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Here's hoping that somebody listens.

Count yourself lucky then.  I'm in that 1% too, but it wouldn't take a whole lot to flip me into that 99%.

Brew wrote on Oct 5^th, 2011 at 9:08pm:



Reckon my daughter will be a freeloader?  You pick the one post (there's not too many) out where someone has a job.  The majority of those posters there do not have a job, or if they do, it's not enough to make ends meet.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not for the government coming it and taking things over, but something has got to give.

Let me ask you a question, what would happen if for whatever reason, your boss walked in tomorrow and told you that you didn't have a job any more?

Carolyn - The social safety net concept has gone WAY beyond original intent. We are now to the point where damned near half of all US households receive one form of government assistance or another. So please don't imply that mine is an all-or-nothing proposition. Our government encourages dependence, and it's flat out wrong.

If my boss came in and told me I didn't have a job, I'd get another one. Or two or three if I had to. I didn't always make the kind of money I make now, and I've learned that we can survive on very little.  We learned the value of a dollar together early in our marriage each time we emptied the penny jar so we could buy enough mac and cheese or peanut butter until one of us got paid again.

Do not put words in my mouth or attitudes in my heart. Government handouts to able-bodied people are what is killing spirit and motivation in this country. Once the number of voters who live off other people's taxes reaches 50% plus one, the American Experiment is over because all they'll have to do is vote themselves a pay raise and more benefits. Then what happens?

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Good post Kevin.

Charlie

You filled in more of my broad brushstrokes of the picture very nicely, Steve.  The line of perspective running through to over the horizon has been flat income, diminishing domestic jobs.  With money flowering at the top of the trees, the verdure of the landscape below has been turning slowly more barren.

stevegeebe wrote on Oct 7^th, 2011 at 12:10am:

WHY can't I be this eloquent and direct?  *sigh*

Mel Consumer Debt Free issa.

Steve and Brew I could not agree more.

How are we to remove  the elected when they give out more in food stamps than I was able to earn this year?  (I refuse to take food stamps)  This is given to able bodied no-accounts who won't take a job, yet get housing assistance and are able to drive vehicles I cannot afford?  I have no issue with helping someone in need.  I have in the past, and I will in the future, and I volunteer in a food pantry two days a week.  I was choosy in the food pantry I would volunteer in.  Most of our clientele are not the professional poor who will not work, but those who have lost jobs and need a hand. 

Personally I would like to see our "safety net" go back to what it was years ago in that those in need were given basic staples in food to hold them over rather than what some unelected unaccountable functionary in DC decides should be given for the "poor" to waste at the grocery store.  It has gotten to the point some people cannot afford to take a job  because the "benefits" they are receiving are greater than the pay they would receive if they were to work.  Also, the "benefits" are tax free.

I hope this made sense.  It's been a 14 hour day that I hope generates a commission check in about 2 months.

Jerry

i for one still believe in America. 
i also believe that America is learning a very important lesson.
when i was growing up, my father was in the Airforce.  he was rarely home, always on deployments.  when i was four, my family income totaled just over 6,000 dollars, my fathers pay that year.  my mother was hospitalized twice for malnutrition because she wouldnt eat if we were running low on food. 
after my father got out of the airforce, things didnt get much better.  my brothers and i would sneak food back into the kitchen so my mother would think that there was more food than there was, otherwise she wouldnt eat.  we would often skip out on dinner, the only meal served at home, just so we knew my mother would eat.  we wouldnt go hungry, i would go hunt snakes, pigeons, catch fish, etc...  my older brother usualy found a way to get invited to a friends house for dinner.  my dad always worked.  my younger brother was too young to really understand what was going on.

my brothers and i became quite adept at dumpster-diving.  it was not uncommon for me to drag home electronics and appliances from six or seven miles away and fix them.  we got a tv and a vcr that way, and for times we couldnt afford the power bill, i learned how to make a generator from an old winch motor to run a couple fans or lamps.

my father worked.

my mother kept us fed.  she did her best with what she had.

things started to change when my older brother and i were old enough to work odd jobs(12 years old)

what do i think of the way i grew up?  i f!%$in loved it.  with a little hard work and ingenuity we made do just fine. 

both of my brothers and myself learned enough lessons to make a successful run at life.  we all had stable incomes with real career options available to us before each of us decided to join the army.  we gave up our jobs and our career opportunities to serve our country, because we all believe in America.  i had a stable job with the University of Florida, health and retirement benefits and a successful business on the side by the time i was 20.  No college.  my older brother worked his way to a 4 year degree by the time he was 22. neither of us have any debt.  my younger brother gave up his job and is graduating basic training right now.  no debt.

my brothers and i believe whole heartedly that anyone can do just about anything they want, it just takes hard work, creativity, and time.  my parents are starting to finaly jump on the opportunities that are still out there.  they are starting to understand the point of view that my brothers and i have learned.  growing up we would have qualified for pretty much every government handout that existed.  the lesson that we learned is much more valuable.

you only really fail if you give up.

Does anyone realize that Welfare/Food Stamps are a very small part of the Federal expenditures?

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Well said Rock!

As I said before, I have no problem with helping those in need, but to continue on letting them live off of someone else's labor is immoral. 

Looking at the pie chart I see that 57% of the monies spent have no Constitutional validation that I can understand.

I had come back to this thread thinking of the rabble on Wall Street and other similar carefully orchestrated "spontaneous" demonstrations when I came across a quotation that none of those demonstrating will comprehend.  "The value of liberty was thus enhanced in our estimation by the difficulty of its attainment, and the worth of characters appreciated by the trial of adversity."
--George Washington

Our country has gotten so soft over the last couple of generations because everything has become much to easy.  Our kids are not allowed to learn to fail.  Every time something calamitous happens the Federal Government is expected to make everything whole.  Personal responsibility is an unknown commodity.

Jerry

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How are we going to mark your words if they don't happen in our lifetime? (just jerking your chain)

Government is in the support business.  They know the power of a single vote and will promise to support those who will support them with their vote.

Times have been hard before. The safety net was small and most were ashamed to even temporarily reside there. The path out is a choice that is easy for those with integrity, character and a sense of honor. Unwittingly, the Governments lust for power via prepaying for votes, has sucked the drive out of generations resulting in chronic poverty, crime and dependency. And I don't feel they really even give a crap.

Unfortunately, a growing number of people in this country have been provided for and real hardship is blunted by the myriad of entitlements bestowed upon them, via the Government, by the productive in society.  So many are now, in some way, assisted by Government handouts that their collective ethos is now rounded over like so many rocks in a stream. "Hey everybody else is doing it...why not me?"

It's really sad that there isn't a requirement for those receiving assistance to get out a do something...something to benefit society...besides protesting and whining.

No...instead...here's you check.  Now don't forget to vote for us in November.

Steve my grandpa's grandson G