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Tim Geithner on The Privilege of Being An American
Last Friday Turbo Timmah sat down with CNBC's "chief economics correspondent" Steve Liesman. There were many pieces to this interview that were annoying (such as saying oil prices are the result of the economy getting better), but the line that should have gotten everyone's attention was this one:
"if you don't ask the most fortunate Americans to bear a slightly larger burden of the privilege of being American, then the only way to achieve fiscal sustainabilty is through unacceptably deep cuts"
Really Tim, for the privilege of being an American people who have achieved success can pay more in taxes? Excellent. There was once a guy named George who said the same type of stuff back in the 1770's.
Let's start with perhaps having the growing amount of Americans who aren't paying ANYTHING in Federal taxes pay something - anything. You know, in the name of "fair share" and all.
Then maybe let's get to work on actually CUTTING SPENDING at the Federal level. Although some enjoy saying Government spending isn't like a personal budget, there is no magic to this. If you have "x" in revenues, you can only spend "x" in expenses. Cash in / Cash out is a pretty easy concept in which you (contrary to popular belief) do not need a Phd to grasp.
The President's (and thus Timmah's) most recent budget proposal not only does not cut spending, but it actually ignores the mandated spending cuts put in place by the budget control act.
While we're on the privileges of being American, one of the biggest privileges is paying taxes to the Goverment so we can bail out the world (currently Greece) via the IMF.
The United States' quota is 17.7% of the total IMF yearly budget - by far the most by any country. As of the latest quarterly statement the IMF had ~137,645 million SDR's, or ~$215 billion dollars on hand (not enough advil to go look at how much has been lent out.
Let's take a moment & point out what Americans do on their OWN, without being forced, with their hard earned money. America is an incredibly charitable nation, not only to countries around the world, but for causes domestically as well. The following breakdown shows just how much people give (again, ON THEIR OWN) to people less fortunate. This 2006 chart shows Americans gave ~$222 Billion dollars (billions, with a B).
So before you lecture us about what we should do with our money for the "privilege" of being Americans, try balancing a budget, or cutting spending, or NOT BAILING OUT THE WORLD WITH OUR TAX DOLLARS. Then we can talk about how much extra you need to play your games, you pompous ass.
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Go forth and relieve some suffering: http://www.worldvision.org
Because Faith without works is dead.
Fuck you Timmah. Frickin thief. I aint Paying taxes to bail out bad bets of zombie banksters. Didnt in 08 and I aint gunna start. Shove it you pencil neck geek mofo.
America is privileged to have me as a citizen, you Wallstreet whore!
The desire of social engineers is to do as much as possible for people THEY define as "in need," taxing income and assets away from those they see as less deserving. It is part and parcel to the notion that they are the intellectual elite, and need to tell the rest of us how to live. They also maintain that all of our income is theirs to distribute as THEY see fit, and only they can determine how much of our income we should keep, since they created the environment that allowed us to prosper in the first place. It is authoritarian and elitist, but it is what they actually believe. Taxing higher earners and creating an indentured lower class beholden to them is only part of the plan, but make no mistake, it IS PART OF THE PLAN.
That is pretty fucking WRY, you dont see much WRY around these days, I like a bit of WRY now and then.
Are we going Anglo-Saxon now, ?
I will try to dig up some archaic, obsolete stuff too, without expressing my utter hatred and Not having the NSA start observing my activities for being an actual American whe says, fuck you!
FUCK YOU! I AM An American, USA, fuck them commies.
"Commie" is a brand. Whether they are from the right, left or middle they are still authoritarian nonetheless.
If you like, you can refer to me as "Disgusted Observer."
The really cool part is where they debase the currency so that they can guarantee an endless supply of poor people to help. Give with one hand while taking it away with the other. Evil, but very clever.
And we have a winner! BliptoP3 takes the game, set, and match.
See above post.... i in the bottom section of my post pointed out the very same thing (why have taxpayers no say over what taxes are used for).
You are right, of course, but I wasn't even talking about the application of the funds as much as I was the notion of the so called elite's self-annointed right to take them in the first place.
I totally agree with Tim.... let's tax the "exceptionally fortunate" the most..... let's start with those organizations, receiving the highest "income" of all.... with all the bailouts i wonder who those may be..... or are they not really "americans"? If not, why are they near-directly funded by taxes via inflation?
Is this like "make 100.000 and you pay taxes. Make a billion and you're exempt from taxes?"
And perhaps most importantly: Why do those paying tax have no say over what it is used for? Oh wait, let me guess.... because that would - contrary to "elective democracy" - actually give citizens a say in gov policies, by them controlling the funding?
This idea that people who pay no income tax could somehow be allowed to vote on how much to tax away from those who do is completely and utter fraud. If you do not pay income tax you are not qualified to vote. Not when it comes to taxing at least.
Btw I'm neither a bloody Wall St. banker nor a union thug. I'm just another guy working to get paid so you'd have to find a different angle other than "but you've got your income unfairly" to attack me.
Do I need a duplicate Drivers license? This shit is comical! Thank GOD I have triplicate birth certificates in a safe!
"The privilege of being American" is nothing more than the privilege of being ignorant. Of history, including our own history. Of economics. Of political control. The American prvilege is nothing more than the privilege of ignorance. In a society which takes care of you at the expense of everyone else, why should you care? If the society can afford it, then what does the history matter? ... until that affluence runs out. Then what?
from the PONZI KING himself. shameless coward
Translation: We fully intend to deliver whatever remaining wealth that America may possess into the hands of the oligarchs.
Bernanke and Timmy ... Looks like the Ace of Spades is getting a run for his money from the King of Hearts.
Franz the Schwanz.
Dear Timmy, Go fuck yourself with a hot poker you scumbag motherfucker. Hopefully you'll die real soon
uh, "privilege"? Privileges are granted and can thus be taken away. You need to know how your sworn enemy thinks, so now you know. This little cocksucker needs his nose bent.
The Privilege of Being An American
Somehow I'm not feelin' the privilege Timmay.
Let's expand on that thought, that firmly held belief, spoken from the heart, let's call it planet TimBenny, planet BenTimmeh, Planet Banquero,
A Privelige to be borne on the big rock Earth, just thank the master you were not born in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe or Athens, count your chickens and cow-tow.
You had the temerity to be borne in the USA? WTF were you thinking?
Tax up bitch, your local cop needs $75g a year, plus retirement and healthcare as do's your kid's teacher, that is "just out of school", the bill, EXPANDS.
This mutant race actually believe that this is how shit is going down?
Can anyone else look up Strong Delusion in the Bible?
END TIMES. BITCHEZ.
Every time I see that little weasel on TV I want to throw something. We are already paying dearly (most of us) for the privilege of being American thanks to the wanton spending habits of the political class and the myopic Keynsian economic policies of our central bankers. And now we are being lectured to by a tax cheat. Oh, the irony.
We need a 50% tax rate on individuals to support single payer healthcare.......What are we all going to do, let Americans die?....Or are we just going to let the deficit run wild? We have a bulge bracket coming into their prime healthcare spending years and it's easy to say I don't want to pay more taxes.....But, for those that say it, what are we willing to say as a nation: If you can't afford healthcare you die?
I got news for you: health care expenditure has little or nothing to do with good health. I usually see my Doc every decade or so, just to shoot the breeze. Its all genes and lifestyle as the 40% of our obese population will avere. If we simply paid people to walk 2 miles a day we'd have a healthier nation then could ever be achieved via fake treatments and drugs-single payer or otherwise.
We are all going to die. Hard reality is we might be able to afford unlimited healthcare for children. Adults on the permanent government dole should have to decide how much of their handouts they want to spend on discounted, but cash-pay health coverage. I can see no other solution. If the nanny state would get out of the way and let "the pie" grow, instead of simply splitting up/handing out "the pie" perhaps we can do better someday.
Get government out of healthcare, so it will re-set to markey value>
Have you ever been past the gaeden gate?
Trustafarian"
No, people generally love medicare....And, only around 3% of the cost goes to administration.....We have to get private insurance out of medical care....
The reason it is only 3% for administration is that they don't care about the 30% paid out in fraud.
Chuckie Schumer even admitted to $90 Billion in Medicare Fraud. It must be at least 4 times that.
then the costs of even investigating the fraud is in the budget for the FBI, not Medicare.
And if you are unfortunate enough to have to use Medicare, you will be lucky to find a doctor to take you on as a patient. Does it work at those special clinics in California?
I apologize in advance, but the name Charles (or Chuckie) Schumer is like a flash of red to me and always gets the piss & vinegar flowing.
Charles Schumer is a real piece of shit, and I honestly believe that if every state and city in the United States was suffering a major collapse, he'd be perfectly happy if New York City, full of wealth-sapping and taxpayer subsidized TBTF (in his esteemed opinion) banks and financial institutions, was doing at least okay, as it suckled on the teat of Uncle Sam, warm, sheltered and cozy given the preferential status that people like Schumer, traitor to the nation at large (and his own constituency in fact), is.
The same holds true of journalists having the ear of the New York City Branch of the Fed, such as Andrew Ross-Sorkin, Jon Hilsenrath, and wannabe pikers wishing to take their place one day, like Joe Wiesenthal.
The financial elite (who became elite not by any talent, but by connections and graft) in New York City have no allegiance to The United States of America. The same is true of the legislators who 'serve' that region.
Whew. That felt good.
We have to get government out of healthcare. People need to take responsibility for themselves and their families instead of extorting money from their neighbors. Healthcare is expensive because the government has instituted price controls. Insurance companies may have admin costs greater than 3% but I guaranted that the savings from fraudulant claims that would never make it past a private sector insurance adjuster well make up for government "efficiency".
Insurance is one issue, but tell me how well the "free market system" is going to work when your "normal healthy" 10 yo child is dying due to trauma? You going to take the time to go shopping around for the best price doctor and hospital?
Health care is expensive because the lobbyist have bought and paid for the government that is supposed to represent the majority of the people and "protect the commons".
http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/30/profitable-hospitals-hca-healthcare-bus...
IMO it is morally wrong (I am not talking about making a nice comfortable living for honest work) to profit from the suffering and illness of a human being. I believe Dante consigned those who did that to the deepest circle of hell.
Tax payers are not denying you anything because it never belonged to you in the first place. Prior to the nationalization of healthcare, most hospitals would never turn any case away (especially trauma) but would pay for it out of charity after treatment was done and it was determined that the patient was unable to pay.
I'm sorry, but at this point, this too wouldn't fix it... it at best would just stop it from becoming worse.
Reason: Monopolies. Pharma has a certain "reputation" for a reason.
This is not to say that the current style of gov-involvement is better. I'm just saying: they already have such a strong control over the "market", that just "not helping them" isn't enough to fix it.
So let's all bitch and moan and protect ourselves and neglect the fact that there is a responsibility of all to protect a society,
and as it has been and always will be, wealth equates to power and with power comes responsibility, first and foremost a social conscience...
but We (again, and also) lost sight of such a simple, proven dynamic, and now let's all play free-for-all 'til the end, the end of our own making.
The Narcissist Nation.
Good luck, all.
If you define "responsinility" as heavy taxation, well, King George tried that too. How did that work out?
Ultimately, the word "responsibility" can be used to justify fascism or any other kind of totalitarian government.
It is very easy to say, "we should take care of everyone who claims a need." It's a feel good sentiment. It also has nothing to do with reality or practicality. But everyone should do what they can, individually. The Government is evil and inefficient.
Yes, in fact it is very easy to say "we should take care of everyone who claims a need."
I didn't say that, though.
"It's a feel good sentiment."
No, I don't type to make myself feel better.
So we have to protect you because you are a Mexican, educated in the USA? or some other form of Pistachio? WTF?
Are you our future, IQ 101?
No, you are, slavery,siestas and Ganja, happy slave.
IQ 101, you provide nothing but fodder for my original comment above.
For your amusement, perhaps... I was born a couple stone throw's from the Liberty Bell (do you know what that is?).
Wake up from your self-absorption, grow up, rise above your xenophobia, and use your stellar IQ to come to grips with what are the real problems that ail us.
Or, alternatively, consider yourself part of problemo numero uno.
To: Online Turbo Tax Advice
From:Timmah the Toolman
I'm about to be nominated for Treasury Secretary of the United States. I am the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of NY and a former employee of the IMF.
Question. Should I pay the tax on my earnings from the IMF (that I actually recieved a check for, like a per diem and cashed) before appearing at the confirmation hearing or just sandbag?
Also, I had a maid who was a foreign national who over stayed her visa in my employ...for three years. Do I have to pay my part as an employer for her Social Security even though she is not a citizen? Thanks TG
Turbo Tax Online Tax Help: ROTFL!!! Please quit spamming us. When appointed you will be over the IRS! So naturally, they will not assess any penalties on you like they do Joe the Plumber. You're in line to be their boss for crying out loud! Just pay the tax, you'll make it all back in two years plus interest hanging around legislators doing insider trading on the laws they pass.
Do you think you're even qualified for this new position?
<crickets>
Dear Timmy and Co. You no longer have the privilege of serving me. Fuck off and die.
The lies, nothing but lies from the liar-in-chief throughout the entire government branches (all 3) NOTHING BUT FRAUD!
Count on it, discern it, hide from it, the $$elite own it. Phzz PM is the only protection. Hold it, hide it, hoard it. That will preserve you in the end.
Douche
Vague much?
GE pays its fair share. So does BAC. (laughing my nuts off!)
you forgot AIG, and good ole Buffart ($2billion in arrears). Laugh your dick off now in addition to your nuts. And a friend of mine whose business has tanked, has Timmah and the IRS coming to take his house for <$4000 in back taxes. The privilege of living in Hell.
Please define "fair" quantitatively? 15%, 30%, 45%? How to arrive at a number? That's the rub!
What's the fair price for a gallon of gas? Is LaBron jame's Salary "fair". What's a fair corporate tax rate? Can't do it can you? Don't worry, no one can that's why we have markets and hopefully, real competition, not bailouts of loser companies like GM, GE, BAC, AIG etc. funded by the Mandrake mechanism. (The Mandrake mechanism is indeed magic, the creation of money out of nothing via debt)