Does everyone in America have a fair shot?
Posted at 5:00 AM on January 25, 2012
by Eric Ringham
(47 Comments)
Filed under: Economy, Politics/Government
In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama spoke of a United States in which the many can share in economic growth, the middle class is supported and everyone gets "a fair shot." Today's Question: Does everyone in America have a fair shot?
Comments (47)
No, every one does not have a fair-i assume you mean equal-shot in America. There are so many factors that go into success that it is difficult to list all that can go wrong to decrease your chances.
Drug abuse, poor schools, lower IQ, lack of parental guidance, abuse in any form.
Having a few elite rip you and the world off, causing great heartache to millions, all for their own greed.
However, we need to remember that nothing, nowhere at no time has been fair.
America provides a solid base to be able to succeed, better than many.
The choices a person makes does make a lot of difference and if you feel you are not considered as important as anyone, then you are causing a lot of it for yourself.-no matter what others have done or do.
Not even close!
No.
Despite the Jefferson statement:
"all men are created equal.."
A statement that all people are not born inherently superior, but it does not state the environment your are born into.
People born with those well off are given a leg up that is near impossible, not impossible, and a statement in cheating in life. When you are born already to a family of mean, you are already ahead in the race....
And people have a random element in them, that some do have gifts, but many many of them are never discovered as their lives turn to the worse or unfairly never allowed to achieve their craft.
Tesla, Einstein, Newton, and pretty much every genius we all know of came not from the rich, but more meager humble beginnings. There are countless more who NEVER come to the light of the public.
And hard working was the other tool that helped level the field. When you dedicate 20-30 years then have a Mitt Romney outsource your job, raid your retirement fund, and then takes the money for his off shore bank... I am sorry that part of American life is a lie now.
And the Occupy Movement is all about this lie.
Didn't your mother ever tell you that life isn't fair?
Historically, fair shots were limited to white males only, and usually they had to come from modest to wealthy families in order to do that. Now, this is important, do to the growth of certain industries, civil and regulatory law changes, and important discoveries, fair shots have come and gone, particularlly during periods of economic growth. The problem now is less people are required on a lot of jobs; and the people that have a lot of money have begun paying people less wages and paying less taxes in order to make more money. We're becoming the limited opportunity country Europe was when German, Scots, Irish, and some English settlers were when they started coming to America in 1600, 1700 and 1800s.
I love the math that gets trotted out for the Chevy volt. so if 7000 volts gets sold in the 1st year, we get ~250,000$/volt. If the volt follows the same year-to-year sales %increases that the Prius had (which sold a measly 5600 its first year in the US), we get a whopping $6,000/volt after 5 years and $1680 /volt after 10 years of sales. People called the Prius a dud when it came out, and I think that, as cheesy as it sounds, we are talking about a pretty good RIO for the various gov't involved.
Well I'll never ever be able to enlighten you Gary, you've hopped upon the right wing unicorn and won't ever let go no matter what anyone says.
No business owner is not hiring because of Obamacare. They are not hiring because no one is buying what they make, sell, what ever. If Obamacare is their excuse, their doomed to fail anyway since they haven't a clue what they are doing. You only hire because you need an employee, that's the ONLY reason. Anything else is a lie. And short term jobs are better then no jobs. All those short term paychecks will be immediately spend, on things the business owners make and sell. See how this economy thing really works? As long as the Mitt Romney's of the world are hording money in the Cayman Islands, things will never start moving forward.
As for regulation, see where a loosening of it got us? I suggest you pick up non-partisan book on the causes of the great depression and bone up a little. Then look for similarities in our current predicament. Neither were cause by over regulation. Far from it.
If you really believe the Bush tax cuts were a good thing, why haven't they worked yet. It's only been 10 years. Time to look for a different path. Would you voluntarily take a pay cut, then years later worry about trying to make your budget work? That's putting the cart before the horse. Didn't really matter to Mr Bush, he was out of there before the chickens came home to roost. Just ONCE I would like to hear someone say "oops my bad" on that one. Until then stop bitching about the deficit, you have no right. An unpaid for medicare drug extension, two unpaid for wars, two unpaid for tax cuts, and the single biggest transfer of wealth from the have-nots to the haves in the history of the world, and you expect the president to turn things around in a day with an obstructionist congress and a bunch of dubious lies to contend with? Lies to dupe the likes of you into voting a particular way, nothing more. Get real. But hey you got the big government boogie man to blame, another Bush era product by the way....
And I am currently shopping for a Ford Taurus.
Because like their commercials 20+ years ago, they say "Ford has a better idea".
Temporary construction jobs are just that, temporary.
We need to make a business climate that will make private companies want to invest in new property, plant, and equipment in the long run.
Right now, business is afraid to take risks with their money because of the unknown effects of Obamacare, and an administration hell bent on more regulations, and more taxes.
Sure, go ahead and tax the rich, just don't expect the private sector to get any better.
If the rich won't work, they we better punish them even harder. It works in Cuba, right?
The U.S. has a legal framework which allows for choices. The problem facing Americans resides with those who choose not to make wise decisions, regardless of ethnicity or economic status, and pull others down. My desire is for those who choose not to educate themselves to do their fair share. For those who choose a life of crime to do their fair share. For those who do not recognize the imporatance of a two parent family to do their fair share. For those who know about American Idol, the Superbowl or the Academy Awards as opposed to the Constitution to do their fair share. If those who do not do their fair share make repeated errors, they should not look to those who attempt to do the right thing to support them. The dirtly little secret of a successful representative Republic is personal accountability.
Gary, I was not defending the volt, hell the only way I would buy any GM product was if it was free. My issue is with the partisanship inciting, fox news alternative reality, over simplification to dupe the public, posts that our semi-retarded friend joanie, kimMN, etc posts on a daily basis. After months of reading that trolls post I've had enough. Some of you people actually buy its BS.
FYI, if you really work in the construction business maybe you should support our president and his job bill that'll get some of your fellow construction people back to work. Like investing in alternative energy, investing in infrastructural will only make the nation stronger in the long run. Start reading things other in partisan red blogs, you'll learn a lot.
Not paying Fair share is a myth:
Tax Year 2009
Column 1 Percentiles Ranked by AGI, Column 2 AGI Threshold on Percentiles and Column 3 Percentage of Federal Personal Income Tax Paid
Top 1% $343,927 36.73
Top 5% $154,643 58.66
Top 10% $112,124 70.47
Top 25% $66,193 87.30
Top 50% $32,396 97.75
Bottom 50%
Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The reason the top 1% that pays less ( and we like to hate them for it) is because their taxable income is mostly from the Capital gains (long term 15% tax) from investing, i.e., they are risking their own money into companies hoping they will succeed and profit, and thus they add more jobs. The Romney type pay 15% on capital gains from investing others money.
In 2000 United States CEO compensation averaged 1,039 times the median wage paid in their corporations. So I would say that the regular working stiff and his family gets one fair shot, but his CEO's family gets 1,038 more fair shots.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/12/what-price-volt.php
Mellow out Mr Rocket. I think most of America knows the Volt is a dolt.
No one is buying them. An they are dangerous.
http://hotair.com/archives/2010/08/01/the-value-of-a-volt/
Wow Joanie, where do you get this stuff? You know when you totally make crap up like that, one can't find facts to dispute it. It's like trying to find facts that unicorns don't exist....
Do you just rant for the sake of seeing what your wrote/pasted in? Today's post is so asinine I can't even figure out what your point is. "Chevy Volt true cost to tax payers is at $234,000 per car" where did you pull that number out of? I have some ideas. You're posterior being #1, dividing the bailout cost by number of cars sold is #2. I'm at a loss.
And then there's your ridiculous tax statement. Pointless if my first thought, deluded my second. I would LOVE to see your tax return. Just how much can you make a year getting paid a nickel per post in public forums all day. I think you fall into that 52% below the poverty line then anyone who will ever have to worry about a 50% tax bracket...
Does everyone have a fair shot? How can they when special interest groups get favored?
The Chevy Volt true cost to tax payers is at $234,000 per car, all subsidized costs to GM including the $7800 tax break if you buy one at your neighbor's expense in added taxes.
How do we get a fair shot when the fed's NTSA delays for 6 months a public disclosure of the Volts crash rating and fire potential?
Saying we should raise taxes and redistribute wealth only divides more people and lowers a fair shot at success. Why should I start another business and hire another 50 people if I will be taxed at 50% while 52% of the country pays no income tax?
Does everyone have a fair shot? How can they when special interest groups get favored?
The Chevy Volt true cost to tax payers is at $234,000 per car, all subsidized costs to GM including the $7800 tax break if you buy one at your neighbor's expense in added taxes.
How do we get a fair shot when the fed's NTSA delays for 6 months a public disclosure of the Volts crash rating and fire potential?
Saying we should raise taxes and redistribute wealth only divides more people and lowers a fair shot at success. Why should I start another business and hire another 50 people if I will be taxed at 50% while 52% of the country pays no income tax?
No, get used to it.
Work hard and do your best.
Don’t expect the Gubment to hand you “your fair share”
∑
DTOM
"This prerequisite is especially hard for people not inheriting talent, ambition or wealth, and it is also hard for people who feel shame when competing with fellow man."
PB, it has been my observation over a period of about the past ten years,(post 911, there abouts) it's rigged and meant for members only; aka those who submit and look the other way when corruption rears her ugly head. The real 'talentless' are kin to Jobs and therefore guarenteed the dignity and respect and a position in society of their fellow kin while the remaining bow and serve those lame.
That said, if your coworkers begin to appear to resemble each other, it is because our local employed society has become quite relative.
There is no shame felt in competition just more of a desire to work with others for the common good than a desire to create class ranking.
"This prerequisite is especially hard for people not inheriting talent, ambition or wealth, and it is also hard for people who feel shame when competing with fellow man."
PB, it has been my observation over a period of about the past ten years,(post 911, there abouts) it's rigged and meant for members only; aka those who submit and look the other way when corruption rears her ugly head. The real 'talentless' are kin to Jobs and therefore guarenteed the dignity and respect and a position in society of their fellow kin while the remaining bow and serve those lame.
That said, if your coworkers begin to appear to resemble each other, it is because our local employed society has become quite relative.
There is no shame felt in competition just more of a desire to work with others for the common good than a desire to create class ranking.
"This prerequisite is especially hard for people not inheriting talent, ambition or wealth, and it is also hard for people who feel shame when competing with fellow man."
PB, it has been my observation over a period of about the past ten years,(post 911, there abouts) it's rigged and meant for members only; aka those who submit and look the other way when corruption rears her ugly head. The real 'talentless' are kin to Jobs and therefore guarenteed the dignity and respect and a position in society of their fellow kin while the remaining bow and serve those lame.
That said, if your coworkers begin to appear to resemble each other, it is because our local employed society has become quite relative.
There is no shame felt in competition just more of a desire to work with others for the common good than a desire to create class ranking.
We are becoming trained and enslaved by standards of busyness set by people with the talent and ambition to sanction busyness as a laudable prerequisite to receiving our basic needs (food, shelter, healthcare, relaxation). This prerequisite is especially hard for people not inheriting talent, ambition or wealth, and it is also hard for people who feel shame when competing with fellow man.
Are more jobs needed because we believe the species must compete with one another? Species optimization is not a sport. People needing competition, prestige and busyness to feel satisfied would be ethical not to force their need onto others.
"Posted by Jessica E | January 25, 2012 9:46 AM "
Let the mockery begin:
Holy, Holy, Holy Jessica
Goddess of power and might...
Your anonymity and martyrdom are an inspiration to we who worship fruits of the easy chair and lap top.
Today's Question: Does everyone in America have a fair shot?
No. Infact, the nation-wide panopticon and use of the internet as communication has widened the doorway to the practice of black-balling, exclusion and forced poverty, too BEE more freely, and more sublty, accessible without popular notice.
If you think for a moment you still live in a free county, think again. Think about the recent laws passed and actions made such as the gifting of money to banks in the form of no interest loans, the lack of taxing for the 1%-(corporations), National Defense Authorization Act and other schemes such as SOPA.
To the question:
57%, is the number I would focus on.
The other number, 2025.
When Rev Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. first challenged us to raise graduation rates among the black population, the graduation rate was 57%. In 2025, white kids will no longer make up the majority in this country, a representative democracy that requires an educated electorate. Yet, graduation rates among blacks and hispanics is STILL 57%. Who is going to represent his community/state on a 8th grade education?
So, do all parents have employment/income (which translates into a SECURE lifestyle) that allows them the ability to give their children a fighting chance - i.e. "a fair shot"???
"If you save for your children's education, you get no aid. If you spent your money, you get more free money."
Only if you count student loans as free money. But that's a good point about perverse incentives, Lance. That's why I think we should consider it our collective responsibility (i.e., an appropriate role for the government) to provide our young people as much useful education as they are capable of achieving.
James, you say "Get to work." Well, a job or hard work does not translate to an income. I work hard from 3pm-8am cooking, cleaning, educating, nursing, managing, coordinating, mending, policing, and creating a future for this country, yet I receive nothing monatary for my efforts. Often, I am excluded from society because of the responsibilities I have, and it is the number one reason why there are no citizens like me serving as a Representative in our government. In fact, because of my work, others in my line of work and my self are much more likely to be in poverty.
Not only do I work for zero recognition/payment from 3pm-8am, I also work from 9-3 a few weekdays AND I work 8 hour shifts on the weekends. I work every damn day, James! What do I get for it? Work smarter? How so? Because of my other job, I am only available 9-3, M-F, and Sat and Sun. EXCEPT during June, July, and August. I am unreliable, especially when it comes to Mondays (national holidays) and during flu season. Sometimes I get a call from my other job, and I just have to walk out. There are days when I show up to work on 3 hours of sleep, and I don't have healthcare, so when I get sick, I stay that way for weeks. Who wants to hire me for more than $10 an hour??? I am extremely smart, well-spoken, and talented. Aren't you just jumping at the bit, James?
Dear Sal E,
If you think everyone can put food on the table and raise their kids as functioning members of society, then you are simply out of touch with the poor. Have you been to a homeless shelter? Have you read the reports about people having to move in with friends/family/roommates. I don't want to offend you with this information, but I do want to ask that you would get involved with actual people who are making poverty wages (or have not been able to get a job in their field because this is the worst economy since the Great Depression). You seem to be a functioning adult in this economic chrisis. Please consider volunteering to make meals at a shelter. The same people show up and we need replacements.
Please consider that your comments are not accurate, nor do they reflect the reality for many in this state. Did you know that 70% of kids in St Paul live in families who's incomes are so low they qualify for free or reduced lunch. For the state as a whole, over 35% of families are in that position, which means that more than one in four families are not putting food on the table.
http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/27134.html
I used to think so, but over the last decade for me personally every step forward ends up being two steps backwards. The game is rigged. When someone who has never had to work and live on minimum wage calls people who are struggling freeloaders, it's very insulting and makes my blood boil.
You buy a house, an affordable house at the time, and a couple years later watch the value plummet by more then 50%, losing your down payment and trapping you there, the american dream becomes a prison sentence. When the bank holding the mortgage takes billions in bail out money, after causing your homes depreciation due so unscrupulous actions, and you get laid off and have to take a much lower paying job, and have to commute over 100 miles further because you can't sell your underwater home, and that bank refuses to renegotiate the mortgage terms until every last penny of your savings is gone and the credit card you have with them is maxed you discover just how greedy your fellow man is. That bank then only lowers the interest rate a fraction of a percent and extended the terms of the mortgage back to 30 years trapping you even longer, they tell you to be grateful. It makes you pissed you tried to "do the right thing" and ”meet your obligations”. They tell you it’s the right thing to do, but they would never do it themselves. Who are the freeloaders?
When Clinton signed the repeal of Glass-Steagall he signed the death warrant of the american dream. The banks and the rich are the freeloaders. They offer nothing to the people and the system that allowed them to gain their wealth. All they do is take our tax money and loan it back to us at a profit. As those that achieved the american dream grasp for even more wealth by outsourcing jobs to third world countries, destroying the tax base that built the infrastructure that made them rich, robbing schools and literally taking the food out of poor kids mouths so they can gain a little more, and then call us working chumps freeloaders and say that we need to work even harder, it’s insulting to say the least. Those who never worked full time in a factory while going to trade school, who never swung a hammer, set a brick, poured a single cubic yard of concrete, every build a single tangible thing, but go out of their way to destroy the american dream for those that do in the name of short term profit, they have no right to say anything but thank you and I’m sorry. They have an obligation to make the same sacrifices that we do, to keep the american dream alive for every American. But instead they take over those companies that do build, slash and burn them to the ground to extract the most profit in the short term, and then hide that profit in off shore accounts. And they have the audacity to say if I vote for them they’ll restore the american dream for me? I for one have opened my eyes and see them for who they are. The american dream is dead, but it had a good run I guess.
In no way does Everyone, have a fair shot. Slice and dice "fair shot" any way you want, it comes out the same. Some Americans are given special advantages, while many are denied fair opportunities because to their appearance, gender, religion, place of birth, and the education they can obtain.
Congress, in its infinite wisdom. has passed laws that benefit a very small segment of the population at the expense of rest of us.
It is congress that has tilted the playing field and it is congress that needs to level it.
I was amused by Boner's, sorry Boehner's, expressions last night.
We've tried so hard to level the playing field that I get punished for my responsible behaviors.
If you save for your children's education, you get no aid. If you spent your money, you get more free money.
If you save for your own retirement so you have some independent retirement income, you currently get taxed on Social Security, and by the time I retire, it will be means tested, so again, if you spent instead of saved, you'll get more free money.
If you bought a house that you had no business buying because it was much more than you could afford, we'll let you out of the mortgage or pay for it to be refinanced to a lower payment - more free money.
We're rewarding bad behavior by subsidizing it.
I know there are people with legitimate needs for these programs, but there are far more people with their hands out than there should be.
Where do you think the free money is coming from? We have a $15 Trillion national debt - you'd have get $1,000,000 from 15,000,000 people to pay that off.
A fair shot? No.
A shot? Yes, I suppose any one person can be a rags to riches story.
However we can't all be the business tycoon, great inventor, sports hero, or movie star. We will always need the vast majority of the people in our society to be doing less spectacular, unglamorous jobs. We need to make sure the vast masses of average poeple are able to provide their families a decent standard of living. The shot an average person has at doing that has been steadily decreasing as real wages and job security decrease.
We live in a world where many jobs can be sent to developing countries where people will work for less. Our jobs are dependent on business owners deciding whether making a decent living with American workers is good enough when they could become really wealthy with foreign workers.
No, and when ordinary people ignorantly parrot lines about "socialism" and "anti-capitalism" when others call for fairness, when the rich demonstrably pay a smaller share of their income than the middle class, it's unlikely to get better.
"A fair shot" at what? When it comes to contentment, happiness, personal fulfillment, friendships, good family relationships, and other things that really matter, America's economic system puts both the poorest and richest at a distinct disadvantage. The poorest have to put so much time and effort into subsisting that they have a hard time cultivating those other things. The richest, laboring under the delusion that wealth is tantamount to well-being, are never satisfied with what they have and live in perpetual worry about losing it, so that they are constantly at risk of becoming possessed by their possessions. America needs to realize that economic prosperity is not an end in itself.
No. Equality, economic or otherwise, is an American dream.
Reaching the top of the economic ladder from the bottom less and less possible.
If you are born the wrong color or in the wrong household or school district or place, your life is all but dictated to fail. That is our current American reality.
There are too many factors involved. I attended school in two towns. One spent a lot of money and the other didn't. The one that spent a lot of money and paid teachers well was a much worse school. Some teachers sat with their feet up on their desks most of the time. This was years ago. I hope things have changed.
Reporters have said that well educated people in the Arab spring countries can't find jobs. Are there going to be jobs for the US kids? I read that Germany is doing so well because it worked with companies to get people trained for the right jobs. They also negotiated with companies and unions to keep jobs in Germany.
No, not when property taxes fund local schools and wealth is concentrated in certain areas.
Fair shot. Yes, for sure. Does a fair shot mean a guarantee of results, no. Never has.
People are born with varying degrees of talents. People make good and bad life decisions. People work harder than others.
We now have a generation of kids that got an award just for participating and didn't keep score. Self esteem was given and not earned. They have been coddled growing up and don't have a good work ethic. They have been told they are a victim. We have been trying to make life risk free. The entitlement mentality has run rampant.
We have people risking their lives to come here for just those chances.
I sell to commercial building contractors. Almost all of them are owner-operators, who, started in the field as a tradesman, or as an estimator, or a draftsman, and worked their way to owner or partner. With today's economy, lots of laid off engineers, project managers, and tradesman have started up their own companies. It's not easy, some will make it and some will fail. There are no guarantees in life.
America is still the place where the person who turns the wrench or cooks the food has a chance to start their own business and take the chance to succeed.
The rest are falling into the dependent life of servant of the socialist state.
We've tried the capital gains taxed at 15% now and it hasn't helped the economy. Trickle down doesn't work when the upper layers are so absorbent. Capital gains should be taxed at least as heavily as money someone worked for.
It isn't just a question of how much money you start with, its a question of how much time your parents have to spend with you, to teach you and to watch over you, how well educated they are, what kind of educational schema they have, what kind of property tax base your public school has to draw on, what kind of higher education cultural expectations your parents have - have they ever applied to a college? Do they know what a campus visit is? Do they understand what a student loan is, how to fill out financial aid paperwork, what kind of time commitment college is, what priority they put your school work at, what grades they consider acceptable, or do they let you slide with excuses like "the teacher doesn't like me". There are a million little cultural and resource boosts that middle and upper class kids have going for them that lower class kids do not. It isn't that they need a Janitorial job Mr. Gingrich, they need upward bound and their parents need parenting classes from preschool through college just to help them understand what kind of support their kids need to succeed. It isn't that their parents aren't trying, aren't good, hardworking people, its that their culture and their expectations are fixed in the minimum wage hand to mouth existence that they know, where school has limited usefulness and you work hard because you don't have opportunities to work any other way. Even people who will stay in the world of the hourly wage would greatly benefit from things like home ec (so they don't have to pay premium for prepared foods and fast food) and financial literacy classes (how do you evaluate a car loan? A home loan? How do you know what kind of debt you can take on with your income? How do you balance a check book? What is a credit card? What are the dangers of a pay day loan? If you don't know these things, if you don't know how to figure them out, the world is a minefield.
No, not everyone has a fair shot, but most of us do.
Someone who is unhealthy or raised by parents who don't convey "success" values starts with a disadvantage. For the rest of us this is still the land of opportunity.
That is not to say it's easy. The world is extremely competitive. (Try getting into a great university.) And change is so rapid, that a good gig one year can be a lousy or non-existent gig the next year. (Talk to a real estate agent or mortgage broker.)
And that is not to say that some people start with significant advantages. (Parents with connections and enough money to make college affordable come to mind.)
But this is still a country where hard work, ingenuity and creativity breed success.
Quit complaining and get to work!
No, No, No! Most americans cannot even afford good education to lead to a good job. Even a good public education - before college. Many public schools are broke. (Chester Upland PA) Say what you want about big government, but state government cannot be trusted and when they are in control, only the wealthest areas will get money-for schools, infrastructure, housing...etc. The wealthy are in control, and if anyone thinks that electing a president who has a 20 million dollar income is the answer, they are nuts. The rich will get richer, and the rest of us will perish!
No. Never has been the case despite the feel-good rhetoric and flag waving.
Social mobility is greatly curtailed here because of pandering to and worship of the greedy.
For a time, there were leaders who were more serious about pursing that goal but the generation which followed them failed to continue toward that goal, instead becoming tools for those in the greed class (not the wealthy, but rather those who simply want to accumulate wealth and use it as a tool to accumulate more and keep others down - a sign that they really have little to offer themselves; there are plenty of those with wealth who do great things).
Still, we can turn it around - we have before.
"Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That's how it goes
Everybody knows" Leonard Cohen
Except, it appears, idiots and Republicans. But I repeat myself.
If your definition of a "fair shot" is everyone living in a MacMansion and jetting to weekend getaways, than the answer is "no." Neither our economy or our planet could sustain that. If your definition is everyone being able to have a table, put food on it and raise their children to be functioning members of society, then the answer is "yes."
It is extremely hard work to decide what a reasonably successful life would be, map out a route to get there and deal with the inevitable detours. We all need help - an education system that teaches us how to think, not merely recite facts; an medical model that gives us affordable preventative care; a political system that actually cares about those of us who can not make big donations; and heros who demonstrate that success is NOT conspicuous consumption and distain for others.
Life is unfair. Always has been, always will be. Everyone has "A" shot, not neccessarilly the same shot as the next person. Make the best of the particular shot you have and things will work out. Bitch about someone elses' and it probably wont get you very far. Except bitter. A lot of that on this site.
Obama is an economic illiterate. You could some up his socialistic approach as tax the rich, feed the poor, until the rich are not rich anymore. Yes I know the lyrics
Here we have europe in crisis over social spending that is not sustainable and BO wants to head in the same direction. Not a word last night on cutting spending.
Please let me know the whereabouts of moocher central, so I too can become educated in the art of feeloading.
This is the right question, and the answer is no. The American Dream has always been about the opportunity to succeed, not a guarantee of anything else. That dream requires a level playing field that we just don't have any more.
We should want people with imagination and initiative to be successful and well-rewarded for the hard work they do and the risks they take, but not by rigging the game. Even a cursory look at Mitt Romney's tax return -- and the way in which he and other high net worth individuals legally shelter their incomes from taxes -- demonstrates rules and loopholes that are not available to the typical American household earning $50k per year. We don't need equal benefits, but we do need equal treatment under the law.
Investors routinely re-balance their portfolios on a regular basis. We should do the same with our tax code, to be sure that the advantages of wealth are kept in check. Each generation should have the opportunity to succeed on its own merits.
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- Do you think Facebook is a passing fad?
- Will you be less likely to visit the Minnesota Zoo without its dolphins?
- Should authorities in the Twin Cities change the way they warn people about tornadoes?
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Your daily note for good music, news and pop culture. With attempted jokes.
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