Prop 30: Southern California vs Texas

[CA renter]

[quote=citydweller]Imagine an ambitious person coming to the US from a foreign country. This person understands that in this country he is offered an incredible opportunity and infrastructure in which he can use his ambition to become very wealthy. He also understands and accepts the fact that once he becomes very successful in this country he will be required to pay large amounts of his wealth back into this system that allowed him to become so successful in the first place. I believe that most ambitious foreigners would jump at this chance. However, those of us born here take for granted the incredible opportunities that are available to us because of this “system”.

I am a gleeful taxpayer. I fantasize about the day when I am so financially successful that I have to pay tens of thousands of dollars in taxes. I feel sorry for the people who have reached that point and are still dissatisfied. They should just pause for a moment, take a deep breath and relax, and allow themselves a moment to appreciate how incredibly fortunate they are to have been born into this incredible country of opportunity.[/quote]

Very well said, citydweller.

[CA renter]

[quote=paramount][quote=citydweller][quote=paramount]
Show me where in the Constitution does it state that the federal gov’t can legally confiscate my property and give it to someone else?

Please excuse my “hippie granolaness” but I am not speaking from a legalistic, material, “rational” point of view. I am just trying to make the point from an appreciative, grateful, life is awesome point of view that if I ever reach a point in my life where I am paying tens of thousands of dollars in taxes each year, I will be counting my blessings and joyfully skipping through life, not being bitter and hiring lawyers and debating the legality of it all.[/quote]

Do you get that there is a connection between being able to achieve those blessings and gov’t confiscation of your property.

If our Founding Fathers had your attitude we’d still be British subjects. I enjoy life, but that doesn’t mean I go through life with my head in the sand.

For me personally, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness means being able to keep what I’ve worked for and not giving inordinate amounts of tax money to gov’t workers or supporting others parasitic lifestyle.[/quote]

For God’s sake, Paramount, quit being such a drama queen. If you think that everything you make comes about solely because of the work YOU do personally, then go do it in Mexico, Somalia, or any number of no-tax/low-tax countries. Let’s see how successful you are.

Oh wait, that’s right…it’s difficult being a government contractor in a country that doesn’t collect taxes! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

Yes, there is a direct connection between taxes and the ability to achieve the blessings mentioned in citydweller’s post. You’re incredibly naive and ignorant if you don’t understand that the social, legal, military, and physical infrastructure provided by the govt is DIRECTLY responsible for a person’s ability to become successful in this country.

Nobody is confiscating anything, and if you feel you’ll be better off in another state or country, stop whining and leave already.

[Hobie]

[quote=citydweller]…he is offered an incredible opportunity and infrastructure in which he can use his ambition to become very wealthy. [/quote]

You won’t get any argument over infrastructure. However, it is the social welfare programs that gets those same hard working people so disillusioned. They are working and making personal sacrifices while watching lazy people abuse EBT or WIC.

[spdrun]

How about defense contractors, their lobbying lapdogs, law enforcement, and the incarceration industry? THOSE are the real parasites.

[jstoesz]

Looks like in some states at least, some work pays better than others.

[jstoesz]

I started looking for stats on long term disability. I entered such a morass of depression, I knew I could not continue working for the day if I went down that path. On the bright side at least I can now qualify for long term disability on account of my depression.

bringing up infrastructure in the federal budget is a red herring.

where is infrastructure on this graph?

[spdrun]

Looks like the green (rotten?) slice of the pie can be cut by about half. Wish we could return to the sensible Carter-era attitudes about the military.

[Oni Koroshi]

[quote=spdrun]Looks like the green (rotten?) slice of the pie can be cut by about half. Wish we could return to the sensible Carter-era attitudes about the military.[/quote]

Not until people realize the defense budget isn’t about keeping us safe but a huge, inefficient jobs program that makes a select few very rich.

[an]

[quote=spdrun]Looks like the green (rotten?) slice of the pie can be cut by about half. Wish we could return to the sensible Carter-era attitudes about the military.[/quote]
As many democrats loves to crow about government spending is what gave us the internet. That government spending was military spending.

[Ren]

[quote=bearishgurl]And if you haven’t already, you should check out C’oeur d’alene:

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&va=coeur+d%27alene
[/quote]

It’s beautiful and comfortable for about four months out of the year. One of my sisters owns a vacation rental in Wallace, which luckily is mostly shielded from the wind that hits Coeur d’Alene in the winter. It’s bitterly, painfully cold.

[jstoesz]

I think we can all agree that those who are for reducing the size of the federal government are not talking about building less roads.

I am guessing it has more to do with the other 98% of the federal budget that people are interested in cutting…

[bearishgurl]

[quote=Hobie][quote=citydweller]…he is offered an incredible opportunity and infrastructure in which he can use his ambition to become very wealthy. [/quote]

You won’t get any argument over infrastructure. However, it is the social welfare programs that gets those same hard working people so disillusioned. They are working and making personal sacrifices while watching lazy people abuse EBT or WIC.[/quote]

Hobie, CA local governments are 100% subsidized with transfer payments from the Dept of Agriculture for all EBT, WIC and school lunch benefits they dispense. These programs are available in all 50 states and are NOT exclusive to CA.

They have nothing to do with CA’s state or local budgets.

[spdrun]

As many democrats loves to crow about government spending is what gave us the internet. That government spending was military spending.

I could live without the Internet – not convinced that it actually makes society that much better off. This being said, the Internet was originally a military network. This doesn’t mean that the technology used in it was only developed for military purposes. Military spending may have given a boost, but we would have got here eventually.

And I’m not a “Democrat” nor do I vote any party’s ticket straight up without research.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=jstoesz]I started looking for stats on long term disability. I entered such a morass of depression, I knew I could not continue working for the day if I went down that path. On the bright side at least I can now qualify for long term disability on account of my depression….[/quote]

jstoesz, sounds like “Seasonal Affective Disorder” (SAD) has been getting the best of you.

Time to pack up and move back to Cali ;=]

[paramount]

If you look at the pie chart for projected spending, which of that is Constitutional?

[Author]

Posts