FAIRNESS IN TAXES

[spider fan]

Obviously this issue is complicated. Government spending is too high. I will attempt to limit my comments to verifiable facts. This is a scatter shot that will touch on several topics. The current administration gave the United Auto Workers preferential treatment in the auto bailout and could have saved the taxpayers $26,5 billion if bankruptcy laws had been followed. On the health care issue unions again have received favorable status and will not be required to pay increased premiums. On the other hand TRICARE which is an earned health care benefit for military service and military retirees has been under attack by the administration in the way of trying to force increased premiums. Wisely the House of Representatives has failed to go along with this and Senator Webb as a lame duck has changed his position by voting in the Senate against such a proposal. On Food Stamps assets used to be part of the formula for qualification but that has changed dramatically under this administration causing the food stamps rolls to balloon. Our national debt has increased over 5 trillion under this administration which dwarfs the increase under any other one president.

 

[WebSpinner]

SF, thanks for that info, cannot discern some of the colors but there seems to be a lot of fingers in the Defense pie, state dept, dept of energy, homeland security, among others. i do know that since the berlin wall came down, numerous bases have been closed, and there have been actual cuts but have not seen similar cuts in other programs though there may have been. certainly the war on terror has skewed this and as some of our actions wind down, though the war on terror will go on forever, it seems, we should see a flatter graph. there is so much waste in defense, as well as other programs, medicare, social security, medicaid, fema, everything and that is why i don't want the govt to be involved in more things that will cost us dearly in waste, fraud, etc. that is why i say they just need to cut govt checks right now and then you don't have any fake stuff, it gets cut, no future cuts but cuts immediately, of course they will not do this but if we just get the fake cuts and talk, we will see us crushed and broke financially. our reps need to do something but doubt if they ever will, again, other than just talk and down the road cuts, which never materialize

 

[GKiller]

I interrupt this discussion from kiawah. could not resist b/c something we can agree on & fact that many of the kiawah vets are on this thread, coincidence or not I dont know. if any spiders read this & happen to be here lets go play ocean and see if we can break a hundo before the pga chamionship comes to town. I always see some richmond decals. sat next to a wahoo on the beach yesterday. if u come to kiawah you can't bag on the bottom 20. that will be my last comment for a bit, I chime in occasionally on OT boards whilst trying to avoid the landmines never been good at that tho.

 

[WebSpinner]

Killer, thanks for that and am glad you are there and do wish i was there, a fer piece from tejas. have my fingers crossed that a hurricane does not blow thru there before the PGA. aug on the island can be pretty warm and there are not many trees on that course, recommend wearing your bathing suit and walking, legally, over the dunes and into the atlantic to survive as a spectator. have a great time, hope the weather is good for you, my favorite beach in the world.

 

[WebSpinner]

well, the dems say they will go off the finacial cliff rather than cut spending without taxing the "so called" rich. hope we get to that because maybe that is what we need to happen to really get going. again, i have seen and know you have seen the raising of taxes, which does happen and the promise of cutting spending which never happens. we have to start with the problem first and the problem is not that the rich don't pay enough taxes, it is that we spend way too much money. we should cut spending first then talk about taxes. bet you some fried okra that we never get to the spending cuts but bet we do see tax increases, happens every time.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Last I heard Obama said the tax increases should only be for people making more than $250,000. Tim Kaine said they should only be for people making more than $500,000. I think Pelosi, fresh off her new riches on California real estate and asian investment deals, and Chuck Schumer say it should be for people making more than $1Million. Has there been a consensus reached on the magic number required to keep us from jumping over the cliff yet?

Also, Chuck Schumer told Ben Bernanke that he 'needed to get to work' today. LOL.

 

[WebSpinner]

if the dems get their way, and they typically do, they should have to show how many taxpayers would have their taxes increased, how much money it would raise and how much it would reduce our deficit. then we can all laugh at how stupid this really is. if they do not get their way, then we should force all rich dems to send in their money if they support these fools.

 

[WebSpinner]

just read an article by three economists from all sides of the issue and they say if you just let the bush tax cuts expire, in other words the great tax increase on the rich that "fairness" folks want and wish for, by 2015 it would raise $206 billion. that is nice and make some people feel all giddy that they can screw the rich, but we are spending $1.5 TRILLION more than we take in right now. does that solve any problem? so why do we want to do that when, again, it is a spending problem. get control of the spending first and foremost so we are not screwing our kids and grandkids for their futures and get over attempting to screw the rich because we just want to and make ourselves feel better, about something, i guess.

This post was edited on 7/17 9:49 PM by WebSpinner

 

[tarrantula]

GKiller...have a great time at that beautiful site.If you get to play the Ocean Course, I hope that we will get a detailed report. Since the Rider Cup of year's back and the Bagger Vance movie, I have dreamed of playing that course. Went down last year with a tee time in hand, then sat on the back porch of the club house at my assigned time and gazed whistfully at the 18th green as the rain came pouring down.

 

[WebSpinner]

T, you alway have sad stories....lol. that is pretty pathetic and sorry that happened to you. always go out to the ocean course to have lunch with the fam and typically, even in july eat outside on the veranda. should be fun to watch the PGA next month and they should have some great shots of the island and charleston. does anyone know why the PGA is played a lot in the south, remember shoal creek in alabama a couple of time, once in miami and now south carolina all in august, just kind of wondering, guess it is hot everywhere in that month but just seems they would go to the northeast or northwest. there may be only a couple of handfuls of courses to select from, just do not know the answer.

 

[URPike]

I played The Ocean course in May.....an absolutely spectacular golf course. On every hole, our caddies shared the tee locations and probable pin placements for the PGA. That course will be a bear if the wind blows. For those of you who haven't seen it, it is literally on the ocean. I don't believe it is more than 2 or 3 fairways wide at its widest - just runs up and back along the water. There are very few trees especially on the back 9. There are no cart paths, no houses on the course, no out of bounds and no sand traps - all sand is played as a waste bunker. After being bludgeoned by that course you can retire to the clubhouse and have a drink on the porch overlooking the dunes and the ocean. It is really, really special.

 

[spider fan]

Golf has to be more fun than thinking about taxes or the concepts of "fairness" or what is "right'. Scares me when people use those last two words I put in quotation marks. Usually the concept is only from an individual's perspective and doesn't take into account the concept others may have. Dick Tarrant was quoted as saying, "If life was fair there wouldn't be cancer victims, cerebral palsy wards, or war veterans." That is as good a defintion of the word "fair" that I have heard.

 

[WebSpinner]

the ocean course has been changed a lot since the Ryder Cup back in the early 90s, i believe, but still a great course. know that Bill Goodwin has spared no money in attempting to make Kiawah Island into a first rate golf destination and he truly loves this gem. really hope that everything comes off great for him in this deal, weather, the course, because know he worked so hard to get it to come to Kiawah.

 

[URPike]

Spinner - I agree with you completely and I can attest first hand that The Sanctuary/Ocean Course combo is extremely difficult to beat!

 

[WebSpinner]

Pike, did you stay at the Sanctuary? we always go in and have a drink, stay in a tennis villa nearby, but have not stayed there. it is a really plush and nice, boutique hotel. remember when i saw that Bill had purchased Kiawah out of the savings and loan debacle and i called him and told him that my biggest fear was going to the island one day and finding a 40 story marriott or hilton there and he told me that as long as he controlled it, would never see that and the Sanctuary just fits right into the entire Kiawah personality, a very special place.

 

[URPike]

I did stay there for 1 night. Unbelievable hotel and the nicest room I've ever had. Understated elegance executed perfectly.

 

[spider fan]

Golf and staying in Kiawah


It is fine to change the thread, but it is probably helpful to change the heading also.

 

[WebSpinner]

Re: Golf and staying in Kiawah

getting back to taxes, an inspector just released more exciting news that a dept within the GSA spent over $260,000 on a one day awards conf at a marriott in VA, including over $20,000 on chicken drumsticks. we are spending so much more than we take in and have been for a long, long time and we have enough fraud and waste without this kind of thing. sure drop in the bucket but still this is one little dept and if all or a lot of the other little depts are doing this kind of thing, it does add up. this happened in 2010 but just being released. the bottom line to me is, why do we want to turn over more power, more or OUR money, to this type of entity? also the reason i say, we can find lots of cuts in this fat hog.