Why is America
 

so damned cheap? All the pundits and so-called experts are moaning and groaning about 'entitlements'. Other nations look after their people and still manage to keep the national budget in-line. I have never heard the term 'entitlement' used in any of those countries that I have lived in or visited. People there simply take it for granted that these things need to be done. Yet here there is much wailing and weeping about the simple act of letting people pass their senior years in dignity, or getting decent healthcare.


All the billionaires need to realize that they can't take it with them. Leaving it to their kids is going to ruin their lives, look at all the heirs and heiresses that make the pages of the press these days, a truely sorry lot. So what has amassing so much at the expense of so many done for them. Start all the 'charities' that they will they must know that people hate their guts.

As the king said t'is a puzzlement.

I think it has a lot to do with American culture to be completely honest. Hell, one of the reasons the US revolted against the British was because they viewed their taxation as unfair. The Founding Fathers, that everyone seems to love to look back on with reverence, along with the nearly all of the politicians of the 19th century, collected nearly all tax revenue from tariffs, alcohol, and tobacco. Local governments were left to tax the people, mostly through property tax.

Many Americans are of the mindset that when they are paid for the work they do, that money is theirs. They do not want their tax dollars going towards a program that they do not agree with. Hence policy riders and whatnot.

I think the mindset of many Americans that the taking of tax money and using it towards government programs is too socialist or communist. And you old farts learned back in the 50s how everything should be done to resist those commie pinkos. This relates to your entitlement statement. I live in Europe currently and can't make up my mind as to what is better. Both places do things that I like and dislike.

I don't accept the premise of your question:

http://www.american.com/archive/2008...tion-of-givers

A follow question might be: what right does anyone have to lay a "moral claim" to the wealth or possessions of any other person?

Is that like "some people say" ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYA9ufivbDw
:p

I am quite sure that Rob is referring to nations taking care of their own. He certainly does not mention charitable organizations in his post.

Do you really think that since I have been paying FICA and the rest since 1970, which I have, that not only do I have no right to what was promised me for doing so, that I am actually stealing from some hedge fund manager if I do collect?
Wow.


Carl

I challenge you to point to anywhere on this forum where I've stated or even implied that. Do you really think that style of debate is effective? Wow.

I did start to watch the video clip. But when I saw some of the lightweights that were being featured, including Larry Johnson, I had to stop watching. And I'm not sure what the clip had to do with the title of the thread.

"Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932

Sometimes I get the feeling that the GOP wants something other than a civilized society.

The prefer subjugation to civilization.

BTW Finn, your gal disappointed me with the way she glossed over all of the riders in her comments on the budget bill.

Regards,

D-Ray

Oliver Wendell Holmes also said:"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man’s nose begins.". While he may have understood the nature of "death and taxes", he also understood that there we limits on the burdens that one man might choose to place on another.

I've posted above that we Americans expand a significant portion of our after tax income on charitable giving (as well as ranking extremely high in the amount of time spent in charitable endeavors). Combined with the amount of tax revenue spent on social programs or entitlements, does there ever get to be a point were we recognize, and view in an appropriate perspective, the extent to which we already support the world's less fortunate? This is not to suggest that our efforts should somehow plateau, but I was raised Catholic and thought that the priests and nuns could fling the guilt. They've got nothing on the sheer contempt and larceny in their heart that those on the left appear to have for those who have had success in life. And for those on the left that love to lecture the right about trying to "impose our values", how is the desire to use the tax code to play Robin Hood with someone else's earnings any different?

It would seem that I have some kind of Morton's Fork between subjugation by the captains of industry or the dolts inside the beltway? Oh, so many choices and so little time! ;)