Ranting against Free Government Cheese

[SD Jarhead]

I just love this label that Rush and the brainwashed use. Do you folks ever have an independent thought or idea?

 

The only Rush I listen to is the band, Jackoff. I heard about the free money from the Messiah himself. Am I wrong? Or has he 'changed' his plan?

[finknottle]

I heard about the free money from the Messiah himself. Am I wrong? Or has he 'changed' his plan?

 

He is the one we've been waiting for! Or so the media tells me.

[RLflutie7]

Less discussed amidst the hype over government bailout of the financial industry is a democratic amendment to include a bailout for homeowners. But it gets even better. Apparently there was language inserted to forgive student loans, car loans, and increase personal bankruptcy protection!

 

I am completely pissed. We've already been discussing the issue of 40% of the country paying no income tax, and having that move to a majority under Obama, leaving contributing suckers like me in the minority and vulnerable to the political mob. We just went through one bout of $500 rebates paid for by that elite group, the actual taxpayers, and apparently going to everybody but myself. Now we are talking about another $500 stimulus, which I have no doubt I will pay for but not be eligible for.

 

What is wrong with this country that you penalize good economic behavior? You worry about the future, work 60 hours a week to build up your own stock portfolio so that you don't have to rely on social security, and you learn that your stock-related taxes will shoot up at least 33%. You save your money instead of going on vacation and buying toys so that you can pay off your student loans, pay for your car in cash, and never carry debt... What is your reward? You miss out on debt forgiveness. You just get to be taxed to pay for everybody elses relief. You save your money, buy a modest house than you can safely afford even in a downturn, pay a premium to lock in the rates, and what is your reward for being responsible? You miss all the handouts to the irresponsible.

 

It wouldn't be so bad if the cost of living responsibly didn't mean a life of hard work and frugality, when you could have been living it up. And the fact that it will be the fiscally responsible ones that pay for everybody else - they will contribute nothing - just rubs salt in the wounds.

 

 

It this really the direction we want the country to go in? Keep taking from anyone stupid enough to save enough money and strive to become become financially secure, and give it to the no-money-down credit-card class?

 

 

 

I agree with everything you said. . . but "your own stock portfolio" is fools gold. You work 60 hours a week, only to have Wall Street destroy everything with bad bets. It's not that you bought stocks . . . it's just that Wall Street's bad behavior on your dime, and everyone else's dime, has brought everyone down.

[DC Tom]

I agree with everything you said. . . but "your own stock portfolio" is fools gold. You work 60 hours a week, only to have Wall Street destroy everything with bad bets. It's not that you bought stocks . . . it's just that Wall Street's bad behavior on your dime, and everyone else's dime, has brought everyone down.

 

Really? Because I'm up 15% this month. Had no idea I was a victim of corporate greed.

 

 

 

 

You don't even understand what's happened, do you?

[finknottle]

I agree with everything you said. . . but "your own stock portfolio" is fools gold. You work 60 hours a week, only to have Wall Street destroy everything with bad bets. It's not that you bought stocks . . . it's just that Wall Street's bad behavior on your dime, and everyone else's dime, has brought everyone down.

 

I'm not troubled by the drop in the market - that happens, and evens out over the long run.

 

I find the changes in dividend and capital gains a bigger issue. Modern companies simply do not have pension plans, and for a small business owner you have no choice but to create the equivalent of a pension through a vehicle like a 401k or direct stock purchase. On paper that's desirable: we want to be an ownership society, in which we the workers are the owners of the companies we currently like to rail against. By devoting a healthy portion of your income, you can target a retirement nest egg whose dividends and subsequent growth will carry you through retirement. It's not easy, but you can do it.

 

But if we raise the tax rate on that income 33%, then we need a nest egg that is 33% bigger. That really changes the basic equation - you essentially have to increase the contributions, quite a lot under ordinary circumstances for this scenario, by 33%. More likely than not you will be forced to give up on the plan entirely.