The Big Day
In case you’ve been on a weeklong bender and are just coming around to reality: It’s Election Day! Every year our government permits us to come and choose who will rule us for the next 2-6 years. And your vote then gets bundled with those of your state, so it doesn’t really count for much, but hey, that’s republican democracy for you. Yay.
Anyway, if we didn’t do it, they would choose our rulers for us, and we can imagine how that might turn out, so there’s a modicum of redemption in the process.
So have you gone to vote yet? How was the experience? Any last minute arguments or diatribes to convince that solitary PBMer who still can’t decide?
Rulers? Kings? Queens? It wasn’t supposed to be that way - At present we have a Fascist Dictatorship
I began to wonder the other day, what the heck is going on here? I thought we were a representative democracy, where we elect representatives, who share a general point of view (aka Republican, Democrat, Libertarian and etc.) They should accept OUR input, but alas, what we seem to have is government, not from the people “up” but from the elected official and or candidate, “down.” Obama, McCain and the rest are not running on what the majority of Americans are concerned with (a democracy) but with platforms THEY have put together and then offer up under the disguise of their respective parties. Those that have the views closest to the majority, don’t even get honorable mention when the election is over and yet their platforms more resemble what most people (at least those Independents)
Obama and McCain have not said:
1. They would do away with the IRS and the income tax system, although most Americans favor a major change in this system.
2. Neither have said anything about forcing US based corporations to return their manufacturing to America. Let the Communist Chinese eat fish heads and rice……….or we will be.
3. They would do away with personal and real property taxes which often are reasons many Americans loose their homes. Property taxes do not demonstrate ones ability to pay them.
4. Both Obama and McCain are still saying “military options” are not off the table when it comes to Iran. Both favor the US military securing the 115 billion bbls and 112 trillion cu ft of natural gas for the good ole USA interests.
5. Neither favor cutting off foreign aid to Israel, even though they both must know the Israeli government uses the American Taxpayer dollars to construct computer FAB plants for American Corporations. 90% of Israeli exports are high tech and they mostly ALL are delivered to the USA. If your computer has an Intel Chip, it probably was made in Israel.
Both a talking about some kind of mythical tax breaks, economic stimulus and some medical plans, none of which have really been specific.
I would have thought with the advent of the internet, elected officials would have been more responsive - that is not so. Even though 75% of Americans want us to leave Iraq - we are still there - The present administration (and I fear the next) knows best.
The best thing about this election is Nov 5th
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I jsut want to point out some flaws with statment #1. You cannot do away with the income tax, althought I agree it needs to be overhauled. It is the means of government income and for societal income security (ie. transfer payments….welfare, SSI, unemployement). It is also used as a method to regulate recession (Keynesian Economics..too long to discuss here). If we are to have a government, we must have income tax, whatever method is used. If one day we move to the socialist ideal (because socialism is not a government….although government can have socialistic practices) then we do not need income tax, because there would be no government, if would be the collective of individuals contributing what they can and taking what they need. Perhaps one day we will realize this utopian society, but i feel, if ever, that the time is far away.
OilWarsDotCom Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:02 am
You CAN do away with income tax - What is wrong with you? We could insitutue a flat, national sales tax - No more forms, no more IRS, no more property tax - Sure it is far away, because people like you don’t have any ideas!
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
do have any idea how much a national sales tax would have to be? also, national sales taxes are recessive, as in it ends up taking much more from the poor than the rich. for example, a person making lets say 20k a year has to spend nearly all of their income on groceries, so they end up paying nearly all towards tax. however, a person with an icome of say, 100k would only need to spend a fifth of thier income on groceries.
this is why we have a progressive income tax.
a sales tax simply makes it harder for lower income families to live.
OilWarsDotCom Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
We wouldn’t tax food. Let’s try this. You don’t make much money, so you buy a used compact car. Suppose it costs $5,000 and the tax is 10% - That would be $500. Now if you made a ton of money and bought a luxury SUV for say $60,000 the tax would be $6000. With a flat national sales tax, everyone would pay the same amount based on the purchase price - You could control the amount of tax you give by your purchase price. No more IRS No more property districts - The cashier at the Wally Mart would become the tax collector. No more write offs, no more corporate games and rip offs. Don’t cha get it?
OilWarsDotCom Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Plank Number 1 and 2 of the Communist Manifesto
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
PROPERTY TAXES
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
THE IRS
I don’t like pretending NOT to be a communist
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
ok, that sounds wonderful, but the problem is that you shift all the paperwork to each “cashier” and business owner, adding more paperwork to the already overwhelmed business community. alos, just a note on plank 2, our income tax is FAR from heavy, we have one of the smallest, if not the smallest, oncome tax out of modern industrialised communities.
even with your car scenario, people spend on household goods other than food. what about diapers? silverware? cleaning products? clothing? even without counting food, lower income people spend a higher portion of thier income on houshold goods than higher incomes.
but lets keep with the car scenario
lets say a person making $20k buys a car for $5k, that is 25% of thier income, and the $500 is an additional 2.5%, ok, now a person making 1 million a year buys a 60K car, that is 6 percent, then the 6k is not even a percent, it is .6% of thier income.
now, this doesnt sound bad, but then think of this as well. if you make $100 a day, and you have to pay $10 on the things you buy to survive on, you have $90 of real income to purchase. If you make $5/day, and you have to pay out a dollar of that for your products, so you only have $4 to live on, you can’t get anything. Just because you do not make more money, does not mean that you work less hard (although in some cases major incomes can be made from hard work), or are uneducated, it usually means you were not given the same circumstances and others, such as in the case of inhereted wealth.
Big Brother Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Right on, Tessa and Scott! OilWars has no idea what he is talking about. Thanks so much for saving me the trouble of countering his rants.
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 10:19 am
your welcome, it amazes me how much people think they know without doing any research.
Scott the Trucker Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 12:22 am
The problem with flat tax is your 10% idea is under by about 30% to 50% we would have a sales tax of 40% to 60% to make up the difference of lost taxes.
EminemsRevenge Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
SENSIBLE SOLUTION…BUT since when did SENSE figure into government POLICY!!
John from Cleveland Reply:
November 6th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I am all for usage taxes to be increased or implemented. It is how Canada pays for it’s own health care system (GST & PST).
Sin taxes are popular… so increase those on cigarettes, liquor, and fast food.
The problem is that we are only looking at one half of the equation here… So instead of finding ways of paying for diabetes medication for obese children, let’s find a way from stopping them.
The biggest issues REALLY facing the populace:
1. Personal spending
2. Personal health
How many people I know and see buying a tv that is just 3 inches larger diagonally blowing $1500 just for the difference make me sick. And they plan on parking their fat ass in front of it to watch shows that were taped while they were watching other shows.
I know that it is almost cliche, but we ARE turning into the people from the movie WALL E
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 10:12 am
lol, too true john.
Wow, I thought I was depressed and negative about government!
Much of what you say is valid.
There is one bright spot in my mind though: At least if Obama wins our credibility throughout the world will go up over night.
I honestly believe this and think it is an important point.
Even if nothing else gets done we will gain back some respect.
Some, many, people believe what other countries think of us doesn’t matter. I disagree having visited numerous countries while in the military. They watch what we do unlike us ignoring them.
I can’t wait to see what the foreign news reports if Obama wins.
My wife actually teared up this morning on the way to work thinking about an Obama win.
No, I don’t expect miracles but I do know we’ll be able to hold our heads high.
HIT the SN and let’s rap the nite away
Praise the lord! We have a president that the world will respect!
It’ll be interesting to see how independents and moderates react to an Obama presidency. I think without a shadow of a doubt the Bush years have made a lot more people engaged and interested in Politics. Obama has capitalised on this. Will the American people remain engaged? Will they actually watch and follow the news, dig deeper into the issues? Will they take Obama to task when necessary?
This election has proved how horrifically polarized our nation is. A popular spread of only ~5% is miniscule.
The time for a third party is now. No one was truly 100% enamored with their candidate (except for the African American population).
Even in the battleground state of Ohio, I saw few stickers, banners, lawn signs, and buttons. All this does was tell me that we were once again voting for the lesser of two evils.
People, we all still have to go to work here. Do your best for you and those you love. If you are happy or not, life will go on.
We will be re-visiting this decision in two years when the mid-term election takes place. Will the Dems extend their lead in congress or will they slip up and a new Rep surge take place??? We will all see.
I, for one, am so elated that this is finally over.
First of all, let me say CONGRATS TO OBAMA!!!!! I sincerely hope he can improve the lives of us all, and give the world a new view of the US. Yesterday was miraculous, not just because we are one of the few countries in the world to elect a minority (other than white such as South Africa), but because of the citizen involement in record numbers. People stood in line for 3 hours and longer, strangers kept eachother company, and regardless of voter choice, even gave rides home. It is so beautiful to see the country join hands and take action, in whatever way they felt was best. I hope this is not the end, but only the beginning of the citizen of our country continuing what was started this election.
On other news, it saddens me to say that Proposition 8 in California passed. Gay marriage has now been banned in California. I offer my condolenses to those couples who are commited to eachother in every other way but through the contract of marraige. I believe it is wrong the way certain religous groups feel the need to try to destroy the love you share with another human being. I believe that love is never wrong, and you can’t help who you fall in love with.
I say that it is religous groups that are opposing gay marriage for several reasons, first of all, because it is true, and second of all, there is no other “valid” (in quotes…because I do not believe it to be valid….just like the justification for slavery was “validated” at one time through the bible) reason to oppose same-sex marraige. The only other reason that can be posed is propogation of the species, but that doesn’t work, because first of all, we already have a world over-population crises, and second, there are many opposite-sex couples who do not have children.
What if we do this, how about we disband everyone’s marraige and make them all civil unions, and make it only a church thing, idividual to each pastor. Lets see how that goes down with married same-sex couples. Lets see if they like that. I expect not, which poses the question, why should you have more rights simply because you happen to love someone of the opposite sex?
Also, marriage is actually not a religious matter. It started as a method of joining clans and accumulating wealth. The Christian order was not even involved in marriage until the 15th or 16th century, and even then was only for nobility. there we go, lets bring it back to the roots, how about only the rich can get married? If the religious is so set on preserving the “sanctity” of marriage, lets go back to then. I don’t expect that to go over well either.
Again, my congratulations to President Barrack Obama, and my condolenses to those adversly affected by the passing of Prop. 8.
OK - What will change?
No more IRS?
No more property taxes?
Institute a flat national sales tax to pay for ALL government?
No more starting wars to steal another nations resources?
Force American Corporations to leave China and return to the USA?
Passing laws so credit card companies can’t charge double digit interest rates?
Nooooooooooooooooooo, none of this is going to happen under Obama and none of this was going to happen under McCain!
Cheers
OilWarsDotCom
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I can give you a few things that can and most likeyly will change. Obama can re-sign the treaties between ourselves and other nations that Bush backed out of. Obama can re-sign some of the enivronmental and pollution objectives that Bush backed out of, and he can actually push the country towards those objectives. He can, and already has begun to, change the view the rest of the world holds of us. we can be put back into a position of respect we lost back in the 1970s, where we are considered a world good, and not just another schemeing nation trying to get power over the rest of the world.
Take some time to study the history of the US, even just of the past 50 years, and you will see how much can be changed in 4 years.
Well, Obama won.
Now, Pete, You can take Obama’s dick out of your mouth, go ahead and turn around and shove it up your ass.
You’re gonna be raped like the rest of us.
OilWarsDotCom Reply:
November 5th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Woooooooooooow that is pretty harsh on ole Pete. What can Obama do anyway? Bring back manufacturing, NO , Do away with the IRS - NO - But neither would mcinsane. I suspect we are screwed no matter who got elected since neither one of them said anything concrete.
Tessa from WV Reply:
November 7th, 2008 at 10:28 am
i just wonder why everyone hates the IRS so much.
Yes, I can see that you dont like the idea of some of your “hard earned money” being taken away, but I’m sure you love the paved roads, free education, fire houses, and police that come with it.
You cant get one without the other. and in order to get those things, since we are not a nation that just helps each other out, we must have a system to procure the funds for such things.
I do not consider the IRS bad guys, yes there are always people who will abuse a system, but I’m also sure there are many more people that commit tax fraud than there are IRS agents stealing money. I do not even consider the IRS a “necessary evil,” I consider it a necessary good. The flaw in the system is the human flaw, so unless you want only machines, you need to deal with it. The IRS provides jobs to many people, it provides a system of accountability for the nation, and it provides the funds for the services we all enjoy.
Nothing in life is free.
Mama Mary Reply:
November 8th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
While it is unlikely that you will see this comment from me since I just got back from a trip and haven’t been able to read this blog from several days ago, I feel compelled to make a comment of my own. Imagine how offensive I found your over-the-top disgusting remarks. If you are unhappy with the results of the election or with Pete’s support of Obama say so in a respectful way. It’s not just guys or liberal women who read this blog. I am Pete’s mother so I am not a prude but I find your comments totally unnecessary and repulsive.
steve, jasper Reply:
November 9th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
Mama Mary,
it’s sad but people feel anonymous when posting online and say things they never would face to face.
I have to check myself sometimes.
Don’t let them get to you.
Can you imagine the things Barack has received through email and blog posts?
Your son is doing good and many people will try to slur him just to feel important.
The same person will praise him five months from now if he criticizes Barack for a bad decision.
It really is all relative.
To only be able to express oneself by using vulgarity speaks to the person using it especially when it is directed personally at someone.
I’ve used the “f” word as an adjective myself too many times but you have a right to object to what was was said directly about your son.
Mama Mary Reply:
November 10th, 2008 at 8:21 am
Thanks for your support, Steve, for my comment and for Pete’s show. Honestly, I didn’t take offense that the comment was criticizing Pete but at the actual words. Being Pete’s mom means that I’m exposed to some vulgarity, but to honestly picture what the person was suggesting Pete do—totally unnecessary and over the top. I personally, don’t care for that kind of comment on the blog. Everyone else seems to be respecting others who read and write on it.