people have no coverage at all (not 40%, ASM...) and most of the rest don't have anything close to comprehensive coverage. National health care wouldn't be the best system ever but I'd take it over HMOs, no question... HMOs are awful if you ever are unlucky enough to actually need care. Slower? Maybe. But everyone would HAVE it, and would have a decent plan that might actually cover the things they need... in America today that just is not the case and that is why the Democrats are focusing so much on this issue.
It depends on the HMO really.
I'm not saying the existing system is perfect, it's hardly that. But nationalizing health care will be an economic catastrophe that we, and frankly, the world, cannot handle. Imagine how America's economy would suffer when taxes have to go up to 50%... 60%... 70%... just to pay for everyone to have bare-bones health coverage.
And again, the devastating effects such an idea would have on medical research would also, in the long run, make the plan save more lives short term, and cost lives long-term.It's not worth it.
Quote:Saying that the rich should be paying a lot higher percentage than everyone else and should not be getting tax cuts isn't hating them, it's saying that since they have the money they can afford to give a lot more and should give a lot more... corporations too. Corporate tax breaks shouldn't happen much.
I agree that corporations do not need tax breaks. But, I do not think people with more money deserve to have a higher percentage of it taken away from them. That boils down to punishment for having too much money.
Conversely, expecting the poor to at least attempt to become self-sufficient and not lounge on free government money until they drop dead isn't hating the poor either. It's saying that I expect people to be as industrious and hard-working as anyone else.
Quote:They have all kinds of links to articles that show how idiotic and evil this administration is on a wide variety of topics, especially the first one...
I don't care to see stupid lies from humorless rich white liberals. I want information on one specific topic.
Quote:But we were talking about pre-Civil Rights...That we were. And the right to vote for blacks was not created or birthed in the 1960s.
Quote:No, the translation is that I've given links before and it's never mattered and you are obviously not the type who will ever listen so what in the world would the point be? I think I've supported my case more than enough with evidence over the time we've been arguing these things...
You did ONCE, in all the times I've asked. The one time you did, I was able to successfully refute many of their broad claims. You wouldn't respond in kind.
You haven't supported your position with a single shred of evidence. It's "What I say is true, just because I say it is."
Quote:Very few people are rich. Most will not be joining them. And when you are rich you have money so can afford to give more in taxes. Making the poor and lower-middle pay an increasing share of the tax burden while the rich get massive cuts should be criminal...
I support the flat-tax rate. It's more fair than any other method could possibly be. Cuts and raises would be universal and based only on percentage of wealth.
So the rich can afford to give more in taxes. That doesn't in any way justify making them do so. They already pay a great deal of the taxes as it is. One billionaire pays several thousand times as much in taxes as the average joe.
Quote:Nope. Not with conservative tax cuts that barely cut anything for people below the top 5%.
Okay, you're obviously not on the same page. Again. That has nothing to do with what I said.
Quote:Few? I disagree. Tens of millions of people are far from "few"... especially when you consider both rural and urban poverty...
It is few, especially when you consider that most people in America are not poor. Simple.
Quote:No, most people are not able to begin. Not at all.
Yes they are. It's easier now in America than ever before in human history to raise your standard of living. There are more opportunities than people even fifty years ago could have dreamed of.
Quote:The government should not abandon people to poor, unhappy lives... yes some people cannot be helped or do things to themselves that are stupid but for most poor I wouldn't say that that's the case... if there were decent jobs they could get, they should, but those are rare, especially in an economy like this...
Jesus. What defines a decent job? It's not like they'd pick produce in a sweltering field all day. Working retail or other entry-level jobs are not the most fun, dignified jobs in the world, but they do pay well enough that in conjunction with a token amount of government support most poor people could live with some comfort and save money for whatever sort of investment they wish, be it financial investment, education, etc.
I just can't believe you think that because they wouldn't be able to get a $25K per year job right off the bat means they'd be better off not working at all. That is stupid. That is purely stupid.
Quote:Without welfare (and other programs like food stamps, subsidized housing, etc...) I am absolutely certain that the number of homeless in this country would be a lot higher.
And with a much more tightly-controlled and regulated welfare system, things would be infinitely better. Not to mention, less burdensome to taxpayers.
YOU CANNOT HIDE FOREVER
WE STAND AT THE DOOR
WE STAND AT THE DOOR