Out of Pod Experience

I think it is comments like this that really drive the point of that article home and many others like it in regards to U.S. Citizens wanting to renounce citizenship. There seems to be a false belief among many people in the U.S. that if you are successful in life, that you must pay higher taxes. You always hear about “taxing the 1%” AKA the “Super rich”. The problem with that, is that in the U.S. and modern countries, you do not have Nobility, communism, or the cast system. This means, the only thing that separates you from being successful in life is your own will and desire. You are not born into your class, you have the free will to better your life. If you are working at McDonalds and want to protest because you are only making $10 an hour and can’t raise a family on that, then go to school, get a degree and find a better job. I went to college, I graduated with a degree in engineering with a 3.95 GPA, I worked extremely hard in school and I have a very good job, I may not be a multi-millionaire but why should I have to pay a higher tax because I may be more successful then let’s say someone with a GED flipping burgers? There is nothing wrong with flipping burgers if that is what you want to do for a living.

When I was in school, my wife worked part time at Walmart, and one day as she was working the counter, a woman and her teenage daughter came up the line. The Daughter was trying to work her EBT card (food stamp card) and was having trouble. The mother told her daughter “you better get used to this, you will be using it for the rest of your life”. With this said, the main problem, is that you have a segment of the population who take advantage of the system and an administration going on 6 years that has attacked the “1%” because they don’t pay enough taxes and shame be on them for being rich and greedy, even though such a tax will impact small business more than the super wealthy. What a lot of people don’t realize about these mom and pop shops, is that they are sole proprietorships, and so let’s say their business does well, they claim 1 million dollars in profit on their tax form but they only really took home $100,000 for themselves. They are now part of that “rich crowed” because their tax form shows the income from their business. So to make the statement that Reagan sure did a great job screwing us because he wouldn’t tax the rich Like people want to do today, is a sad statement to make. Only 45% of the U.S. population even pays tax. That is a common figure that has been reported in the news quite frequently. Considering that, If you have 12 dependents you can claim except on your taxes. So a lot of families bring in uncle bob and grandma and grandpa, and whola! 12 dependents each claiming each other, they are except. When I was working on a database for a large Mortgage company, I was handling the employee database. It was rarer for me to find someone claiming taxes than it was for me not to, and I will never forget looking at that database because it taught me a lot.

On top of that, in the past years, there has been an increase in people using food stamps. You have people getting free housing or lowered housing through Section8 that can get a 3,000 SQ Ft house for pennies, (some in my neighborhood), you have people who receive free healthcare, you have people who receive free cell phones, and you have states like California who this past week released a forecast that this year alone, illegal immigration would cost that state $1.6 Billion and you have people who immigrate here that can receive federal subsidies for starting a business all while the 45% who do pay taxes are paying for all of this. Furthermore, the U.S. Government in this past year has increased advertisement of the U.S. Food Stamp program by airing commercials in Mexico.

The bottom line, is that it wasn’t President Reagans unwillingness to tax the “super rich”, it is that you have an administration who is Santa Clause, and you wonder why U.S. Citizens are becoming more fed up with it?

As someone dealing with this issue first hand, I can tell you what the BBC's article is reporting is spot on. The problem here is not the "Beeb's failing standards of journalism", or those of the other major news sources reporting on this very same story, such as Time Magazine here and the Wall Street Journal here.

The problem is your basic lack of reading comprehension skills and you still missing the point.

Just get out.

You have no idea WHY most people have to participate in such programs. And as long as no new jobs are added (which they are not), more and more will have to rely on this.

And in your stupid example above, a girl is [paying for food with an EBT card, you you declare it abuse of the system ? WTF ?

BTW, I've had to draw SS for 10 years now and live on Section 8 due to inability to work due to HIV complications (and I don't care who knows).

YOU, Sir, are a huge part of the problem.

Funny how this always gets stated without absolutely any source of facts or place of absolute truth in it. "Deserve" and 'need' are abstract undefinables that cannot be quantified into anything giving results in something such as a 'survey' even. That's why results on things like this tend vary anywhere from 10% abuse to 75% abuse, depending on one's criteria and self-interests towards ones own beliefs. None of it from any side is really valid at all.

How about we do this ...

On your taxes, you get to choose which department gets your money.

On your tax form, there is a little box next to each department/program, in that box, you put in a number, 1 to 100. This is the percentage of your tax dollars that go to that area.

In the long run of course it won't, but at least the data might show what people want from government and it would help further exposing government for what it is.

taxes is sort of a non-issue, for the ones who are smart. when people become concerned about how to not lose their money (which is the other half to 'how do i get more'), some things happen:
1. their spending habits change
2. they adjust their group of friends
3. they completely change their lifestyle, to include:
-don't own anything
-don't earn anything
-pay very little in taxes

you'll need to have an open mind for this next part, because if you understand it, you might have your mind blown

how that is accomplished
-start a company, it's a matter of paperwork.
-stick your assets in the company, it's a matter of paperwork.
-spend enough of your company's $ on things that are tax "write-offs" ...lease a brand new Cadillac and stick a company logo on it and write it off as advertising etc.
-pay yourself as an employee of the company maybe $24,000 annually,
-use all the company's stuff, you own it, it's your company

...neither you nor your company pays those eyesore taxes, because you don't make **** (as far as they know) and your company spends $ in ways that can be written off. doesn't require swiss bank accounts or the caymans

I was reading an article on cnn (I think) about obamacare and how it applies to companies of 50+ employees. the article touted a figure (and a pie chart) that the number of small businesses in America has increased some 80% in the last 7 years.

*pause, pause, to give you a second to figure it out*

the reality of the nature of those small businesses is ... probably not what the article would lead the reader to think.

Yeah. No financial help when in their dottage.

Yeah right.

Why do Americans now think "I'm Absolutely The Only Taxpayer Ever".


edit: What they seriously need to stop is these idiotic tax breaks especially when one has an irresponsible number of kids.

Could always marry a native or pull off a sham wedding?

Suppose if theyre young enough they can also join the military and earn their citizenship that way.

There is or was an international division in the us army.

They were quite active in iraq following the invasion.

Service guarantees citizenship as it were.

http://ois.njit.edu/news/military-recruitment-program.php

Edit

Nvm that program has closed.