Why we fight.

[ozymandius]

Recap -- A Month of Shame, or, "GOP to Working Americans: Drop Dead"

These lucky duckies who Tom DeLay and Trent Lott -- two men who never saw a millionaire's loophole they didn't fight to preserve -- saw fit to confiscate wages from? They're the millions of Americans who work full-time for minimum wage. $5.15 an hour. They're the folks of whom Jesse Jackson once said,

They catch the early bus. They work every day. They raise other people's children. They work every day. They clean the streets. They work every day. They change the beds you slept in in these hotels last night and can't get a union contract. They work every day. They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commode. No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick, they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day.

So after taking away overtime pay from the people who relied on it to pay for school supplies, the Republicans this week went for the kill. They took away the one piece of tax relief aimed at America's working poor. They raised taxes on the janitors, orderlies, and food workers who make the nation run. The Republican Party raised taxes on the hardest-working Americans, and they didn't bat an eyelash.

That's today's Republican Party in a nutshell, summed up by their own terrible deeds in one terrible month. That's why we fight.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/25/195031/613

[greekspeak]

1. What's sad is....

The Republicans have found a way to get those $5.15 an hour earners on thier side in big numbers: they have hijacked their morals. That is truly, deeply, morbidly say. Its not enough to turn them into slave labor, they have to hijack their belief systems too. How do you keep the working poor complacent as you repeatedly shove the broomstick of poverty up their asses? Convince them they are poor because it is God's will, and that the "Godless Democrat Libruls" want to close down their houses of worship and ban their religious books. Insidious bastards.

[farmbo]

2. "Blessed are the meek..." has been scrubbed from the...

...King George version of the Bible.

[Dzimbowicz]

3. In SC we have a repuke who wants

to eliminate all state income taxes and replace it with a 23% sales tax on all sales (food, clothes, everything)! How's that for an example of repuke 'grab for cash' at the expense of everyone else?
The problem with this plan is that those people who make a substantial amount of money will receive tax relief. However, those people who are unfortunate to have to live from paycheck to paycheck, hence spending the bulk of their income on the necessities of life will burden the tax load.
Now for the scary part: He is running for the US Senate seat which is being vacated by the retirement of Senator Hollings (Democrat); and, it looks like this repuke will probably win. His opponent, a Democrat, is our current Superintendent of Education. Although the polls show a tight race, DeMint (the repuke) is in the lead and will probably win.
One can only imagine what can happen if he wins and shares his greedy, self-enriching schemes with other repukes in Washington.

[The Wielding Truth]

5. I always felt that we are only as strong

as our weakest link. What kind of America or "Christian Conservative" can stand by and let these things happen to our people? It's Selfish glutinous ignorance that makes me sick .

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[Dzimbowicz]

7. Who doesn't like the idea of getting their entire paycheck?

However, there are expenses which must be sustained by everyone via taxes such as law enforcement, fire departments, public education, road maintenance, etc. My point was that our candidate's idea, if approved, will unfairly shift the tax burden.

I don't like paying taxes either, but they are necessary and everyone should bear an element of this responsibility.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[JanMichael]

9. And it can be attained through a Progressive Income Tax too.

Is this yet another thread where the concepts of Regressive and Progressive have to be spelled out?

[Dzimbowicz]

10. To a point...

In my county there is an additional penny added to the sales tax for road improvement; and, it does work. But for everything?

To further add to my point...
Back in the 1970s the nationwide speed limit was 55. In the state of Pennsylvania signs were posted informing drivers how much a speeding ticket would cost. 56-65 was 'x' amount, 66-75 was 'y' amount and so on... I once heard someone say: "hey I can afford that" so I drive as I please and hope that I don't get caught. But, then again, this is the US and traffic laws are a "cat and mouse game" with many people.

In Germany traffic violations are assessed by the violater's ability to pay. The most common traffic violation is following too closely and in one particular violation on the Autobahn a very rich person was cited for this offense. The fine was equivalent to $20,000! I must paraphrase this article because I read it in a local German newspaper several years ago:
On the Autobahn there is a "keep to the right" law which means that one must stay out of the fast lanes if their speed is too slow. A rather impatient fellow in a Porsche, was behind another person who was not driving too slow for the lane, but the fellow in the Porsche got right behind him, flashed his lights and made some rude gestures (which are also illegal). All of this was caught on the traffic control cameras used by the Autobahn police.

So, I guess my point here is that the tax burden should be shared by everyone, and according to their ability to pay. In my opinion, there has yet to be an entirely fair method of tax assessment created, but those who have more money do have more access to the lawyers and accountants who can help them avoid paying their fair share.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

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[Dzimbowicz]

12. Could you be a bit more explicit?

Is it that you do not mind paying taxes? Or, that you do not mind if others are able to avoid their obligations because of their wealth?

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

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[Dzimbowicz]

14. Of course...

However, if the sales tax initiative proposed by our candidate passes, they will not be paying their fair share. OK, so I'm a closet socialist and you caught me. I simply think that those who have larger incomes should pay more taxes, it is only fair.

My sister is one of those people who makes an excessive amount of money helping the rich hide their income from the government. On the other hand, I am a public school teacher (like you I'm neither rich nor have a lot of money). The supplies issued to me by my district only last about two months, however there are ten months in a school year. So, I must purchase, with my own money, the necessary supplies to do my job for eight months of the year. And, in case you have not heard, teachers just lost their tax credits for purchasing classroom supplies on their tax returns. So, I ask you, in this case, if the sales tax initiative passes, will I not be footing more of the bill than the wealthy because I am not provided with items to do my job which are supposed to be supplied by tax money?

BTW, I asked you if you could be more explicit. I was expecting an answer, and you only responded with another question. Please put something on the table; that is if you have anything.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. The Repukes had the audacity to say

that this money would go to folks on welfare. Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) retorted that she didn't call families earning minimum wage welfare families.

And realize these same Repukes will repeal minimum wage the first chance they get.