Occupy Wall Street

[Water Warrior 2]

I have a theory that would make politicians tow the line for the taxpayer. I don't want to put it into writing because there might be a big black SUV circling the block waiting to run me down if I do.

[Gz Rider]

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[jonathan180iq]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

I have a theory that would make politicians tow the line for the taxpayer. I don't want to put it into writing because there might be a big black SUV circling the block waiting to run me down if I do.

Aw, C'mon! Let's hear it.

[Gz Rider]

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[music man]

Originally Posted by Gz Rider

How would that help? The money a congressman makes isn't enough to make you rich for life as described above. The money that I believe you are speaking of is not salary but maybe kick backs, campaign money or illegal payoffs. Cutting the salary just makes it more likely that the average honest person would not want the job.

The average congressman makes 169,000 per year. They have to maintain two households and can be fired every two years. Everyone is yelling in their ears all the time about what they want and why can't they get it. They have to deal with death threats and some get shot like Gabby Giffords. Would you be willing to stand in front of a crowd of thousands and express your veiws after those death threats have come in?

It ain't no picnic. For the most part, I have found those running our government to be honest hard working people who disagree with each other alot.

Why do they "have to maintain two households". They could commute back and forth to work on a subway or bus just like their constituents do, how much of a difference do you think that would make in their decision making processes if they had to come down and rub elbows with the working stiffs everyday and every night when they went to and from work. And you just made more of my point for me, How many people do you know that can "maintain two households", hell it takes every single penny me and my wife have to "maintain" one household.

And true their "salary" isn't all that huge, but consider that they don't really live off that salary, every plane ride they go on, every car ride they take (whether its personal business or congressional business) is paid for by you the taxpayer, not to mention they don't have to pay for the other things me and you have to pay for everyday, and on top of that, they get all the things you mentioned, Kick backs, campaign money that they line their pockets with, etc, etc.
Add to that the fact that if you are going to pay me 169,000 dollars a year and take care of virtually every single living expense I have including health care out the ying yang, I would call that Living very, very well indeed. And throw in a retirement package for my few years of service that would make your 401K buckle at the knees and I would stand in front of anyone and express my views and risk taking a bullet, because lets face it, how many congressmen and presidents have actually been shot, or even shot at, compared to how many have served in those offices, I will take those odds any day of the week, I promise you, me and you have an astronomically better chance of actually getting shot just checking our mail then any president or congressmen out there.


Saying that "cutting the salary would make it more likely that an honest person would not want the job" is ridiculous, so you think that if you owned a business, the more money you offered to fill a position, the more likely it is that person will be honest? Come on you can't be serious?

And yeah they can get fired every two years, you and me can get fired every second of everyday. Imagine if you got hired by a company and they signed a deal with you that you could promise to do all this work they wanted you to do, but once they hired you, you didnt really "have" to follow through with any of it and you would still have this great paying job for two solid years, and they would pay all of your expenses and health care and retirement to boot, you know how many jobs would never get accomplished if we all got deals like that when we got a job?

Some people may not agree, but in the great argument of the have's and the have not's the person described above is a have, and the average american citizen is a have not. How many ex-congressmen have you seen working construction, or slingin' burgers at Mcdonalds after they "retire", now compare that to how many 75-80 year old men and women you see working full time shifts at Wal-mart, long after they supposedly "retired".

Lets hear the members who are willing chime in on this one question, how many of you have anywhere near the income level or benefits package and perks packages described above.

So anytime the person who is deciding how you live and what laws you have to live by and what taxes you have to pay etc... lives WELL BEYOND the means of the VAST MAJORITY of the people he/she is deciding that for, then you are always going to have a very serious problem.

[mrlmd1]

Like I've said before, there should be term limits, like maybe to 4 or 6 years at most, no retirement benefits for life, the same health care everybody else gets (Medicare only), return to the world when you leave, thank you for your service, now goodbye. And you cannot be a lobbyist when your term is up.

[jonathan180iq]

I have to agree, here. 100%

Every time the issue of taxes on the wealthy are raised (and raised by people already in politics, mind you) people get all balled up a tissy and start yelling about punishing the wealthy or the lower class taking a free ride on the backs of hard-working Americans who have earned a better living or whatever....

How many of us actually even come close to $170,000 per year? They usually talk about raising them on people who make more than $250,000 per year and then they yell even louder. I haven't made that much money in a combined 6 years of work. (I don't remember my pay scales from jobs prior to that.) And while I don't know the demographics of this board as well as I probably should, I'll wager that everyone of you guys is about in the same boat as me, give or take $10K per year.

Do the math for yourself. How long would it take you to earn $250,000? Or Even $170,000 for that matter?

And is a progressive tax rate a punishment on the wealthy? Will an extra $8,000 off their bottom line really stymie economic growth and cause society as we know it to come crashing to a halt? No, it will not.

Raising taxes on those who are already fighting just to keep their heads above water will, however, result in some pretty massive uprisings. And while I know this is a conversation about Politicians and what not, let's talk about that group of politicians that want to institute a flat tax, because that would be more "fair".

If you make $250,000 per year and get taxed @ 10% across the board, you're looking at $25,000 per year in taxes paid. Pretty big number.
Let's say you're like everyone else, and you make around $35,000 per year. You'll be paying $3,500 per year. Very complicated math....
That looks pretty good on paper, except that the effective tax rate for the lower income earner was previously somewhere around 6% and they were already having problems affording life. The effective rate of the higher earner was previously around 26% and they were having no trouble at all.

So is it really "fair" to increase taxes on those who are struggling, while dramatically lowering taxes for those who have relatively no problem affording daily "necessities"? That's no more fair than a Politician speeding while on their way to a meeting in Congress and running over a pedestrian and having no responsibility whatsoever for the crime. It's no more fair than giving yourself a huge bonus as your company crumbles, only to have the government pay off your debt as long as you promise to do better next time and pay back some of that bailout money. It's no more fair than firing thousands of employees and closing hundreds of plants across the nation while you garner billions in profits and set record breaking 3rd quarter numbers.

When will it be our turn?

[Gz Rider]

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[Gz Rider]

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[Gz Rider]

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