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21 Oct 2008, 06:42 AM
I receive crazy chain letters from my Mom how Obama is a Muslim, commie, etc. and routinely plonk them. The following, however, is from my Uncle who is a person I consider to be fairly intelligent. I see glaring errors in the following, but I'd like to solicit you, the WOXY reader for your input:
Dear family and friends,
I’ve thought a lot about our two major candidates for president in terms of their philosophy of the role they believe government should play in our lives. Barak Obama is a compelling speaker, and to be perfectly honest, a lot of what he says he wants to impact with his policies is very desirable. It’s hard to say that I don’t want a lot of the same things for the citizens of our great country. For example, who would ever think that education is not key to enabling the American dream, or that health care is not something that everyone should have access to. And, John McCain has said the same things. The issue then becomes how they will influence those things to become a reality while being sensitive to the realities of our society and true to the Constitution. Both of these are critical considerations.
The question then becomes, how much the Federal Government is responsible for curing all of the country’s woes? It’s easy to say, let the government take care of it, however, when you say the government should take care of it, you are saying those who pay taxes (you and me) should pay for it. And, it is important to note that currently, 30% of the working population pays no (“0”) income taxes. The rhetoric of 95% of tax payers will get a tax cut is a lie when 30% don’t even pay taxes. If you take a look at Obama’s tax plan, no fewer than eight tax credits are being promised. What that in effect does is give tax dollars to those that currently pay no taxes, thus, giving a refund to many of those who haven’t paid anything. The term for this is welfare and is the redistribution of wealth in this country by the government. That is the basis of Socialism. That is not what our founding fathers had in mind when they wrote that the “government is of the people and for the people.”
EXAMPLE: One of Obama’s tax credit ideas to give a $4000 tax credit to college students in return for 100 hours of community service, which by the way equals $40 an hour (equaling an annual salary of $83,200). I have no problem with the government providing student loans, however, the government is not responsible for ensuring that everyone get a college education. If it is important enough for the individual, they will find a way to do it. Sheri, Bridget, and mom and I did it with loans because it was a value to each of us. It is not every other tax payer’s responsibility.
The mantra “tax the wealthy” sounds good to those who are not wealthy, however, the so called wealthy are the one that invest in our economy, which in turn creates jobs. The fact is, the top 5% of wage earners pay almost 60% of the personal income taxes; the top 10% pay over 70%. (See table below) AGI is adjusted gross income.
The other mantra regarding taxes is to tax corporations more (that is for being successful). Guess what, corporations pass their taxes on to the consumer so you are kidding yourself if you think increasing taxes on corporations is going to reduce the impact on you. The fact is that the US has the 2nd highest tax rate on corporations when compared to other major industrialized nations. The impact of high corporate taxes is that corporations look to export jobs to countries that have a more favorable tax rate thus, less costly to do business. Obama speaks out of both sides of his mouth by saying he will increase taxes on corporations (again for being successful) while saying he will penalize corporations that export jobs. His idea of increasing jobs in the US is via increasing government programs and spending. Every economist will tell you that the Government spending does nothing to increase GDP which is the true measure of economic growth.
I don’t believe that Obama is a bad person or wants to destroy our country; however, I have serious concerns about his policies and the root influences on his thinking that would take our country in a direction not intended by our founding fathers.
Just one other thought; think about the direction of our country with a very liberal president and veto proof majorities in the Senate and the House: both lead by very liberal Democrats, Harry Reid (Senate) and Nancy Pelosi (House of Representatives). There will be an acute absence of checks and balances in our government. Legislation and policies you could expect to see:
Employee Free Choice Act – this legislation allows unions to conduct elections in non-union businesses without a secret ballot. This opens the door to voter intimidation to vote “for the union.” Having been a member of a union, I can tell you that this is a serious issue.
Over turning the Mexico City Policy – prohibits funding international organizations that promote abortion (US tax dollars should not be use to fund abortions).
Freedom of Choice Act – Obama is a cosponsor of the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA, S. 1173), which has been called "the most sweeping piece of pro-abortion legislation ever proposed in Congress." The FOCA is a bill that would make partial-birth abortion legal again, strike down restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortion, and nullify virtually every state and federal law or policy that would in any way "interfere with" access to abortion, including parental notification laws.
And the list goes on.
I hope you have taken the time to read this and would welcome a continued dialog with all of you (use Reply All), especially if you disagree with my views. I would look forward to the debate.
Love,
XXXXXXXX
Like I said, I see glaring errors but as I'm not the politico some of you are, I'd like to consider alternative points of view,
Phreon
Dear family and friends,
I’ve thought a lot about our two major candidates for president in terms of their philosophy of the role they believe government should play in our lives. Barak Obama is a compelling speaker, and to be perfectly honest, a lot of what he says he wants to impact with his policies is very desirable. It’s hard to say that I don’t want a lot of the same things for the citizens of our great country. For example, who would ever think that education is not key to enabling the American dream, or that health care is not something that everyone should have access to. And, John McCain has said the same things. The issue then becomes how they will influence those things to become a reality while being sensitive to the realities of our society and true to the Constitution. Both of these are critical considerations.
The question then becomes, how much the Federal Government is responsible for curing all of the country’s woes? It’s easy to say, let the government take care of it, however, when you say the government should take care of it, you are saying those who pay taxes (you and me) should pay for it. And, it is important to note that currently, 30% of the working population pays no (“0”) income taxes. The rhetoric of 95% of tax payers will get a tax cut is a lie when 30% don’t even pay taxes. If you take a look at Obama’s tax plan, no fewer than eight tax credits are being promised. What that in effect does is give tax dollars to those that currently pay no taxes, thus, giving a refund to many of those who haven’t paid anything. The term for this is welfare and is the redistribution of wealth in this country by the government. That is the basis of Socialism. That is not what our founding fathers had in mind when they wrote that the “government is of the people and for the people.”
EXAMPLE: One of Obama’s tax credit ideas to give a $4000 tax credit to college students in return for 100 hours of community service, which by the way equals $40 an hour (equaling an annual salary of $83,200). I have no problem with the government providing student loans, however, the government is not responsible for ensuring that everyone get a college education. If it is important enough for the individual, they will find a way to do it. Sheri, Bridget, and mom and I did it with loans because it was a value to each of us. It is not every other tax payer’s responsibility.
The mantra “tax the wealthy” sounds good to those who are not wealthy, however, the so called wealthy are the one that invest in our economy, which in turn creates jobs. The fact is, the top 5% of wage earners pay almost 60% of the personal income taxes; the top 10% pay over 70%. (See table below) AGI is adjusted gross income.
The other mantra regarding taxes is to tax corporations more (that is for being successful). Guess what, corporations pass their taxes on to the consumer so you are kidding yourself if you think increasing taxes on corporations is going to reduce the impact on you. The fact is that the US has the 2nd highest tax rate on corporations when compared to other major industrialized nations. The impact of high corporate taxes is that corporations look to export jobs to countries that have a more favorable tax rate thus, less costly to do business. Obama speaks out of both sides of his mouth by saying he will increase taxes on corporations (again for being successful) while saying he will penalize corporations that export jobs. His idea of increasing jobs in the US is via increasing government programs and spending. Every economist will tell you that the Government spending does nothing to increase GDP which is the true measure of economic growth.
I don’t believe that Obama is a bad person or wants to destroy our country; however, I have serious concerns about his policies and the root influences on his thinking that would take our country in a direction not intended by our founding fathers.
Just one other thought; think about the direction of our country with a very liberal president and veto proof majorities in the Senate and the House: both lead by very liberal Democrats, Harry Reid (Senate) and Nancy Pelosi (House of Representatives). There will be an acute absence of checks and balances in our government. Legislation and policies you could expect to see:
Employee Free Choice Act – this legislation allows unions to conduct elections in non-union businesses without a secret ballot. This opens the door to voter intimidation to vote “for the union.” Having been a member of a union, I can tell you that this is a serious issue.
Over turning the Mexico City Policy – prohibits funding international organizations that promote abortion (US tax dollars should not be use to fund abortions).
Freedom of Choice Act – Obama is a cosponsor of the so-called "Freedom of Choice Act" (FOCA, S. 1173), which has been called "the most sweeping piece of pro-abortion legislation ever proposed in Congress." The FOCA is a bill that would make partial-birth abortion legal again, strike down restrictions on taxpayer funding of abortion, and nullify virtually every state and federal law or policy that would in any way "interfere with" access to abortion, including parental notification laws.
And the list goes on.
I hope you have taken the time to read this and would welcome a continued dialog with all of you (use Reply All), especially if you disagree with my views. I would look forward to the debate.
Love,
XXXXXXXX
Like I said, I see glaring errors but as I'm not the politico some of you are, I'd like to consider alternative points of view,
Phreon