re: I've about had enough of sending the gubmint my money

Just for fun:

2016
Aid to Israel: $3.1B
Total welfare spending: $393B

We send roughly one day of welfare payments to Israel. I'm not defending our Israel aid. I think we should cut it (and aid to the PA). But they're not in the same ballpark as far as scope.

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2016
Aid to Israel: $3.1B
Total welfare spending: $393B

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:inb4corporatesubsidies:

In theory, the government would love it if most corporations didn't pay income tax. That would mean that a large chunk of their profits would be going towards salaries.

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The bottom 20% have a net negative federal liability.

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Those people shouldn't be allowed to vote in federal elections. No representation without taxation.

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Just for fun:

2016
Aid to Israel: $3.1B
Total welfare spending: $393B

We send roughly one day of welfare payments to Israel. I'm not defending our Israel aid. I think we should cut it (and aid to the PA). But they're not in the same ballpark as far as scope.

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The jab I made about it being kosher to question Israeli aid vs bashing the black guy for buying beer isn't totally represented by those numbers. The 393 billion consists of a lot of types of welfare, from health care on down the line.

I think food stamps are between 70 and 80 billion.

Still quite a large gap, yes.

I'd probably argue we spend a lot more than 3.1 billion in the name of Israeli interests, I think that figure is sort of the official direct payments, but regardless, whatevs.

As part of a full scope debate I'd probably argue that health care costs, as they relate to the welfare total, are astronomically higher than they should be due to the nightmarish complex created by the bureaucratic and corporatist model that runs the industry.

There's a lot to say on it. I don't think the figures you shared are as telling as it might appear at first glance. And of course, there's a whole lot more than Israeli aid to tag onto that side of the debate.

I like how you're using "corporatists" instead of "capitalists" now.





You're learning, grasshopper

I think a lot of people realize there is something wrong. What to do about it is a whole lot more difficult though. We were boned from the beginning, it is the political parties which are and were the problem. The "corporatists" are simply taking advantage of the situation presented to further their profits. Which is really their job anyway.

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Well, no one expects you to ameliorate your views. I certainly wasn't.

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The force is limited, my friend.

It's like the big guy in The Green Mile, so much power is needed to create magic, rest is needed on the backend.

I gave it to work today.

Presented with spaces -- in before I never unpack my views.

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This year sucked in terms of paying. And frick the self employment tax.



it sucks big fat purple hippopotamus dicks.

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How many of you get the privilege of paying a Federal Excise tax.

Now take your total sales for the year. Take 10% of that and send it to Uncle Sam. Hell, I do every singe quarter.

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That's why you start the business in a relatives name and pay yourself a salary plus a "bonus" at the end of the fiscal year. The bonus puts your company 1 dollar in the red for the year. your relative writes off loss on his/her taxes and you only pay the regular income tax since you're listed as being employed by your relative.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but even as an employee, the employer still has to pay the employer portion of the payroll taxes on your behalf, therefore you are still paying the "self employment penalty" because it still comes out of the same bucket. Make sense?