1/5 of the budget deficit......

[lukster]

Don't be so hard on the gubernent boys, them votes are expensive.

[Samiam]

Originally posted by weaselsan
that's how much money Buffet and Gates are going to give away to various charities. Sixty two (62) billion dollars. Or 62,000 million dollars. Equal to 1/5 of the deficit. "The rich don't pay their fair share" (Liberalese for where's my freebes). But the most telling thing is who they won't give it to. The  Government

Kinda puts Ted Turner in his place for calling Gates out for not throwing away a $1B on the UN. Oops.

[Dead Man Flying]

You cannot balance the budget by cutting discretionary spending.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[lukster]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying
You cannot balance the budget by cutting discretionary spending.

-- Todd/Leviathn

Just have to broaden your scope as to what is discretionary.

[FiLtH]

Im sorry I just briskly read thru the post but correct me if Im wrong. Bill Gates is spending millions on model B25s because the government can't afford it because of theiving pedestrians?

[Toad]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying
You cannot balance the budget .

-- Todd/Leviathn

There, all fixed.  

[lazs2]

"They made money, the government is under an extreme amount of debt. Hmm,..I think the guys who made money probably do have a better idea of what to do with it than the government does. How much do we give every year and they still cannot figure out how to balance the budget, much less pay any debt down?

It's thier money. They can do whatever they want with it. I am glad they are smart enough not to give it to the government. They might as well hand it to a bunch of thieving pedophiles as give it to the government. Not much difference in my book."

sorry my sarcasm didn't come through.... I believe exactly as you do on the subject skuzzy but...  I figure it is good for everyone not just the liberal rich.

We all know better how to spend our money than the government does.

I just find it hypocritical that liberals who have tons of money give it to charities of their choosing rather than let the big government that they want for the rest of us have it.   It's good enough for us but not for them.

Or maybe... they just want the attention?  

lazs

[Hap]

Originally posted by weaselsan
You asked the question "What government services would I exchange for tax dollars, if any?" I answered the question with "The Department of Education" That is just for openers, there's lots more where that came from.

Sorry weaselsan, I apologize.  I misread your post, mistakenly thinking that you wanted to ditch the DOE.

hap

p.s. on discussions of taxation, I rarely hear what folks want their gov't to do and what they're happy to pay for.  National Defense springs to mind as a no brainer.

hap

[Skuzzy]

I would like our government to be as non-intrusive as possible.

But the I think the numpties at Washington misunderstood that to mean, "I want our government to do as little as possible.".  

It's not  matter of being careful what you wish for.  It is a matter of how what you wish for gets interpreted.  And with our government, it will always get interpreted to whatever fits thier own personal interests.

[lazs2]

again skuzzy.. I would agree.    What we got is the worst of both worlds... they are intrusive as they can possibly be while at the same time doing as little as possible to protect us from tyranny.

The only government services that I see as esential are the military and the funding of the 3 branches of government (wages).

lazs

[Hap]

Originally posted by lazs2
doing as little as possible to protect us from tyranny
lazs

lazs, which tyrants in the USA have won the day over representative democracy?

hap

[Skuzzy]

We do not have a representative democracy.  Unless your idea of a representative democracy is one where politicians do what they want to further thier own interests.

Just because we vote for some numpty, does not make him/her a representative of the ideals we the people have.

[Hap]

Originally posted by Skuzzy
We do not have a representative democracy.  Unless your idea of a representative democracy is one where politicians do what they want to further thier own interests.

My idea of a representative democracy is one where the populace elects others to represent them.

Was the national election turnout in Nov in the high 30's?  I  suppose apathy amongst the citizenry to be as baleful as evil politicians.  Though I can't prove it.

hap

[weaselsan]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying
You cannot balance the budget by cutting discretionary spending.

-- Todd/Leviathn

The department of education ain't discretionary, it's a black money devouring hole.

[mietla]

Originally posted by Hap
Sorry weaselsan, I apologize.  I misread your post, mistakenly thinking that you wanted to ditch the DOE.

hap

p.s. on discussions of taxation, I rarely hear what folks want their gov't to do and what they're happy to pay for.  National Defense springs to mind as a no brainer.

hap

Originally posted by weazelsan

The department of education ain't discretionary, it's a black money devouring hole.

you did not misread his post. He does want to get rid of the DOE (and more). And so do I.

Your "What government services would I exchange for tax dollars, if any?" question is fundamentally ambiguous