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EYE OPENER

shootstrightshootstright Member Posts: 342 ✭✭✭
EYE OPENER!!












!!

NBA OR NFL?



36
have been accused of spousal abuse






7
have been arrested for fraud







19
have been accused of writing bad checks





117
have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses





3
have done time for assault




71,
repeat
71 cannot
get a credit card due to bad credit




14
have been arrested on drug-related charges


8
have been arrested for shoplifting




21
currently
are defendants in lawsuits, and




84
have been arrested for drunk driving
in
the last year




Can
you guess which organization this is?




Give
up yet? . . . Scroll down,


























Neither,
it's the 535 members of the United
States Congress.

The
same group of Idiots that crank out hundreds of new laws each year
designed to keep the rest of us in line.




You
gotta pass this one on!

AND THEY JUST VOTED THEMSELVES $15,000 PER MONTH PENSION FOR LIFE AFTER SERVING ONLY ONE TERM IN CONGRESS!!

Comments

  • dsmithdsmith Member Posts: 902 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Sounds about right. Sad.
  • gunphreakgunphreak Member Posts: 1,791 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Don't forget:

    1 of them is a murderer.

    Of course, that could have meant OJ, though.
  • Slow_HandSlow_Hand Member Posts: 2,835
    edited November -1
    And yet the Senate killed the minimum wage increase straight off. Yeah, it sounds just about right for America's politicians. But the scariest part for me is:

    1) they got elected meaning that people saw them as being better than someone(s) else - or merely the lesser of two or more evils.

    2) many of them, despite their track record for helping themselves and living above the law, get re-elected - some numerous times.

    "There's a sucker born every minute." - Paper Collar Joe Bessimer
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    VOTE...PEOPLE, just VOTE.

    THAT will cure everything...and allow you to sit back down with a beer, satisfied that you did your part...


    You sure did...got another rotten, corrupt empty suit put in position to pillage, rape and ruin for another 2,4 or 6 year term...
  • gunphreakgunphreak Member Posts: 1,791 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Slow_Hand
    And yet the Senate killed the minimum wage increase straight off. Yeah, it sounds just about right for America's politicians. But the scariest part for me is:

    1) they got elected meaning that people saw them as being better than someone(s) else - or merely the lesser of two or more evils.

    2) many of them, despite their track record for helping themselves and living above the law, get re-elected - some numerous times.

    "There's a sucker born every minute." - Paper Collar Joe Bessimer


    Do you understand what would occur from a hike in the minimum wage?

    Ideally, the lowest paid people will get a raise.

    Realistically, it will lead to doubling up on certain jobs for the extra money, and all those who were not doubled up on will no longer have a job, and we will see a spike in unemployment rate.

    The reason Republicans oppose this is because it will create an exorbitant increase in inflation, which in turn will create wage increases on all levels to offset this inflation rate, and be harmful in all aspects to all but the highest wage earners.

    The reason Demonkrats want it so badly is because the key to making people dependent on the gov't is to remove their jobs, place them all in poverty, and do it while appearing to be trying to fix the problem.

    Think about that for a while.
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    Well..gunphreak..that all sounds good.

    However...been paying any attention lately where the money is going ? The rich are getting richer...fast. And the middle class is vanishing.

    Promoting ANY policy of the Republicans is risky business...since business is all they care about...except growing goverment and the lessning of individual rights, of course...
  • gunphreakgunphreak Member Posts: 1,791 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Highball
    Well..gunphreak..that all sounds good.

    However...been paying any attention lately where the money is going ? The rich are getting richer...fast. And the middle class is vanishing.

    Promoting ANY policy of the Republicans is risky business...since business is all they care about...except growing goverment and the lessning of individual rights, of course...


    That's another issue, right there.

    I'm not going to defend the Republicans, although they are the lesser of two evils. Evil is still evil, and the course of action I have listed concerning Demonkrats goes beyond evil... it is diabolic.

    Our middle class is disappearing for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because of gov't. Gov't does not create prosperity, it destroys prosperity. The people are half to blame for this, because so many toil under the heel of gov't as if it is their god, providing miracles for the worthless and protection to the useless. Those of us who see through this facade know differently, that gov't of today is the root of the problem, not the solution.
  • shootstrightshootstright Member Posts: 342 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Highball
    Well..gunphreak..that all sounds good.

    However...been paying any attention lately where the money is going ? The rich are getting richer...fast. And the middle class is vanishing.

    Promoting ANY policy of the Republicans is risky business...since business is all they care about...except growing goverment and the lessning of individual rights, of course...


    Highball The middle class is vanishing and becoming the richer class.
    Government is a pimple on the * of progress and DemocRATS are what makes it the worst .[8D]

    If not for government were would the incompatant and missfits work.


    A well armed society is the best form of homeland security.

    Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.

    A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.
    Make yourselves sheep, and the wolves will eat you.
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    quote:The middle class is vanishing and becoming the richer class
    Not happening. The middle class jobs are being shipped out of this country as fast as the Elites can do it without tipping the cart over...too soon.
  • Slow_HandSlow_Hand Member Posts: 2,835
    edited November -1
    Just some "whimsical" math and more non-sensical ramblings from me about the Federal Minimum Wage, big business and politics.

    Social Security is 6.2% of the entire pre-tax gross. At the Federal Rate of $5.15 per hour over 2080 hours per year, S.S. contributions are roughly $664. At $7.50 per hour over the same 2080 hours per year, the S.S. contribution is $967 or $303 more. For purposes of discussion, let's say that there are currently only 500,000 minimum wage earners in the U.S. There are many, many more but let's keep the number deliberately low.

    The additional S.S. contribution to an already seriously financially challenged fund would be $151,500,000 per year. Using the same math for Medicare at 1.45%, the additional yearly amount would be almost $71 per person or $35,500,000 more into the Medicare fund per year.

    Now for every American job shipped out overseas, the unlucky and now unemployed American gets to pay full FICA and income taxes off of his or her severance pay (if any applies) and if no suitable work can be found, goes on unemployment for a minimum of 26 weeks which only costs the taxpayers - you and me - in the long run.

    And, benefits - a crucial part of living in today's day and age - go bye-bye as well, giving the shrewd employer a huge financial edge and forcing the unemployed individual to file for supplemental benefits when unemployment runs out. Lastly, when the unemployed person is relegated to minimum wage employment, and he or she can't afford adequate benefits, well, you can figure out the rest here.

    Please stop if you think I give a rat's * about big business' profitability, a rich man's tax shelters and all of the politicians' monthly retirement stipend.

    Now, doesn't it make just a little sense for Americans to seriously consider raising minimum wage for all of the jobs that can only be performed here - as in our Country and on our soil? After all, do you think someone in India or Bangladesh or Brazil or China is going to take your order at the clown's mouth and hand you the burger and fries at the window? Or ring up your ammo purchase at Wally World? Or stick your feet into a pair of shoes at the mall?

    Do the workers in these foreign countries spend ANY of their income here in the American economy? So, it's pretty much a win-win-lose for big business, the foreign worker and the American economy.

    Let's not permit the greedy corporations to skate on both ends - increasing the unemployment rosters and saving big bucks by cutting heads AND keeping the salaries they MUST pay for work done here in America low as well. Nail their fat butts on one of them so that our economy and the average American gets a little something in return.

    Thank you for reading. I know, I know, it's all pure nonsense and of absolutely no value. Bad habits are hard to break.[:)]

    Pax vobiscum.

    Edit: spelling, grammar
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    I have been a bit ambivelent about the minimum wage...the above makes sense. I think I like it....[:D]
    Besides, the rotten bastar** like rush limbaugh are dead set against it...so there must be value in keeping wages low for them...imagine that.
  • gunphreakgunphreak Member Posts: 1,791 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Crunch the numbers all you want, but what costs you $10.00 today will cost you $15.00 tomorrow if inflation is not curbed.

    One of the biggest reasons gov't should lay its hands off capitalism is because everything it touches, it breaks.
  • Slow_HandSlow_Hand Member Posts: 2,835
    edited November -1
    Raising the Federal Minimum Wage will not necessarily bring about or increase inflation of and by itself. Let's not permit the so-called economic whizkids to delude us into believing that.

    Industries regularly "invent" reasons why price increases are justified and the business within an industry eagerly jump on the bandwagon. And, magically, as if clairvoyant, their price increases TO THE CONSUMER often line right up with the cost of living increases that American workers get each year. Or to offset serious financial mistakes resulting from lousy corporate management. Or to pay for massive executive salaries and bonuses. Or to pay for $6000 gold shower curtains, etc.

    So, I as a consumer still get to pay more because of let's say a new year in a union contract somewhere else even though the Federal minimum wage remains the same for years. Why should I be so privileged? Why should so many others remain financially disadvantaged?

    Exxon-Mobil posted $11 Billion in profits last year but it didn't stop them not one heartbeat from raising gas prices to over $3 a gallon - did it? Did they offer to give any of their customers a refund? Oh, I forgot, it's all about the oil reserves, the Gulf, Alaska, etc. Excuses, excuses, excuses.... Let's see what staggering profits they post for 2006.

    Notice how the Iraq War is now touted as the single biggest reason why lumber here in the U.S. shot up in price? And how about electrical wire? Gypsum? Paint? Caulk? Give me a break here! Are we singlehandedly donating all of this stuff to rebuilding Iraq or are the corporate thugs smelling yet one more big payday that they can easily justify to the public and get away with? There's no shortage of the stuff on the shelves - just much higher prices.

    Is there really a worldwide shortage of ammunition? I see the disclaimers in every ad and for the life of me, I can't figure out why it's still available and ready to ship, but just at significantly higher prices. Hmmmmmm......

    If you've ever worked for a big-* corporation, you know that prices are just like smoke detector batteries in that you should plan to change them twice a year whether they're needed or not. I believe it's called preventive medicine. [;)]

    Thanks for reading.

    God bless America.
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    Well, Slow Hand;
    These days I find my head bobbing up and down like the little doggie in the back window when I read your posts.

    I can't decide if I have lost my edge, you are putting us on..[:D]...or the tide is turning out there in the great hinterlands of America.

    The minimum wage is a great discussing point..but the real option is to move people up and out of such a state as soon as possible.

    The bad news...the Elites are moving good paying jobs out..leaving nothing BUT minimum wage...and the filthy rich.
  • Slow_HandSlow_Hand Member Posts: 2,835
    edited November -1
    Nah, Highball, definitely NOT putting you on.

    I'm probably more sensitive than most to issues like minimum wage because I have seen - firsthand - so many good and talented people across all disciplines discarded by corporate America via the "severance package method" of head-cutting.

    If you're getting a little long in the tooth and there are young bucks waiting in the wings, you're given only two options, i.e. agree to take the package NOW, sign a binding waiver not to sue us and you'll leave with a guaranteed something - OR - stay on, risk getting laid off later on at which time you'll get two weeks severance pay and a "don't let the door hit you in the * on your way out" good-bye. It's like being offered death by lethal injection or death by "breaking with the wheel". Not much of a choice to make is there?

    When the pool of available talent far exceeds the need for it and age (45+) becomes a distinct disadvantage, enter all of the retail establishments with the minimum wage jobs, the nice colored vests, the "team concept" posters n the break room, the long hours and the employee discount.

    That's really why I get so cranky.

    It's tough when I see an engineer with a Masters Degree working in a home center stocking out shelves. Honest work - yes. But a mere pittance in return for his education, talent and skillset.

    But somewhere overseas, there's an engineer doing his job for much less for the same company that ushered the American engineer out the door.

    Yet, our politicians can't seem to get moving in any one direction on the issue of illegal immigration and the billions it's costing all of us, including the minimum wage earners who are paying taxes. How's that for irony?

    If we don't watch out for our own, who will? Mexico? China? India? Pakistan? Thailand?

    Thanks for reading.
  • HighballHighball Member Posts: 15,755
    edited November -1
    It is indeed painful to watch a country fall. I don't know what stage we are in..historians will chart Sept. 7 2006 as 'this or that period'...but as the tallest redwood starts toppling slowly..so too does a culture.

    At some point...there will be no chance to stop the momentum of the fall.

    A delicate bit of business...conditions must become bad enough to alert enough citizens to the danger so actions to stop the fall are welcomed...yet not so far as to make the attempt futile....
  • Slow_HandSlow_Hand Member Posts: 2,835
    edited November -1
    Sad. Very, very sad.

    Like watching a runaway freight train careen through the mountains. It's not the speed at which it travels that's upsetting. Rather, it's the fact of knowing that the sudden stop in bedrock - OR - the catapult out into the atmosphere is inevitable. We just don't exactly where or when it will finally happen.

    I read the other day where Congress reconvened after the summer recess and one prominent politician told a reporter that we're only here for 12 days after which it's time to prepare for the upcoming election. Nice work if you can get it - no?

    And so, very few of them apparently care about doing much until they're fully assured of a career "extension".

    So much for illegal immigration being initially addressed before the "new term" is sworn in in January of 2007.

    Sad. Very, very sad.
  • whompusswhompuss Member Posts: 737 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by Slow_Hand
    Nah, Highball, definitely NOT putting you on.

    I'm probably more sensitive than most to issues like minimum wage because I have seen - firsthand - so many good and talented people across all disciplines discarded by corporate America via the "severance package method" of head-cutting.

    If you're getting a little long in the tooth and there are young bucks waiting in the wings, you're given only two options, i.e. agree to take the package NOW, sign a binding waiver not to sue us and you'll leave with a guaranteed something - OR - stay on, risk getting laid off later on at which time you'll get two weeks severance pay and a "don't let the door hit you in the * on your way out" good-bye. It's like being offered death by lethal injection or death by "breaking with the wheel". Not much of a choice to make is there?

    When the pool of available talent far exceeds the need for it and age (45+) becomes a distinct disadvantage, enter all of the retail establishments with the minimum wage jobs, the nice colored vests, the "team concept" posters n the break room, the long hours and the employee discount.

    That's really why I get so cranky.

    It's tough when I see an engineer with a Masters Degree working in a home center stocking out shelves. Honest work - yes. But a mere pittance in return for his education, talent and skillset.

    But somewhere overseas, there's an engineer doing his job for much less for the same company that ushered the American engineer out the door.

    Yet, our politicians can't seem to get moving in any one direction on the issue of illegal immigration and the billions it's costing all of us, including the minimum wage earners who are paying taxes. How's that for irony?

    If we don't watch out for our own, who will? Mexico? China? India? Pakistan? Thailand?

    Thanks for reading.

    If we don't have illegal immigrants then who will mow the lawn and clean the pool for all the rich "Publicans in West Palm?[}:)]
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