Congrats to President Elect Obama! While I did not vote for him I do believe that the next four years will be interesting and I am looking forward to being proved wrong in my decision not to vote for him. It's not fun to be on the losing team; however, my bro-in-law JT put it well: I am first and foremost a patriot and will support our president no matter what party he is from.
It disappoints me that people feel the need to bash our current president. You may not like him but he is still your president and as long as you are an American citizen, I feel there is a certain amount of respect that should be given. That is why I did not use this post to bash Obama or the Democratic Party. You can engage in loyal opposition to be sure but the open hatefulness is inappropriate and uncalled for. I think we as a country are forgetting that we are the UNITED States of America--we are not just Democrats or Republicans. There is way too much "I" out there, not enough "We".
That said, what would your ideal America look like? I thought about this a lot during the election. I don't fit in with all the tenets of either party but find that I fall more to the right mainly due to economic issues.
Here is what I would love to see in this country:
1. A government that treats my tax dollars as precious gifts to them and proceeds to use them as efficiently and effectively as possible.
2. Health insurance that is not tied to employers. It prohibits people from busting out to do their own thing. I want to shop for health insurance like I shop for car insurance. This would no doubt subject us to more annoying commercials on TV but I think it would work. We could start shopping for the best doctors for us instead of being told who we can see. I definitely DO NOT want socialized health care--that is a nightmare scenario.
3. A gradual end to the war in Iraq. I don't like war as a general rule; however, I do have immense respect for the good soldiers (note that I said "good"--not the crazy ones) that put themselves in danger in order to serve their country. I wouldn't have the guts to do what they do. I don't think an immediate withdrawal is in our best interests or the Iraqi's best interests. I think that could prove to be a bigger mess than the war itself.
4. Changes in the tax code. I do not want a "redistribution of wealth". I don't want a person who works for their money to give their money to someone who doesn't work.
5. Changes in the welfare system. Welfare is good in theory. In reality though it becomes oppressive and prohibits and unmotivates some people (not all) from getting off welfare.
6. A move to personal responsibility in this country. It isn't always someone else's fault. Sometimes we have to own up to our situations and realize we made a bad choice and move on. It is not (in my opinion) the government's job to fix my problems. That is the main reason I do not vote as a Democrat.
Before you comment back refuting each of my ideas, let me tell you that there was no research involved in this whatsoever. This is simply what my dream America would look like.
Grilled Vegetable Pasta Salad
9 months ago
12 comments:
I like your ideal America. If everyone did #6, my job would be so much easier!
good post!
I do have to comment on the redistribution of wealth one (sorry, I can't help it). :) The concept is not about giving money to people who don't work. It's to those that DO work but are in the lower tax brackets that may need a leg up....e.g. the person who cleans your house, or teaches your kids for next to nothing, or even picks up your trash. They are the backbone of our society and if we tax them as much as those who can "afford" it, they wouldn't be able to get by.
I could talk about this for ages but won't. But I did want to say that because I think there's a big misconception about what this tax plan is fundamentally all about.
The End. And I really am sorry for hijacking your comments. :)
Anne-
Sorry...but that's simply not true. If you do a little homework you will find, as columnist Ken Blackwell wrote on RealClearPolitics (not politically right or left) "The statistics speak for themselves. Only 62 percent of Americans pay federal income tax, meaning that 38 percent get a 100 percent refund of any taxes withheld. So Mr. Obama's 95 percent that will receive money from the government includes roughly 33 percent of Americans who pay no income tax. One-third of Americans pay no income taxes yet would receive a government check of perhaps $1,000 or more."
At least a chunk of those will absolutely be getting wealth redistributed to them who do not pay income tax (although do work).
This is classic socialism and borders on class warfare.
Your thoughts?
Rachel--that was a terrific post! Have you considered running for President...or for Shakopee Soil and Water? I am going to post what I posted on JT site:
I was talking to some of my friends in Africa--they are astounded to see a Black man, a Kenyan to boot, elected President of the greatest country in the world. We may not feel it often, but America is a beacon to the rest of the world--people in Africa are amazed that a Black man and a woman sparred for the nomination and now a Black man is president. It lifts the spirits of our brothers and sisters everywhere!
I could not be prouder of a nation that elected a person of color. I remember that at the Democratic Convention in 1964, a black woman from Mississippi embarrased Lyndon Johnson by reminding the convention that Black Women could not vote in Mississippi--in 1964! That led to the Voter Act of 1965.
In 43 short years later we have elected a person of color as our president. I have never felt this election was about race, but as someone who lived through the MLK's speech in 1963, the deaths of the Black organizers in the South, the bombings, the race riots, the hatred, the Civil Rights Act, of laying on my stomach on the floor of an elevated train in Chicago on April 4th, 1968 as Blacks through bricks at the train in response to MLK's murder, to the fires on the Chicago skyline that night as it burned, to November 4, 2008. It is truly amazing--whether I agree with his politics or not. This is an unbelievable achievement I thought I would never see in my lifetime.
Jon - Right, I guess it was the "people that don't work" thing that sent up my alarms. I just don't think that's valid.
Anne- you may be right that may be inaccurate, I'll see if I see anything about redistribution for those not working.
(I love that we're discussing this on Rachel's blog. I don't know why that makes me laugh.)
I read both McCain and Obama's complete tax plans and walked away feeling good about my vote because of it. Redistribution sits much, much better with me than the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. And if that makes me a socialist, I'm ok with that label.
you guys are breakdance fighting on my blog and i love it! :) like i said, i know nothing about either tax plan. i do know that it bugs the crap out of me that celebs and athletes make such outrageous sums of money. i also know that many people give out of their net income to the impoverished both in this country and abroad. will there be money left to do that or will we hold on tightly to the money we earn? obviously jay and i are not making over 250k and probably never will so i like the idea of paying less taxes. i just want fairness--not necessarily equality. i wouldn't expect to get a tax refund back as a stay at home mom--i don't generate income. i just want it to be fair. equal pay for unequal work doesn't sit well with me. i don't know if that is what anyone is saying but i know i would be disappointed to see things go that way.
Am I Hansel or Zoolander in this fight?!? :-) Anne, very fair what you said. I'd rather we clarify our positions then necessarily agree. Thanks for the healthy banter!
I want to plan the tax game too, so I wrote a book. First you can thank Reagan, that Socialist, for greatly expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit. That is where these rebate checks would go. So someone single that makes $5600 would get about $430 back and it goes down from there. For someone single with a child, at $8400 you would get $2850 back. For a couple making $10400, you would get $2850. These are maximums right now. I do not think that those numbers are crazy for people living below the poverty limit and not really a free ride for someone not working. Socialism is not redistribution of wealth, it is government control of businesses, say banks for example. Thank you, Mr. Bush. Now taxes. As long as we have been collecting taxes, we have had a progressive tax system. The Bush tax cuts greatly favored the top 5% of wage earners. Mr. Obama is not planning creating a new tax, only letting those cuts expire. Now 80% that did not get a tax cut before would get a tax cut. Should there have been broader tax cuts before and no tax cuts now? I do not know and am glad I do not have to try to figure it out. As to a National Health care program, you would not have to take part just like you do not have to take part in Minn Care, but your kids would have to be covered in some way. Not the worst idea every to guarantee children are covered, which some states already do. My father works as a consultant and a substitute teacher so he does not qualify for benefits. My mom has worked for small Vet Clinics for the past 35 years. This year, they raised her premiums by $500 per month. My parents looked at health care plans. They were starting around $15,000 with big deductables. Now taking $5000 off would be somewhat helpful, but they would not have the money for the other $10,000 much less $15k before any type of rebate. Thank God, my mom was able to get a new job with a Health Clinic and has benefits, but they are starting to lay people off and she is last in seniority. I understand the idea that premiums would go down, but how long would that take and could they stay ahead of the rising cost of health care. Doubtful. Last thing. I do think the President should be treated with the greatest respect. That is not the same thing a blinding following along. Authority should be questioned respectfully. It is the American thing to do. If we did not, we would not have this great nation today. Now you may not agree with any of these ideas, but they are not mine or Mr. Obama's for that matter.
Kris Froyum
PS I reposted becuase I did not proof read the first one. Hopefully I got everything this time.
I am not going to join the debate other than to make some a couple of clarifications. First, if you actually look at the numbers you will see that the Bush tax cuts were higher percentage wise that those for the wealty. Easy to see if you look at the government web pages.
Second, as Jon mentioned, over 40% of the wage earners in America do not pay any taxes. Therefore, the people getting tax cuts would obviously be those people that are paying the taxes! It is hard to give tax cuts to low income earners if they are not paying taxes to begin with.
Finally, one of the things that has made this country so great is the ability and desire of people to take risks to start and grow businesses. Once you begin to tax the income they make to the point that it makes no sense to grow your business anymore, we will lose that business growth that creates jobs, investment in the business and finally taxes that are paid to the government. History proves this over and over again.
You may think that President elect Obama is not going to raise taxes. By allowing the tax cuts to expire, it is a tax increase. To fund the new programs he has proposed, there will be no choice but to raise taxes. The worst thing that happens in an economic down turn is to raise taxes - again proved multiple times in history.
Just my opinion!
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