Congrats! Keep voting Dem!

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

One example:

Amazon reported $35 billion in U.S. pretax income for 2021, but is taxed at a federal income-tax rate of 6%, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, an advocacy group. So, even though the company paid a whopping $2.1 billion in taxes that year, it was only a fraction of what Amazon should have paid...and no middle class taxpayer could have gotten such a sweet deal.

Another example:

From 2006-2018, Jeff Bezos saw a wealth increase of $127 billion according to Forbes...but he only reported a total income of $6.5 billion during that time period. So, even though he paid $1.4 billion in federal taxes on his reported earnings...that accounts for only a 1.1% true tax rate.

I don't know about you...but I couldn't care less if these mega corporations are reinvesting their profits into their operations. Such corporate tax breaks allow these giant companies to pay lower tax rates than most working families...and that's why I say that our political system "doesn't have the interests of the middle class at heart".

So you do not believe they are not paying local taxes and property taxes and taxes for all the machines inside the buildings and taxes on the fleet of trucks and on and on. And all the employees that work for them the taxes base generated. Your rose colored glasses only sees what you want them to see, and you say that you were an employer. Just how did your benefits stack up against one of these company's? If something like that opened new near your loss of better employees is a given to what you had to offer right. Now that there is much less runway left in your career it becomes important to talk about what you could never do not because you did not posses opportunity but the talent.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by fast4522

So you do not believe they are not paying local taxes and property taxes and taxes for all the machines inside the buildings and taxes on the fleet of trucks and on and on. And all the employees that work for them the taxes base generated. Your rose colored glasses only sees what you want them to see, and you say that you were an employer. Just how did your benefits stack up against one of these company's? If something like that opened new near your loss of better employees is a given to what you had to offer right. Now that there is much less runway left in your career it becomes important to talk about what you could never do not because you did not posses opportunity but the talent.

I have to give you credit though. As illiterate as you appear on this board, I never could have imagined that you could have secured a job for yourself that offered profit sharing and matched contributions. That must have taken some doing! Good for you!

[thaskalos]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu5B-2LoC4s

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

You can be "worth something to those who employ you", and still have no profit sharing or matched contributions. And it isn't because you are "looking for an easy ride". Of course, I don't expect you to understand or agree with me...that's why I directed my post to Tucker6.

Let me ask you a question:

When you told me yesterday that "there must be a reason why I have the peasants at heart"...were you implying that I was a "peasant" myself?

No by your age how much runway do you really have left, your promise and opportunity left 20 + years ago and it hurts like a open soar. So yes working minus things that build over time means that you need to find better or come your age just bitch about it for having less because nothing ventured nothing gained right?

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

I have to give you credit though. As illiterate as you appear on this board, I never could have imagined that you could have secured a job for yourself that offered profit sharing and matched contributions. That must have taken some doing! Good for you!

No not really, you have to always be inside the critical path and be current in the technologies that you work with. I had to sign off on engineering change orders for a time and on one I put ass backwards and everyone got to see that one before it was too late. Knowing the housekeeping chips and how they looked on a scope was way more important in writing stories for mamaluke's.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by fast4522

No by your age how much runway do you really have left, your promise and opportunity left 20 + years ago and it hurts like a open soar. So yes working minus things that build over time means that you need to find better or come your age just bitch about it for having less because nothing ventured nothing gained right?

See? What kind of job could someone with your communicative skills be expected to find in a competitive job market? You either did something right...or you got very lucky. In either case...good for you!

And then you tell us that it's because you are missing your eyeglasses. You couldn't phrase a post the right way if your life depended on it.

[Dave Schwartz]

Originally Posted by Newtothegame1

The problem runs deep in many areas. I highly doubt you can place fault at any ONE area and have a solution at this point.
I have said many times, and will continue.... (I agree with thask), BOTH our political parties can care less about you!

Your entire post was amazingly level-headed and accurate.

Especially for a first post.


Welcome to PA.





.

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

See? What kind of job could someone with your communicative skills be expected to find in a competitive job market? You either did something right...or you got very lucky. In either case...good for you!

And then you tell us that it's because you are missing your eyeglasses. You couldn't phrase a post the right way if your life depended on it.

At 18 in one day I had 3 job offers, one was nothing to talk about. The two others had products geared to the DOD. You think the correct spelling or the drivel about the cheese you sliced has any real anything now for you or anybody. Your surrounded by people who can't even tie shoes and your going to lecture anyone about communicative skills. Your a joke and those who pitched the same garbage you espouse are also not very bright. And that what it is all about being bright or better.

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by Newtothegame1

The problem runs deep in many areas. I highly doubt you can place fault at any ONE area and have a solution at this point.
I have said many times, and will continue.... (I agree with thask), BOTH our political parties can care less about you!

One will blame the other for attempting to tax the lower income levels and give the rich tax breaks. Yet, when that same party has had power, please tell me how the lower class benefited???

The other, in an attempt to say the help the lower class, helps the UPPER class even further which has no real option but to pass some of that along. It then appears that the lower class is benefiting (but reality is different), as the gap between rich and poor widens even further. Now some of you will say but my 401k, etc etc was better under this party. That may be true! During the many years of repug control, you should have been retired by now if it was so great...right???

Don't get me wrong, I will and mostly have voted for the right side of the aisle as they do align more with my values and beliefs. But I am not foolish enough to believe that they are the saving grace!

Look at your family systems. It is proven that as a whole, kids with TWO parents are better off in life.

Next, look at the school system..... Kids now a days can't even get past a normal interview. They come to an interview in flip flops, tee shirt and sweat pants. True story...I had a young employee come to me as he had to fill out some company paperwork. Near the bottom of the form he had to SIGN his name. He asked me "what that meant". Now, before you start stereotyping, this is a 20 y/o white male, well spoken, and as best I know from a decent family. He went on to explain how they were not taught in school how to sign their names. So, he printed his name out. One letter at a time...and connected each letter with a line across the bottom of each!!
Math....forget it !!! Most of them can't tell you what a fifth of something is without naming a drink!!

Religion....Now let me start by saying I am not the holy roller, etc etc. But you do have to take it for face value that kids who grow up in to religion usually are more aware and have some value system in place. Whether you agree with the value system is another story, which I am not addressing.

Our political system as a whole, is flawed. Look at how many states are in the union. Next, look at how many states actually matter in an election! No one gives a shit about Mississippi, Louisiana, California, New York, etc etc. A democrat voting in a deep red state might as well stay home and not even vote for the general. And the opposite is true in deep blue states for "red" voters.

The Tax code is a damn joke. Thask mentioned how the uber rich, and companies, pay less as a percentage than the average family. How is that even possible?? It's called deductions, etc etc. Most single families don't even qualify for deductions to take advantage of the benefits. Or, they don't know the laws well enough to use it to their advantage.

The insurance system, another big scam! I pay over a thousand a month for just myself and wife. And that's in the HOPE I don't ever have to use it!! Once I need it, then deductibles and other cost can put a serious strain on any savings that were there. Home Owners and flood, another Joke. Every year, the cost goes up without ANY claims. My last claim was during hurricane Katrina, in which I had to pay the first 7500. Then I had to fight tooth and nail to get the policy paid as they tried to claim "act of god" etc etc. Homeowners was trying to claim flood damage therefore it should fall on flood and flood was claiming wind damage PRIOR to the flooding so they could get out of it. When a massive amount had to be paid out by companies, they started pulling out of a lot of areas (due to new FEMA flood maps) which only caused prices even higher.

Auto, no better. Pay every month...UNTIL you have a ticket, or a claim. Then it goes up. You can have twenty years of safe driving with no claims. Get a hail event and ....well there's a possibility you will be paying more.

In Louisiana we have to have what's called "brake tags". Twenty dollars a year to have someone "inspect" your car to ensure it's safe to drive on the road. When you pull up, if they know you, slip them twenty and tag is written and placed in your window. If they don't know you, pull up, follow every instruction. (hit the horn, left turn signal, right turn signal, brake lights, headlights, high beam, low beam). Then get your tag! Without a tag, that's a ticket if pulled over!

I could go on and on.....But what does all this really ADD up to....
Cost of food up...double digits
Cost of Insurance up.....double digits.....
Cost to go to (Credible) college.....Lifetime of debt!
Cost of gas......Up
Cost of Phone...UP
Cost of cable.....UP


Pay raise. 3%. That's with REPUG or Dem...... So tell me again how these parties are helping us!!!

Now I know ive kind of rambled and been a little all over the place. BUT THATS THE POINT. The problems are ALL OVER. It's not one thing! You name a topic, and we can discuss how it's broken and hindering the middle class. The goal is for all of the NOT uber rich to be at the mercy of their "representatives"!

So the kid who showed up to interview with you was bearing all at 20, much of what I have been saying is that promise and potential goes down after a certain age, and sure nothing ever goes down in price in reality. How can one expect to pull 40 hours and be valuable even with a degree? We both are quite familiar with metrics and the line to the right in getting it done no matter what your bailiwick is always because of the team effort.

[thaskalos]

Originally Posted by fast4522

At 18 in one day I had 3 job offers, one was nothing to talk about. The two others had products geared to the DOD. You think the correct spelling or the drivel about the cheese you sliced has any real anything now for you or anybody. Your surrounded by people who can't even tie shoes and your going to lecture anyone about communicative skills. Your a joke and those who pitched the same garbage you espouse are also not very bright. And that what it is all about being bright or better.

First you act as if you know how much more time and "opportunity" I have left in my life...and now you presume to know which people I am "surrounded by". And I wouldn't call other people "not very bright", if I were you. If it weren't for your political leanings...you would have been laughed off this board years ago.

[crestridge]

I guess the real core question is: what really is "success and failure"?
Last year the "BUCKS", in the NBA had the best record for the year, but during the playoffs they were eliminated 1st round. During after elimination interviews by reporters Giannis Antetpkoumpo was asked if the team was a failure? Of course, he was a little perturbed by the question, but essentially said, NO, one has to participate and one has to learn losing is part of the process of winning.

This question was taken up by the panel of "INSIDE THE NBA", and they thought his answer was very good. But more discussion continued and the question of "success and failure" came up. One answer they all would agree on was, financial prosperity wasn't the answer to the label "success", simply because not everyone can achieve this. So a consensus answer wasn't achieved.

This provoked my thought process and I thought there's a universal idea of success, provided by the Bible. It centers on the human experience, how we relate to one another. Are we stimulating anger, hurt, pain and providing even
criminal responses to our fellow human encounters? Causing violence, hatred, distrust, etc. among our neighbors?

In Ephesians 4:32, one might find the answer to real success: "Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as GOD through MESSIAH has forgiven you." Three elements, kindness, tenderhearted and forgiveness major ingredients in the human experience for success.

Can one imagine if everyone in the world had such a goal in life, to meet each person with such elements. Probably impossible for us dysfunctional humans without GOD's help!!!

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

First you act as if you know how much more time and "opportunity" I have left in my life...and now you presume to know which people I am "surrounded by". And I wouldn't call other people "not very bright", if I were you. If it weren't for your political leanings...you would have been laughed off this board years ago.

So you miss the point, unless everything you posted was a lie your breadcrumbs left even a fledgling student could tell more about you than you would want. At 60% truth and 40% lies the very same could be said because very accurate cherry picking would occur anyway. It goes for all of us with no one spared promise and potential is is valued when young.

[davew]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

One example:

Amazon reported $35 billion in U.S. pretax income for 2021, but is taxed at a federal income-tax rate of 6%, according to a report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, an advocacy group. So, even though the company paid a whopping $2.1 billion in taxes that year, it was only a fraction of what Amazon should have paid...and no middle class taxpayer could have gotten such a sweet deal.

Another example:

From 2006-2018, Jeff Bezos saw a wealth increase of $127 billion according to Forbes...but he only reported a total income of $6.5 billion during that time period. So, even though he paid $1.4 billion in federal taxes on his reported earnings...that accounts for only a 1.1% true tax rate.

I don't know about you...but I couldn't care less if these mega corporations are reinvesting their profits into their operations. Such corporate tax breaks allow these giant companies to pay lower tax rates than most working families...and that's why I say that our political system "doesn't have the interests of the middle class at heart".

taxing unrealized gain on stock shares is a slippery slope which could easily be expanded into more things. Do you want the board of equalization counting how many cans of soup you have?

maybe they should change capital gains rate and limit deductions for donations to non-profits. Having a stock rich person sell some to donate to their own foundation should not be a write-off.

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by davew

taxing unrealized gain on stock shares is a slippery slope which could easily be expanded into more things. Do you want the board of equalization counting how many cans of soup you have?

maybe they should change capital gains rate and limit deductions for donations to non-profits. Having a stock rich person sell some to donate to their own foundation should not be a write-off.

Is it not about the stairs to climb with those at the very top more than happy to see the stairs kicked out half way up so there is no worries at the top from rising stars?

[fast4522]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

First you act as if you know how much more time and "opportunity" I have left in my life...and now you presume to know which people I am "surrounded by". And I wouldn't call other people "not very bright", if I were you. If it weren't for your political leanings...you would have been laughed off this board years ago.

I stuck around when others accepted the refund offer, those interested are cut from the same cloth as yourself. The sport is on life support and is growing no new comers.