World is Falling Apart Thread (Locked forever)

[BoringSupreez]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35265002

"Officials feared Borderlife by Dorit Rabinyan could encourage relationships between Jews and Arabs."


Yeah, I mean why would we want anything that might heal the wounds between two really damaged communities?

Keeping the "racial purity" is just way more important. Gee, I wander which past European regime had the same mindset

That's been an area of hypocrisy among the Jewish community for a while, both in the diaspora and in Israel. My grandfather was Jewish, and he was disowned by his family for marrying a Polish catholic. He ended up moving to the other side of the country and didn't get to inherit any of the family business.

[Pulsar_t]

Even though I disapprove of using items of clothing as a political statement (be it a headscarf or a miniskirt), I admire her courage.

[ZeroAX]

I thought Donald trump rallies are a form of punishment so she must feel lucky

[Pulsar_t]

Dat cleavage thu..

On a more serious note, those taxdodgers have among them more monies than the entire GDP of an industrial nation like Britain. If it were for me...

[ElkinFencer10]

My effective a tax rate is about 30%, and I make $35 thousand; Mitt Romney's effective tax rate is less than 14%, and he makes $22 million.

Just saying. Infer whatever points you wish.

[Fragems]

Even though I disapprove of using items of clothing as a political statement (be it a headscarf or a miniskirt), I admire her courage.

Thing that confused the hell out of me is she was there with a male companion who was barely mentioned in the media. There were also a ton of people with the "Muslim" badges whether they put those on themselves or were given those by someone to wear before entering. The news tries to spin it like she was the sole protester. At least the article there mentions the 3 others that got ejected but the video completely ignores it.

[jp1]

My effective a tax rate is about 30%, and I make $35 thousand; Mitt Romney's effective tax rate is less than 14%, and he makes $22 million.

Just saying. Infer whatever points you wish.

However, Mitt Romney is contributing a lot more money with his 14%. I'm not saying I don't agree that it is messed up...but it isn't as simple as an apples to apples comparison. Should the man be responsible for more than you based entirely on his income? Income inequality is an issue that needs to be dealt with, but not based on taxes IMHO.

Some important factors need to be considered when judging an individuals contributions to society and they can't be as narrow as a level of success.

I say that as a middle class democrat with a single income and a family of 5. So, believe me when I say that I am speculating from the flip side of the coin.

[Erik_Twice]

However, Mitt Romney is contributing a lot more money with his 14%. I'm not saying I don't agree that it is messed up...but it isn't as simple as an apples to apples comparison. Should the man be responsible for more than you based entirely on his income?

Should poor people pay a higher percentage of taxes than rich ones? Should taxes be regressive? Does the American society have such a mighty need to lower taxes on the rich when 50 million of its citizens are in poverty?

Income inequality is an issue that needs to be dealt with, but not based on taxes IMHO.

So what do you propose? Revolution?

[Fragems]

In my opinion Taxes are a complete cluster fuck as is our trade policy . We never should have gotten rid of tariffs. In a perfect world free trade is great but this is far from a perfect world and the system just leads to a shit load of abuse.

[ElkinFencer10]

My effective a tax rate is about 30%, and I make $35 thousand; Mitt Romney's effective tax rate is less than 14%, and he makes $22 million.

Just saying. Infer whatever points you wish.

However, Mitt Romney is contributing a lot more money with his 14%. I'm not saying I don't agree that it is messed up...but it isn't as simple as an apples to apples comparison. Should the man be responsible for more than you based entirely on his income? Income inequality is an issue that needs to be dealt with, but not based on taxes IMHO.

Some important factors need to be considered when judging an individuals contributions to society and they can't be as narrow as a level of success.

I say that as a middle class democrat with a single income and a family of 5. So, believe me when I say that I am speculating from the flip side of the coin.

His 14% hurts him a LOT less than my 30% hurts me. Hell, 30% would leave him struggling a lot less (like, not at all) than 14% would leave me. The actual amount is meaningless when it comes whether or not you can heat your house, pay your student loans, and afford your medication. His tax rate could be 90%, and he'd still make more in one year than the average American will make in his or her entire career.

Also, taxes aren't about redistribution of wealth. In the 1950s under Eisenhower - a Republican - the top of the tax bracket was a little over 90%. No one paid that much. High taxes aren't about shifting wealth or bringing in revenue; it's about giving companies and incentive to invest in the economy. If the tax bracket tops out at 39% (ours does), then there's no incentive not to dump excess profits into executive pockets. If your bracket goes up to 90%, however, they'll end up with more take-home pay by lowering their own salaries. That leaves the company with money just sitting around. That money then gets used either for expansion which creates jobs, improvement which betters working conditions, or increased wages (which is the driving force behind an economy). With our tax code now, though, and our dedication to the ridiculous myth of trickle-down economics, they can maximize their salaries and take most of it home (since, as Mr. Romney shows us, they won't even pay half of the tax rate they're theoretically supposed to).

There's also the issue of power. Money equals power in the United States. That's just the nature of our increasingly plutocratic government. If you have more influence in government, it only seems right that you should contribute a larger percentage of your wealth to running that government. That's my opinion, anyway. But what do I know? I'm just a history teacher with a minor in political science.

Also, Fragems, you're after my own heart with your support for bringing back the tariff.