A long time ago we were having a cockpit discussion about Welfare, taxes, voting, and all that good stuff. The F/O came out with a remark that I have always found to be true:

"You get what you subsidize".

Make it free, and they will come. Why would anyone want to stay in school and/or get a job, when you can just sit at home and get 'paid' by the government for a .... disability.

Reminds me of another time, when I was a Freshman in college. Our Economics Professor comes in on day one and tells us,

"The best thing you can be in life, is an Unwed Mother in the stat of Massachusetts!".

He then went on to list all the benefits they got... at his expense.

This conversation makes me laugh.... Good thing we aren't having it in 2001 or 2009!! I remember an acquaintance and FO of mine who was former military and VERY right wing republican. Talked constantly about crappy social programs, freeloaders, etc... very much like this conversation. And then he got furloughed. No flying jobs to be found. I noticed he didn't turn down the unemployment bennies. I also noticed he didn't object when they extended them.

Hahaha, that reminds me of a friend of mine, hired at AA in 1978, furloughed in 1981 after the ATC strike. He was getting $200/week from the state of Mass and refused to come back to work flying checks at night (with me) for $150/week!

He said, "Why would I take a PAY CUT and have to work my *** off??". :rolleyes:

Well, the company got another check run, and another airplane, so they really needed a couple more pilots, they hired him back as my copilot... at $200/week. I was more than pizzed off, as I was 'the Captain' making $50 less per week!

After a few months of flying checks all night, he left to become a temporary ATC replacement (scab?) worker in the BOS tower, working clearance delivery and ground control, late at night. A few years later he was recalled to American, retired from there not long ago.

Point of this story is, he refused to work for less than he was getting on unemployment.

I turned them down when I got furloughed. Companies pay unemployment insurance, that in recent years had to be subsidized by additional taxpayer debt. However, it doesn't change the fact that the income tax you pay is stolen, and wasted. I find it insulting that the government thinks it knows how to spend my money better than I do.

My favorite is anti venom, they buy it for $900 in Mexico, and bill the government $80,000 for it. This is the waste I'm talking about. Taxes would be very small if it was an honest system.

Negative population growth in this country is about as likely as finding an honest politician that really wants to do something good for the country. I don't think that the growth to the degree that we are seeing it is necessary.

I agree with your statements 2 and 3.

Y'all need to watch Idiocracy.... it explains it all in painful detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icmRCixQrx8

This is the first two minutes to give you the premise.

While we are at it😗. Besides deductions for children, why do we get deductions for houses or churches? Those are choices too.

And how about all the "Tax Free" institutions, like...

Yale! :eek:

One of the largest private land holders in Connecticut, all tax free!:rolleyes:

I think you mean that those who THINK they are higher educated vote Democrat!

You also know the stat that those who are younger, single or married with no kids, and live in cities tend to be more liberal, whereas those who are in their 30s or older, married with children, and don't live in the big cities tend to vote conservative. So, in other words, those who are still self-centered and trying to live for themselves vote one way, and those who are productive members of society tend to vote the other way ...

You do realize it's Unemployment Insurance, right?
So, if you have a car wreck and file a claim on your insurance, how is that different than filing an unemployment insurance claim?
There IS a difference between welfare and unemployment, but you knew that already, right?

While we're at it, isnt it the NFL or NCAA (or both) that make bazillions of dollars but pay very little taxes?
'Murica

Keep telling yourself that. The data are clear.
http://www.people-press.org/2015/04/...y-affiliation/

http://i.stack.imgur.com/x9ajZ.gif

Of note is the rapid rise in Republican voters as the age increases. Extremely hypocritical. The >65 crowd has the highest voter turnout voting Republican yet take the most from the government in the form of social security and medical coverage. Calling the under 30 crowd moochers, compared to them, is insanely hypocritical.

https://futuresteve.files.wordpress....ie07.gif?w=500

Rank the top 10 states by median income and 9/10 voted Democrat (mostly the NE and CA). Rank the bottom 10 states by median income and 9/10 voted Republican (mostly the South). The conservative base clings to the uneducated, poor, and religious.

Mods

I thought the forum rules expressly forbids politics.

If that is not the case, I'd be happy to respond to the flame-baiting liberal troll propaganda getting spewed here while giving you and this forum the middle finger.

Please advise.

Yawn

10 char

We are all equal citizens, why shouldn't we all pay an equal share (flat tax)?

Oh yes, the liberal epicenters of the United States. Notice they are also the most ridiculously overpriced places to live...

Because a flat tax is regressive.

Not sure how the desirability of a place hurts my argument. Or adds to yours.

That's because San Diego is nicer than Tupelo.

:rolleyes:

Yes, and San Diego is so liberal, too. lol

San Diego Voter Demographics Signal Permanent Power Shift, Report Says | KPBS

Swing and a miss....

Yes. You did. That is a 2012 article. In fact...


....and he resigned less than a year after taking office amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. He later pleaded guilty to state charges of false imprisonment and battery.

Next?

...Fixed...

I never said he was a good guy. I was responding to your allegations that the coastal states are "overpriced" because they are more liberal, which is ludicrous.

Another swing and a miss. :D

I never made that allegation. I was only laughing at and responding to the propaganda and myth that San Diego is a liberal city that you twice attempted to foist off here.

Go back a re-read. You brought up politics, not me. San Diego is one of the most desirable cities in the country. That's why it is more expensive than a whistle stop town in Mississippi. It has nothing to do with politics. Replace San Diego with the Bay Area and it still holds true.

It's scary that you even have to explain that to people. "Republican logic" doesn't get you very far :D.

I'm glad you mentioned that.

I actually didn't bring up politics. A comment was made about Gov't fraud, to which I responded...


...then gave a link to a recent article about it, which cited reps from both parties agreeing it was an issue.

This wasn't a license for Name User to hop in with his rank political partisan dreck.

A simple re-reading of the past few pages easily shows that it was Name User who began all the political smack.


Thanks.

As long as you're pointing fingers, at least get it right. Mesabah was the first to mention a political party, I responded to that.

Back on topic, at Allegiant, our CEO takes some paltry yearly salary but he owns 20 PERCENT of the outstanding shares (approx $700 million in stock). Back before our President was kicked out, his 2013 total compensation was $5.2 million. While that is slightly above Gary Kelly's $4 million for that year, keep in mind the difference in size and revenue between the two carriers. Our president's compensation per dollar of revenue generated was 23 TIMES that of Kelly's. Executive pay is definitely out of control.

Wait.. Did you just do a FIFY to your own post?

I agree completely.

That's pretty amazing. What a scumbag.

This is exactly why this county is going to sh*t. Taxing some people 5% and others 40% because their income is different is what we call socialism. Where everyone is =. This leads to problems of nobody wanting to work hard or go to school for 10 years because everyone makes the same. Just because I worked hard for 15 years, went to school, made sacrifices, should not mean I have to give 30% of my income to Uncle Sam and someone that slacked off all of their 20's only has to pay 10% or get back more than they have to pay, just because a bunch of socialist think it's fair. Life isn't fair and we are suppose to be a capitalist society. There are a lot of people out there that need to start waking up. Talk to people from Greece or other countries in Europe that had an economy collapse from people free loading off the backs of those that work hard for their money.

You realize you pay the exact same amount of tax, down to the penny, that those who earn less than you pay, right? It seems you don't understand the US tax code very well.

Mike Judge hit the nail on the head.
Idiocracy (2006) - IMDb
Population growth, without education and enlightenment.
Watch it and extrapolate current events, not a reach really. :D

What a crock of crap. Do you live downwind in Colorado?

Most underrated movie of all time.

It is indeed, regardless of where one lives.

Neither do you, genius. Even paid, professional experts admit being flummoxed by it on a regular basis. I'm talking tax LAWYERS....legal experts who SPECIALIZE in it...with decades of experience.

And you, most definitely, are not one of them.

Umm. Do you care to explain? I'm pretty sure that this sentence is flat out wrong.

There are graduated scales (progressive tax) so people who earn more pay a larger percentage of their income to taxes. I'm in one of the higher brackets, and I'm okay with that. I can afford it. But a flat tax disproportionately taxes lower incomes, and that's not right. If you make $40,000 a year, far more of your income goes to the basics of life than someone earning $400,000.

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