Get Stoked's Political Blog; Republican Opinions.

[EmmitBrown]

Sonic, you CHOOSE whether to do well in school. You CHOOSE what field you go into. You CHOOSE your career. People CHOOSE to have children when they can't afford them. People CHOOSE to make sacrifices and risks to do well in business or otherwise...and they should be rewarded.


I don't understand the confusion.


and you're bringing up the percent again, why should it be a percentage?

when you bought your neon did you pay a percentage of your income for the neon? no, you paid a set price......why should a "tax" for living here be any different?


and stoked: if there's an issue it's on your end....i'm cool with your communist ass.

[Get Stoked]

Emmit, that's what would happen IF you had an average life. If you GOT to go to school you could choose to pass, if you had the resources to get a job you COULD choose to do well...

That's not always the situation Emmit, this is what republicans don't understand. Not everyone is fortunate and not everyone can dig themselves out of a hole...

[EmmitBrown]

i was born into and currently still have a less than average life (depending on your view of average) and still feel this way (it's my responsibility to change it, so i am)......unfortunately the situations we're born into we have to deal with....everything else is up to us.......survival of the fittest, man up

[Get Stoked]

Well, to each his own I guess.

It's not survival of the fittest in my opinion. I pay the government taxes, I am here in America as a tool for the draft if needed, I buy American products and damnit I deserve help when I need it.

I may have to quit school soon because I can't pay for it without sacrificing things I need to live like food, car insurance, or home... I need to be paid more or taxed less...

[SonicKaos]

Well I don't exactly agree with that either... Not everyone has the skills to be a doctor and get paid the big bucks, and if everyone could then they wouldn't get paid much because their talent would be easy to find. People are just born naturally good at a few things, and those things aren't always the biggest money makers in the world. I personally could never be a doctor for various reasons, and I don't think going to school for it would help.

That brings up another point though. Sure you CAN choose your field of interest in school, but you can only pursue it if you can afford it. After highschool ends, the cost of school goes up a ton. Some people can afford it, some people have to take out large loans to go through it, and others can't go at all because they have no money.

Also, location is important too. If you went to school for Television and you live in the middle of nowhere, there aren't going to be a lot of career oppertunities available for you. If you manage to make your way to the top position of a local company, you still won't be making a ton of money. Someone who was fortunate enough to be born near hollywood, New York or any other large city will be doing the same job but making a lot more money.

The percentages are important because it's the way to measure how much to take from each person... Say you make $500 a week at your job, and the government takes 15% of that. That's $75 a week out of your pocket that you may need to buy important commodaties. Say a somewhat rich person is making 2000 a week, and the government taxes them 10%, just because they make a lot of money. They lose $200 a week to the government, which seems like more money, but if they weren't being treated specially BECAUSE they have more money, they'd be losing $300 instead at 15%. Now you've got a rich man with $1800 to pay his bills and go have fun, while the poor man has only $425. Does the rich dude care much because he's missing 200 dollars? Probably not, because he's got more then enough to live a nice life... but the person who only has 425 could use that 25 bucks to buy gas to get to his job.

The car thing is pretty much exactly the same as my other comment though. You don't NEED a car to survive, but you do need shelter to live in. A person could live without a car (and I know plenty of people who live just fine without vehicles) and save about $400 a month not paying insurance or gas cost.

There are a few things you need to live: Food, water and shelter. Everything else is technically a bonus. Rich people can afford these and more easily, and the tax cut makes it even easier on them. People who struggle to afford such nessessities need to keep every cent they can hold on to, so to tax them more for being poor is stupid.

[Get Stoked]

For me, the closest gas station is about 7 miles away and the closest grocery store is about 5. I NEED a car for sure, I'm not skating on these one lane back roads at night, haha.

[EmmitBrown]

People aren't being taxed for being poor.....i'm all for equal or the rich receiving something a little less than equal.....i just don't see why they should have to pay an equal "percentage of income".....when that makes it sooo far out of balance it's ridiculous......income shouldn't come into it at all.......why should that matter?


Sonic, if you apply yourself you CAN do something that will earn you enough money.....you need money to survive in the current human environment, and.......like i said, survival of the fittest. Then, it's what you do with the money that separates you from the rest.

[Get Stoked]

Emmit, I understand what you're saying. I have come from having absolutely nothing... seriously, nothing at all.

I just opened a business with my girlfriend, having a house built (had to borrow money of course,) and am feeling pretty confident in my ability to make it. Now, say I get cancer or get paralyzed or something... my girlfriend and I are screwed for life...

Before you say anything, our mortgage will be cheaper than rent is anywhere around and we make about as much money in our business right now as we would working 50 hours a week at some random minimum wage-ish job. So, sacrifice we did not, we're actually decreasing how much we pay per month by taking risks... still, if something happens to one of us, there's no way for us to over come that without some type of help. Health Insuance... we can't afford it yet, the government should provide decent, affordable health care that's unbiased to lifestyles and current health...

That's all I'm saying for the night.

Thanks for the discussion, sure it will continue!

[EmmitBrown]

you ARE making sacrifices.....in the form of inadequate healthcare.....i too am making that sacrifice...........you could be set with health AND life insurance so you both are chillin, but you'd rather have the money upfront....me too, i'm better with it than the government.......just because you're making sacrifices doesn't mean you should be making any certain sum of money.....that is contingent on your business savvy.....and btw, you have a 2002 subaru forrester, that costs money......perhaps it is more car than you can afford if you do not have health insurance......

[switchFooTexas]

Without knowing much about politics whatso ever, you can all disregard this statement hah.

I would vote for McCain if i could. I believe that if we end up going into World War 3 which i believe could happen at anytime, all it takes is one small event to trigger it, McCain would be the better leader. He said he will not let Iraq become another Vietnam, to me atleast, Obama just doesn't seem to have to the experience to lead our country through a time of war. We need a good strong leader, not "change" or whatever that will lead to.

Just my 2 cents without any facts hah

[SonicKaos]

Well, if the tax was just a certain amount everyone had to pay that'd be fine too, but it would have to be pretty low so that almost everyone could afford it. Percentages are pretty much just a way for the government to get more money out of people though, so a low amount from everyone would be like downgrading from where they're at now.

I'm not saying I can't do something that will make a lot of money though, because I know I can. I'm just saying that everyone has their talents that makes them more suited for specific jobs then others. I couldn't be a doctor because of my personality mainly, but I don't feel like I could withstand as much schooling as they need to learn about every type of sickness either. I used to want to be a programmer, but after going through some classes of it I realised that my brain just doesn't work that way. I suppose I could take a long time forcing myself to learn it, but I'm more of a creative type.

Survival of the fittest to me means that a lot of people would be screwed lol. Then again fitness and money smarts are quite different.

As for the war thing, i suppose that could technically happen at any time really. Iraq pretty much is already a Vietnam though, and I don't know how much of a war leader he could be considering he was in a POW camp for a lot of it lol.

[EmmitBrown]

but that's the thing......


survival of the fittest is referring to the most fit for the environment.....


so in this day and age, the fittest have money smarts.....if they do not, they are not the fittest......


and all career paths are definitely not all of the same difficulty, i just mean that in america everyone does have the opportunity....for some it's just harder depending on what situation you were born into and personal abilities and aptitudes.....(i don't have the personality to be a waiter, let alone a doctor)


all good though, i enjoy a nice brain poking session.....


but it's raining on the east coast......so now i go skate.ing

[Get Stoked]

This isn't survival of the fittest though.

Also, I think you guys need to be educated on Iraq a little more. Iraq does not and did not plan on having any weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein did not (nor did Iraq in any way) have ties to Al Qaeda. Osama Bin Laden is still alive and HE'S NOT in Iraq, haha. What's the reason we are in Iraq? Do you know? I sure as hell don't.

Why are we borrowing billions of dollars from China? Why are we spending 10 Billion dollars a month on Iraq when our own country is has areas that are trashed and crime filled?

Now, of course we're in Iraq already, so we can't just pull out but what the Republicans are doing in this racing is making their supporters think Obama/Bieden plans on just pulling out... that's not it at all. They have a set plan to fix it and get out by a certain date. We do not need to stay there until atleast 2015 like McCain says... if he does keep us there until 2015, there will be a draft and you better believe everyone who's 18 plus by then on this forum and lives in America will go to Iraq and risk theirs lives for a bullshit cause.

The Iraqi people want us OUT, that's a fact, you guys shoud listen to NPR more often, very unbiased and they actually interview Iraqis and stuff, not some suit-wearing political genius who gets paid to lie.

As for my Subaru, it was 6,000 dollars and I've had it for a few years now. It's much cheaper to buy a newish, reliable car than a junker that'll cost 6,000 to fix/replace over time.