GOP Corporate Foundation = "Grassroots"?

[Serephino]

You know... good 'ol George Washington warned people against political parties.  He was a smart man.

I may not be edumacated (yes I know I misspelled the word) in politics, but here is what I as an average voter see.  Republicans may be sick of having George Bush Jr. rubbed in their faces, but dude, the reject fucked up royally.  He was so caught up in his stupid war everything else went to hell in a handbasket.  Congressmen did whatever the hell they wanted to.  He didn't care as long as he got the authorization do do what he wanted with the military and he got his funding. 

He gave huge tax breaks to the rich.  One of these tax breaks happened when I was a Junior in high school.  My History teacher looked up the info on this tax break cuz Bush was really patting himself on the back.  According to what he found, someone making millions would save hundreds of thousands on their taxes.  My poor 14k/year teacher would save 13 cents.  Then there are the tax breaks for companies who outsourced.  This made the rich richer, and made them more greedy.  That led to them figuring out how to cut as many corners as possible to save as much as they could to make a product while charging the consumers the same price.  The result of that was the recall of lots of toys that were manufactered in China that had lead paint.

In the 2000 election what really ticked me off was that Bush used fear as a tactic.  He basically said that if Kerry won and pulled out of Iraq the terrorists would kill us all.  Those weren't his exaxt words, but it was heavily implied.  The tactic worked too.

Republicans often will say they are against Gay marriage, abortion, and other things because it is against God.  As a non Christian, I find that incredibly offensive.  Republican values that they preach about so much tend to be Christian values.  I happen to like seperation of church and state because I don't want the rules of someone else's religion forced on me.  There's a Christian nut I talk to sometimes who says she wishes Republicans were in power because the Democrats aren't enforcing God's Law.  My response to that is GOOD!  Freedom of religion means freedom of ALL religion.

They used the same scare tactics in this last election.  In fact, it was Sarah Pailin I believe who said Obama was a terrorist, and many people believed her.  I do give McCain credit for correcting the one woman who said it the one time he was speaking.  And y'all wanted that whacko as your VP....

As long as I live I will never forget all the fuss that was made on whether or not Obama was an American citizen after he was elected.  That was the most riddiculous and lame attempt at... well I don't know what they were trying to accomplish, but I haven't taken Republicans seriously since. 

I could go on and on, but I won't.  The point is the Republican name has been dragged through the mud by its own people.  Those in the public eye make outrageous accusaions and prey on fear.  I don't like it.  I won't say every single Republican out there is like that, but the party leaders make it seem so. 

I also won't say accusations haven't been made by Democrats.  The difference is, most of those accusaions turned out to like... be true....

[SleepyWei]

Republicans often will say they are against Gay marriage, abortion, and other things because it is against God.  As a non Christian, I find that incredibly offensive.  Republican values that they preach about so much tend to be Christian values.  I happen to like seperation of church and state because I don't want the rules of someone else's religion forced on me.  There's a Christian nut I talk to sometimes who says she wishes Republicans were in power because the Democrats aren't enforcing God's Law.  My response to that is GOOD!  Freedom of religion means freedom of ALL religion.

Kind of like John F. Kennedy being a devout catholic but not having his beliefs dictate his career in office. :-)

[Serephino]

Not sure what point you're trying to make because I don't think I was alive then, and I don't know that much about President Kennedy.  I know he was popular, and assassinated, so I guess he wasn't liked by everyone, but who is?

Now had I been alive and Kennedy was a Democrat who let his religion interfere with his job, that would upset me too.  However, we're not talking about 30 yrs ago, or whenever Kennedy was president.  I'm talking about NOW. 

What happened before I was born doesn't mean much to me.  I like History, and I think it's important to learn from it, but it's not going to affect my current views on politics. 

[Bayushi]

I would like to offer an apology to anyone who was offended by my seemingly racist remark in my last post.

Akiko is hardly racist, and was not attempting to use the term in a derogatory manner, except towards those who use racial politics to 'get ahead'.

[Oniya]

Not sure what point you're trying to make because I don't think I was alive then, and I don't know that much about President Kennedy.  I know he was popular, and assassinated, so I guess he wasn't liked by everyone, but who is?

I wasn't alive for Kennedy either, but the significance is that he was the first (and I believe so far the only) Roman Catholic to be elected to office.  A lot of people at the time were concerned that he would - as a Roman Catholic - defer to the Pope on everything including matters of State.  As for the assassination, that's one of those things that horrified the nation in the same way that 9/11 horrified it.  Everyone who was alive at the time remembers exactly where they were when the news came down, and I seriously doubt that any US citizen heard that announcement without feeling sick to their stomach.

[Callie Del Noire]

I wasn't alive during the JFK administration either, but I've talked to family and friends who were and read enough history to know that his political clout wasn't as good as his PR. Bobby Kennedy had done everything he could to alienate one of the strongest backers of his brother, Lyndon Johnson, on several occasions. To the point of sending messages to american embassies UNCODED stating that he did not have any authority to do any OFFICIAL ACTIONS on behalf of the Government.

And if you believe that his dad Joe Kennedy made some backroom deals to buy leverage in certain areas (Which having read about good old Joe) I doubt he'd get the same help in certain areas (such as parts of Chicago).

JFK was popular, yes, but some of the things he had done back then would have pissed off the wrong folks, and when those folks controlled the political machines of the time? Oh yeah..even odds he'd have gone down in flames next time around.

[Zakharra]

 I think JFK's  reelection campaign was in trouble, he wasn't a shoe-in for a second term, and wasworking on improving it when he was shot. That's what cemented his fame. Being assassinated.

[Oniya]

Well, you can't ignore getting the space race going, or pulling us back from nuclear war in '62.

[Zakharra]

 That certainly helped him, but I think he's known more for being assasinated. He also, got us into Vietnam I believe too.

[Callie Del Noire]

Well, you can't ignore getting the space race going, or pulling us back from nuclear war in '62.

Or nearly getting us INTO a nuclear war, the bay of pigs and vietnam.

He seriously shat on LBJ, who was a big force in the south, hid a very SERIOUS illness and there was more than a few indications that he was seriously (and overly) medicated during the missile crisis.

My mom (and 2 poli-sci professors I know) said he had at BEST 50/50 for re-election at the time he was shot.

[Vekseid]

One of my teachers had classmates who cheered when he was shot.

I think the moonshot happened in large part due to his assassination, rather than his own character.

[Callie Del Noire]

One of my teachers had classmates who cheered when he was shot.

I think the moonshot happened in large part due to his assassination, rather than his own character.

One of my teachers told me of something like that. No matter how much I despise the president as a person.. it is a tragedy to have one killed.

[September]

He gave huge tax breaks to the rich.  One of these tax breaks happened when I was a Junior in high school.  My History teacher looked up the info on this tax break cuz Bush was really patting himself on the back.  According to what he found, someone making millions would save hundreds of thousands on their taxes.  My poor 14k/year teacher would save 13 cents. 

That reminds me of a story.

Suppose that every day 10 men go to a restaurant for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If it was paid the way we pay our taxes, the first four men would pay nothing; the fifth would pay $1; the sixth would pay $3; the seventh $7; the eighth $12; the ninth $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59."

The 10 men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement until the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." Now dinner for the 10 only costs $80. The first four are unaffected. They still eat for free. Can you figure out how to divvy up the $20 savings among the remaining six so that everyone gets his fair share? The men realize that $20 divided by 6 is $3.33, but if they subtract that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would end up being paid to eat their meal.

The restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same percentage, being sure to give each a break, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so now the fifth man paid nothing, the sixth pitched in $2, the seventh paid $5, the eighth paid $9, the ninth paid $12, leaving the tenth man with a bill of $52 instead of $59.

Outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20," complained the sixth man, pointing to the tenth, "and he got $7!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got seven times more than me!"

"That's true," shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $7 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor."

Then, the nine men surrounded the tenth man (the richest one, paying the most) and beat him up. The next night the richest man didn't show up for dinner, so now the nine men sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They were $52 short!

And that, boys, girls and college instructors, is how America's tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table any more. There are lots of good restaurants in Switzerland and the Caribbean.

[Pumpkin Seeds]

I always find that story entertaining but also misleading.  The ten men are obviously supposed to represent the tax payer base, yet the story has them all eating at the same place.  If this was more representative then the four that pay nothing would each be eating cans of soup that the rich man contributed toward.  The next level might be eating at McDonald’s while the other was eating at an Applebee’s or perhaps a nicer establishment.  The richest eats at the finest restraunt available. 

While the rich may complain about paying more taxes, I think most can agree they also have access to the finer things this country can provide.  Sorry if they have to pay a little more to make sure the rest of us can eat too.

[Vekseid]

While the rich may complain about paying more taxes, I think most can agree they also have access to the finer things this country can provide.  Sorry if they have to pay a little more to make sure the rest of us can eat too.

Warren Buffet proudly pays his full tax burden and makes sure the companies under his control engage in no loopholes, and actually ends up paying more than the typical corporate share. And yet, he is and remains the richest man on Earth, while people who whine about short term situations (the semi-rich who complain about their 'unfair' tax burden) dream of having a fraction of his wealth.

[Callie Del Noire]

Business 'ethics' in the US are long dead and buried.

Most 'rich folks' follow the ethics of 'Gordon Gecko' from the movie. "Greed is Good."

Why look into the long term when you can rape pillage and burn today?