Think!
Me thinks that you don’t want others to think unless they think the way that you think? phwweee “That really thinks”

Back to the original question about asking what is best for everyone, rather than just best for me.

You folks have taken this entirely to a monetary level. I feel sorry for you if that is the only measure of what is “best” for you. If you have a family, you worry about other people and look out for them. If you have no family, but have good friends, ditto. If you have no good friends, and you live in a community, it behooves you that the police and ambulance come when you call, that the firefighters are responsible, that the guy at the grocery doesn’t cheat you, and that the school teachers and parents teach your neighbors’ children to be honest and law abiding.

If you have no family, no friends, no community, and have $100 million dollars and live in the middle of a 5000 acre estate you are more impoverished than the youngest kid in welfare family in a ghetto.

The concept that a good upbringing, good education and hard work will make one successful isn’t entirely true. There is the matter of luck, and the matter of opportunity. I know plenty of people who are not ’successful’ because they will not claw their way to the top by stepping on the hands of those who helped them out. I know lots of out of work people with good educations — but they are ‘overqualified’ for the few jobs out there, and others will not hire them for McJobs that reason, unless they lie on applications. Not everyone has the personality to be an entrepreneur. Not everyone has the health to work a 40 hour week. It’s really easy to get discouraged when the world keeps kicking you in the face.

Joe is right that the government should not be a hindrance to creating wealth. But on the other hand, the wealthy have a responsibility to help the less fortunate. It is called noblesse oblige — even the king realized that without his serfs and slaves, and servants and loyal subjects, he could be taken down in a heartbeat.

What got America through the Great Depression was the cooperation of the common person helping their neighbor out, and the government helping where it could. Not all made it, and yes, some took horrid advantage of the setup, but very few survived without mutual assistance. When a fire dept. calls for backup, it is called mutual aid. And heaven help us if we’ve forgotten that.

I learned today why FDR is on the dime. I don’t think I can ever look at a dime again without thinking why.

Kudos Teresa,

“What is best for everyone?

Jesus counseled nonviolence … and refused to counter-attack with violence when nailed to the cross. In light of the words and example of Jesus, what role do you see for the military in … the United States?
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Jesus … said that a person should abandon his mother and his father, son and daughter in order to follow him: How would you apply this teaching to family values?
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Jesus said “Give all that you own to the poor” …. How does this inform your understanding of tax policy and the redistribution of wealth?
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Jesus included foreigners, strangers, and aliens in his compassion. How would this practice inform your understanding of America’s immigration policy and its responsibilities to people in other nations?
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Jesus said to his disciples that the best way for them to serve him was by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and housing the homeless. How would this teaching inform your understanding of domestic policy and the revenues necessary to put it into effect?

Leave a little of the crop? Under Obama’s proposal, I will be leaving 45% (39.5% Fed and 6% State), not counting sales tax, and property tax. The way I see it, I am already leave about 65% in the fields. How much is enough? I also donate 20% of my income to charity. That will have to be where the difference is made up. Can I mention your name at my church when they wonder why I can’t give as much next year? How I help the disadvanted should be my decision, not some left wing, socialist Chicago pol.

BAR STOOL ECONOMICS (UPDATED FOR OBAMA’S TAX PROPOSAL …”TO SPREAD THE MONEY AROUND”)

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay______________ $ 1.
The sixth would pay ______________$ 3.
The seventh would pay ____________$ 7.
The eighth would pay_____________ $12.
The ninth would pay______________$18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

And so… that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a real curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost (read tax) of your daily beer by $20. ”Drinks for all ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘ fair share?’ They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then both the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free . But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20, ”declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, ” but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!”

“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? 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!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half the bill.

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our 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 anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere would be somewhat more friendly.

For those who understand, no explanation is needed: For those who do not understand, no explanation…is possible! In a nutshell, this is how our tax system works.

NOW lets look at what Obama WANTS to do.

The bartender decides $80 isn’t enough for the beer (read tax) so he goes back to charging $100. (read tax increase)

Except now the bartender decides the tenth man is going to pay all that extra $20 and he’s going to reduce the share of the bill the first nine men pay and make the 10th man pick up all that slack too!

Since the share of the bill for the first five was nothing, the bartender is going to now give them money to drink the beer. The 10th man (read wealthy) is now paying for that too.

And Obama says…. “that is spreading the money around” LOL!!!

‘jjk’ wow 45% is an awful lot of tax. Sounds like you could use a better accountant. Didn’t I read somewhere that the higher tax rate proposed only applied to any amount over the $250,000?

‘Think’ regarding preachers talking politics there was a famous theologian named Karl Barth who suggested that everyone should think theologicaly with the paper in one hand and the Bible in the other. I, of course, had to put them both down in order to type this! Faith is relevant and, if it is important to you, then it permeates everything. I don’t preach about poliltics at all - just point to God and let the spirit do the rest of the job. This dialogue is unusual for me but these are important times and it is awesome to be involved.

‘profff’ I am not sure I grasp the entirety of you analogy of the 10 guys buying beer but I think I sat next to them the last time I was at the baseball game!

“Do you think that Americans have it within ourselves to look at the current state of affairs and ask, “What is best for everyone?” and not just, “What is best for me?””

NO. It would seem that it would be best for everyone if we defeated terrorism, but some actively fight against us doing that. Some want the nations secret programs to remain that way, others think illegally leaking them to the NY SLimes is fine.

The government does NOTHING efficiently. Giving them more power or money is only feeding their inefficiency. Look at what happens after a natural disaster, while government “relief” agencies are filling out paperwork and going through sexual harassment training, private charities (many religious based) are on the ground helping people. A government that can give you anything you desire can also take away from you all you need. If it is truly our calling to help our brother (in the form of money) that help is wasted in government bureaucracy. If you think government can solve the problems with more money, fine, send them more of your money, they will take it, but let me decide where my money can do the most good.

Some people mention Warren Buffet and his tax rate, and HIS money. While he rightfully claims the tax code is screwed up, he didnt will his money to the government, he willed it to outside charities (The Gates Foundation.)

I’m voting for him as a write-in

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/10/15/who-is-joe-the-plumber/

To all of you laizzez faire capitalism ideologs:

How does a $4,000,000,000 tax incentive to oil companies fit into your philosophy? How do R&D grants to corporations square with laizzez faire? Explain the $700,000,000 bailout and McCain’s $150,000,000 mortgage buy back as following that pure capitalism belief. Price supports for tobacco companies? Tax deductions because you lost money in the market? Schedule C? You wish to get rid of “socialism? Think that one all the way through.

It’s over