Who has your best interests at heart?

[getupkid53]

YOU CAN FIND THESE TWO ARTICLES IN CNN'S POLITICS SECTION (11/18).

Yesterday, the senate narrowly passed (217-215) a vote to cut Medicaid, college student loan help, and food stamps for the poor. The only reason the bill passed is because the republicans, realizing they wouldn't get the votes, cut out a portion of the bill DENYING 40,000 poor grade schoolers from receiving government subsidized lunches.

A Second article discusses tax cuts for average americans. Once again on the surface. With ungodly record profits for oil companies this fall, democrats tried to include a higher tax bill on oil conglamerates. President Bush threatened to veto the bill if the attachment was not dropped. Even an amendment to ban price gouging (put forth by bush) could not gather enough support to be passed.

RANT ENSUES!

The social injustice in this country makes me absolutely sick. I just found out that my college loan payments will skyrocket, poor people will not be able to eat or afford normal medical checkups or care, and these crazy senators were trying to deny lunch to poor children who couldn't afford it. I'm absolutely livid. Reading that first article was bad enough.
Then I got to the second one. I think the majority of the bill was great, as in not raising our taxes MORE. Then I saw that some of the richest men in America (our president / and our VP)threaten to debunk a good bill because the other richest men in America didn't want to share their money with the rest of the world. These men make more money than they can spend, and in the face of children lacking sufficient health care and necessary life provisions (food), they balk their noses up even higher and refuse to help. In the face of record profits for already multi billionares, our president refuses to take the excess from the rich and give necessities to the poor. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IF THIS DOESN'T PROVE OUR GOVERNMENT IS IN IT FOR BIG BUSINESS, NOTHING WILL. -- Also shot down was a tax credit for poor families to help with their heating costs. THERE IS NO ROOM FOR SYMPATHY WHEN $$$$$ ARE INVOLVED.
So, in the wake of Katrina and the "war on terror", big oil companies enjoy their moderate taxes, while college students (us, recent past, present and future), poor families, and the elderly take on the burden of paying for the war and our governments ridiculous response time to Katrina.
Does it seem odd that everytime someone in power screws up, we (common folk) are left with the burden? Our insane deficit almost took another 600,000,000,000 hit yesterday, nearly doubling the average persons tax burden in the years to come.
Until this past election ensued, I actually considered my self a pretty solid republican (I still find myself right of center on some heated issues i.e. abortion and homosexuality). I honestly cannot fathom how anyone could be a FISCAL republican. The word republican comes out of my mouth like venom now. It's associated with greed, corruption, lies, and what seems (by their actions) a sincere distaste for the average to below average american. It truly is a government working for itself and its skewed interests, and feasibly has no plan of helping you or I.

If i had to pose a question, it would be (probably mostly to cal), how do you remain a republican in times that so blatantly show our governments disregard for your personal welfare (unless I'm wrong about you and you are a multi-millionare, which i hope you achieve someday)?

Regardless, you're a smart guy, and I won't hate on your opinions, I'm just honestly baffled right now, and so angry I could punt a baby (I will make sure it's a rich one though, so it's medical bills are paid for)

[yeat182]

what about the 44 congressmen(all democrats i believe) that voted in favor of allowing foreign terrorists to sue US government officials in US courts during a war? do they have my best interests at heart?

[getupkid53]

I never said they did, and that has nothing to do with this article.

[yeat182]

I never said they did, and that has nothing to do with this article.

you seem to be (and forgive me if i misunderstood) to be claiming that Democrats have our best intrests at heart, and republicans don't, so i tried to give an example to the contrary of something that i heard today.

[yeat182]

i just read the rest of the post (i stopped after RANT ENSUES because i thought it was a continuation of the article) but to your point of people with more money than they can spend having to give it up to those that don't, Bill Gates donates more money to charities than any single person in the country I believe. The problem that most republicans have is that, the law is equal to all, regardless of how much or how little money you make. You would support taking more money from someone that has little to begin with, which makes sense, but just because you have more money, doesn't mean that the government is entilteld to take more from you simply because you can afford it. It's a form of discrimination. It doesn't matter if an unjust law affects only the people you don't like, what's fair is fair, rich or poor.

an example is hear in Massachusetts, the legislature wants to retroactivley tax people back as far as 2002 on capital gains. Now, tax was already paid for those capital gains, but now the government wants to raise the tax rate and retroactivley place that tax rate on taxes already paid. Now alot of people support that because they feel that capital gains are usually only paid by the wealthy (which is untrue) and they feel like you do, they obviously have the money so why not take a little extra from them? What they don't understand is that at least 354 people with an income of $5000 or less will owe an average of $2,250 (about half their income)...And to clarify, it's the majority Democrats in the legislature that is pressing this bill into actioin...Whose best intrests are served there?

[Justin_stacy]

I never said they did, and that has nothing to do with this article.

It has everything do with the subject.

Neither group effectively holds control of what’s in our nation’s best interests. So why limit your complaint to just one? Because it personally affects you so in turn it trumps everything? Isn’t another party’s total disregard for all of our security equally or even more important then handout programs ….?

[getupkid53]

I'm not a democrat, the entire point of this is social justice. I never said the democrats were great or that I'm fond of them. I'm an independent. If I read an article about the democrats pulling some wicked retarded shit, I'd post it on here too. And yes, I do believe rich assmunches should have more taxes taken out. Example - CEO of disney screws up his job and walks away with 150 million dollar severence package. Oil Conglamerates make 10's of millions of dollars in salary a year and they take stock options. I don't agree with back taxing, I think that is a terrible idea.

I also wasn't particularly arguing an individual's salary(although when you argue against a company, you are seemingly arguing against their upper management). i was arguing the fact that company profits are through the roof (because they are price gouging and over taxing us) and when a bill is put out to argue against this injustice, the president threatens to veto it. Why? Because he has the oil companies interests at heart, not the average americans. There is no reason that we as citizens should be paying this much when it is so painfully obvious that our money is going straight into their pockets.

Also, since I figured the average age in this group was 15 - 25 that this would be a very relevant article. I wasn't picking or choosing, that just happens to be an article that will affect all of us sometime soon. Yes, I do think it's unfair that I am in a contract with a loan company and the government has raised my interest rate on my loan 5% over the past year(on 80,000 that is an insane amount of money). Not only are they raising my interest, they are charging me more for gas, property taxes, state taxes, heating and electric bills, and so much else, I can barely afford to live (and I have a good job). It's just one thing after another. You and I are sitting here scraping by while oil tycoons are enjoying their best years ever because our president refuses to help us and watches the rich get richer.

While this happens, a great, but terribly underfunded (which makes it a terrible), program (no child left behind) is killing our education system. We are importing people and outsourcing jobs. Companies are cutting employees and leaving the others to work 2x as hard for the same pay. Large corporations are swallowing up all of our once great ma and pa businesses. What do we do? We let it happen.

Fuck Bill Gates!! that guy donates alot and thats great...but look at the percentage of money he donates. Remember that bill gates giving away five million dollars is (literally) roughly equivalant of me pulling a $20 bill. Bill gates still takes home over 100 million dollars a year after his contributions (and after the government took 50% of his assetts).... alex Rodriguez donated 200,000 to a psych ward last year. Dividing his yearly pay (25 million) by mine (35,000) it was the same as me pulling 12 dollars out of my pocket.

We have a senator in MN who is a total moron and he is a democrat (mark dayton - you may remember him as the guy who caused the national bomb scare by evacuating the white house around elections). There are the same amount of idiots on both sides. This particularly idiotic move just spoke to me a bit more.

This was a total rant, but it's how I feel.

[Cal Smith]

First.........we have enormous spending going on in the US. Everyone has bitched about spending cuts, then when they come around the same people will bitch about what's being cut.

I'll be the first one to promise you this. I promise these 40,000 poor grade school students will recieve their free lunches. If you're poor and you qualify to recieve the lunch........you will recieve a lunch. Fortunetly no 1st graders will be left on the side watching the rich, fat cat 1st graders eat their plentiful lunches. You can frame any issue like this negatively. I guarantee you they got this 40,000 number by dividing out how much is spent on free lunch program and how many students are on the program. Then the money that was cut averaged out to about 40,000 students not getting meals. This doesnt mean they're not getting meals. Just means school districts, states, whoever is in charge of dispearsing the money will have to look for cheaper alternatives and ways to save. (don't eat the BS in the articles)

It should go without saying if you "truly" want to see the defecit removed and spending to go down (I say "truly" because half of you only care because Bush is the one doing it) you should expect cuts in the "extras" in government. Social handouts should be the first thing to go. I'd rather spend money Katrina, defense, and other neccessary things.

If anything you should spend less time bitching about what's being cut and more time bitching about cutting more.

[getupkid53]

I guess we see differently on those things. I don't think we should rebuild NO. It's a disaster waiting to happen, and giving 250 billion dollars is going to do nothing but cripple our economy even more so. I also think its awful that only 35% of the country supports this war we're in but 100% of the people have to pay for it. In all kinds of nifty taxes. Spending isn't a problem for the government at all right now. They will continue to spend (throwing around atrocious amounts of money) and in turn, continue to tax you and I until we're blue in the face.

[The Revisionist]

the other richest men in America didn't want to share their money with the rest of the world. These men make more money than they can spend, and in the face of children lacking sufficient health care and necessary life provisions (food), they balk their noses up even higher and refuse to help. In the face of record profits for already multi billionares, our president refuses to take the excess from the rich and give necessities to the poor. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, IF THIS DOESN'T PROVE OUR GOVERNMENT IS IN IT FOR BIG BUSINESS, NOTHING WILL.Uhhhhh last I checked millionaires aren't forced (and nor should they be) to help out the lower class. It would be a very noble thing for them to do and would give me much respect for them as people, but to insinuate that it should be a requirement is ridiculous. It is not the president's job to force people to give up their profits.

Have you read the Constitution?

[Cal Smith]

I guess we see differently on those things. I don't think we should rebuild NO. It's a disaster waiting to happen, and giving 250 billion dollars is going to do nothing but cripple our economy even more so.

I'll also promise you our economy is not crippled. Look at the market, look at the jobs, and look at the growth and it should be obvious. Again you're eating up the crow that people are serving.

As far as NO goes you have to rebuidl to a certain extent. You can't just leave a heaping junk yard in NO and expect everyone to be alright.


I also think its awful that only 35% of the country supports this war we're in but 100% of the people have to pay for it. In all kinds of nifty taxes. Spending isn't a problem for the government at all right now. They will continue to spend (throwing around atrocious amounts of money) and in turn, continue to tax you and I until we're blue in the face.

I think it's awful that over 70% can support the war to begin with then turn their back on what they supported.

Yes, and you should be happy that cuts are being made in some of the "frutifull" handouts.

[Cal Smith]

The US is simply catching up to becomeing more and more and more of a welfare state. Your economy can only sustain so long giving away billion on top of billions of handouts without requiring any returns.

[getupkid53]

I'll also promise you our economy is not crippled. Look at the market, look at the jobs, and look at the growth and it should be obvious. Again you're eating up the crow that people are serving.

I'm looking... I see rising energy costs, rising tuition, rising health care costs, rising fuel costs, rising taxes, corruption in local as well as national government. I also see the dollar losing value to the euro everyday. I see the fact that 90% of Americans will not be able to spend as much on holidays as they have previously. I see government cover ups, a war with no strategy (stay the course is not a strategy) and no future exit plan. donald rumsfeld said himself we may be there 30 years. I see a fiercely divided country that has lost its marbles and has been degraded to party lines and extremists (left and right). I see an issue like Terry Schiavo grab national headlines, while 1000's of children in other countries starve to death. I see that North Korea has a very realistic nuclear program that everyone knows about, yet we play nice with Jong. Caleb, I respect your beliefs and appreciate your level headed eloquent responses, but I'm looking for all these things, and I'm not finding anything.

What I haven't seen is: an apology from Goerge Bush regarding going to war under pretences that were determined to be false (im not even saying bush lied, I'm just saying he really needs to acknowledge that fact). I haven't seen the democrats step up (whiny pusses). I haven't seen our country so divided ever. I haven't seen grief or sorrow in the US like I see today. I haven't ever seen 50 million dollars (I've never seen 50,000 dollars...but I can guarantee you both our president and vice president have more than that in their bank accounts right now). And I've never seen the bush daughters naked... I will cross my fingers.

[yeat182]

I also wasn't particularly arguing an individual's salary(although when you argue against a company, you are seemingly arguing against their upper management). i was arguing the fact that company profits are through the roof (because they are price gouging and over taxing us) and when a bill is put out to argue against this injustice, the president threatens to veto it. Why? Because he has the oil companies interests at heart, not the average americans. There is no reason that we as citizens should be paying this much when it is so painfully obvious that our money is going straight into their pockets.

do you think if we taxed the oil companies more, that prices would go down? or would they simply raise prices in order to compenate for the lost revenue? If they raise the prices then i fail to see how that benefits the average american. as for where the money goes, these are publicly owned companies, your complaint shouldn't be with the government, it should be with the stockholders, many of whom are average americans themselves. also, the companies don't set the tax on gas the government does, so you can't blame them for that.

Also, since I figured the average age in this group was 15 - 25 that this would be a very relevant article. I wasn't picking or choosing, that just happens to be an article that will affect all of us sometime soon. Yes, I do think it's unfair that I am in a contract with a loan company and the government has raised my interest rate on my loan 5% over the past year(on 80,000 that is an insane amount of money). Not only are they raising my interest, they are charging me more for gas, property taxes, state taxes, heating and electric bills, and so much else, I can barely afford to live (and I have a good job). It's just one thing after another. You and I are sitting here scraping by while oil tycoons are enjoying their best years ever because our president refuses to help us and watches the rich get richer.

first, if you don't like it when your taxes go up, why would you think people with more money, that pay more in taxes already, would want their taxes to go up as well? I have student loans as well, and i'm not happy about the cost of living either, but it isn't the fault of the the CEO's of companies. Would i like to see them make less, sure, but the government can't tell them how much they are allowed to make any more than they can tell you or I. Oil is a commodity, as long as there is a huge demand and a limited supply it will be valuable and the people that control it will profit, thats the way it always has been and always will be. Should the government step in and force the diamond industry to cut costs so more people can afford diamonds?

While this happens, a great, but terribly underfunded (which makes it a terrible), program (no child left behind) is killing our education system. We are importing people and outsourcing jobs. Companies are cutting employees and leaving the others to work 2x as hard for the same pay. Large corporations are swallowing up all of our once great ma and pa businesses. What do we do? We let it happen.

what can you do? everyone is entilted to make a living, and if a buisness is successful, you can't stop it simply becuase it might make another business fail. As for exporting jobs, it isn't our governments fault, its the fault of the foreign governments that have little to no labor laws and can provid cheap labor at the expense of their citizens.

Fuck Bill Gates!! that guy donates alot and thats great...but look at the percentage of money he donates. Remember that bill gates giving away five million dollars is (literally) roughly equivalant of me pulling a $20 bill. Bill gates still takes home over 100 million dollars a year after his contributions (and after the government took 50% of his assetts).... alex Rodriguez donated 200,000 to a psych ward last year. Dividing his yearly pay (25 million) by mine (35,000) it was the same as me pulling 12 dollars out of my pocket.

The percentage isn't the point, nor is the equivilance to your income. Its about giving money and he gives alot. Same for athletes, they donate time and money, some more than others, but is there a certain amount that they should give? is there magic number? who are you to say how much people should or shouldn't give, it isn't your money and you don't live their life.

We have a senator in MN who is a total moron and he is a democrat (mark dayton - you may remember him as the guy who caused the national bomb scare by evacuating the white house around elections). There are the same amount of idiots on both sides. This particularly idiotic move just spoke to me a bit more.

This was a total rant, but it's how I feel.

good to see another independent around here...

[Cal Smith]

I'm looking... I see rising energy costs, rising tuition, rising health care costs, rising fuel costs, rising taxes, corruption in local as well as national government. I also see the dollar losing value to the euro everyday. I see the fact that 90% of Americans will not be able to spend as much on holidays as they have previously. I see government cover ups, a war with no strategy (stay the course is not a strategy) and no future exit plan. donald rumsfeld said himself we may be there 30 years. I see a fiercely divided country that has lost its marbles and has been degraded to party lines and extremists (left and right). I see an issue like Terry Schiavo grab national headlines, while 1000's of children in other countries starve to death. I see that North Korea has a very realistic nuclear program that everyone knows about, yet we play nice with Jong. Caleb, I respect your beliefs and appreciate your level headed eloquent responses, but I'm looking for all these things, and I'm not finding anything.

It's just Cal.

But you listed about 1 or 2 actual economic indicators. Growth is what it's all about, and the economy is growing. Even after Katrina the economy gained jobs, and I believe grew at 3%. Specific things like home heating costs do have an affect on the individual a little, but most often than not it's not enough to drag down the economies growth.

Simply look at gas prices this summer. Did you see consumption go down? NO......meaning the prices didnt affect us as much as most thought.

Again you have to look at economic indicators and those are showing strength. Calling it crippled is ridculous. I'm not saying this to be an ass, but in any basic economic class they'll show you the leading indicators of a strong or stable economy and we have strong numbers in there.

Also stay more on topic.........Korea, Shiavo, kids starving in other countries............really have nothing to do with our crippled economy

[getupkid53]

China's income is flourishing. do you know what they do? They cap their salaries. CEO's can only make (I believe) it is 20x more than the lowest paid employee in the company. Averages wages soared and the gap between low and high class has diminished enough to where there is a stable middle class. We could have the option to cap out salaries. I think it would be a great idea.
I heard this on a news program last week so don't quote me word for word, but it said if we took the gross income of all Americans in the workforce and divided it by the # of people, that the average wage would be around 22.30 an hour. If true, that really goes to show you how lopsided our economy is.

I also disagree, it is about the percentage, I'm not trying to get all biblical, but do you remember the story of the woman who only gave the equivalant of a penny and everyone scoffed at her and was frustrated because Jesus paid attention to her. He saw she gave all she had, while the rich people just threw around some spare change. It's about the attitude. Families here struggle and give up hundreds of dollars in wages for causes they believe in. Could you imagine if someone like bill gates or a movie star, or an athlete all decided they could live on 1 million dollars a year (which is still an ungodly amount of money) and donate the rest? The impact we could have is enourmous. We could practically cure poverty in the United states. And it's not like athletes or movie stars are a contribution to society. Back in the 50's, 60's, and even 70's, when athletes retired, they had to get jobs.

I also wasn't referring to taxing the gas companies. I was talking about capping the prices which they could sell gasoline at.... You know, a certain percentage of what they paid. Right now their profits are coming from price gouging, that is what should stop. There should be no problem for our government to pass a law that stops these people from jacking prices up whenever they feel its good for them.

Honestly, I'm for exporting jobs. I think everyone deserves a fair shot at a well deserved life. Like I said though, Wal Mart just stomps its ass into town and puts everyone out of business. Do they care? Hell no. They ruin peoples lives. So you're okay with families being reduced to poverty so walmart can open up another megastore? See, then the families that they put out of business are low income and thus are forced to shop at wal mart... the stench of irony.

[Cal Smith]

China's income is flourishing. do you know what they do? They cap their salaries. CEO's can only make (I believe) it is 20x more than the lowest paid employee in the company. Averages wages soared and the gap between low and high class has diminished enough to where there is a stable middle class. We could have the option to cap out salaries. I think it would be a great idea.
I heard this on a news program last week so don't quote me word for word, but it said if we took the gross income of all Americans in the workforce and divided it by the # of people, that the average wage would be around 22.30 an hour. If true, that really goes to show you how lopsided our economy is.

lol........China's economy is flourishing because they are capping salaries. It's flourishing because they are still industrializing.

[getupkid53]

did you notice that the average grocery bill dropped? or that generic foods sales soared during the rising gas prices? or that our largest national clothing retailers fell far short of their quarterly goals? Even Walmart and target fell far short and theyare very conservative in their economic forecasts. The economists were riding a trend and all signs pointed to good things for a while. Then the gas fix came in. Purchasing gas didn't slow down, because people need to drive... and we are too lazy to walk or ride anywhere. Where the economy took a hit was in all of our other day to day life styles. General mills posted its lowest margins in decades. Just because people didn't stop buying gas doesn't mean our economy didn't slow. I understand the point of economic models but macroeconomics isn't the solvent for everything.

Crippled was harsh, I was in the zone though.... I recant that word.

As far as the topic thing goes, I was just stating things that frustrated me, I didn't know we were continuing down a narrow economic path.

[getupkid53]

lol........China's economy is flourishing because they are capping salaries. It's flourishing because they are still industrializing.

You're entitled to your opinion. I don't deny they are industrializing, but I promise you if their economic models were based off of our multinational corporations, China would be a completely different place.

[yeat182]

China's income is flourishing. do you know what they do? They cap their salaries. CEO's can only make (I believe) it is 20x more than the lowest paid employee in the company. Averages wages soared and the gap between low and high class has diminished enough to where there is a stable middle class. We could have the option to cap out salaries. I think it would be a great idea.
I heard this on a news program last week so don't quote me word for word, but it said if we took the gross income of all Americans in the workforce and divided it by the # of people, that the average wage would be around 22.30 an hour. If true, that really goes to show you how lopsided our economy is.

they are a communist country with terrible civil and human rights. plus they have a billion consumers, terrible environmental regulation. also, some jobs don't warrant 22 dollars and hour, and some warrant more. and while their economy may be flourishing they have a greater gap between lower and middle class than we do.

I also disagree, it is about the percentage, I'm not trying to get all biblical, but do you remember the story of the woman who only gave the equivalant of a penny and everyone scoffed at her and was frustrated because Jesus paid attention to her. He saw she gave all she had, while the rich people just threw around some spare change. It's about the attitude. Families here struggle and give up hundreds of dollars in wages for causes they believe in. Could you imagine if someone like bill gates or a movie star, or an athlete all decided they could live on 1 million dollars a year (which is still an ungodly amount of money) and donate the rest? The impact we could have is enourmous. We could practically cure poverty in the United states. And it's not like athletes or movie stars are a contribution to society. Back in the 50's, 60's, and even 70's, when athletes retired, they had to get jobs.

but they donate an enourmous amount of money already, just becuase it isn't a high percentage of their total income doesn't mean they aren't doing the right thing.

I also wasn't referring to taxing the gas companies. I was talking about capping the prices which they could sell gasoline at.... You know, a certain percentage of what they paid. Right now their profits are coming from price gouging, that is what should stop. There should be no problem for our government to pass a law that stops these people from jacking prices up whenever they feel its good for them.

price gouging should stop, and there is an investigation into it, but i think the large amount of gouging came at the gas station , not the oil company. also, they don't jack up the price when they feel like it because there is competition which would mean their oil wouldn't be sold when you could get cheaper oil somewhere else, and if the oil companies are in it together, raising prices together, then there is already a law against collusion/price fixing.



Honestly, I'm for exporting jobs. I think everyone deserves a fair shot at a well deserved life. Like I said though, Wal Mart just stomps its ass into town and puts everyone out of business. Do they care? Hell no. They ruin peoples lives. So you're okay with families being reduced to poverty so walmart can open up another megastore? See, then the families that they put out of business are low income and thus are forced to shop at wal mart... the stench of irony.

why should wal-mart care though? it isn't up to them to keep small businesses in business, its their job to make money for their shareholders. they provide a lot of work, and products at cheap prices so i don't know that you can say they ruin peoples lives. There are no guaruntees in business, if you can't compete you go out of business or move somewhere else, there is no divine right to staying in business.

by the way, i hate wal-mart too, but it isn't the governments responsiblity, so long as the act within the confines of the law.

[getupkid53]

Walmart pulls alot of shady crap, but it gets overlooked, they've been in trouble with child labor laws since I was 16 (which was like 8 years ago). I think the fact that you see it as just another dog eat dog world is exactly whats wrong with the economy today. Their is no American dream, because there is no competition. Everyone knows they can't compete with mega corporations and its just a matter of time until their town gets swallowed up.
I disagree again that price gouging only went on at the pump. If that was the case, Oil companies would not see the profits they saw this past quarter. There may have been some issues at the pump, but this one goes back to the source.

As I look over my last few posts, I realize that I may have leaned toward personal responsibility rather than government. yet, I see no reason for a single man or woman to own six 200,000 dollar cars and own an 11 bedroom 5 story house. I guess I'm just not for living a life of excess and it makes me sick to see Cameron Diaz go to africa and talk about how bad it is with all her rich celebrity friends and then come home to not one but three 5,000,000 homes. Hypocrites.

Either way, I think you guys have brought up some pretty good points.

[yeat182]

Walmart pulls alot of shady crap, but it gets overlooked, they've been in trouble with child labor laws since I was 16 (which was like 8 years ago). I think the fact that you see it as just another dog eat dog world is exactly whats wrong with the economy today. Their is no American dream, because there is no competition. Everyone knows they can't compete with mega corporations and its just a matter of time until their town gets swallowed up.
I disagree again that price gouging only went on at the pump. If that was the case, Oil companies would not see the profits they saw this past quarter. There may have been some issues at the pump, but this one goes back to the source.

As I look over my last few posts, I realize that I may have leaned toward personal responsibility rather than government. yet, I see no reason for a single man or woman to own six 200,000 dollar cars and own an 11 bedroom 5 story house. I guess I'm just not for living a life of excess and it makes me sick to see Cameron Diaz go to africa and talk about how bad it is with all her rich celebrity friends and then come home to not one but three 5,000,000 homes. Hypocrites.

Either way, I think you guys have brought up some pretty good points.

i agree, i'm not really about living in excess either, but who am i to tell someone how to spend their money? its theirs, they earned and i know if i had it i wouldn't want someone to tell me what to do with it. i hope i would be more responsible than they are but i don't know because i'm not in their shoes. Its like these people that drive H2's (or now H3's) around my town, i want to drag them out of the car and beat them within an inch of their life because they are ignorant yuppies, but at the same time i don't think people should have restricitons on what kind of car they can drive. I mean, the roads in my town are 300 years old, i can barely fit my honda civic down the street and these jerks have to own the biggest SUV they make so they can "feel safe" and take the kids to soccer practice and bring home the groceries, regardless of the fact that it costs a fortune to drive, makes the road much more dangerous for everyone else and you can't park the damn things anywhere, but still they have to own the trendy car so I was actually happy to see gas prices over 3.00 because they were finally getting what they deserve...

that was my rant.

[splitsecond]

Interest paid on student loans is 100% tax deductible. Calm down.