Shhh! Mayor Bloomberg quietly authorizes $69 million in bonuses for managers

[SubwayGuy]

the only problem with that is, what if all the rich people go move to NJ or Connecticut or somewhere outside of the city, whos gunna pay the taxes to support all the govt programs, including the MTA.

 

Heh...may of the rich people DO already live outside of the city...Westchester, CT, NJ, LI, etc...

 

But the city is where the jobs are

 

The rich have been getting by scott free for the last 15 years and thats why things are collapsing because the middle and working class still pays their share the rich don't pay theirs and that's why so much is failing with state/fed budgets...

 

Businesses are failing because they hire all these "support" roles. If an employee is unproductive, rather than fire him and find someone good, they'd rather hire another human resources person to figure out why he's unproductive...meanwhile this person adds NO value to the company, doesn't increase sales, doesn't do anything but now prices have to be raised to support this person...

 

The US made money for close to 200 years manufacturing and selling to the rest of the world, now we slap the "made in China" label on everything and poof out goes the money from here to buy foreign goods cuz it's "unglamorous" to work manufacturing and it's cheaper for US companies to outsource and they haven't fix the tax code to make up for this even though it hurts America, American workers, and reduces American jobs...

 

"but waaa corporations pay higher taxes" -capitalist. Well guess what they also get to deduct things individuals don't...

 

And how come if the rich pay their fair share, back in 2006 several THOUSAND people who made over 1 million dollars did not pay any income taxes, legally?

 

Why do you think rich people hold money offshore in the Cayman Islands (no taxes - NONE)? Why do you think most businesses are incorporated in Delaware even though their primary operations are elsewhere (favorable tax laws)? They're all schemers and crooks and now the chickens have come home to roost and it's time to make them pay.

 

the whole system is F*ed up and thats why the economy is in the toilet, and it will just keep going back there every few years until major changes come

[lilbluefoxie]

Well whats stoping the rich from getting out of new york altogether and perhaps moving to another big city like Atlanta or Dallas without the heavy tax burden? Already there are lots of people of all income levels leaving new york for other parts of the country because they cant afford the tax burden.

[SubwayGuy]

Well people sit there and defend the rich which is pointless but their actions have caused this recession. They need to pay more nationwide and things need to be updated to close these loopholes because like I said these people are schemers and they will stop at NOTHING to be cheap and keep every single penny of their already out rageous earnings, and they will find every loop hole or pay a lawyer to find it for them. They all have money sitting in offshore accounts...money they "earned" but it's not being taxed because it's not here. It's a joke. And the politicians won't do anything about it because they are all in that same rich income tax bracket and so are their elite friends so they don't want things to change. Every time a new rule is proposed guess who fights it - all the bankers, financial industry groups, insurance companies, and the WEALTHY. Because they want things to stay the same and keep screwing over ordinary Americans all day every day...

 

Bottom line is I can daydream about the day where justice comes and ruins them and forces them to live on a measly $60-80,000 a year and see how they do but I know full well it won't happen. They'll keep screwing everyone because that's what they always do and no one cares enough to stand up to it anymore. They just give them credit. Yep, they were born rich and mommy and daddy bought them everything and left them a trust fund, but..."they're so motivated"

 

Be the economy what it may, there's a saying that applies to most of middle class America and it's as true as ever...

 

BOHICA

 

Bend

Over

Here

It

Comes

Again

 

...sucks, doesnt it?

[lilbluefoxie]

On the other end, what about government promising entitlements it cant possibly afford? Either way the guys in teh middle get screwed. They have to pay but dont get any benefit

[SubwayGuy]

On the other end, what about government promising entitlements it cant possibly afford? Either way the guys in teh middle get screwed. They have to pay but dont get any benefit

 

The problem isn't the entitlements, those allow the otherwise unable to get by and live, and support their families...the problem is when the entitlements are abused and used by those who shouldn't get them.

 

Take two people who qualify for Section 8 housing. One can have 6 kids, no job, and not be trying to find work and they can pay $50 a month in rent. The other works hard also has a family and pays $800 and gets hassled every time it's time to apply again.

 

Or people with wealthy spouses who move money around and hide it to qualify for Medicare/Medicaid.

 

The waste created by loopholes and people abusing the system is the problem with the entitlements, not the benefits themselves.

 

Healthcare overhaul is needed, but what's really needed is a rule saying frivolous lawsuits pay the cost of the other side's lawyers. That will reduce malpractice suits, which will reduce the cost of malpractice insurance, which will reduce the cost of procedures.

 

Here's a great example of why healthcare needs overhaul and why the crook insurance companies are fighting it...I pay about $109 a month for health insurance.

 

Say I go see the doctor once:

 

-I pay a $30 copay. His fee for the regular visit is $75.

-I get my insurance statement. I paid $30, like above. The insurance company now pays $7.50 because they "negotiated a discount" meanwhile my doctor gets a total of $37.50 now instead of $75.

-Therefore if I have no insurance I pay $75, with insurance I pay $30 and despite the fact I pay them $109 a month they pay...$7.50!!!

 

So basically

-The ones least able to afford healthcare (the uninsured) pay the most

-I would have to get 16 regular checkups a month for the insurance company to pay more than I am paying them. Meanwhile in the process I would rack up $480 in copay expenses, not worth it. The only OTHER way it winds up working out would be to have something catastrophic and expensive to fix happen to me (certainly don't want that)

-That doesn't even cover dental which has been shown to be linked to heart disease and which 99.9% of plans don't cover. Dental plans reimburse a very small % of dental expenses.

 

Meanwhile where does that missing money go? The dr's not getting it, I'm not saving anything. Why it goes to the insurance company of course and the paper pushers! That's why they don't want a public plan because they will have to trim the fat in their organizations but why do that when they can make the doctor's and YOU pay?

 

Some people do this, but if you have a cool dr you can just say "Hey I'll give you $60 to do this" and BOTH you and your dr will come out ahead if you're uninsured because he will get ALL you pay and you won't be paying the insurance company.

 

But insurance is needed for the bankbreakers like major surgery and that's what insurers use to scare people into overpaying - particularly the young. :mad:

 

That's why it's laughable when rich white senators in Congress sit around and say the healthcare system is "fine" and "has been working for over 50 years" (:tdown:

[lilbluefoxie]

Well the way I see it, the benefits are there as a backup so you arent cast onto the streets with nothing, however I think there should be more focus on helping people find a job that will get them off welfare. There has to be some strings attached, some limit, or we would all just quit our jobs and collect from Uncle Sam.

 

As for medical, yea theres problems, they need to get tehse malpractice suits under control, thats where a lot of the high cost goes. I dont think govt health care like how Canada and England have is the solution, because we will wind up with the same shortfalls they have, plus wheres the money going to come from to afford it? We are already over 4 trillion in the hole from all the bailouts, and the takeover of the auto companies, If we put this govt health care thing in, theres gunna be no way to pay back all the money the govt owes.

 

Personally I think that there has to be some alternative to a government run system, perhaps a low cost medical insurance that just covers emergancy surgery, and you pay for the checkups and the times people go there for like a bad cold and whatnot. What happened to that idea of the Minute Clinic, a low cost medical checkup thing that was in Pharmacies and stuff?

 

Plus, why should it matter what ethnicity our congressmen are?

[SubwayGuy]

Well the way I see it, the benefits are there as a backup so you arent cast onto the streets with nothing, however I think there should be more focus on helping people find a job that will get them off welfare. There has to be some strings attached, some limit, or we would all just quit our jobs and collect from Uncle Sam.

 

As for medical, yea theres problems, they need to get tehse malpractice suits under control, thats where a lot of the high cost goes. I dont think govt health care like how Canada and England have is the solution, because we will wind up with the same shortfalls they have, plus wheres the money going to come from to afford it? We are already over 4 trillion in the hole from all the bailouts, and the takeover of the auto companies, If we put this govt health care thing in, theres gunna be no way to pay back all the money the govt owes.

 

Personally I think that there has to be some alternative to a government run system, perhaps a low cost medical insurance that just covers emergancy surgery, and you pay for the checkups and the times people go there for like a bad cold and whatnot. What happened to that idea of the Minute Clinic, a low cost medical checkup thing that was in Pharmacies and stuff?

 

Plus, why should it matter what ethnicity our congressmen are?

 

Sure there's a way to raise money to pay for all that. But no one will agree to it despite the fact it's the most common sense thing of all time.

 

-Raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%. Add a surcharge tax on anyone who makes more than $1 million. All bonuses are taxed at 40% federally.

-Tax offshore holdings that are being held tax free somewhere else and hidden from tax returns

-Tax 0.05% of every investment trade made by any financial institution (this would also discourage investment companies from trading for the sake of trading if they had to pay this tax...bye bye "speculation and gambling" and though it's a small percentage this would add up FAST)

-Anyone who makes a frivolous lawsuit has to pay legal fees of their attorney, the defendant's attorney, and a penalty to gov't equal to the amount of the defendant's legal fees

 

That would SERIOUSLY bridge the gap while avoiding hitting the middle and working classes.

 

By the way, here's a good read on how mindf****d everything is...

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/gut-check-time-on-shackli_b_219870.html

[lilbluefoxie]

Huffington post aint my bag, im more of a newsbusters and townhall.com guy