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  1. #26
    Believe.
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    The elderly did pay into the system. Just not as much as they are now taking out.

    The NPV of all the money they put in, compared to the NPV of all the money they will be taking out, is small, i.e. money current elderly put in < money current elderly are taking and will take out.

    They paid in when the benefits were a LOT less generous, and the payments matched that.
    On average the government layouts versus payouts for someone over born in 1945 is more than a million dollars in the hole.

  2. #27
    Believe.
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    What's your solution, RG? More food stamps?
    I say we kill half of them, chop them into itty, bitty pieces and then feed them to the other half.

  3. #28
    I play pretty, no? TeyshaBlue's Avatar
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    On average the government layouts versus payouts for someone over born in 1945 is more than a million dollars in the hole.
    I'd rather be over born than under born.



    And I don't even know what the that means.

  4. #29
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    What's your solution, RG? More food stamps?
    Partially.

    Education, education, education. Subsidized child-care, single payer health insurance, mandatory paid sick days, among others.

    Then more education.

    That, and some serious removal of some stupid red tape by a comprehensive overhaul of federal regulations, accompanied by a massive infrastructure investment, on the order of 2 trillion dollars (not all in the same year).

    I would raise taxes to do all this, at all levels. The underinvestment in human and physical infrastructure has to end ASAP.

  5. #30
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    On average the government layouts versus payouts for someone over born in 1945 is more than a million dollars in the hole.
    I see you have probably read the same analysis I did.

  6. #31
    Allenhu Joshbar DeadlyDynasty's Avatar
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    I say we kill them all, chop them into itty, bitty pieces and then feed them to the other half.
    That was my platform for the 2016 race, asshole.

  7. #32
    Still Hates Small Ball Spurminator's Avatar
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    Maybe they should stop being so old.

  8. #33
    I play pretty, no? TeyshaBlue's Avatar
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    Disagree. Education is not the panacea we think it is.
    We already have subsidized child care. We just need more of it.
    Not sure why we would need mandatory paid sick days. What's your rationale for that?

    I'm in on the rest of your list tho.

  9. #34
    Believe.
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    I'd rather be over born than under born.



    And I don't even know what the that means.
    ...... I don't either

  10. #35
    Believe.
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    That was my platform for the 2016 race, asshole.

  11. #36
    Allenhu Joshbar DeadlyDynasty's Avatar
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    I would raise taxes to do all this
    Methinks you a Dem, my son.

  12. #37
    Believe.
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    I see you have probably read the same analysis I did.
    Indeed. I first saw the figure in an article from the Economist but have seen analogs elsewhere.

    Corporate tax encourages corporate reinvestment.

  13. #38
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    Disagree. Education is not the panacea we think it is.
    We already have subsidized child care. We just need more of it.
    Not sure why we would need mandatory paid sick days. What's your rationale for that?

    I'm in on the rest of your list tho.
    Paid sick days allow people who are sick to be, well, sick. They don't go to work and automatically make others sick, as well as having the time to go see a doctor when you can and not when you are bleeding from the eyes in the emergency room over something a minor treatment could have prevented.

    If you literally cannot afford to miss work to see a doctor, that has a real economic cost.

    I can tell you first hand that we do not educate poor kids. My kids are in a poor, rural failing school system, and that is screamingly obvious.

    Education is a panacea, and I would be happy to support that statement.

  14. #39
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    Methinks you a Dem, my son.
    I am indeed.

    I am also financially sophisticated enough to understand how taxes work, and how government investments in capital work. If the benefits of the tax/investment outweigh the costs, then you are limiting your economy by NOT raising taxes.

  15. #40
    Veteran vy65's Avatar
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    It is not surprising that the lambs should bear a grudge against the great birds of prey, but that is no reason for blaming the great birds of prey for taking the little lambs. And when the lambs say among themselves, "These birds of prey are evil, and he who least resembles a bird of prey, who is rather its opposite, a lamb,—should he not be good?" then there is nothing to carp with in this ideal's establishment, though the birds of prey may regard it a little mockingly, and maybe say to themselves, "We bear no grudge against them, these good lambs, we even love them: nothing is tastier than a tender lamb."

  16. #41
    I play pretty, no? TeyshaBlue's Avatar
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    Paid sick days allow people who are sick to be, well, sick. They don't go to work and automatically make others sick, as well as having the time to go see a doctor when you can and not when you are bleeding from the eyes in the emergency room over something a minor treatment could have prevented.

    If you literally cannot afford to miss work to see a doctor, that has a real economic cost.

    I can tell you first hand that we do not educate poor kids. My kids are in a poor, rural failing school system, and that is screamingly obvious.

    Education is a panacea, and I would be happy to support that statement.
    I've been working under the assumption that sick days were the norm. I've never had a job that didn't offer them. They aren't mandated? If not, then I'm in total agreement with you.

    We do educate poor kids. We do this all over the country. Some better than others. Education should exist for the primary purpose to facilitate applied critical thinking.
    I would add the caveat that not all students are able to hoe that row. Some need vocational training as well.
    But education, contextually alone, is not the magic pill.

  17. #42
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    I've been working under the assumption that sick days were the norm. I've never had a job that didn't offer them. They aren't mandated? If not, then I'm in total agreement with you.

    We do educate poor kids. We do this all over the country. Some better than others. Education should exist for the primary purpose to facilitate applied critical thinking.
    I would add the caveat that not all students are able to hoe that row. Some need vocational training as well.
    But education, contextually alone, is not the magic pill.
    Contextually alone, I would agree with that. THere needs to be a host of other safety net items in place to make sure it sticks.


    Sick days are not mandated.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3562419.html

    The U.S is the only major industrialized nation without a national paid sick-leave policy Some 145 countries provide paid sick days for short- or long-term illnesses. Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Singapore require employers to provide at least 10 paid sick days.

  18. #43
    Boring = 4 Rings SA210's Avatar
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    Kids are educated alright, but falsely.

  19. #44
    W4A1 143 43CK? Nbadan's Avatar
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    Kids are educated alright, but falsely.

  20. #45
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    tax cuts for criminal billionaires, food cuts for poor innocent kids, you right-wingers are true Christians.

  21. #46
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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    It is not surprising that the lambs should bear a grudge against the great birds of prey, but that is no reason for blaming the great birds of prey for taking the little lambs. And when the lambs say among themselves, "These birds of prey are evil, and he who least resembles a bird of prey, who is rather its opposite, a lamb,—should he not be good?" then there is nothing to carp with in this ideal's establishment, though the birds of prey may regard it a little mockingly, and maybe say to themselves, "We bear no grudge against them, these good lambs, we even love them: nothing is tastier than a tender lamb."
    You have been, and are, the victim of a very effective propaganda campaign about how wealth is ac ulated:

    The Rules of the Game

    The path dependence dynamic accelerates when, as in the U.S., investment returns (capital gains and dividends) are taxed less than wages. Why would that be? The argument is that taxes discourage "investment" (which is often not investment at all, but speculation or gambling). However, why have higher taxes on wages to discourage work even more than investment?


    The answer: The "Rules of the Game" are fixed. The old saying, "He who has the gold rules." is true. John Sterman describes this self-reinforcing feedback process in Business Dynamics, Systems Thinking for a Complex World:


    The "Rules of the Game" evolve to favor those with wealth & power to give them even more wealth & power.

    The larger and more successful an organization, the more it can influence the ins utional and political context in which it operates. Large organizations can change the rules of the game in their favor, leading to still more success-and more power. [The Figure at right] shows the resulting golden rule loop R1].
    The golden rule loop manifests in many forms. Through campaign contributions and lobbying, large firms and their trade associations can shape legislation and public policy to give them favorable tax treatment, subsidies for their activities, protection for their markets, price guarantees, and exemptions from liability.
    Through overlapping boards, the revolving door between industry and government, and control of media outlets, influential and powerful organizations gain even more influence and power. In nations without a tradition of democratic government, these loops lead to self-perpetuating oligarchies where a tightly knit elite controls a huge share of the nation's wealth and income while the vast majority of people remain impoverished (e.g., the Philippines under Marcos, Indonesia under Suharto, and countless others). T
    he elite further consolidates its control by subsidizing the military and secret police and buying high-tech weaponry and technical assistance from the developed world to keep the restive masses in check. Even in nations with strong democratic traditions these positive loops can overwhelm the checks and balances designed to ensure government of, by, and for the people.

    For more on how the system is biased toward the wealthy: Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) by David Cay Johnston (2007).

    I've lost all hope of trying to convince such ideologues. No amount of facts and logic will suffice to penetrate such strong ideological blindness. The worldview that sees only individuals, in which they've invested so much, would collapse.
    and where the wealth is:




    I can't blame you for believing the lies. They are very convincing.

    Once you set aside the emotional attractiveness they have for you, and take a hard look at them rationally and logically, you might think differently.

    Your dogma is just that, dogma. It can and should be questioned. If you are not questioning it, and testing your beliefs with evidence, then you are doing yourself a deep disservice. As much as I have been hurtful to you at times, you deserve better.
    Last edited by RandomGuy; 11-08-2013 at 08:28 AM.

  22. #47
    I am that guy RandomGuy's Avatar
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  23. #48
    Believe. AntiChrist's Avatar
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    Lol, we just aren't taxing and spending enough

  24. #49
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    Lol, we just aren't taxing and spending enough
    exactly

  25. #50
    Believe. AntiChrist's Avatar
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    I pay 25% in taxes. Not enough?

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