This topic always chaps my ass!!

I work very hard for my money, and fiscal responsibility didn

 

give a man a fish, feed him for a day
teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime

 

Sorry Scot; I'm gonna dissect this sucker:

Conservatives, as a rule, don't spend money subsidizing anything. There again, if the government had bought on margin all that heating oil, it may have created a false shortage on the market, thus spiking the price. . . but I digress.

I have every reason to believe that a number of people who actually study this stuff know and understand the underemployed (3-shifters), the first-time poor (holy crap!), and the generational poor (I'm not the babydaddy). However:

a.) The underemployed are great. 3 jobs, no health care, and the cost on my Taco Bell order is low (even if they screw up the order. . . again).

b.) The first-time poor are great for campaigns, as they (rightly so?) pull on our (The Middle/Upper-Middle Class') heartstrings.

c.) The generational poor hire hundreds to process welfare claims, thousands more to process bad credit cards, provide millions of dollars in hedged-loss-dollar debt (which can be sold), and provide retailers with a market ready to buy high-margin consumer goods (or durable goods with bad credit).

I'd remind them that peeling a sweaty ass off the toilet seat sucks, and that I learned that while dropping a deuce in the Virgin Islands. That said, bogarting free stuff is as American as self-sufficiency. Remember that next time you're at Costco for "lunch."

[QUOTE]would a poor person drink Heineken?

 

Before you become completely glutinous with self-congratulations, let's imagine that you became disabled and had to live on $303 a month as you couldn't get work. How soon do you think you would pay off those debts? If you didn't have a middle-class upbringing, how much credit do you think you would have had in the first place? Also, has your sense of fiscal responsibilty left no room for charity?

 

I'm gonna drop a in here while I'm at it. . .

 

I am actually proud of what I gave this year. I carefully selected charities that had better screening processes. Then I came across a government agency that takes in money for the people they serve. Everyone had some kind of mental or physical illness. The woman my wife and I chose needed new dentures, and medicare wouldn't pay for it. We helped with a major portion of the balance, and she got the dentures she needed. We also went in for a man who lived in a travel trailer, and had no heat. He didn't want AC, but he gladly accepted the heater. These people ask for things like socks, blankets, and PJ's.

Last year we did an angel tree in the mall. When we went to drop the things off (people at work go to the homes), the woman acted like she didn't appreciate it or care. Then she told us to leave it in the back room, where we ran into a church dropping thigs off. It really pissed me off that she was 1st double dipping on charitys but 2. Didn't have the courtesy to thank us or act like she appreciated what we were doing.

And before you question me on my pay or what I've lived on, check your facts! During college I always waited tables, but one summer had 5 classes and barely worked. I made it on ramon noodles and the knowledge that the hardwork would pay off, and it did!

 

Similar story when I was in school. For one semester, I lived on 2 loaves of bread, a jar of peanut butter and a bag of apples per week. (I also never turned down a dinner invitation). Having experienced hard times myself, I don't begrudge my taxes going to pay to assist those less fortunate than I am. I don't need to be thanked or to personally see where my money is going. I also donate and do volunteer work. Frankly, I think the highest form of charity is when the person being helped doesn't know who you are.

 

[QUOTE=zeiss,Jan 14 2008, 09:31 AM]I wish that the people who resent paying to support others through their taxes would pause to consider how they would make ends meet on an income of $303 a month for a family of three.

 

There is a huge difference between charity and handouts (welfare).

 

It's a poor example to zeiss' set up. However, note that zeiss put several conditions on the matter.

If you address each of zeiss' conditions, then you might have something.

This singularly marginalizes your point (not that it, in and of itself is a bad thing). Your father (bless him) KNEW that this wasn't how to get stuff; let alone how to get ahead. It's a fair assertion a LOT of people don't have your Father's mindset. The question could well be, "Why not?"