How to fix America. (only post if your American)

[morph]

Here's something interesting: Bush wants our economy to go up. So he cuts taxes. To the rich. But here's the thing - the rich have too much money to spend. So they end up accumalating this money. Instead of giving the money to the poor, who would spend it on something they need, the money goes to the rich, who keep it. This leads to a weaker economy.

So in ur opinion, us giving more money to drug additcted hobos will boost our ecoconomy. Why didnt our top analysts think of that?

Here come the killer:

DO YOU HAVE ANY PROOF THAT WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS TRUE.

And if you make 300 dollars a week from a shitty job because lawmakers want to keep the min. wage low for no apparent reason, and you lose 105 due to taxes, and you spend 100+ dollars on food and water, and however much on oil for a car if you have one, doesn't leave you with much. The point is, they don't have enough for the essentials. However people like Howard Stern who in 5 minutes make over a million dollars have too much money, and instead of helping the masses he chooses to make a Hi-Def Channel on TV.

Besides, Drug dealing is good for the economy. We are not getting into why that is (why the hell is pot still illegal?).

There is no reason to look at yourself, and then look at thousands of poeple in clothes from a long time ago because they have no money for others, and then look at your money, and say "This is mine, fuckers. Get a job."

what do u mean, do i mean proof???????? A guy who makes who makes 300 a week DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY 30 TO 40% IN TAXES U FREAKIN IDIOT. HE PAYS MORE LIKE 5%!!!!!! ONLY RICH PEOPLE ARE BEING FORCED TO EAY REAL TAXES. U EVER HEARD THE SAYING " 10% OF THE COUNTRY PAYS 90% OF THE TAXES"????????? u actually are asking for proof that people put money un bank accounts and private schools??? and this is the stupidest statement uve said so dar "DRUG DEALING IS GOOD FOR AMERICA!" DO U LISTEN TO URSELF? HOW ARE DRUNKIES RUNNING OVER POOR KIDS AND DRUGGYS BREAKIN INTO UR HOUSE FOR A FEW BUCKS FOR THAT NEXT DOSE GOOD FOR THE FREAKIN ECONOMY. U ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FREAKIN IDIOT. UR ALSO A LIBERAL BASTARD

your rich and can hardly spell you missed pay and put "eay" and you shortened you've to uve... and "so dar" its far idiot.. im not goin into the others...

lets see... in Maine taxes are so high there are hardly any rich, we have some yes, but not many... and most are movie stars or big book sellers coming to vacation... you have most places costing on average 750 for rent.... and thats not including utilities... lol most of the population of Bangor, Maine is in state assisted housing, because 1: not enough jobs
2: what jobs there are do not pay enough money for people to be on their own...

so... where is your proof, ive got mine, me, my friends, my family... we do not do drugs, yet at this very moment me and my parents are about to get kicked out of our house because we are not making enough money to pay....

send some money to me, send 500 dollars, ill give it to my parents so they can give it to their lawyers so they can claim bankruptcy... and get that all settled... i mean your rich, you got it to spare... find the needy jackass and give it to them... invite a family into your home so they can get on their feet, i dare you.... you might find something of interest in what you see... or rent a place for a family and look at the place, make a deal with them to inspect the house, and if they do drugs they will be kicked out...

o wait.. your rich... you likely only have rich friends, or well off friends, you dont associate with people have have less..

[morph]

Christianity does not really exist int eh western world. How many people can honestly say that they reguarly attend church(Once a week or more), believe in all the Christian beleifs, and can name the ten commandments right here right now? The answer, very very few, a small minority. The majoirty of the western world is actually non-religious.

The UN should be the world police. If US forces are working for the UN, that is different to US invading other countries as they are working for UN views and UN sanctions and UN authorised missions rather then US interferance in other countries business.

I beg to differ. There are many that still practice their religion. However that wasn't my point. Christianity and its values have been the basis of the mentality of the Western World. It's kind of a spillover effect. While you might not be a practising Christian, you are still imbued with the values of Christianity that society has impressed on you. If we lose those values it could mean the end of the Western World. And the UN is a joke...a failure of epic proportions led by corrupt and incompetent people.

Christianity would not work on a wide basis, to many different opinions inside of the different religions that make up Christianity as a whole...

not to mention you have those Christians who sit at home and think the world is full of evil, who do not treat anyone well at all, who sit there watching programs, preachers mostly... but in general the biggest problem i have seen between people of non-Christian belief and Christians is that the Christians tend to push their belief on others (not all but quite a few).... unless i come right out and ask you your religion and go into a debate with you, i dont want to hear it...

Christ, if real, gave a good belief, love each other, that is what it was essentially... treat others right...

building a religion over that belief, asking for money to help the church turned it corrupt.... Roman Catholics had it happen (people would send money to the church and the church would "promise" them that they were going to heaven, if thats no corruption i dont know what is)


the idea is great, building a devout, constricting, and in general spiteful religion over it... that is bad...

so ya...

[morph]

eliminate the wide sweeping rights of corperate entities.

dissolve the Fed, split the country up into, at least, 4 countries, but as many as 40. As is, we are checked an balance right out of democracy.

bring military home. defense=defense, not offense.

promote green energy, and true organic farming.

focus on real education.

religion is not the answer. read "the end of faith" by sam harris. enter secular humanism.

etc.

the bring military home thing... that was tried by... the Romans... do we remember what happened once the romans stopped going into different places and went purly defense... they got conquered because the people got all "you cannot touch this" when they could not actually back it up... (there were quite a few other factors, and back then the best way to get money was to keep conquering, a few of these are no longer relevant but still"

the green energy is happening... i see specials all the time about new stuff being found out, stuff becoming better ... its just not getting that big notoriety... the biggest thing that is coming out is the bio fuel from fast food places and deep fryin oil..

stuff is out there and in use... people just need to be made aware of it..

[luns101]

America can only be changed if we defeat Ryan Seacrest...that dude is taking over television. Ryan Seacrest must be defeated.

[unriggable]

And people magazine. WE DON'T CARE IF KATIE HOLMES GOT SURGERY. WHOOPDEGODDAMNDOO.

[michaelthefinn]

First and foremost and secondly who are you to say where i can post, whats wrong in america is that the whole economy depends on other people, either exploiting them or using them in other ways

[areon]

Immigration: I believe Illeagal immigration is a huge problem. Illeagals coming across our borders hurt our economy and overpopulate America. Unfortunatly, neither party seems in a big rush to do anuthing about it, because the Republicans want the cheap Labor, and the Dems want the votes.
Solutions: Make employing illeagal immigrants a felony
Ammend the Constitution so children born in America aren't American citizens
Threaten Tariffs and embargos on Mexican Products so they help out on their side of the borders

Energy: Energy is a huge American problem, for reasons already known
Solutions: DRILL IN ANWAR GOD DAMMIT!
refine coal to oil
put more money into Ethanol research, if we gota man on the moon in less than 10 years, we should be able to get Ethanal working just as quicly
Make a national Oil Blend
Build more American Refineries

Socially: In our society people like to blame other people for their own problems, hence lawsuits. That needs to be fixed.

Illegals don't hurt the American economy, the government arresting immigrants without prosecuting their employers is hurting the economy. Illegal immigrants DO pay taxes, spend money, and support their communities. They are forced into such hardships just to stay here they don't dare speak out. Have you heard about the rise of sweat shops? They're in the US...so much for slavery.

Sorry every estimate for ANWAR, even the generous ones, show that the output would not allow the US to self sustain it's energy needs or becomes less dependant on foreign sources. Building more refineries hasn't happened for a reason. The oil conglomerate knew it would keep the supply down as well as there being a finite supply so the return in that investment wouldn't be worth it.

Civil lawsuits are the only power citizens have over organizations when there is no existing law or government. Just because you only care to hear about the liability side of law doesn't mean it's use is bad. Insurance companies are raking in record profits by treating claimants as fraudulant when they don't accept their offers. It's unfortunate that juries aren't seeing through this. This is also the only way to keep the government accountable when it doesn't properly enforce it's regulations like how much water gets discharged from nuclear plants. Should it be alright for towns to be at the mercy of power companies working to lower standards in the EPA?

the bring military home thing... that was tried by... the Romans... do we remember what happened once the romans stopped going into different places and went purly defense... they got conquered because the people got all "you cannot touch this" when they could not actually back it up... (there were quite a few other factors, and back then the best way to get money was to keep conquering, a few of these are no longer relevant but still"

Sorry but there is no relevance to the current situation. Our troops aren't in the position or the will to mutiny or set up their own government. Despite popular belief the Romans lands in the West depreciated in value well before the "barbarian invaders" showed up and therefore were an empty shell. That's why they incorporated them into their forces, it wasn't that outsourcing that doomed them.

As far as fixing America? Simple, solve the failings of the industrial revolution. I don't think it will come in time.

Awesome sig fin.

[Hitman079]

a steer away from politics or whatever you guys were talking about: prime ways to improve the US
1. ban jamie

[Titanic]

^ Hear hear!

Prosecuting employers of illegal immigrants is one of the best ways of cutting down on illegal immigration. In the UK its normally the middle and small sized businesses who use illegal workers, and the fine for illegal workers is several thousand pounds, so anyone using them will get a heavy fine which will affect their business, so employing illegal workers is a very risky business. If you dont get prosecuted for doing it, you may as well use illegal workers as they cost less and generally work harder then other workers.

[Wisse]

i am no american so i don't know if this is everywhere, but if you look to the people in the country much people are big, that is becuase all of the sugar etc. in the food and ofcores all the junk food, mayby you could something about that? (no offence)

[Titanic]

USA is too fat. That is one major problem. It must cost business, the government, and people a heck of a lot of money because of the amount of unhealthy people who live there. I know in UK, 10's of billions of pounds are wasted beacuse of sick days, health care, poor nutrition etc... and USA has 5 times the pop, and the average health of a US citizen is much worse. They should make it law that heavily overwight and obese people must attend a training course or something every week.

[wolvenlightning]

a quick side note, since people seem to be offended by the topic title...


I'm going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt and assume he meant "Don't post here if all you know about the US is what you've seen on the news" - meaning that some people from other countries would indeed be better qualified to post here than many Americans.


I do see his point of wanting to avoid US-haters from flaming the topic to ashes, since that kind of thing destroys a constructive conversation.




Also, a mandatory obesity remediation would be illegal, because it can be construed as a form of discrimination. Though it's not as unavoidable as being a certain ethnicity or gender, there are some people (a tiny percent overall, but still) who are genetically hardwired to be obese if they eat normally. It wouldn't be fair to say "you can't eat normal things because they just happen to make you more fat than they do other people"


Point conceded, however: Americans eat way too much crappy food. *points to self*

[Titanic]

I eat crappy food, but in moderation. I generally get a takeaway on a Friday or Saturday, a oven meal once a week, and my mums cooking all the other days (which is so healthy, yet so nice)!

[Ruben Cassar]

Christianity does not really exist int eh western world. How many people can honestly say that they reguarly attend church(Once a week or more), believe in all the Christian beleifs, and can name the ten commandments right here right now? The answer, very very few, a small minority. The majoirty of the western world is actually non-religious.

The UN should be the world police. If US forces are working for the UN, that is different to US invading other countries as they are working for UN views and UN sanctions and UN authorised missions rather then US interferance in other countries business.

I beg to differ. There are many that still practice their religion. However that wasn't my point. Christianity and its values have been the basis of the mentality of the Western World. It's kind of a spillover effect. While you might not be a practising Christian, you are still imbued with the values of Christianity that society has impressed on you. If we lose those values it could mean the end of the Western World. And the UN is a joke...a failure of epic proportions led by corrupt and incompetent people.

Christianity would not work on a wide basis, to many different opinions inside of the different religions that make up Christianity as a whole...

not to mention you have those Christians who sit at home and think the world is full of evil, who do not treat anyone well at all, who sit there watching programs, preachers mostly... but in general the biggest problem i have seen between people of non-Christian belief and Christians is that the Christians tend to push their belief on others (not all but quite a few).... unless i come right out and ask you your religion and go into a debate with you, i dont want to hear it...

Christ, if real, gave a good belief, love each other, that is what it was essentially... treat others right...

building a religion over that belief, asking for money to help the church turned it corrupt.... Roman Catholics had it happen (people would send money to the church and the church would "promise" them that they were going to heaven, if thats no corruption i dont know what is)


the idea is great, building a devout, constricting, and in general spiteful religion over it... that is bad...

so ya...

Hmm I don't get your point. I meant the true values of Christianity which are the foundations of the Western world. I believe that the Western World is where it is today because of these Christian values which have had a spill over effect on society.

Also many people focus on the negative aspects of Christianity, which of course there will be because we are all humans and humans make mistakes. However do you ever stop and wonder on all the good things it does? All those missionaries helping people in need all over the world? All the shelter it gives to people in need? I think we forget about these positive aspects too many times.

[unriggable]

what do u mean, do i mean proof???????? A guy who makes who makes 300 a week DOES NOT HAVE TO PAY 30 TO 40% IN TAXES U FREAKIN IDIOT. HE PAYS MORE LIKE 5%!!!!!! ONLY RICH PEOPLE ARE BEING FORCED TO EAY REAL TAXES. U EVER HEARD THE SAYING " 10% OF THE COUNTRY PAYS 90% OF THE TAXES"????????? u actually are asking for proof that people put money un bank accounts and private schools??? and this is the stupidest statement uve said so dar "DRUG DEALING IS GOOD FOR AMERICA!" DO U LISTEN TO URSELF? HOW ARE DRUNKIES RUNNING OVER POOR KIDS AND DRUGGYS BREAKIN INTO UR HOUSE FOR A FEW BUCKS FOR THAT NEXT DOSE GOOD FOR THE FREAKIN ECONOMY. U ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FREAKIN IDIOT. UR ALSO A LIBERAL BASTARD

No he pays 35% in taxes up to 50,000 dollars or so.
Rich pay very little in taxes.
You are making shit up.
Have heard of the expression "10% of the population own 90% of the wealth" or "The wealthiest 10% of the population saved 90% from tax cuts"? No, you haven't.
I didn't say 'good for america' you idiot. In fact, the quote is IN YOUR POST. If you are going to lie, don't keep the truth several lines above. I said it's good for the economy.
Yes, I am a liberal, that instantly means my mom gave birth to me out of wedlock. Your logic is absolutely bulletproof.

OMG U CONSERVATIV FCKWAD LOLOLOL!!!11!!1!!

[wolvenlightning]

We talked about the budget and social security in my government class today


To those of you confused... out of the budget, about 67% is mandatory spending:

21% Social Security
14% Medicare
10% Medicaid
9% Debt relief
13% Income Security

Defense is technically a discretionary (adjustable) expenditure of 19%, with other items taking up the remaining 14%.


As you can see, defense is our second largest expenditure, next to Social Security, but SS is currently a good thing for the budget because in terms of revenue, the tax on people's paychecks gives 32% of the government's income, meaning the government is using 21% of that to pay the people receiving social security checks (the above statistic), and the remaining 11% is surplus that is being put towards other programs.


In the 2000 elections, Al Gore proposed we put the SS money in a lockbox so we don't spend it and have it to return to the people when the time comes. The reason people are worried is because the surplus will turn into a deficit in a few years (estimated at 2016) and we're going to be screwed.



Proposed solutions include pushing the age limit to receive these checks back, so people have to wait longer, and to deny checks to people who don't need financial assistance in old age.


I'm liking my idea of taxing standing money more and more, because

A) It encourages a flowing economy
B) The social security problem will be cushioned - if people who don't need the checks get them, money will be routed back to the government without directly denying the money to the people



Another aspect of the budget that needs fixing is that defense expenditure. Currently, we're not spending money on defense... we're spending money on an offense of attrition. We're also spending money on weapons that we don't need, since we have weapons already and aren't being attacked. However, that defense figure is never going to change significantly. Politicians are too concerned with getting re-elected, and changing that statistic is far too controversial of a move for a politician to make.


So I also am liking congressional term limits more and more.

[Blueoctober]

i am glad someone put this up thanks