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Art Cashin On The New Normal's New Populism: 165 Million As State Dependents?
Some must read observations on the dangerous path down which American society is headed.
Via UBS Financial Services
A Somewhat Ominous Op-Ed Recalls A Manufactured Ominous Quote – An op-ed in Forbes last week by Bill Wilson is causing some buzz in Wall Street watering holes. Its title is "165 Million Americans Are Dependents of the State: Is Tyranny Next?" Here's a bit of the essay:
Is America descending into a dependency state, where the majority uses its voting power to demand government services from taxpayers?
New research from Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee Jeff Sessions (R-AL) reveals that this reality may already be here, with more than 107 million Americans on some form of means-tested government welfare.
Add to that 46 million seniors collecting Medicare (subtracting out about 10 million on Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and other senior-eligible programs already included in Sessions’ means-tested chart) and 22 million government employees at the federal, state, and local level — and suddenly, over 165 million people, a clear majority of the 308 million Americans counted by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2010, are at least partially dependents of the state.
Since President Obama took office in 2009, eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, the earned income tax credit, the making work pay tax credit, and unemployment benefits has increased by roughly 10 million. …….
But it’s even worse than that. In fact, most voting-age Americans do not pay income taxes — approximately 50.6 percent.
That includes 53.91 million Americans who pay nothing in income taxes, and another 64.7 million who get refunds in excess of what was owed. That’s 118.61 million out of 234.6 million Americans 18 years and older, based on data compiled by the Joint Committee on Taxation and the U.S. Census Bureau.
The U.S. Constitution was designed to protect against such an outcome. The Founders did not want a democracy, which tends to be problematic because of the failure of minority rights to be defended against an arrogant or authoritarian majority. So, instead, the Founders created a republic.
In Federalist No. 10, James Madison wrote that in democracies, “governments are too unstable, [and] the public good is disregarded in the conflicts of rival parties, and that measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority.”
Madison prescribed “curing the mischiefs of faction”, including a tyranny of the majority, by “controlling its effects”. Madison warned that “a pure democracy, by which I mean a society consisting of a small number of citizens, who assemble and administer the government in person, can admit of no cure for the mischiefs of faction.”
So, the “majority, having such coexistent passion or interest, must be rendered, by their number and local situation, unable to concert and carry into effect schemes of oppression.” But how?
Instead of everyone gathering on a hill and voting on laws, the scheme of representation was established, wherein we elect our representatives to make decisions. Also, having a large, geographically wide republic and constitutional limits on the powers of government, complete with two branches of legislature, was supposed to prevent a tyranny of the majority from ever appearing.
Or at least, as Madison put it, such factors would “make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens”. …..
The concept of a majority living off a minority, almost naturally, has resurfaced that old quote, an election year chestnut, attributed to Alexander Tytler. Here's what I wrote on the quote a few years ago.
The “New Populism” Makes A Manufactured Quote Very Apt And Timely – On this day back in 2003, we pondered a fascinating quote. It was said to be from a book titled “The Decline and Fall of the Athenian Republic” by a professor of history at Edinburgh University. His name was said to be Alexander Fraser Tytler. Most fascinating (to me) was that the book was said to have been published in 1776 just as the American Republic was being born.
Here is the quote:
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising them the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over a loss of fiscal responsibility, always followed by a dictatorship. The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage."
Our research suggests that the quote was “manufactured” at a far more recent date. Nonetheless, the quote seems especially appropriate in today’s political atmosphere. Let us hope its conclusion does not turn out to be appropriate.
We expect that you, and we, shall hear more and more of Tytler and, hopefully, Madison, as our politicians toy with making this a class warfare election. God save the Republic!
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Obama will pay for my gas & mortgage...
In other news.......GM is set to announce they will accept SNAP cards.
Everyone has the right to go the the store to buy their food in style. Seven out of ten GM cars are made outside the US....so you know they're high quality!
You might have just stumbled on a brilliant new idea...
"Reward Points" for your EBT purchases ("x" amount of bonus points buys you a brand new Chevy Volt ~ complete with weenies & marshmallows)...
Will Obama pay for my Hookers and Blow? I want to vote democrat, but I'm just not sure yet..
Go for it... Don't miss out on the gravy train this time around...
~~~
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUDpc04r_QM
USSA bitchezzzzz!
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” - Gerald R. Ford; Address to a Joint Session of Congress. August 12, 1974
Domari Nolo
No need to convince us that more printing is necessary.
Sorry Art, the Republic has been dead and buried for a long time already.
USA rest in peace
Requiescat in pace
In America, we should not worry about a democracy anymore. It is a history.
We are rapidly moving in a direction of Greece.
PS
76% of Greeks like to immigrate. Where will Americans move to?
As a former Soviet citizen I like to tell you that neither state-controlled propaganda nor mental institutions to treat dissidents did not work. The USSR just collapsed. One should not expect different results trying to do the same thing again and again and again...
"Where will Americans move to? As a former Soviet citizen I like to tell you that neither state-controlled propaganda nor mental institutions to treat dissidents did not work. The USSR just collapsed."
You've answered your own question. The US will collapse and break up just like the Soviet Union. Americans will migrate to the new nations that made up the US, just like people did after the SU collapse. Perhaps with the exception of the Southern nations (formed out o the former) SU, most of the people have better opportunities and a recovered standard of living.
Chesterfield County PD, the FBI and members of the other sunglasses-wearing federal security forces are on their way to Art's house right now to interview him and take him to a psych ward for "evaluation."
The psych ward is in an underground basement somewhere in Morocco. They have experts there for "evaluating" and "taking care of" difficult people. Don't worry Art, CIA will have an officer recording everything, for training purposes.
I hope they don't check his hard drive...
So who are the 750 Million rounds of hollow point bullets for? The dependents or the cash cows for taxation? http://lewrockwell.com/spl4/who-will-govt-shoot.html
Operation Prarie Fire...dissenters in the NWO...
Heroin from Aghanistan is included. Hookers are for the Secret Service and military. You should vote republican.
No, the lesson here is that he should join the secret service.
As long as it aren't Azian hookers and that your blow comes from US government sponsored Colombian plantations it's okay...
you know... BUY AMERICAN!
It's the blow that comes from the Columbian plantation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/21/us-fl-asian hookers demand affirmative action rights-idUSBRE87K0J120120821
Fuck 'em.
You will then be on our Representatives Plan.
It would be interesting to compare ( by percentage ) the level of public dependency in the EU member nations, to the above-captioned level of dependency in the United States. It would not be at all surprising to find America is the most "dependent" of Western states.
No, in Europe you retire at 42 after not paying any taxes and getting 3 months vacation a year and free medical for everybody and the top earners pay 75% tax.
then you get americans to bail you out via currency swaps, interconnected guarantees, et al.
Outside the states I have never met an American tourist getting unemployment insurance or welfare, quite common to find Europeans
on welfare, unemployment , etc ,traveling as tourists in various Asian countries
Bullshit. You obviously know nothing about Europe, you're only confirming American ignorance.
@HurricaneSeason
re: taxes
Not that I disagree with the main thrust of the post (that the USSA is a welfare state is well-known), but federal income taxes are irrelevant for the working and middle classes. The payroll taxes are how money is collected from the lowest of the low (assuming one works). This has also given rise to a great black market for menial labor jobs.
Whats in your wallet.
Silver is heading higher again this morning.
See? Some of us are actually in the courage stage. Unfortunately, many are still in bondage. It would be foolish to believe that we are currently not under a tyranical state overall.
See? Some of us are actually in the courage stage. Unfortunately, many are still in bondage. It would be foolish to believe that we are currently not under a tyranical state overall.
Truly a benevolent dictator....mmm...mmm...mmm
Shorting AAPL as of right now at 673. Duration of trade 2-minutes to 4-days. LOL.
"Obama will pay for my gas & mortgage..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI&feature=related
Vote liberal democrat. Lets expedite this madness.
I'm confused now. So Romeny right? No wait Obama? Shit. I will stay home.
Yeah Obama = Romney. Not in Congress though. Vote liberal spend heavy everywhere.
And Titty Bars funded by Snatch Cards!
Once the plebes discover they can vote bread and circuses for themselves on the government dole, it's essentially over for your society.
Robert Heinlein, "Time enough for love"
Obammy would like to sell you some hunger insurance. Are you insured against hunger? Perhaps you should be! Without this coverage, you may find it impossible to continue to afford feeding yourself and your family. With this coverage, not only will you be assured of continuing to get at least some food, but so will I. In fact, thanks to this plan, I will get to eat very, very well indeed.
Here's how it works. You buy a hunger insurance plan from my hunger insurance company, or from one of my illustrious competitors in the hunger insurance industry. The hunger insurance market is very competitive, offering you plenty of consumer choice. You can even decide to go with a hunger maintenance organization (HMO); that would make a lot of sense if you are on a diet.
Whichever company you choose buys up food in bulk on your behalf. Then, should you come down with a case of hunger, you can file a claim, pay the copayment, and get some of the food. Certain feeding procedures, such as breakfast, are considered elective, and are not covered.
You didn't buy that gas ..someone else bought it for you ......
Correct....
Now I ask myself what the State can do for me and certainly not what I can do for the State. Thats what all these idiots of central bankers have achieved, at least with me.
Were do I apply? REALLY>>>>>>>>>
Francis my friend, you are of the wrong class.
Obama will make you pay for my gas & mortgage. Obama will make you pay for my wife's boob job. Its needs based, her shrink says she has low self esteem. Obama will make you pay for my ugly kid's braces, and therapy and education. Obama will make you pay for rounds of 40's for congress & his homeys, and every lateeno in the world is standing in line expecting Santa to give them a white woman, like Romney has already promised. Including the faggots, who plan to sell them.
Brother, you asked for it.
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/still-getting-the-hou...
Not a snark here...
In your scenario, who is responsible for "getting the value of the dollar down"?
Is tyranny next?
Yes. Duh.
The history of the USA since 1913 parallels the events surrounding the implantation of the Scots into Ireland. I suggest you study what they did to Belfast in the 60s & 70s; its whats next, with computers.
Soon.
fuk forbes and the high horse he rode in on
Own silver and gold and limit the risk of dependency
Le Metropole Members,
After much aggravation of late, BOTH gold and silver have
taken out their key resistance points of $1630 and $29
respectively. The bases formed over the past many months
are powerful ones and can support moves to much higher
prices.
Thus far the info provided to me by my three sources
about an August precious metals breakout, which will lead
to all-time high prices for gold and silver, is on target.
In addition, it will be helpful to know that it is only
a matter of time before the problem JP Morgan has with
their massive silver short position goes VIRAL! Think
Libor scandal type thing!
All the best,
Bill Murphy
Le Patron
www.LeMetropoleCafe.com
Why do people keep quoting fundementals about gold and silver the market, it is pure control and gold and silver will go to what TPTP want it at period, also if i read another writing on how gold/silver are going to go crazy, when it has gone down in value since sept 2011, dont get me wrong i have gold/silver ,but please all your gold/silver price are belong to them.
Everyone seems to be ready for "the collapse". My question is simple.
What happens after the collapse?
That's where the tyranny part kicks in!
tranny party? Sounds fun.
"The pain of war,
cannot exceed,
the woe of aftermath"
-LedZeppelin [battleofevermore]
War , I fart in its general direction , so 5 to10 million people die , try disarming a nation then we will see some real numbers 262 million killed by tyranical Governments this centery alone. Disarmerment is Genocide
No, everyone *here* seems to be ready.
Our local sheeple are most certainly are not ready.
In the minds of many people "ready" is a relative term. Many so called "sheeple" are beginning to see, or at least strongly sense, that the wolf circles the flock. Since they are locked into their present reality or they simply live paycheck to paycheck, this growing awareness constitutes "ready" in their minds.
Dependency often creates closed minds and a belief that there are no options.
"In the minds of many people "ready" is a relative term."
~~~
EXACTLY!... Every time I buy a box of ammo... the DHS turns around and buys another billion hollowpoints... It's like playing Monopoly & the only property you own is Mediterranean & your opponent has monopolies on all the rest of the board (with hotels on them)...
Have you heard the news?
The dogs are dead!
You better stay home
And do as you're told
Get out of the road
if you want to grow old.
---
Not no options, no good options.
Wall Street becomes eligible for full time Military protection?
it always has had full-time military protection, but now you will actually "see" the tanks. like that zappa quote....
"The illusion of freedom [in America] will continue as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will just take down the scenery, they will pull back the curtains, they will move the tables and chairs out of the way and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater."
Most of us here have already peaked behind that curtain.
yes, and its so disheartening when we go forth into our daily routines and see how asleep people are. quite sad. and lonely. but you know, lonesome are the brave!
I find my daily routine revolves less and less of a routine to the daily grind and more time staring into the abyss.
Dude, cheer up. Being disheartened isn't going to help. You need to be a happy warrior. We have challenges, oppurtunities and a lot of work ahead.
There is lots of money to be made from war , let the stupid ones go and fight it and you make the money, dont worry be happy.
Is that sound money?
I've always loved that Zappa quote. Spot on.
Zappa was beyond h.u.man.
The collapse has already happened and you are witnessing the aftermath...a handout nation, SNAP explosion, and I'll bet that although 50.6% of voting age are on public assistance that if you did an exit poll of THOSE THAT VOTE, the % of those people is probably in the 65% territory meaning that more dole is a foregone conclusion. Less investment in meaningful companies (ie. not retail) that move this country forward will be curtailed as the nannystate enlarges.
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero. ;-)
football season?
lol, who cares, right? watch the big game or Oprah and look! Good Morning America, CNN, everything is A-OK! ;)
its so easy to sleep
its so painful to wake up.
Indeed. It's the blue pill, red pill story. If one chooses the blue pill there is a cornucopia of pharmaceuticals to numb the senses and settle into a state of permanent normalcy bias bliss. Tempting for many...
Ummmm, steak.
Classic! Just a beautiful summary of a key Matrix scene.
"You know, I know this steak doesn't exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize?"
[Takes a bite of steak]
"Ignorance is bliss."
'If ignorance is bliss, then knock the smile of my face.'
If we don't take action now
We settle for nothing later
Settle for nothing now
And well settle for nothing later
~Settle for Nothing, RATM
-listen on volume 10+
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/08/21-3
A World of Hillbilly Heroin: The Hollowing Out of America, Up Close and Personalby Chris Hedges
Good Question CD...
Thats when i think we get duped, lied to, *hoodwinked* - yet again...
They bring in the remaining 'King' - our supposed 'new saviour'...which will NOT be our 'good' guy.
In fact, thats when the reall tyranny starts...
Out of Chaos...
Order!
And this order is not going to be fun...its going to be shit.
Essentially endless root canals without Novacaine.
<Dang.....Obamacare won't pay for it either.>
No Obamacaine?
That was last election.
You're on FIRE today pods. :>)
[Finance, Insurance and Real Estate]
It took me a second, Pods. That was a good catch.
I'm pretty sure Roger Clinton still delivers.
It's been going on since before 3123BCE.
No different now.
You sure know how to make a guy take a bunch of reading detours before getting to the bottom of the comments section!
Thanks.
After the collapse? Those who are able to stay alive and retain their holdings of precious metals will prosper.
For a time.... barter economy... civil unrest... gov't (military) expropriating food producers and distribution companies...
There's a long list of events CD.
I agree.
Our best defense against the unknown and unknowable is an open and flexible mind. So often we are our own worst enemy because we refuse to let go of what was and not prepare for and deal with what is.....and what's coming.
The collapse happens in stages.
First, the moral collapse from the credit driven greater fool economy where people try to fool each other rather than generating value added.
Then, the societal collapse from unemployment and inequality caused by the burst bubbles which allocates gains and losses without regards to individual merits.
Then, the material collapse from lack of sound investment and winding down of malinvestments, or the prolonging of the collapse by central planning.
Finally, the institutional collapse caused by the failure of government to postpone the inevitable day of reckoning.
Each phase requires different hedges, different focus points and different skills.
We learn to forgive and forget? Someone around here wrote an article about that.
I seem to remember a foolish idealistic idiot posting some drivel along those lines last year.
He really should just get a life. :)
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/when-time-comes-will-we-be-able-forgive
I see I was feeling militant in that post.
We all have our days. Sometimes I go back and read the comments underneath my articles (where I feel true learning is acquired from the thoughts of others) and sometimes I can't help but laugh at my old posted comments.
It is sort of like looking at old photos of yourself. There are "I can't believe I wore those ugly clothes" moments galore.
I can relate. I generally come here for 3 reasons, not necessarily in order. To be entertained, to school, or be schooled. I find the latter to be where I am most often... =)
Whores and bandits. Washington moves to New York City. Marion Barry is in charge.
I live near (not in) DC and was always embarrassed by that whole Marion Barry thingy.
Then I remember that I grew up near that whole embarrassing Buddy Cianci thingy. :>)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Cianci
What happens? Probably a whole myriad of things and depends upon one's physical location I suppose. Here in the good ol' US of A, my guess is that some plan to disarm the population would be in play which afterwards the mop up operation would begin... IMHO.
Millions of dead bodies I believe...
The Empire will need to move itself to China, and it will later be called the East American Empire.
Hmmmm, I was thinking that war with the "Eastern Axis" (China, Russia, Iran) was going to be our excuse for martial law.
After a morning dealing with Public offices I could give a flying fuck; burn it down and we'll cope. Those that can't cope will either pass or fail the survival test and flunking out is permanent, don't pass Go, don't get a $200 SNAP card, and thanks for the great compost. About two months ago I get a letter from the Supervisor of Elections stating my address is not a residence and I have to contact them or be removed from the voter rolls. I contact them, tell them I've owned this property for 10 years, have been registered to vote here for 6, my utilities are paid here, my drivers license is listed here, etc. 'OK, no problem, Property Appraisers office is providing confirmation on your residency and they don't have you down as owning a home. We'll just go ahead and override the system and you can vote.' Cool thanks. Now I don't own a home, I have a property with a previously permitted Single Family home that was never completed due to the County approving a blown out footer which my engineer would not approve continuing to build on and the builder walked off the job, after which we sued each other for 5 years. I still have no 'home' on site because the County wants all the permits and plans repaid/redone before they'll move ahead and approve the existing structure as a 'home'. About two weeks after this call a County Appraiser shows up unannounced, asks some questions, says she doesn't know why the SOE is requesting they visit all these properties in the area but there she is. I show her the reworked plans for the structure, she takes a picture of the same building that's been there since 2002 and leaves. Last night I get my tax bill in the mail and it shows a 22% increase in value and a 26% jump in taxes. I call the PA and they say they never taxed me for the structure(it's a one-story block walk-out) even though my taxes have gone up my double-digits every year since 2002. The market peaked in 2007 but my propery value is less than half that valuation but my tax is 81% of that years tax rate. I point out that the 'improvements' have been on the tax roll since 2003. 'Yeah, but we didn't tax THIS structure.' There's nothing else here BUT that structure and it is on the property card. 'We'll have to review it.' Why are you taking direction from the SOE? Doesn't know. SOE office; 'We don't demand they do this.' But it's written right on their work order that it was ordered by you. 'We're just verifying voters addresses.' So if I renounced my citizenship, went to Mexico, climbed a fence to get back in I could vote more easily? '(Nervous laugh) No, probably not.' Screw a system that operates like this. Two of my neighbors have also now been 'adjusted' because they had the same visit by the PA's office and are in a similar boat; they technically do not have a CO'd 'home' so they can't Homestead and cap taxes but they pay taxes and can't vote without a 'home'. I gave up my voting rights and so did my neighbor, the one who's lived here for 35 years, before the computerization of the tax rolls, who built a house from scratch, and is now being taxed into oblivion/homelessness. Burn it down now and let's build a sane system, a fair system, and while in a hundred years it will have to be burnt down again, so be it. WTF do I care? I'm a taxpaying citizen with no rights anyways. I wonder if the fire department would even show up if I called them...y'know, the one I pay taxes for.
Wow.....just Wow. Epic rant!
It's called a "Catch 22" my son. Learn to love your enslavement. And don't struggle too much 'cuse you'll damage the property.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22
Where the fuck do you live.....California?? That's exactly how it works "out west"
Florida...probably the next California in the making. As with many of the CA poster's here who've dealt with this, the change over decades has just been a slow creep into the abyss. Will be interesting to see how Florida swings this year. I didn't plan on voting for either one of the 'lesser of two weasels' in the Prez contest but I guess I'm out of the equation altogether now. I will however, show up in an upcoming council meeting and make my thoughts known on how absurd this process has become and how it's got to change.
Stay where your at jack-off! Almost all of the fruits and nuts come to California from other States. From a native
What happens after the collapse?
165 million people walk to canada and learn the official "eh"
Don't you mean "meh"?
what are you talking aboot
We get to shoot the zombies. Oh crap, we are the zombies!
i don;t like that when he says "from the taxpayers"..
govt taxes everything, not just income ... everybody is paying taxes but we're still living way beyond our means.
With respect, Deficit spending + unlimited credit card made taxation as a restriction on spending moot.
If you're paying (sales, excise, tolls, fees-whatever) taxes with other people's taxes (transfer payments) you're not really paying taxes... you're just receiving a lesser net amount of someone else's taxes.
I can never get the teachers I know to follow this argument.
"Taxpayers" (Spitoo!) is a term of art, coined with malice aforethought to dehumanize "We, the People," and reduce all to a mere source of revenue for the guv'mint. Anyone who uses the propaganda term, under any circumstances, in any context, is a water carrier for the propagandists, knowingly or unknowingly.
The easiest way to destroy a society is to ruin the language, as you mention. Conservative used to mean "responsible, fiscally sound, don't fix it if it ain't broke" for example, and Liberal used to have the dictionary meaning as well. No more - Those labels have been coopted by radical right statists and radical left statists. Oops, left and right no longer mean what they used to either - we can't even talk about the truth the way the language has been trashed without making up some new terms!
And since most people think in language...
CS Lewis wrote about this way back - closer to WWII, and it's still true.
http://www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html
see G.Orwell, Politics and the English Language (1946)
not exactly. I know I paid a lot less in taxes on my capital gains last year.
This article puts the cart before the horse. More people becoming dependent on the government since 2008 isn't because the government changed anything, its because the economy tanked.
It's because the factories went to China, so the government made a phony economy where housing was like 20% of GDP and home values were increasing enough to allow more equity borrowing for cars or vacations by someone who never even had a job. Throw in a couple wars and a TARP to try and cover it up and voila. Now, we need all that going again in addition to the $Trillion dollar a year deficits plus more to cover the new interest payments being created or punt and let the dollars value fall by half.
We are ALL "State Dependents".
How to get out of that is how to avoid disruption of social fabric.
It's a "thought question", remember those?
Here's my (Insert Romney/Obama here) 4 point plan to handle the social burden:
1. Import more citizens (and goods), especially from third world countries.
2. Issue more debt to pay off debt coming due (win-win)
3. Allow corporations (basically political donors) to continue to shelter taxes
4. More war. We need to be involved in nation building. Just believe me when I say this helps us, somehow.
How people can be so fucking dumb to believe either of these two is mind-boggling. However, these are the ideas Americans want to vote for, but it depends if they have an R or D next to their name. It is actually amazing if you think about it, how propagandized our citizenry has become.
individuality has been squashed...we are...iBorg. join the collective mindset OR ELSE!!!!! hmmm iSEE Apple bought that fingerprint recognition software company. hey,you know thats gonna turn out real well.. oh brother. iMEAN oh BIG BROTHER.
Biometric passwords are the dumbest solution looking for a problem ever. All of them are easy to cheat and what are you going to if someone gets a copy of your fingerprints or retina? Have new fingers installed? At least I can change a normal password.
Absolutely. I just can't decide if it's stupidity or insanity.
Who needs critical thinking when you have Snooki?
Hitler and the boys, would blush with excitement if they coud see today what they created, and frankly probably be shocked at how well it all worked!
Brainwashing a nation with visual and audiable stimilas into committing mass murder, seems like kindergarten class, compared to global economic domination without firing a shot!!
Social security, medicare and medicaid will destroy us alone. Skip all the other excuses of welfare, food stamps etc...The baby boomer will never accept a cut to social security and medicare and the do gooders will never alllow a cut to medicaid.
We are financially doomed. Accept it.
when the gvmt goes tits up, the boomers will have no choice but to accept not only a cut, but the entire rug being pulled out from under them.
When is that gonna be, Mr Know-it-all......
Damm right! I'm a baby boomer and I won't accept a cut to SS or medicare. I could care less about the future of this Country nor do I give a shit about Generation X, Y, or Z. I'm for me and the maggots well have already eaten the flesh off my bones in another 20 yrs. You see, young guy, its your problem. As I said before, I do'nt give a fuck.......
The number of people this article categorizes as those who "pay no taxes" seems to square up almost perfectly with the number of people living at or below the poverty level.
Is this article suggesting that people living at or below the poverty level should be paying income tax despite their lack of livable income?
Yes....everyone should pay something....if they have no skin in the game....then they will not care if government wastes money....
the term used in this article and many other places that people "pay no income tax" is a misleading choice of words. What it should more accurately say is that people do not earn enough money to merit ADDITIONAL tax payments at the end of the year. To say people who have jobs but do not pay "uncle Sam" at the end of the year do not pay taxes is quite simply false and misleading. People with jobs have taxes taken out of their checks and they, in many instances, pay a much higher effective tax rate than man of those that "pay taxes" at the end of the year.
For those who make more money it is very convenient to talk about taxes paid in terms of "how many dollars they paid" but it's not quite so convenient to talk about it in terms of what percentage of your income went towards taxes.
You're lucky when an article bothers to go so far as to mention "income." Usually it's the same slack-jawed "dur hur, XX% don't pay any taxes, ahyuk." Press a little and they might backpedal to it before flying into a rage. The cognitive dissonance of morons who can cry for hours over the crushing burden of taxation conveniently forgetting that there are many taxes besides federal income tax is astounding.
DemoCrazy
The next time you are in a community meeting and some dipshit elected official or prole say's "We need to" step up and ask them which one of them are brave enough to step forward and take what "We need" from YOUR wallet.
Jeff Berwick of 'Dollar Vigilante' says we have 242,000,000 dependent on the GOVERNMENT..........in some form or fashion
Time to end the PETRODOLLAR
We need a reset....we will reset...and there will be many many unhappy people...when they no longer GET what they think they DESERVE...who will get angry...and break windows and steal things...then burn them....then beat people up for the color of their skin...Watts riots comes to mind....that is what is coming...and it won´t be pretty...nor will it be multicultural....
I think resets only work when EVERYBODY becomes unhappy.
It hasn't trickled-up yet.
There may be a signal event, such as 9/11 was, eh?
Resets don't require unhappiness. You can have a financial collapse totally independent of happiness. They've borrowed and borrowed and borrowed. Soon, they'll hit the wall where noone will lend them anymore money. That's when it all comes crashing down.
At least this won't affect the stock market. [/sarc] Onward and upward!
Just saw a patient who works for the state doling out EBT benefits and welfare checks in a rural county in Fema Region IV.
She is busy.
Numbers of folks signing up for benefits is not going down. Welfare rolls are going down however.
I came to find out that there is still a 'work for welfare' system in place. Deal is you have to volunteer 20-30 hours/week to get your check. After 5 years of grabbing welfare checks they stop however.
This 'work' program doesn't appy to Medicaid/Medicare, Food stamp and many other programs.
No shit? These geniuses finally discovered more than half are now dependent?
Only half? Ashamed I am......where did we go wrong?
Go GATA go. Let the system be purified with molten hot gold and silver poured nicely into pretty coins and ingots. Let real value be money again.
a populace of sheeple is the ultimate political weapon
the only thing better would be to construct agiant holographic economic deathstar running on a hyper computer in the basement of $GS and then swap it for the real economy without anyone noticing
i mean if you did both those things...