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no, it isn't even the largest part of them.
But whatever. This argument never goes anywhere. Your brother doesn't make much so you're convinced everyone that doesn't pay taxes is like him. My family deals with people that scam the system everyday so I'm convinced otherwise.
Until someone digs up a study done by someone reparable, neither of us are going to change our mind on this.
That qualifier at the end hardly seems necessary. Don't you vote for the candidate which will let you keep the largest share of your money? If your argument is that you make the money, is there a threshold to taxing where someone finally gets a vote?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Someone should really make economics a base course to pass high school. Still, there are considerably more socially minded governments doing just fine the world over.Quote:
I don't think the populace is smart enough to realize this in time and will still have their hands out after the "closed" sign is hung.
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Originally Posted by bbobb
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Originally Posted by Diff-chan
People who work pay pay roll tax. I'm not talking about people who owe the government money on April 15.Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
And if you are under a certain amount, it is all returned to you. Or to save the argument, you can likely claim you are exempt and never pay the taxes at all. In that way, they have not really paid taxes (outside of SS)Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
But wit aside, that goes beyond the point I was curious about. Either votes are given as a per person basis because we believe that the person is the qualifier, or it is given because of money. If someone ends up paying $10 in taxes, it matters so little compared to the person that makes $0, that why are we bothering to split the hairs about who gets to vote? And by that same logic, if you make $150,000, that matters much less than the person who makes $15,000,000. So shouldn't he get 100 times your vote?
Under the pay taxes to get a vote idea, is there a cutoff point to where this works? $20,000 a year single family? $25,000?
Ok. Please find us numbers on the percentage of Americans who don't pay any payroll taxes or anything at all
I'm willing to bet it's an incredibly small percentage
Here's a thing I wrote for my comp class. It was one of the things that I kinda did my own thing with instead of following the guidelines to a T, yet still received an A. The formatting didn't carry over when I copy/pasted. Sorry. I'm posting it because the research I did for this really made me think about my established notions and perception of the world.
At What Price Success
"Retailing is the most competitive industry out there, and we do pay competitive wages. Our associates are a great source of pride and personal inspiration for me.” - Walmart CEO Mike Duke
Girshriela Green of Los Angeles, California and mother to three began working for Walmart in 2009. Her starting pay was $8.20 an hour. She soon was promoted to Health and Beauty manager and operated “a store within a store.” She was making a bit over $9.00 an hour.
"Not only did I operate in the photo department and all the things I just told you, being a cashier, mixing paint, cutting keys, fabric, Walmart.com; I started supervising other associates, stocking shelves, doing overnight maintenance, unloading trucks, breaking down shelves. You name it, I done it, and it led to me, um, pulling muscles in my arm. Not having the help I needed and upon complaining about not being staffed properly to run a store within a store, I started, uh, being harassed by management."
Months went by and requests for help to see a doctor were ignored, until Girshriela lost use of the left side of her body while working her shift. She was rushed by ambulance to see a company doctor. An MRI revealed that overcompensation in other areas of her body to make up for the loss of use of her left arm necessitated surgery in her neck. She now collects $1022 a month from disability and $200 in food stamps.
In 2004, The Democratic Staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce estimated that a single 200 person Walmart store costs taxpayers over $420,000 thanks to subsidized health care and other public benefits. According to the annual Milliman Medical Index in 2012, a family of four would have to pay over $20,000 for coverage based on the typical health care plan.
When I reflect on my life and where it’s taken me (or rather, where I’ve let it drift), depending on the day, I am bound to feel incredibly successful or incredibly useless. What I’ve seen, read, or heard on any given day plays a huge factor in the accounting of my worth. Did I hear about the new mansion that celebrity X just purchased or did I glance at Rich Kids Of Instagram? If so, then I am SUCH a loser. Did I read about an old guy who died penniless but everyone said was always content? Was there a show about a family that didn’t have much except for each other and, dammit, that’s all they really needed? That day, I’m Superman.
The poverty line for 2013 is $23,500. One in seven Americans lives below the poverty line. A minimum wage worker in New York State earns two thirds of that.
In 1993, Stephen Sutton worked for Digital Equipment Corporation in Rochester, N.Y. managing their broadband network. He earned $53,000 a year. In 2012, he retired from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida where he held a similar position for the hospital located on base. He took a pay hit when he took the job, but after only ten years, he had worked his way back up to $56,000 a year. Stephen gave his life over to his job. I wouldn’t say he was a bad father. He didn’t hit me without extreme provocation. He wasn’t given to drink. But he was never there. His routine consisted of working the usual Monday-Friday 8-5 grind (7:00-6:00 since we lived an hour outside of Rochester), coming home and eating dinner and then falling asleep on the couch as talking heads maneuvered their way around canned laughter. Weekends were spent in the garage keeping the family sedan together or digging out the basement (that’s a story that needs to be told, someday). Should a kid whose dad was never around because he was busy doing things to keep the family going feel better about himself than the kid whose dad was never around because he was out getting tanked? Probably. But a kid is just a kid, man. All he knows is that he misses his dad.
The CEO of Walmart earned $4.5 million on average between 1995 and 2000. In 2012, Walmart’s CEO earned $23.15 million. If I were making $20 million a year, would I be able to sit on my private yacht and bounce on the waves of the private lagoon along the private beach of my private island while Girshriela Green is sitting in her two bedroom apartment with her three kids and dining on coffee and chips and feel like a success? Would I be able to look Girshriela in the eye and tell her sorry about your shoulder and all, but if not for you and millions of others like you there would be a blank spot the short list for the next McClaren Supercar where my name should be?
Adjusted for inflation, Mr. Sutton earned $20,000 less in 2012 than he did in 1993. Adjusted for inflation, Walmart’s CEO earned $16.35 million more in 2012 than the CEO did in 1995.
In 1973, the average income was $12,050 ($62,113 in 2013 dollars), the average house was $29,900 ($154,123), and the average private college annual tuition was $3200 ($16,494). In 2013, the average income is $52,762, the average house costs $186,200, and the average private college annual tuition is $119,400.
Ed Shurna is the director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. When asked why so many Chicagoans (an estimated 21,000) were homeless, Mr. Shurna replied, “It’s relatively simple. The housing costs are too high, the jobs are too few, and the jobs that are out there don’t pay enough for people to pay the rent…it’s a simple reason.” In 1970, Chicago had one homeless shelter. In 2012, there are ninety. I have a home, ok, a mortgage. But it’s a mortgage that I’ve managed, with little difficulty, to pay every month. 21,000 people in Chicago can’t say that. I’m feeling rather successful right now. Is that what it takes to be successful? Is success just relative? A sort of “In the land of the blind, the guy with one eye is king” sort of deal?
From 1973 to 2011, CEO compensation rose 725%. The average worker compensation rose 5.7%. I remember when my kids were little, I could give them a five dollar bill and they would just beam. They’d play with it and fold it into different shapes like they were practicing origami. My son would place it in his front pocket, and then keep his hand over the pocket so that there would be no way for would-be thieves or gravity to get at it. Though they’ve been raised to mask their disappointment in light of a gift, a handout 5.7% larger than what they got ten years ago certainly wouldn’t be met with the same (or any) level of excitement.
A report by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute stated that low-earning workers in the United States are worse off than low-earning workers in all but seven similarly developed countries.
If you could gather all the wealth of the wealthiest 400 Americans and put it in a box, it would take all the wealth of the poorest half of the country to match it. That’s 150,000,000 people necessary to equate the wealth of 400 people. The top 1% of America controls 43% of the available wealth. The bottom 80% of America controls 7% of the available wealth.
On Black Friday, 2012, Martha Sellers and eight others were arrested for sitting in the street in front of the Paramount, California Walmart at which they were employed and were refusing to move. "It was wonderful, exciting, and scary at the same time. I'm fighting for every working person in this country. I'm fighting for my grandchildren and your grandchildren who might have to work here one day. How bad is it going to get? It's all about money." Those nine people and thirty other employees who were striking were doing so to demand a better work environment. They demand a work environment that consists of full-time work, freedom from a fear of managerial retaliation for speaking out, and basic respect. “How about a thanks once in a while?”
It’s pretty obnoxious to be so schizophrenic. I don’t know why I can’t just pick a definition of success and stick with it. Yeah, the only new car smell I’ve ever enjoyed was spritzed in by a dude at the car wash, but my kids aren't jerks who delight at society’s misfortunes, or even worse have become one of those said misfortunes. The bills get paid and I’ve accumulated way more dumb stuff than I’ll ever need and whose entire return on investment can be found in the calorie or two I burn when dusting it. I may be homophonic but my family loves me, I sleep with a clear conscience, and the things I've accumulated were earned by my sweat solely and not the sweat of others. No single mothers disabled themselves in order for me to get where I am today. Maybe that’s all just rationalization. The last time my high school graduating class got together, I bought an $800 watch to wear, and then returned it the following day. I didn't feel like a success that day.
In 2012, Wal-Mart generated $17 billion in profit on revenue of $469.2 billion. Half of Walmart’s workers made less than $22,400 in the same year.
Never mind. I found it easily
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=3505
Yep according to figure 4 10% of the populace is elderly and doesn't pay taxes because they are and then a whopping 8% are the rest, the unemployed, disabled and students all lumped into one
8% could change the outcome of a lot of elections. I wish that was further broken down though.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
Yeah it would be nice if the percentage of students were removed as that is probably a good deal of that 8%Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
you go find it.Quote:
Originally Posted by bbobb
edit: again.