protests on Wall Street

[Guest Guest]

You can only push the people so far before they fight back. Since we bailed out the S&Ls, the people who use make money to make money - without adding any value to the economy - have gained more and more control. Meanwhile, we've done nothing to invest in a sustainable future, which can only be built on real things like available energy, a top-notch education system and a fair system of reward for contributing to the economy.

We are in for difficult times but finally, the push-back seems to have begun. Let's hope that it leads to a call for sound economic policies that will help us rebuild our country's economy and build a sustainable future, not just demands by each group to have a little bigger slice of the pie. See this video of protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge, October 1, 2011.

[Guest Guest]

You can only push the people so far before they fight back. Since we bailed out the S&Ls, the people who use make money to make money - without adding any value to the economy - have gained more and more control. Meanwhile, we've done nothing to invest in a sustainable future, which can only be built on real things like available energy, a top-notch education system and a fair system of reward for contributing to the economy.

We are in for difficult times but finally, the push-back seems to have begun. Let's hope that it leads to a call for sound economic policies that will help us rebuild our country's economy and build a sustainable future, not just demands by each group to have a little bigger slice of the pie. See this video of protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge, October 1, 2011.

Hopefully they'll go for it...NYPD has LOTS and LOTS of Fire-extinguisher sized Pepper Spray dispensers.

[Guest Patriot]

You can only push the people so far before they fight back. Since we bailed out the S&Ls, the people who use make money to make money - without adding any value to the economy - have gained more and more control. Meanwhile, we've done nothing to invest in a sustainable future, which can only be built on real things like available energy, a top-notch education system and a fair system of reward for contributing to the economy.

We are in for difficult times but finally, the push-back seems to have begun. Let's hope that it leads to a call for sound economic policies that will help us rebuild our country's economy and build a sustainable future, not just demands by each group to have a little bigger slice of the pie. See this video of protesters on the Brooklyn Bridge, October 1, 2011.

Yeah, check out the video of the street urchins that don't work, don't go to school, live in their momma's basements and think the world owes them a living. Put them all on a boat and ship them to Sudan for a month. They might have a different attitude when they come back.

[Guest ko]

Yeah, check out the video of the street urchins that don't work, don't go to school, live in their momma's basements and think the world owes them a living. Put them all on a boat and ship them to Sudan for a month. They might have a different attitude when they come back.

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?

[Guest Kearny Senior]

WHAT THE HELL DOES THIS EVEN MEAN?

I understood it perfectly and I agree with it 100%. Apparently your comprehension skills are lacking.

[Guest Guest]

As usual, Kearny Senior is wrong on the facts. The people on Wall Street are from all walks of life. Some are unemployed but many are not. There were even some very successful business people there. Smart businessmen understand that a country cannot prosper without a strong middle class and without investing in the future; it cannot prosper just on paper alone. That was the tragic mistake of the 1920s and the Bush era, and it nearly destroyed us again.

You right wingers can ignore reality for a while. You always do. But sooner or later, even you will have to face the fact that the middle class has gotten fed up with the class warfare that the rich has waged against the 99% of us for decades, and fed up with how the rich have sold the American people out for quick profits on paper. If you had any brains, you'd be on our side.

Take a look at the emerging majority, knuckle-dragger.

[Guest Kearny Senior]

As usual, Kearny Senior is wrong on the facts. The people on Wall Street are from all walks of life. Some are unemployed but many are not. There were even some very successful business people there. Smart businessmen understand that a country cannot prosper without a strong middle class and without investing in the future; it cannot prosper just on paper alone. That was the tragic mistake of the 1920s and the Bush era, and it nearly destroyed us again.

You right wingers can ignore reality for a while. You always do. But sooner or later, even you will have to face the fact that the middle class has gotten fed up with the class warfare that the rich has waged against the 99% of us for decades, and fed up with how the rich have sold the American people out for quick profits on paper. If you had any brains, you'd be on our side.

Take a look at the emerging majority, knuckle-dragger.

You Loonies should take off the blinders. The people potesting on Wall St. are primarily losers.

They are unemployed, uneducated street urchins that resent those of us who are intelligent, educated and successful. This is America where you're rewarded for hard work and education. This is not a classless society, there are winners and losers, haves and have-nots. Move to Europe if you want to live off the government dole.

[Guest PeanutGallery]

As usual, Kearny Senior is wrong on the facts. The people on Wall Street are from all walks of life. Some are unemployed but many are not. There were even some very successful business people there. Smart businessmen understand that a country cannot prosper without a strong middle class and without investing in the future; it cannot prosper just on paper alone. That was the tragic mistake of the 1920s and the Bush era, and it nearly destroyed us again.

You right wingers can ignore reality for a while. You always do. But sooner or later, even you will have to face the fact that the middle class has gotten fed up with the class warfare that the rich has waged against the 99% of us for decades, and fed up with how the rich have sold the American people out for quick profits on paper. If you had any brains, you'd be on our side.

Take a look at the emerging majority, knuckle-dragger.

The irony in all of this, is that your "comrades" at Zucotti Park are whining about getting their $5500 mac books stolen and the homeless freeloaders depleting the resources intended for use by the protesters, all while they are essentially protesting for equitable distribution of funds.

[Guest Patriot]

You Loonies should take off the blinders. The people potesting on Wall St. are primarily losers.

They are unemployed, uneducated street urchins that resent those of us who are intelligent, educated and successful. This is America where you're rewarded for hard work and education. This is not a classless society, there are winners and losers, haves and have-nots. Move to Europe if you want to live off the government dole.

Bravo, Kearny Senior. You're exactly right. The dregs of society thing they're going to transform America into something resembling Greece, it ain't gonna happen. zerO started all this with his class warfare saying the rich should pay their fair share, which they already do. I want to see how many urchins are still camping out in Jan. when it's 10 degrees.

[Guest Guest]

Bravo, Kearny Senior. You're exactly right. The dregs of society thing they're going to transform America into something resembling Greece, it ain't gonna happen. zerO started all this with his class warfare saying the rich should pay their fair share, which they already do. I want to see how many urchins are still camping out in Jan. when it's 10 degrees.

Everyone is having a harder time making it these days - except the few on top. Anyone who can't see that the rich started class warfare against the rest of us a long time ago is a moron, not a patriot.

We don't mind working for a living. We just resent people making tens of millions of dollars a year for running companies into the ground and sending American jobs to India and China.

A real patriot has no trouble understanding that.

[Guest Guest]

Bravo, Kearny Senior. You're exactly right. The dregs of society thing they're going to transform America into something resembling Greece, it ain't gonna happen. zerO started all this with his class warfare saying the rich should pay their fair share, which they already do. I want to see how many urchins are still camping out in Jan. when it's 10 degrees.

They don't have to camp out 24 hours a day to be effective. You'll sing yourself your little song no matter what they do but the Occupy Wall Street movement is motivated by the FACT that Wall Street got a bailout while the rest of us got the shaft. Young people, many of them with college degrees are out of work not because they don't want to work but because there aren't enough jobs. They had the drive to complete their degrees so there's no basis for saying they're not willing to work.

But of course you'll sing yourself your little right wing fantasy song no matter what. You've bought the corporate sing-song hook, link and sinker. You're what Jeffrey Sachs calls a Vidiot.

[Guest Patriot]

They don't have to camp out 24 hours a day to be effective. You'll sing yourself your little song no matter what they do but the Occupy Wall Street movement is motivated by the FACT that Wall Street got a bailout while the rest of us got the shaft. Young people, many of them with college degrees are out of work not because they don't want to work but because there aren't enough jobs. They had the drive to complete their degrees so there's no basis for saying they're not willing to work.

But of course you'll sing yourself your little right wing fantasy song no matter what. You've bought the corporate sing-song hook, link and sinker. You're what Jeffrey Sachs calls a Vidiot.

I love the way Loonys will quote other Loonys like Sachs as if what they say is the absolute truth.

I wonder why these ex-cons, street urchins and other misfits aren't protesting in front of the White House? After all, it is zerO that bailed out Freddie and Fannie, Wall St., Solyndra, Beacon Power and the hundreds of other corporations with the failed stimulus. zerO has pissed away Billions and the unemployment is still over 9% (black unemployment nearly 20%) Since it was zerO that handed out all these Billions, it only seems logical that the protesters should be out in front of zerO's house. But of course, facing up to the real culprit goes against logic and we never want to let logic get in the way of our warped reasoning.

[Guest Guest]

I love the way Loonys will quote other Loonys like Sachs as if what they say is the absolute truth.

I wonder why these ex-cons, street urchins and other misfits aren't protesting in front of the White House? After all, it is zerO that bailed out Freddie and Fannie, Wall St., Solyndra, Beacon Power and the hundreds of other corporations with the failed stimulus. zerO has pissed away Billions and the unemployment is still over 9% (black unemployment nearly 20%) Since it was zerO that handed out all these Billions, it only seems logical that the protesters should be out in front of zerO's house. But of course, facing up to the real culprit goes against logic and we never want to let logic get in the way of our warped reasoning.

If you're going to criticize someone for citing a source, you have to analyze what Sachs is saying, else you're more guilty of the offense than the person who posted the link.

Analyze what Sachs is saying. He's saying that powerful monied interests have gained control of our political system and rewritten the laws to benefit themselves, at the expense of the people. You can call all the names you like, the people know it's true.

[Guest Guest]

I love the way Loonys will quote other Loonys like Sachs as if what they say is the absolute truth.

I wonder why these ex-cons, street urchins and other misfits aren't protesting in front of the White House? After all, it is zerO that bailed out Freddie and Fannie, Wall St., Solyndra, Beacon Power and the hundreds of other corporations with the failed stimulus. zerO has pissed away Billions and the unemployment is still over 9% (black unemployment nearly 20%) Since it was zerO that handed out all these Billions, it only seems logical that the protesters should be out in front of zerO's house. But of course, facing up to the real culprit goes against logic and we never want to let logic get in the way of our warped reasoning.

You are a complete idiot. President Obama is trying to get a jobs bill passed to rebuild our country's infrastructure, something everyone agrees is long overdue. The Republicans refuse to pass the bill (1) because someone has to pay for it and the fairest way to get the revenue is to tax the wealthiest Americans who made the biggest gains under Bush (which they didn't earn) and (2) because it might help Obama get re-elected.

The bill would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Republicans refuse to pass it or even let it come up for a vote. They are putting a few filthy rich people and themselves ahead of the American people. They are disgusting and should be thrown out of office ASAP.

[Guest Guest]

I love the way Loonys will quote other Loonys like Sachs as if what they say is the absolute truth.

I wonder why these ex-cons, street urchins and other misfits aren't protesting in front of the White House? After all, it is zerO that bailed out Freddie and Fannie, Wall St., Solyndra, Beacon Power and the hundreds of other corporations with the failed stimulus. zerO has pissed away Billions and the unemployment is still over 9% (black unemployment nearly 20%) Since it was zerO that handed out all these Billions, it only seems logical that the protesters should be out in front of zerO's house. But of course, facing up to the real culprit goes against logic and we never want to let logic get in the way of our warped reasoning.

That's just ignorant. Everybody (with any sense) knows we have to get away from oil. Building new technologies is a great way to create employment, not to mention that we've been saying for decades that we need to do it. They're doing it in China, and if we don't keep up, we'll be left behind.

Unlike you, the OWS protesters have the intelligence to realize that President Obama is at least trying to bring back jobs. The Republicans are doing everything they can to stop him. They have no problem with the economy being bad a year from now. That treasonous. We'll see what they American people have to say about their obstruction.

I've seen and spoken with some of the protesters. Unlike you, I tell the truth. Most of them are intelligent, hard-working people. You can't say that's a problem because there aren't enough jobs (which is what a national unemployment statistic is) and then blame it on the people who can't find work. But you don't care because you'll say anything. Many of the protesters are recent college graduates. You try finding a job in your field as a new college graduate in this economy. You should be ashamed of yourself, except you don't have the brains for that.

Oh, and great job having cowboy tank the economy and then blaming on the guy who takes over and tries to clean up the mess. And to make things worse, citing the black unemployment statistic and blaming the first black president for it. If the black unemployment rate was better than that, you'd blame Obama for focusing only on blacks. You're disgusting.

[Guest Patriot]

You are a complete idiot. President Obama is trying to get a jobs bill passed to rebuild our country's infrastructure, something everyone agrees is long overdue. The Republicans refuse to pass the bill (1) because someone has to pay for it and the fairest way to get the revenue is to tax the wealthiest Americans who made the biggest gains under Bush (which they didn't earn) and (2) because it might help Obama get re-elected.

The bill would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Republicans refuse to pass it or even let it come up for a vote. They are putting a few filthy rich people and themselves ahead of the American people. They are disgusting and should be thrown out of office ASAP.

You must be getting your info from the far left bloggers. The GOP has tried to get the jobs bill brought to a vote, it's Reid that won't introduce it. The fact that you don't know that is incredible.

Since you obviously don't know anything about who pays the taxes in this country, here's a few stats for you: the top 3% pay 52% of ALL the taxes collected, the bottom 47% pay NOTHING.

So what do you Loonys want? Should the top 3% pay 75% of all the taxes? How about 90%? Why not 100%?

If you're going to argue a position, you should at least have the facts straight, otherwise you come across as a fool.

[Guest Patriot]

That's just ignorant. Everybody (with any sense) knows we have to get away from oil. Building new technologies is a great way to create employment, not to mention that we've been saying for decades that we need to do it. They're doing it in China, and if we don't keep up, we'll be left behind.

Unlike you, the OWS protesters have the intelligence to realize that President Obama is at least trying to bring back jobs. The Republicans are doing everything they can to stop him. They have no problem with the economy being bad a year from now. That treasonous. We'll see what they American people have to say about their obstruction.

I've seen and spoken with some of the protesters. Unlike you, I tell the truth. Most of them are intelligent, hard-working people. You can't say that's a problem because there aren't enough jobs (which is what a national unemployment statistic is) and then blame it on the people who can't find work. But you don't care because you'll say anything. Many of the protesters are recent college graduates. You try finding a job in your field as a new college graduate in this economy. You should be ashamed of yourself, except you don't have the brains for that.

Oh, and great job having cowboy tank the economy and then blaming on the guy who takes over and tries to clean up the mess. And to make things worse, citing the black unemployment statistic and blaming the first black president for it. If the black unemployment rate was better than that, you'd blame Obama for focusing only on blacks. You're disgusting.

Here's where President zerO and you are wrong. The president doesn't create jobs, the public sector creates jobs. The way jobs are created is to cut taxes across the board; corporate, dividend, cap. gains, etc. the way Reagan did. However, zerO's socialist brain doesn't understand this, he thinks a central federal government should control everyone's lives (a nanny state). He envisions a socialist society where we all work together equally and rely on big brother to take care of us.

The Founding Fathers would roll in their graves if they saw what zerO is trying to do to this great capitalistic nation, a nation where inititive and hard work is rewarded to the limits of one's abilities. America's history is one of self reliance, inititive and hard work, not a history of wining for more welfare, food stamps, free tuition and free healthcare for everyone. This is why Greece, Italy and France and most of the rest of Europe is in trouble. Our only hope is to ship this socialist back to Chicago next year and elect a Gingrich-type Republican who understand what made America great and get us back on track.

[Guest Guest]

You must be getting your info from the far left bloggers. The GOP has tried to get the jobs bill brought to a vote, it's Reid that won't introduce it. The fact that you don't know that is incredible.

Since you obviously don't know anything about who pays the taxes in this country, here's a few stats for you: the top 3% pay 52% of ALL the taxes collected, the bottom 47% pay NOTHING.

So what do you Loonys want? Should the top 3% pay 75% of all the taxes? How about 90%? Why not 100%?

If you're going to argue a position, you should at least have the facts straight, otherwise you come across as a fool.

The facts are:

Income inequality in after-tax income has progressed geometrically since Reagan took office in 1980. Look at the chart. Clinton started bringing it under control (and balanced the budget) but Bush reversed the trend and sent the debt through the ceiling to give tax cuts to his rich friends who bankrolled his campaign. Since then the real after-tax income of the top 1% has nearly doubled while everyone else stayed stagnant.

If you knew anything about the subject, you would realize that the rich pay a greater share of the national tax bill because they make more money. By your "analysis," if you call it that, if a fat cat pays double the taxes this year as compared with last year, that proves that everything's just fine; but it's not because you have to account for his income. If he's making ten times more than before, then he's still making a killing. For example, a corporate executive making $20 million a year is earning 1,000 times what a person earns who makes $20 thousand. You have to look at wealth, not just tax rates and not just which segment pays what share. The United States' Gini coefficient, which measures wealth maldistribution, is higher than in all but four other countries. The percentage of wealth controlled by the top 1% is the highest since 1928, the year before the Great Depression began. The rich are making a killing here because they've gained control of the political system, with help from knuckle-draggers like you who don't have the brains to understand that you're being shafted.

The United States economy boomed from the end of World War II until the 1970s when the effects of foreign oil began to be felt. During those years, tax rates for the upper few percent were much higher than now and income inequalities were more reasonable. Equally or more important, people were getting rich by contributing to the economy, such as in manufacturing. Since the early 1980s, the game has been systematically rigged so that a few well-leveraged people can make money with money. That's OK to a point but it's out of control - and you keep voting for the people who made it that way.

You don't cite any sources for your false claims that Republicans haven't blocked recent jobs bills. Here are a few sources

the facts. Obviously, you're the one who needs to do some reading.

How do you like those facts, Knuckle-Dragger?

[Guest Guest]

Here's where President zerO and you are wrong. The president doesn't create jobs, the public sector creates jobs. The way jobs are created is to cut taxes across the board; corporate, dividend, cap. gains, etc. the way Reagan did. However, zerO's socialist brain doesn't understand this, he thinks a central federal government should control everyone's lives (a nanny state). He envisions a socialist society where we all work together equally and rely on big brother to take care of us.

The Founding Fathers would roll in their graves if they saw what zerO is trying to do to this great capitalistic nation, a nation where inititive and hard work is rewarded to the limits of one's abilities. America's history is one of self reliance, inititive and hard work, not a history of wining for more welfare, food stamps, free tuition and free healthcare for everyone. This is why Greece, Italy and France and most of the rest of Europe is in trouble. Our only hope is to ship this socialist back to Chicago next year and elect a Gingrich-type Republican who understand what made America great and get us back on track.

No, that's not what President Obama believes. He is a capitalist, as his record proves but he is not an ideologue. You see everything black and white but that's not how things are.

Capitalism is a great system but it must be regulated and controlled, and the people who make the most should pay the most. People shouldn't get tax breaks and subsidies for running companies into the ground and shipping American jobs overseas. During the 25 or so years after World War II, the economy boomed, under a tax structure that was far more progressive than the one we have now. Most of the people who got rich earned it. Since then, too many have gotten rich without adding anything of value to the economy. They've created an unsustainable economy built on speculation which came to the brink of collapse in 2008. It is only because the federal government intervened that the economy did not collapse.

You'd think we would have learned. There was a speculative boom in the 1920s too, accompanied by income redistribution as a few people on top got rich pushing paper. It was a false prosperity, much like the one that Bush engineered with deregulation, which opened the door to get-rich-quick schemes that destabilize the economy.

Capitalism is a system of human invention, not a law of nature. It's imperfect. We have to pay attention to how well the system is working for us, and if it isn't working well, then we need to adjust. That's why we had the New Deal after the Great Depression hit.

You don't know what the Founding Fathers would say if they were alive today. In their time, they couldn't envision our technology or how this economy would function. But they were intelligent men, who probably wouldn't appreciate your presuming to speak for them.

The best known economic theorist of that time was Adam Smith, who wrote The Wealth of Nations. Smith wasn't in favor of government intervention in the economy (we didn't need it in those days) but he wasn't in favor of large corporations either. He saw both as equally disruptive of the free market system. If he was alive today, he would have to reconsider his views based on the changes that have occurred. It makes no sense to treat the economic theories of that time as though they were immutable laws of nature. There's no way to turn the clock back 235 years - unless you want to go without electricity, digital technologies and flush toilets. Stop talking nonsense and think about the world as it actually is, not as someone theorized it might be in an environment that disappeared a long time ago.

Both sectors, public and private, can create jobs. The public sector employs people building and maintaining roads and other infrastructure, in education, in police and fire protection, in the military and in providing other government services. During the era of the space program, the federal government employed people at NASA. We should have begun investing in energy development decades ago. That would have created jobs and probably would have reduced our dependence on oil by now; but we didn't do it because the oil companies blocked it. Once we built the interstate highway system; we should have build high-speed rail systems, as other countries have done but we haven't because right wing ideologues have blocked any significant government program since Reagan took office.

If you think that the private sector isn't corrupt, then you don't understand money and power.

You wrote that the public sector creates jobs, which is true but probably not what you meant - but denying that it does is just ignorance to the point of willfully refusing to see the facts.

[Guest Guest]

You must be getting your info from the far left bloggers. The GOP has tried to get the jobs bill brought to a vote, it's Reid that won't introduce it. The fact that you don't know that is incredible.

Since you obviously don't know anything about who pays the taxes in this country, here's a few stats for you: the top 3% pay 52% of ALL the taxes collected, the bottom 47% pay NOTHING.

So what do you Loonys want? Should the top 3% pay 75% of all the taxes? How about 90%? Why not 100%?

If you're going to argue a position, you should at least have the facts straight, otherwise you come across as a fool.

If they gain control of all the wealth, they'll have to pay 100% of the taxes because they'll be the only ones who can pay them. That's where you right wingers have the economy heading. We'd like to stop it before it gets to that.

Stop hyperventilating and stop lying. The President's proposal is to increase the marginal tax rate on the top income bracket from 35% to 39%, the same as it was under Clinton when the economy was doing much better. If you'd take off your right wing eyeshades, maybe you would be able to see.

[Guest Proud American]

I love the way Loonys will quote other Loonys like Sachs as if what they say is the absolute truth.

I wonder why these ex-cons, street urchins and other misfits aren't protesting in front of the White House? After all, it is zerO that bailed out Freddie and Fannie, Wall St., Solyndra, Beacon Power and the hundreds of other corporations with the failed stimulus. zerO has pissed away Billions and the unemployment is still over 9% (black unemployment nearly 20%) Since it was zerO that handed out all these Billions, it only seems logical that the protesters should be out in front of zerO's house. But of course, facing up to the real culprit goes against logic and we never want to let logic get in the way of our warped reasoning.

A few facts:

The bail out of Freddie/Fannie and Wall Street was done by George W. Bush with TARP I; Obama continued the policy with TARP II.

Almost one half of the Obama stimulus was tax cuts that didn't work such as the payroll tax cut.

The economic collapse occurred in 2008 when Wall Street realized that the real estate bubble had burst. Wall Street banks had underwritten literally trillions in debt issues collateralized by mortgages and derivative instruments with undisclosed and unregulated risk taking.

Wall street executives like Jamie Dimon are still earning in the multiples of millions in annual compensation.

The economic recovery was at 2.5% GDP growth in the last quarter. It's not yet generating enought jobs to push down the unemployment rate significantly, but there is net growth of jobs this year.

[Guest Guest]

Since you obviously don't know anything about who pays the taxes in this country, here's a few stats for you: the top 3% pay 52% of ALL the taxes collected, the bottom 47% pay NOTHING.

That is absolutely false. The "bottom" 47%, as you put it, pay sales and property taxes. When you factor those two taxes in, their share of the total tax bill rises. So you should stop getting your "information" from right wing propaganda sources.

[Guest Guest]

You must be getting your info from the far left bloggers. The GOP has tried to get the jobs bill brought to a vote, it's Reid that won't introduce it. The fact that you don't know that is incredible.

Since you obviously don't know anything about who pays the taxes in this country, here's a few stats for you: the top 3% pay 52% of ALL the taxes collected, the bottom 47% pay NOTHING.

So what do you Loonys want? Should the top 3% pay 75% of all the taxes? How about 90%? Why not 100%?

If you're going to argue a position, you should at least have the facts straight, otherwise you come across as a fool.

You're wrong about almost everything.

Your statistic, for which you cite no source, pertains only to the federal income tax. It does not include payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, sales taxes, property taxes or any other state and local taxes.

You can't just ask what segment of income earners pays what share of taxes. You have ask what percentage of total income each segment is making. I don't know the precise answer but it's obvious that the rich aren't paying their share because if they were, their SHARE of wealth would not be increasing so steeply relative to everyone else.

All your post tells me is that you got some number, probably from some right wing think tank, and accepted it as the final word. But even assuming the number to be accurate, it fails to ask the other key questions: what share of income is the top 3% making (3% is a strange cutoff point, which suggests a further bias in the "analysis") and if they are paying their share, then why is their share of the wealth skyrocketing while everyone else's is declining?

Before you run off at the mouth calling other people loony, you should think these things through.

[Guest Guest]

So what do you Loonys want? Should the top 3% pay 75% of all the taxes? How about 90%? Why not 100%?

That depends. What share of the total income are they raking in? Cut the nonsense about the 75% because the top 3% pay nowhere near that. But you're not asking the right questions, so you can't get an intelligent answer.

Another question you have to ask is: what share of the total wealth held by private individuals do they control? You have to ask that question because a disproportionate share of wealth means that the top few have been given too many breaks in the past, probably for a long time. The United States is above average for uneven distribution of wealth. There are countries that are worse but the United States is falling out of the grouping occupied by the freest and most democratic countries, which is not a good sign. Today, the top 1% control 40% of the wealth, up from 33% twenty-five years ago. Their share is rising, which is not a good sign.

The other key question you have to ask is whether the people making the big bucks are contributing anything to the economy. An economy can function properly only if income and wealth are rewards for value added to the economy. That is not what has been happening recently. Deregulation allowed the banks and other financial institutions to go speculation-crazy. They made trillions of dollars but at the expense of our economic stability.

You have to ask these questions in order to get intelligent answers. I notice that every time these points are raised, so-called "Patriot," who is anything but a patriot, bows out of the discussion. You have to stop swallowing the propaganda that the people with a lot of money are feeding you through their right wing propaganda outlets like Fox.

[Guest Patriot]

That depends. What share of the total income are they raking in? Cut the nonsense about the 75% because the top 3% pay nowhere near that. But you're not asking the right questions, so you can't get an intelligent answer.

Another question you have to ask is: what share of the total wealth held by private individuals do they control? You have to ask that question because a disproportionate share of wealth means that the top few have been given too many breaks in the past, probably for a long time. The United States is above average for uneven distribution of wealth. There are countries that are worse but the United States is falling out of the grouping occupied by the freest and most democratic countries, which is not a good sign. Today, the top 1% control 40% of the wealth, up from 33% twenty-five years ago. Their share is rising, which is not a good sign.

The other key question you have to ask is whether the people making the big bucks are contributing anything to the economy. An economy can function properly only if income and wealth are rewards for value added to the economy. That is not what has been happening recently. Deregulation allowed the banks and other financial institutions to go speculation-crazy. They made trillions of dollars but at the expense of our economic stability.

You have to ask these questions in order to get intelligent answers. I notice that every time these points are raised, so-called "Patriot," who is anything but a patriot, bows out of the discussion. You have to stop swallowing the propaganda that the people with a lot of money are feeding you through their right wing propaganda outlets like Fox.

America was built upon the capitalist free enterprise system. It doesn't matter how much wealth is controlled by the "wealthy". Wealth is an incentive to become educated and work harder to become one of the wealthy. In this society there are winners and losers, not everyone will be successful. Some will become CEO's, some will flip hamburgers, it doesn't mean the hamburger flippers should get some of the CEO's money. That's exactly why we're 15 trillion in debt, all the entitlements being given to the lazy, the drug addicts, alcoholics, serial baby breeders, illegal aliens, etc. etc. etc.

Greece and Italy are perfect examples of the society you apparently like along with zerO. If you're dependent upon handouts from zerO you're not one of the winners and that's too bad.