House Vote 611 - Rejects One-Time $250 Social Security Payment

reply to post by David9176

Here's a dirty little secret: most conservatives feel that way, or at least similar.

Conservative does not equal heartless... certainly there are some who fit both decriptors, but they are actually the exception. A conservative simply believes in the values that founded the country. Hard work, rewards for that hard work, personal freedom and responsibility, and the American Dream that if you work hard, if you do things right, you get rewarded... and yes, we want the government to keep its hands off that reward when it comes. We earned it! But that doesn't mean we're going to hoard it back in some secret vault never to let anyone else see it... every conservative I know gives many times over to charity what others give, when compared to actual income. It's the conservatives who give to churches, who in turn run food banks and mission homes for the homeless. It's the conservatives who stop when they hear that bell in front of WalMart, dig deep, and throw a handful of change, uncounted, into the bucket. It's the conservatives who are building homes with Habitat for Humanity.

It's just when someone tries to force us to give that we have a problem. Remember, we believe we earned those rewards, and someone telling me I have to give money to a cause is akin to them stealing for someone else. It's my decision... not theirs. And it seems appropriate to point out that the most efficient charities are typically the ones run without any form of tax support.

That's what the argument is usually about... who gets to choose where their charity money goes. The person who earned it, or the person who wants it.

Conservatives want everyone to succeed... not just survive. We want those around us to make good too, because a thriving economy really is good for everyone.

Back on topic... 'Trickle-down' economics does work... but it works only because the wealthy provide jobs. Those jobs provide both a profit incentive for the wealthy as well as income for the middle class. The middle class then spends that income on improving their standard of life, which creates more jobs to satisfy their spending. The wealthy too, are having to improve facilities which creates auxiliary jobs in that area. The economy grows overall.

But that is not what we have today. Today, most of our goods are manufactured overseas, and the import does nothing for our economy compared to what domestic manufacturing could do. That one fact stops the effectiveness of 'trickle-down' economics. And why are manufacturing plants locating overseas? Cost. When government regulations drive the cost of manufacturing too high, manufacturers leave. Period. No one is going to build a manufacturing plant when they have to spend a few million dollars just to have someone perform a government-mandated ecological study, when they are not even assured they will be able to build it when the study is complete. They'll go to Mexico, where the labor is less well-trained, where the laws may be different, but where the costs are a fraction. Otherwise, they'll never recoup their investment.

Until we have that manufacturing base again, we need to help those who are hurting, because they are not hurting because of anything they did or failed to do... they are hurting because of what others did, the same others who are receiving rewards not for hard work, not for innovation, but for fraudulently extorting money form the taxpayers.

Don't get me wrong... we need tax cuts on the wealthy... we need tax cuts across the board! But not now... now we have to pay for those bailouts, which every conservative I know opposed vehemently. And who has the money to pay for them? The wealthy, who received them! The middle class is barely holding on, and the poor are slipping into indigence rapidly... they can't afford to pay now! And like I said in my previous post, it's all because of the actions of the wealthy, taking and not giving back.

What we really need is to make TVs in the USA. We need to make the best cars in the USA. We need to make computers in the USA. We need to make cell phones in the USA. We need to make something in the USA!

Right now we make poverty.

And no economy has ever improved with poverty as its only product.

TheRedneck

reply to post by Janky Red

The GOP is going to push new free trade agreements
Please tell me you guys hate that too

This is one conservative that definitely hates it... as much as I hate NAFTA and CAFTA.

Free trade between states bound by Constitution to each other via a Federal Government is one thing. Free trade between countries with no guidelines as to their respective participation is quite another entirely.

TheRedneck

reply to post by TheRedneck

Free trade between states bound by Constitution to each other via a Federal Government is one thing. Free trade between countries with no guidelines as to their respective participation is quite another entirely.

Bravo, my good friend. We need free trade with a level playing field, not one where countries like China manipulate the value of the Yuan, to keep it low, by buying up dollars. This, in return, creates a much higher demand for Chinese products, and results in the trade surplus that China enjoys.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus

My friend, I realize I am out of date, and everything I learned in my youth has long passed its expiration date, but back many moons ago in Civics I was told that there was one tax that was punitive in nature... the tariff. It was used to equalize trade, not to destroy it, by making sure foreign products from countries which had inherent advantages would not destroy the local economy.

Of course, that was before tariffs were outlawed by NAFTA and CAFTA...

TheRedneck

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


We cant expect the Feds to do anywork, isnt it time for Christmas Vacation?
Oh, wait, its Holiday Break starting the 17th, but its already the 9th, and its a Friday.
That means that they will turn what little brain and heart they have back on in January.
They are already gone.

If only they would never come back into session.
Maybe we could give them away to charity?

reply to post by burntheships

If only they would never come back into session. Maybe we could give them away to charity?

If only that would happen, my friend!
We can always hope, I guess.
Peace

reply to post by TheRedneck

My friend, I realize I am out of date, and everything I learned in my youth has long passed its expiration date,

My good friend, my wife and I are beginning to feel that WE have passed our expiration date.
Just about everything I learned growing up seems to be out of favor now. Give me back the 50's, please....

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


If only.
I find this a pathetic move on the part of these law makers.
They instead spend tax payers money on wasteful ethanol subsidies.
blogs.forbes.com...


ProfEmeritus,
I starred and flagged your OP.
Thanks for posting!

I cannot believe this congress won't help the people who really vote them into office! My rant would be this,



All new elections lets call for a no vote . Anotherwords noone show up. A complete boycot of the voting system

0 votes = no new legislation and throw all these retards out 0= no position in any office!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starred and flagged Prof!

If this doesn't call for a real third party nothing does.

Congress (which I believe Franklin once called the opposite of Progress) feels free to vote themselves horrific pay increases when they ought to be fired, with a real firing squad, yet won't help seniors, disabled vets and other deserving people who have paid into the system in money, service and blood.

They and the President feel free to give away billions to the corporations that caused the economic crash, yet won't allocate five percent of their own unearned pay raise to those who have earned it.

If North Korea nuked Washington, I'd morn the loss of historic places and innocent people, but I'd not miss this so-called government one damned bit.

This is what I just sent Mr. Speaker-Elect Boehner ( I think I'll start referring to him as just Bonehead)

"I'm a republican. I campaigned for Reagan and Oliver North in Virginia. Since you are the Speaker Elect of the People's House, and not simply representative of Ohio now, I feel it is within my rights to call on you for action.

I want to know how it is appropriate with Congress's dismal record of leading this nation down the toilet, that Congress can vote itself a COLA and not vote for those who have actually served this nation, through work, taxes, and blood.

If I was CEO and Congress was a business, I'd fire every one there for non-performance."

Here's a link to contact John Bonehead: gopleader.gov...

reply to post by mydarkpassenger

If this doesn't call for a real third party nothing does.

You're correct. We need a REAL third party, not one controlled by one of the two mega-parties. Unfortunately, as I'm sure most members understand, the entire electoral process is rigged against a real third party, independent of the other two. Many states have restrictive laws, such as closed primaries and unreasonable requirements for third parties to be put on the ballot. Many of those rules are similar, in nature, to the "poll taxes" which were common in many of the Southern States, to limit who could vote.
When you look at the technology we have today, we could easily set up a secure, controlled system whereby people could vote via the internet, with public access to internet access, for those who do not have the internet at home.
Of course, the one-party system, the Republicrat party, would never allow such a system, as all such parties would have equal stance, as far as voting concerns.
Thank you very much for your post.

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Thank you for this topic Sir!

reply to post by mydarkpassenger

This is what I just sent Mr. Speaker-Elect Boehner ( I think I'll start referring to him as just Bonehead) "I'm a republican. I campaigned for Reagan and Oliver North in Virginia. Since you are the Speaker Elect of the People's House, and not simply representative of Ohio now, I feel it is within my rights to call on you for action.

Great minds think alike! I CALLED Boehner yesterday, and said essentially the same thing. The aide that took the call asked for my email address. Several hours later, here is what I got on my email:

John Boehner to xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 5:07 PM (17 hours ago)

Thank you for contacting the Office of the House Republican Leader. Your thoughts are important to me and are appreciated. Due to the volume of E-mail I receive, it may not be possible to personally respond to your comments. If you would like to share and debate your priorities in real-time with members of Congress and other Americans, please visit America Speaking Out.



America Speaking Out is an effort by the House Republican Conference to engage Americans across the country and give them a voice in creating a new agenda for Congress. I hope you will take a moment to join the hundreds of thousands of citizens that are communicating directly with Congress and each other via this groundbreaking project.



Visit America Speaking Out now.



Sincerely,



John A. Boehner

Republican Leader

In other words, drop dead.

I am vet, my dad was a WW2 vet, and my grandfathers were both vets.

A good friend of mine was Army in Viet Nam; he survived that just barely, and now he has diabetes. He can't get any really decent healthcare at the VA hospital and has been going down hill for more than three years now.

Yet the SOBs in DC think they've done such a bang-up job that they deserve a pay raise???

I wonder what in the hell the young men and women who are fighting now are going to come home to.

Somewhere in my head, I hear the tune the Brits played as they surrendered at Yorktown at the end of the American Revolution - "The world turned upside down."

Seniors and disabled arent profitable.. Amerika needs the money to continue its illegal wars so the corrupt bastards in d.c can make their bloodmoney..

reply to post by ProfEmeritus


Makes you want to scream doesn't it? Or maybe shoot somebody. I guess I'll get the same lame-assed reply. I'll let you know Prof.

Originally posted by Expat888
Seniors and disabled arent profitable.. Amerika needs the money to continue its illegal wars so the corrupt bastards in d.c can make their bloodmoney..

Is there anywhere left on this planet, where no one sends you off to war and stays out of your pockets, out of your life and out of your bedroom?

Like Heinlein said: we need a frontier.

Originally posted by mydarkpassenger
reply to post by ProfEmeritus

 

Makes you want to scream doesn't it? Or maybe shoot somebody. I guess I'll get the same lame-assed reply. I'll let you know Prof.

I just got the reply. It's identical.

reply to post by mydarkpassenger

I just got the reply. It's identical.

Democracy at work!
Not!