Wednesday, August 15, 2007
About Me
- Name: Snave
- Location: La Grande, Oregon, United States
I am a native eastern Oregonian, and have lived here 50 of my 62 years. I left at 20, but was back by age 32 to be near my parents to help them in times of need. I don't fit in politically here because I view things from a decidedly left wing perspective... but that's o.k. because I love the people, I love the area and for the most part I like living here. I enjoy family time, listening to music, reading books, traveling, bird watching, hiking, backpacking, watching movies, keeping up on politics, watching sports, sitting at the computer so much I get sores on my ass, and playing music... if you need a band for your party or celebration, let me know; I play keyboards and sing for a rock and roll band, and we do mostly "classic rock". (I also like to play guitar and bass and other instruments, but those are for my private enjoyment only!) I am mainly an agnostic/skeptic, but would consider myself spiritual. I work in schools and in clinical settings as a speech/language therapist. It is enjoyable work and it pays some of the bills. I have a rather unpredictable sense of humor, which can get me in trouble at times, but hey, is life worth living without laughter? I think not!
11 Comments:
The tax cuts for the rich were tax increases for the middle class and poor. This is something you rarely hear spoken in the media. For every Federal tax cut, the State's have to pick up the slack. There are plenty of tax hikes since Bush became President-Bush just has them camouflaged.
finishes disappearing or as it disappears
The chief problem with taxes in this country... let's call it what it is GRAFT. We pay plenty (maybe not the very right or the very poor) but what we pay doesn't go to the needs of the people and the nation, it goes to the corrupt and greedy - probably in excess of 45% of our taxes go to graft.
Great pics Snave, thanks for sharing.
We have returned to the days of the rober barons with stockpiles of wealth and limitless power.
The thing most working class Republicans don't seem to get is that they are not benefiting from these tax cuts unless they are making $500,000+ a year or get most of their income from dividend payments.
Working class people who make less than $60,000 year, hell even people making upwards of 100,000 a year, get any real benefit.
I agree with 1138 that there is buttload of graft and waste in government.
But simply cutting taxes is not a panacea.
As I've written before, Republicans look at government waste and don't think "how can we make this government program or department more efficient"? Instead they think "look at all that cash that could be profit for a company!" They then move to "privatize" the department or program under the guise of "saving" tax payer dollars.
It doesn't work. We end up paying more money for less services rendered with less quality. All one has to do is look at Halliburton.
What we need to do as a society in my view, is agree that certain things should be not-for-profit, but for the public good such as roads, bridges, utilities, water, etc. Capitalism flourishes because of the basic services that allow society to exist.
Instead Conservatives want to privitize everything and do away with regulation.
The problem with that is in the long run it's really bad for business. Case in point, China.
Left to their own devices, corporations will always plunge to the lowest common denominator; the quickest way to make the most profit. This means cheap labor, substandard materials, and poor quality.
Short term a few guys make out like bandits with bags of cash. Long term, their business model will die.
We've been through all this before. It's why we have the FDA, the USDA, Dept of Transporation, OSHA, etc. We used to employ kids in factories. We used to have very unsafe working conditions, unsafe food, and poor infrastructure. It was the progressive movements of the late 1800's/early 1900's that lead us down the road of well regulated capitalism.
And it's worked for us for a long time.
Now, it's as if we need to go through all the experiences we had in the past in order to remember how we ended up where we are.
China is seeing the light and my guess is they will adapt and change faster than the United States did when we were going through it.
There's a reason why our food is relatively safe, our roads and bridges are relatively safe, our water is relatively safe, and our air is relatively breathable, and it's called responsible government for the greater good.
By no means perfect and full of waste. It would be nice if we could get some political leaders who cared more for efficiency and saving tax payer money than they did for pork and earmarks.
In our tiny community the property tax base has not been raised since 1951. Needless to say the roads are bad, we have no law enforcement, and according to my daughter who will be a high school senior, they've cut many classes because of lack of funds for teachers.
This is a conservative county and any time anyone mentions tax increases they act like they all will have to go without food.
I personally don't mind paying taxes as long as I receive services in return. Awhile back someone on this blog mentioned a checklist on our federal tax forms allowing us to choose where our tax dollars would go. I know it's a utopian idea but it would be better than any poll invented to show our government what the people they represent want.
I'm not at all offended by that cartoon, and I'm from there. It's right on, as is your post.
I am not offended at all by the cartoon! I think it is great. Sometimes you need a visual so you can get an idea of EXACTLY what is going on with your money!
Here in Fort Worth, Texas we have at least 2 bridges that I know of that are so bad they shake when you are on them!!! I usually try to avoid them but I shouldn't have to. We pay enough taxes in this country that there should be no potholes, or shaking/collapsing bridges anywhere.
It's a shame when we are seen as one of the wealthiest countries in the world and yet we have HORRIBLE healthcare, bridges falling apart, stock market down, people not able to get housing, and a "leader" who doesn't give a mad ass fuck about any of it!!!
I really don't know what it is going to take for us to finally be able to get rid of this sorry ass douchbag!!!!! He can't be gone soon enough that's for sure!!!
Hi snave-
Just to let you know I left you something on my blog, if you get a chance try and check it out. :-)
And all the more ironic that it was in Minnesota--a state that, from my years of living there, I got the impression really knew how to raise and spend tax money.
I've heard that's it's changed up there on the tundra.
That cartoon may be tasteless, but the point needs to be made. Squandering our treasury on Iraqmire and cutting taxes for the richest 1% of the population are the exact things that are causing our infrastructure to crumble.
Who Hijacked Our Country
Excellent post, Snave. Poli's comment was great as well. What he have here is a case of Socialism for the rich, and free enterprise for the poor.
Taxes are for the little people. 9-11 changed EVERYTHING!!
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