Guinness wrote:doublem wrote:Well gee Shyster thanks for the advice. All very helpful and informed thoughts. Next time someone gets sick and can't get insurance becasue they have a pre existing condition I will tell them they aren't being adult enough and maybe the cancer will stop spreading and after they get out of the hospital we can ship them off to work the night shift at Taco Bell to start paying back that debt. How does that sound to you? And all this time I thought we could find another way to pay for all this maybe that model that the rest of the world as been following for some time? Maybe something that didn't turn the sick into indentured servants. Nah, working at Taco Bell and shoveling sidewalks seems more reasonable.
Working to pay your debts? Sounds quite reasonable, actually.
Tell me, when did you become entitled to my labor?
I'm doing some year end tax planning. So far, my rough numbers show 15% of my income for 2009 was given to charitable organizations or directly to families in need. (I've got some amazing Christmas cards from some wonderful children that are worth every single dime). - Now I admit, my 15% is from income and not capital gains - my excuse is that my estate will give the donations from capital gains.
None the less, EVERY PENNY of my contributions went straight to those in need - NOT BUREAUCRATS !!
19% of that income will go to FEDERAL TAXES. 7% to STATE TAXES. That doesn't even count the Social Security or Medicare or Sales Taxes or Property Taxes etc...
I wish I could do more for charities, but, well, TAXES are killing me.
I guess the 290 plus hours I donated to Habitat for Humanity will have to suffice. (not counting the hundreds of PAID hours my staff has donated to local charities and charitable events such as Susan B. Koman).
Please, DoubleM. Don't preach to me about social responsibility - save that for the Washington DC bureaucrats who think they know better than I do how my money should be spent.
My point is that government needs to get out of the way.
"Government isn't the solution to the problem... Government *IS* the problem!!!!" - Ronald Reagan