A $50 lesson

[DaveinBoston]

I actually thought this story was funny but rang with some truth.

I have absolutely ZERO qualms with giving alms to the poor. You can give every last dime of YOUR money to the poor for all I care.

What I have a problem with is when other people give MY hard earned money to the poor. (ie liberal democrats) I bust my ass to put food on my table and clothes on my family's back. My first concern is them and giving them all that I can.... it's not the homeless guy down the street.

[phobun]

Well..I assume he's talking about the people you run into on the street. Most of the people you run into on the street here in New York..seem to suffer some type of mental illness...sometimes aggravated by alcoholism and drug abuse..but not always. Then you also have the scammers...squeegee men..the "Can I have your attention..."!!..annoying people on the subways (some of who are also drug abusers and alcoholics).
The homeless people you are talking about aren't always as obvious as that...or out in the open.

I'm not willing to condemn homeless people who are mentally ill, which can certainly be a devastating burden no one should have to bear.

I agree that the homeless people to whom I refer aren't always as obvious as scammers, squeegee men or annoying people on the subways. But they aren't hiding in the shadows either.

[phobun]

I have absolutely ZERO qualms with giving alms to the poor. You can give every last dime of YOUR money to the poor for all I care.

What I have a problem with is when other people give MY hard earned money to the poor. (ie liberal democrats) I bust my ass to put food on my table and clothes on my family's back. My first concern is them and giving them all that I can.... it's not the homeless guy down the street.

I can sympathize with this. It can be hard enough to provide for your own family let alone a stranger, especially if he or she is homeless because of irresponsible choices. And I sympathize with your antipathy towards the Hollywood celebrities, Manhattan literati and rich fat cats who push government and higher taxes as the solution to every social ill. If there was not so much tremendous waste in government, the average Joe and Jane who works and pays their taxes might be more willing to use government programs for social progress. But how much of each government tax dollar actually reaches the disenfranchised person who needs it... probably not nearly as high of a ratio as what many NGOs can accomplish.

[trish]

"But how much of each government tax dollar actually reaches the disenfranchised person who needs it...?"

Very little. Partly because there are very few Federal programs aimed to help the disenfranchised person living on the street. They've all been cut, phased out or dismantled. The great bulk of your tax dollar goes to the military/industrial complex. We've got troops all over the world, we're fighting two wars, and we're constantly employing people to develop and produce military hardware. This is not just the current state of affairs. We been in perpetual armed conflict ever since Korea, we've been participating a various sorts of arms races since the advent of nuclear weapons, and we've been a practicing empire since WWII. Take 20% percent of the military budget and we can feed the poor, build bridges to anywhere...including the Moon and Mars, provide everyone with healthcare and financial security in their later life and still give everyone a tax break...which btw everyone making less than 250000 got this year.

[evilernie]

WOW... its was a JOKE. Its funny how a few people chose to bash the homeless guy while I think the meaning of the joke was to bash the liberals.

Everyone needs to lighten up!

It's obvious that it wasn't meant as a JOKE, as you claimed. The main reason for your post is a political slight on "liberals". So let's not pretend that you are being tolerant of other people's beliefs.

[DaveinBoston]

It's obvious that it wasn't meant as a JOKE, as you claimed. The main reason for your post is a political slight on "liberals". So let's not pretend that you are being tolerant of other people's beliefs.

Dont tell me what I meant and didnt mean it to be. The joke does poke fun at liberals. If you can handle it, just pass on by this post

[BluegrassCat]

"But how much of each government tax dollar actually reaches the disenfranchised person who needs it...?"

The great bulk of your tax dollar goes to the military/industrial complex.

I agree that we are wasting far too much money on "defense" and the wars that could be better spent but I think the majority of government expenditures are on entitlements and social welfare programs.

[evilernie]

The joke does poke fun at liberals.

The main reason for your post is a political slight on "liberals".

I think those sentences means the same thing. As with anyone of your ilk, it's your way or no way. I like to call out bigotry when I see it. At least, "fags" have to courage to come out. Sooner than later, the bigots will not be ashamed to admit what they really are.

[yodajazz]

"But how much of each government tax dollar actually reaches the disenfranchised person who needs it...?"

Very little. Partly because there are very few Federal programs aimed to help the disenfranchised person living on the street. They've all been cut, phased out or dismantled. The great bulk of your tax dollar goes to the military/industrial complex. We've got troops all over the world, we're fighting two wars, and we're constantly employing people to develop and produce military hardware. This is not just the current state of affairs. We been in perpetual armed conflict ever since Korea, we've been participating a various sorts of arms races since the advent of nuclear weapons, and we've been a practicing empire since WWII. Take 20% percent of the military budget and we can feed the poor, build bridges to anywhere...including the Moon and Mars, provide everyone with healthcare and financial security in their later life and still give everyone a tax break...which btw everyone making less than 250000 got this year.

I agree with the above post also.

There is a common deliberate misconception that programs like SS disablity are wasted money. People can only receive disablity if their income is under certain guidelines. But guess what, becuase they are poor they spend money in their communities for things like rent, food, or it may go directly to a nursing home for care. Things they are not doing are outsourcing services to India, rebuilding Iraq's infastructure, or buying gas futures, so that can jack the price of everything up. And guess what, disabled people are going to cost something anyway, unless we kill them off. The cost would be individual families (hopefully), who have to have someone not working to provide care. That would be less money to support a movie theater, etc, in the community.

The truth is money circulates from poor people, to middle class people, and on up. The philosophy that if the richest people get to keep more money it would spread to everyone has not panned out in reality. They have invested in a world economy, and claim that people are lazy while laying off thousands of people.

I thought the joke was cute, but it was not the true story in the real world 2010.

[yodajazz]

And one more thing. The fact that the price of gas dropped drastically when the Wall Street crisis hit, proves how much of the price of gas is due to commodies trading, vs the actual price of the product, like they pretend it be. There is a time, that if too much wealth, is in a small percentage of people, it is not good for the larger whole. That is why monopolies are viewed to not be in the best interest of the whole.

Yet another thing, certain parties claim that private companies are always more efficient than government. Yet in Iraq they were paying they were paying like $10,000 a week for private truck drivers whereas an army driver would have made maybe $600 a week. Then you also have to add in how much was paid to the private company's administrators. I have heard there is also a lot of waste for weapons system suppliers. And just recently they exposed the conflict of interest of retired general working for weapons systems corporations, and at the same time being paid by the Army as advisors, recommending the weapon systems of their other employers.

Keep people afraid, and they will not closely examine what the defense dept is doing with half the budget. Last thing I heard was Donald Rumsfeld saying over a trillion dollars of defense spending was not accounted for. But that was on Sept 10th, 2001!