Education for all
As a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in social work, I cannot help but think how the economic inequity in Maine and the proposed budget cuts are going to affect students and those who would like to continue their education.
Students are often struggling to survive, taking out extra loan money to cover their living expenses, with many students needing to rely on family and outside resources to meet their needs. Many students use programs such as fuel assistance, food stamps, discounted hospital care, MaineCare and community transportation services to meet their needs while pursuing their education.
Single parents and nontraditional students face a wide array of financial challenges. Low-income single parents surviving on TANF will no longer be afforded the chance to better their education, their lives and the lives of their children if they lose access to this crucial resource.
The decrease in funding, coupled with the increasing cost in education, flies in the face of the governor’s supposed commitment to education, sending the message that only the wealthy deserve to attend college.
Lauren Kowalczyk
Rome
Join ‘Positivity Nation’
In 2010, Xi Class of the Washington County Leadership Institute was asked: “What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” The query was to inspire thoughts in the most creative way possible.
Lanette Pottle, a participant from Robbinston, embraced the question. On the final day of class she gave her answer. She was launching an online community called Positivity Nation. Her vision was “to create a worldwide epidemic of positivity one small act at a time.”
Two short years later, Positivity Nation ( www.positivitynation.com) has over 4,000 international “citizens” in 100 countries and all 50 states. The website brings inspirational quotes, heartwarming stories and reports of positivity from all around the world. It’s a perfect time for this “epidemic” to circle the globe.
This week marks the nation’s first Positively Kind Week, when we all are encouraged to be intentionally kind in our homes, neighborhoods and schools — everywhere and anywhere possible. What a perfect way for each of us to engage in this positive process. As a recent quotation on the website by Desmond Tutu encourages, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
One person has inspired a movement. It has taken passion and dedication over power and dollars. Each of us can ask, “What would I do if I knew I could not fail?” Other wonderful answers and great projects are sure to result. Set aside fear. Imagine the possibilities. Take positive action. Bravo, Lanette!
Linda Cross Godfrey
Facilitator
Washington County Leadership Institute
Lauren Kowalczyk it would help if a lot of people on welfare who get paid to go to school would actually use that education to get a job.
My, my aren’t we depressing (and stereotyping, and absolutist, and …). Education is more than just getting a job. It defines and helps one’s career and the rest of one’s life.
http://www.mejp.org/tanflimits.htm – TANF only lasts for 60 months now, so you’d better start preparing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcvZPSSHino&feature=related
Oh yeah, you’re welcome:
http://www.sunjournal.com/state/story/946246
TANF is supposed to be for 60 months, but in Maine there has been a myriad of ways to get around that restriction. Ask the baby mommas who pump out kids like a Pez dispenser how long TANF lasts.
I know you people don’t like Matthew 7:12 and Matthew 7:2 (http://stanfordreview.org/article/south-carolina-republicans-boo-the-golden-rule/ ), so I leave you with the 1970’s Americana proverb”what goes around comes around” and the fact that Steve Jobs’ daughter lived on welfare while he had $26 million even though he was a buddhist and believed in karma. He also regularly parked in the wheelchair parking spaces and on the last day he entered Apple’s offices to officially resign as CEO, he had to use a wheelchair. Steve Jobs, dead at 56.
Enjoy that boiled alive lobster while you still can.
Why don’t you give us some statistics to back up your offensively stated contention that women have kids just to stay on TANF. It is quite possible to have conservatives and liberals hold an intelligent discussion about welfare. Your posts indicate you are not interested in such a discussion but in simply throwing out the ugliest post possible.
And then conservatives wonder why they have their posts removed.
I agree. Knowing personally how difficult pregnancy, birth, and raising children is, I seriously doubt people are deliberately having babies just to get that extra $100 per month in TANF. I suspect individuals who have children while on welfare probably are just doing what most adults are doing–having sex. Even with birth control, sometimes a baby will result from such activity.
Oh yes, the old “welfare mothers on drugs” taken right out of Ronald Reagan’s playbook. You do know that was proved false don’t you, just a sound bite to whip up the R’s.
There are any number of babies being born to methadone addicts every week in EMMC. One day last summer there were 6 methadone addicted babies in the neonatal ICU. I can not swear that all of those mothers recieved public support, but you cannot swear that they didn’t.
Florida, by drug testing welfare recipients, has shown that they do drugs at a far lower rate than the general population. You Cheesecake are more likely to be a drug addict than they are, statistically speaking.
Interesting, do you have a source for that data?
I just looked up the data:
Of the 7,000 that took the test from july2011 to October 2011 34 failed the test……BUT…1,597 applicants refused to take the test at all.
Basically 23% refused the test… I suppose all of those refused to take benefits because they felt it was an invasion of privacy? ROFL
Even the number that refuse to take the test will drop after a while as the druggies won’t even bother to apply.
Maybe they refused to take the tests because they did not have the $40 they had to pay upfront. If they were already on TANF and were supposed to take the drug test they most likely did not have the money to take the test.
Florida’s monthly TANF benefit is $303, do you think they had $40 just lying around?
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3306 because you will ask for data even though you hardly ever post links or data.
Oh, and Arizona tested 20,000 TANF recipients and got 1 positive test.
The fee for the drug test is $25-$35 which is completely refundable if they pass.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/rick-scott-drug-testing-welfare-florida_n_1029332.html
I expect it has more to do with drugs than the $35.00
As for Arizona I was unable to verify your data… You did the same thing you criticized me for….. not providing a link. Rather hypocritical really.
I think it is more likely that folks feared drug tests in Arizona if the pattern holds true there. Provide a link.
Guilty until proven innocent? Sounds like you have it backwards.
This is not a Court of Law my friend, but since you brought it up….. Even the police call “running” an indication of guilt and a jury can convict based on that evidence.
Of course it’s not, but that’s how we do this here in the US. We don’t accuse others without evidence. We don’t presume guilt. It’s not fair to do so.
Sure it is. I just provided a circumstance where its true.
Time for the baby daddies to visit the local drug store and get some coverage…. perhaps that would slow down the Pez dispensers….. ?
You will find that the majority of people who were once on welfare, who have been helped in obtaining a college education, are actually utilizing their education and are gainfully employed.
Good letters. However, Linda Godfrey, I get the admirable intent of your program, but even more rewardable in the long run would be, “What could Ido of benefit to someone even if I knew I might not succeed”.
Linda, losing is more profound. “You’ve got to lose to know how to win” – Aerosmith
Farewell, best wishes, and may God bless you richly. Though several of you had warned me I tried to persist. My last several comments had been completely removed without trace. All were very mild, but it matters not. Though I believe the fight for God and country in Maine has been lost I will purse other venues.. To my fellow conservatives I say” keep up the good fight “. Men and women in the right can never be defeated, and you my fellow conservatives are in the right. I will peek in occasionally, but consider this my last written words.
Please at least re-post on November 7, 2012 to celebrate President Obama’s re-election.
LOL
Amcon has done more for the Democratic cause than any other poster on this site. By posting his parodies he has made conservatives look positively unhinged. As we have long suspected, he is likely a plant by the Democratic Party. No conservative could be quite that far from reality.
Hope springs eternal.
Unfortunately I have to disagree with you. I have had conversations with conservatives just like amcon posts
Last words today or forever?
We will miss you, God Bless. What a shame that the “tolerance” crowd has been so intolerant as to dissuade you from speaking your mind simply because they cannot disagree in a respectful manner.
The BDN has removed his posts because they are sometimes against their guidelines. The “tolerance crowd” as you call them had nothing to do with his posts being against BDN’s rules and being removed. It’s between amconserve and BDN.
Am is the one creating drama, not other posters.
Drama creation (and leads to confrontation) may have been the aim all along.
Yet, the BDN fails to remove comments that are in direct violation of their rules when the comments come from the side that BDN represents. Just as with any other Democrat left-wing newspaper, the BDN double standard is blatantly obvious to anyone with a brain.
I’ve read many of am’s comments prior to their being removed, and the majority of them were nowhere close to deserving removal.
EJ, why don’t you quote some of the liberal posts you thought were in direct violation of the rules.
If you haven’t seen them, then no matter how many I quote, you’d still be blind.
Can’t find any, eh? LOL
DrDemocracy 1 day ago in reply to larryincamden
Shame on you for being a tea bagger.
fwteagles 1 week ago in reply to EJParsons
Liar.
fwteagles 2 weeks ago in reply to msallyjones
Don’t worry, EJP will surely chime in soon with his bend-over-backwards inconsistent logic in order to explain why they can freely have shellfish feasts and ployblend pants, but gays still ought to be stoned (or whatever).
chenard 2 weeks ago in reply to Guest
Amcon, I don’t think your wife will desert you to marry a woman, so sit back and understand that this time the theocrats will lose.
penzance 2 weeks ago in reply to Guest
amcon, your reply to Beverly is an ignorant lie, and that’s a fact you don’t get at all.
Let’s consider the topic of Beverly’s letter:
letterreader 3 weeks ago in reply to RealMainer
Declare him a liar, in typical conservative fashion.
And there are hundreds more, even with your name attached.
I can’t count the many times that I’ve been called a liar, bigot, homophobe, and a few other names. Am has been called even worse.
That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? LMAO. Which parts of those comments are not an accurate judgment of yours and Amcon’s posts?
Please show us some examples to back up your claim.
No, I think BDN is dead lazy and removes flagged posts regardless of the content. I hate it, personally. Posts that offend sensibilities, but don’t violate the rules, get removed all the time. On both sides of the issue. But I agree: conservative posts tend to be pulled more often, but I have to attribute that to hypersensitive liberal types.
A couple of years ago I was told by one poster that this was a liberal board and conservative posters were unwelcome. Of course, I don’t care what they think.
I suspect liberals hang out near the flag button waiting for someone they can disagree with.
Conservatives are often reminded that they don’t belong here. Kinda’ like “if you can’t handle the heat” comments.
Rancid reactionary racism reaps rebukes.
I enjoyed reading your posts. You are right, it is sad whats happening not only to our state but also to our country. Gods will will prevail in the end. You will be missed. God bless.
I’m surprised that some of your comments had been removed. Although I never to my remembrance flagged any of your comments, I did find several of them expressing opinions often approaching outragious, some even predictable. Others were far more likely to use unwarrented name calling. However, you obviously offended some (too many personal attacks?). Sayonara.
Sorry to see you go, am. But, I completely understand that one can only take so much of the complete ignorance and intolerance of some on the left. So few have the ability or wherewithal to even try and engage in mature dialogue. Those that do post infrequently, at best. It may be because their fellow progressives embarrass them. Who knows.
I might not be far behind you, buddy.
Ignorance and intolerance is not unique to any side of the political spectrums.
You’re right. But BDNs policing of one side and ignoring the other is unacceptable.
Well EJP, you’re usually more civil and well written than amcon. However, your polarized and absolutist opinions also lead to confrontations, often less productive. I aslo get the impressionthat amcon is a Maine resident.
I am neither polarized or absolutist in my comments. I am right-wing in many comments, but I do give grief to my own side when appropriate, unlike so many on the left that wouldn’t dare say anything negative about their precious party.
But, just because I disagree with a point or someone disagrees with me doesn’t given either of us the right to treat the other like many here treat those they disagree with. Am in particular. He expresses his beliefs and opinions, and the opposition starts throwing rocks. That’s pitifully juvenile, and a violation of BDN rules. Yes, am’s comments get removed. I don’t blame him for leaving. These threads have turned into a “bash-the-right-wing-and-get-away-with-it” forum. BDN and those that abuse the rules should be ashamed.
You were polarized in the exact sentence proceeding the sentence in which you claimed not to be. That’s pretty funny.
I claimed not to be in the first sentence. There was no sentence proceeding it. I think you meant “preceding” it.
Precede means coming before, proceed means continuing. I said exactly what I meant.
You are lecturing people on having a mature dialogue?
Why play the victim card, EJ? You could not point to a single one of our exchanges in which we have not both been mature, despite our strong disagreements (such as my scoffing at your claim that Bush was responsible for killing bin Laden).
If you can’t stand the heat, the kitchen may not be the place for you.
Give me a break. You know I never claimed that Bush was responsible for Bin Laden. What I said, on several occasions, is that Bush started the process and Obama gave the order to complete it. They both deserved partial credit. BUT, it’s the Seal Team that deserves the real credit.
But, that’s because of your inability to actually process what is said.
Obama would be blamed for a botched mission (you’d likely be one of the louder ones), so he deserves the credit for it going well.
“The only thing needed for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing”
Don’t give up, approach it from a different angle.
WOW, I never thought I would read that post!
Perhaps with the radical fringe no longer posting we can have meaningful discourse.
Good luck….. Too many comments get deleted that shouldnt be…….
Thank you for the best wishes, amafraidofchange!
Your posts were often (usually) the only ones which I agreed with. I will miss them. Please don’t give up. We need your help educating the public. We all know the MSM will not do it. Thank you!
Yes the MSM like Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, NY Post, Washington Times. The Conservative Main Stream Media is all around us.
May you find some sort of happiness somewhere Amcon.
Sorry to see you will not be posting anymore. Your comments are usually very insightful.
I have read many, commented myself a few times, and can say that your posts have been more consistent and relevant than most on here and for the most part completely agreed with by myself; there is always a remnant that will never be silent and I encourage you to continue to be actively voicing yourself; thanks for the comments.
Must be a class assignment to write a letter to the editor.
There we go again. Another right-winger gets a comment removed when there was nothing wrong with the comment. BDNs censorship policies only flow one way.
And I might agree or disagree with the comment, but I’ll never know. If it was so awful, why not leave it so we all know what the poster is about. I don’t get it…
I saw it. You didn’t miss anything. It was just another anonymous, baseless personal attack on a letter writer.
I seem to remember that all cheesecake said was oh look, another letter from a soon to be social worker.
I think the comment ought to be put back up. There was nothing offensive in it at all.
That isn’t what he said. You have a poor memory. I won’t repeat the removed comment.
I said something like, Oh look another social worker slides out from under a rock. Nothing baseless about that considering the preponderance of social worker letter writers in the last few days.
Far more personal attacks happen all the time by left wing posters go unnoticed. I’ve have seen personal attacks on people for their closely held religious beliefs. Conservatives are called all manner of vile things on a regular basis. Where have you been?
I’ve been called ignorant so many times that, according to liberal logic, I might almost be inclined to believe it. Good thing I’m an intelligent, think for myself conservative.
I have been in the land of “two wrongs don’t make a right.”
Did your mommy tell you that?
What you are saying is all manner of distortions misrepresentations insults and lies from the left are ok. But whatever you do don’t respond, just allow it to happen.
Well IDC.
As a matter of fact, it was indeed an assignment. But that does not detract from the message that there is a great imbalance of economic power in the state of Maine. With so many programs on the line and no counter-solutions in place, many Mainers stand to loose many critical programs and forms of assistance. Helping those in need with state funds is a very controversial issue and there are obviously many strong opinions from both sides. I would invite you to consider the current economic climate in the state and how it is going to effect not only yourself, but your family, neighbors, and community. The problem is not going to disapear; people are still going to need help and its going to have to come from somewhere.
I congratulate you on your clear headed and meaningful contribution to the conversation of a very serious problem. Sometimes snide commentary comes from embittered posters. I do hope that you will continue with your worthy effort and wish you every good luck.
Thank you so much!
College is not a full-time occupation. It is possible to go to school, and work. People have worked their way through school for years. I find it disturbing that we have college students, apparently many of them, going to school while taxpayers pay their living expenses. It makes me wonder what type of employees those students will end up being once they get back into the real world.
Hey, I went to UM Zero. I could have retired the dude that owns Pats Pizza, Margaritas, and Ushuia. Although I spent a lot of money there, it was where I learned the most in college about real life so it was money well spent, if it wasn’t for that one paternity suit. Oh well, freaking DNA.
Actions have consequences!
(:#
And just when do you expect them to Partaaay if they have a job?
A part time minimum wage job only covers a fraction of the cost of attending school. Please be realistic. The cost of school has skyrocketed in the past decade. What I find disturbing is the misinformation people expouse. There is no program that pays the living expenses of “many of them.” There are grants, but they don’t pay for all expenses or even a significant portion.
I think the letter writer was referring to TANF, food stamps and heating aid that she feared would be cut, affecting the ability of students to pursue their education.
Is this the voice of experince? If not, your comments are not very credible. College can be a full time job dending on the course of study. And support has changed drasitcally in the last few decades. When I was in college (a commuter student), scholarships provided all of my tuition and fees, my family provided room and board. I had part time jobs throughout and my senior year my bride supported us withone full time and three part time jobs. We put 2 kids through college with half level scholarships, proceeds from a “kiddie fund”, and cashflow. Most kids in college that I know personally have part time jobs, in some cases more than one.
You have no idea the range of individual examples so get off your high-and-mightyhorse and stop sterotyping.
It is disturbing that 7 people agreed with Wandi’s statement that tax payers pay for room and board and that college kids are deadbeats and slackers who will never contribute anything to society. It bespeaks a level of ignorance and hostility about education that bodes ill for this state’s prosperity. Our future lies, not in the woods, but in modern science and technology that requires post secondary education.
Except that I never said 90% of what you give me credit for.
“I find it disturbing that we have college students, apparently many of them, going to school while taxpayers pay their living expenses. It makes me wonder what type of employees those students will end up being once they get back into the real world.”
If you did not mean to imply that kids were deadbeats sponging off of taxpayers for their room and board and then go on to question their work ethic after college, why don’t you explain what you did mean.
Ironically, those college students, if they get any government aid, are taking out loans, not receiving grants. Public support for college education has been reduced by over 50%, adjusted for inflation, since the 1970s.
In Europe, the governments understand that investing in an educated workforce pays dividends that benefit all. Their students don’t graduate with a $100,000 (or more) debt that will take forever to repay.
Here we subsidize the leisure class by taxing their dividends at half the rate we tax money earned by the working class. Wandini is oblivious to this reality.
We subsidize the leisure class? By what definition of subsidy does that hold true?
If we had taxpayer funded health care and college education for all–would you be happy then?
Reality? It is madness to see the world as it is, and not as it should be.
I am paying up to a 33% marginal tax rate, as well as Medicare and social security taxes, on my earned income, while Romney, and anyone who lives off dividends or gets to use the carried interest loophole, has that “investment” income taxed at 15% with no Medicare or social security taxes. We are subsidizing Romney to the tune of at least 20% as, without these tax gimmicks, his income would have been taxed as ordinary income at a top marginal rate of 35%. Giving someone this enormous tax break is known as a tax subsidy.
I just want to go back to the level of public investment we had in the period of 1933-1980. It made this country the envy of the world. I don’t need taxpayer-funded health care, as I pay for private insurance for myself and my employees. I would have liked to purchase a government health insurance policy via a public option, as it would have been cheaper and would have brought real competition to the insurance market. However, the health insurers feared this kind of healthy competition. Instead, LePage signed a health insurance change that caused my group rate to go up by almost 30 %. I am being punished for employing older workers and living in Eastern Maine. LePage is paying back the companies that subsidized his campaign.
Thank you for trying to explain to Wandi. I’m sure she won’t see it as a subsidy. We will probably get the standard Republican lecture on how the wealthy are job creators and deserve to keep all their money. It gets tiresome.
Bear with me a bit here, because I am an English major, not a financial guru. But it seems to me that in order for Romney to have money to invest, he must have earned it at some point, and been taxed on those earnings at the appropriate rate. Now, his investment earns him some dividends, and those are taxed at 15%–is that a flat tax rate with no ability to deduct or exempt parts of the dividend earnings?
Now, let’s say I invest a little extra in the market. My earnings from that investment are also taxed at 15%. I don’t see the unfairness in this tax structure, unless you just want to say it’s unfair because Romney is richer than I am.
But no way am I going to buy that not collecting someone’s money in taxes is equal to a subsidy. Investment income is taxed at 15%, not 35%– and that goes for your investment income as well as Romney’s. He is not receiving any tax break that you and I don’t receive.
I’m sorry your insurance rates went up. Most Mainers will see them go down.
Ah, yes the taxed twice Republican myth. It is no more taxed twice than the money you earn, pay taxes on then use to pay the garage mechanic who pays taxes on his income is twice taxed. Read some tax explanations from a source other than conservative Republicans. You can call 15% tax rate on capital gains a tax break, a subsidy, a hand out, a transfer what ever you like. It’s a really really big benefit. Why do you think the wealthy fight so hard to keep it?
Romney’s father was the president of American Motors. Think he might have had a bit of something to start with?
So you are saying that paying income tax on earnings, and using those residual earnings to invest in a company, from which investments you receive a dividend, which is also taxed, all adds up to a tax break?
I don’t think it is being taxed twice to pay 15% on capital gains. It seems to me that 15% is a fair, flat tax that is applied to everyone who has income from investments. If the wealthy are being “subsidized” by this “low rate” then so is anyone else who has income from investments.
Capital gains tax is available to everyone therefore it is fair. Right ?
Not so fast. Everyone has access to the Interstate but if all you have is a bicycle you don’t get to use the interstate. Everyone is allowed to shop where ever they please, but if you live in certain poor areas there are no grocery stores and if all you have is a bicycle you don’t get to shop where there is nutritious food. Everyone has access to health care. But if you are chronically undernourished , generally not well and ride a bicycle even the ER is out of your range. A college education is available to everyone, but if you are in poor health, don’t have a job, live in a rural area and travel by bicycle it’s highly unlikely you can avail yourself of a college education. Everybody has access to capital gains tax break. Do you really believe it’s the sick guy, with no college education, no money that travels by bicycle that benefits from the 15% tax break on income from investments? Had the capital gains tax been the same as earned income tax that extra money could have supported: lowered education costs for everyone, more public transportation, greater availability of healthy and nutritious food sources, better health care services and maybe even bike paths. With the availability of those benefits perhaps the bicycle owner might have had a chance at decent health, a college education, and a job. Those benefits have been made unavailable because the money needed to provide them was given to the wealthy so they could cut in half their income tax on capital gains. It’s called transfer of wealth.
What an absurd comparison.
Hey…. Lots of things are out of peoples range. I want a Lamborghini.
http://www.lamborghini.com/en/home/
It isn’t going to happen.
Your comparison doesn’t mean anything. Life isn’t fair.
If a person were to by a share of GE or part of a savings bond every week you can do better than you think.
I never said the capital gains tax is available to everyone-such a comment wouldn’t make sense. It’s not as if you can just run out and pick yourself up a capital gains tax whenever you want.
I see what you want to prove in your post, but all I said was that IF you have earnings from investments, THEN you are taxed at the same flat rate. That goes for my investment earnings, yours, and Mitt Romney’s.
You may not be able to bicycle on the interstate, but you can still bike where you want to go–Route 202 or Route 1 can get you most places the interstate does. Which I take to mean there are many roads to success in life.
It is still income no matter the source.
Why should income you get for opening your mail be taxed at a lower rate then someone who actually works for it? If it was taxed at the normal income tax rates the investor would still be making money on the money they invested.
Yes, and all the proposals that I have seen is for the increase in capital gains taxes to be for the income realized above $200,000. I think that to be fair since for so many older folks that income is their mainstay.
A similar bipartisan mistrust extends to Romney’s accomplishments in business and politics. Kranish and Helman illuminate Romney’s work for Bain & Company and its private equity offshoot, Bain Capital. Prudence, aptitude for data-driven analysis and providence enabled Romney and his team to report what the authors call “the highest returns in the business in the 1990s” and gave Romney a fortune that they estimate as “at least $250 million, and maybe much more.” But many Americans have reservations about leveraged-buyout firms like Bain that acquired struggling companies using borrowed money, saddled them with enormous debt, and often walked away with incredible profits no matter whether the companies prospered or went bust. Even many Tea Partyconservatives resent the “creative destruction” that the financial industry brought to bear on companies and communities, and see the loopholes that allowed investors like Romney to pay taxes at lower rates than many working-class Americans as further evidence that the economic system is rigged in favor of the 1 percent.
The US already has the highest corporate tax rate in the world bar none. With the new so-called Buffett rule that will make the US the country with the 4th highest Capital Gains rate in the world. The OECD calls the US tax system the most Progressive in the world.
I would have no problem ending things like Ag subsidies and green energy credits so that everyone pays the same rates.
Basically there is no benefit to investing in the US. Big companies and those with big pots of money to invest would be better off investing overseas. It’s all in the math.
Sally doesn’t understand that the money is being taxed twice. The money is not flowing out of your hand to a mechanic. It’s staying home where it was earned and earning more. Sally is not a good source for tax advice.
On that note I know a woman that is living on the capital gains from stock her husband accumulated on 40 years of work for GE. Every week he purchased stock via his paycheck. He has passed away and those who believe Capital Gains should be taxed as ordinary income would condemn this older woman to poverty. Sad really.. Punish those that have saved for retirement.
chenard’s comment that ” I just want to go back to the level of public investment we had in the period of 1933-1980.” I am not clear exactly what she meant by “public investment” but we live in 2012 and the world has changed quite a bit since 1933. Those that point to a post WW2 world as some sort of golden age fail to realize that the rest of the world has rebuilt itself and is a bit more competitive.
chenard doesn’t seem to want to address that all that “public investment” was made by taking out loans and offering IOUs to the federal treasury. It was also during a time when the working population was large enough to support the retired and non-working population. The ratio of working to non-working is shifting dramatically right now. The old ideas of “public investment” are just not sustainable.
Capital Gains, interest and dividends are not taxed twice. Period.
If you invest in a product, company, land etc and you later sell said investment for more than you paid for it then you pay a tax on the amount above and beyond what you paid for it (ie. I buy an acre of land for $1000 and then sell it later for $1200, my tax would be determined on the $200 profit made not the $1200 sale price). If you do not make a profit or lose money then you pay no taxes on it.
If you invest in a company that pays out dividends then you pay taxes on the dividends paids not the cost of the shares, the same with interest.
At no time is your money taxed twice, you are only taxed on new income. The amount of profit from a long term investment, the dividend amount or the interest amount, all of which is new incoem for you.
Do you know what would happen if Capital Gains taxes were raised to the level of ordinary income? Any idea at all?
You having a problem paying your “fair share”?
His fair share seems to be more than Romney’s fair share.
Are you trying to say that universal single payer health care and education at rates that all can afford college are bad things?
Obviously, yes. The only thing conservatives think their taxes should pay for is the military industrial complex.
At least that is clearly spelled out as a Constitutional duty.
Actually, a standing army is expressly forbidden in the Constitution, whereas general welfare is clearly included.
Article I, Section 8 – The Legislative Branch – “To
raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use
shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a
Navy”
Article II, Section 2 – The Executive Branch – “The
President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the
United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called
into the actual Service of the United States”
Is this your reference?
I also suspect you are redefining “general welfare” to mean something more than originally intended.
Yes, now if you believed in a living breathing constitution, you would say that the founders were only concerned with allocating money for the army, however based on original intent, it was quite obvious they were against the concept of a standing Army (they believed that it should be an all-volunteer military conjured up only in times of war). Considering Washington and Adams (President number one and two) believed that the general welfare clause gave them broad powers of interpretation of welfare, you would have to be a revisionist historian to claim that was not the original intent of the constitution.
You said….” a standing army is expressly forbidden in the Constitution”
All I did was ask for a reference. This is a teaching moment as liberals are fond of saying.
Affordable college – no, not a bad thing. I think federal student loans have been a great equalizer so that all can afford a college education. With rising tuition rates, however, I don’t know that this is still the case. But I find it disturbing to see people advocating for a complete forgiveness of student loans (not on this comment thread, but in other venues).
I still believe that college is worth it, and that if one wants to go, a way can be found for every student. Interestingly, both of my adult children don’t see it that way. Right now, they see college as unaffordable, and not worth the investment of time and money. The last time I had this conversation with my 20 year old, she said “Mom, you got your degree when you were 36. I’ll go to college when I am ready and when I have a need for a college education.”Universal single payer health care– I am inclined not to support it, but my mind may change.
“If we had taxpayer funded health care and college education for all–would you be happy then?” yes, I would be happy.
The one caveat I would have is that college would be paid for if the student passes with C’s (or B’s) and graduates in a resonable amount of time. There would have to be some kind of a achievement test in order for college to be paid by the government, like they do in Europe.
Agree. Another way to contribute to repayment would be a term of service to the country for a year or so.
I fail to understand how being a college student qualifies a person to be considered part of the leisure class? Being a student is not a glamerous life by any means and it involves a great deal of hard work.
I simply wonder–as in: does it make a difference if person A pays her own way through college, including living expenses while person B utilizes assistance programs? Will A be more or less successful in her career than B–or does it make no difference?
Assistance programs like the grants and scholarships and low interest loans you pursued?
No, I was referring to the specific ones mentioned by the letter writer:
“programs such as fuel assistance, food stamps, discounted hospital care, MaineCare”
By the way, the food stamps program was crafted by Bob Dole as a creative way to continue agriculture subsidies and feed the hungry. That was a time when the parties worked together for the common good.
I think it makes no difference.
I know people who worked their way thru college and are both successful and not successful, people who had daddy pay for college who are successful and not successful and people who had help from the state who are both successful and not successful.
It depends on the person attending college not how that person is having their college padi for that determines how successful they will be after graduation.
Edited for spelling and grammar
Why is it only those who have personal experience are allowed to form an opinion on a subject? I have never ridden a high and mighty horse, but I am of the opinion that if I did, I would certainly fall off, and not gracefully at all.
Sure, I went back to college full time with 6 kids and one on the way. I homeschooled, pursued two majors in college, and even worked part time for the last year. My husband worked full time, but did not contribute to college expenses. I pursued grants, scholarships, paid some out of pocket and took out loans for the rest, which I am almost finished paying off now. Our average family income during those years was about $65000 per year living in southwestern NH.
My mother was divorced with four kids when she went back to college in the 80s. She worked one full time and a part time job, received no child support from her ex, and finished her associates degree without the need for food stamps, heating aid, or any other program.
I am not opposed to helping people out so they can get an education, but I am disturbed that it seems people are increasingly unable to manage their lives without the aid of welfare programs. Maybe it’s the high cost of college, not the people themselves. I do know that a college graduate, while better off than most non-college graduates, is still facing some bleak employment opportunities once out of school. Starting pay for many jobs requiring a Bachelors degree is barely enough to pay living expenses, forget about loans.
They will end up being hard working, dependable employees. They will be an asset to their communities. They will contribute more to the tax base than if they hadn’t gone to college. They will raise their kids to appreciate and obtain an education.Why are you trying to imply college kids are deadbeats and slackers?
We shall see, shan’t we? I wish them luck.
Ever since the government quest to make college more affordable, college costs have done nothing but increase at twice the rate of inflation. Good job government!
Especially if they are going into the social work field of endeavor.
Social Work provides a far more valuable service than any MBA ever has, any Wall Street executive has. Social workers are right up there with Doctors, Farmers, and Teachers in the terms of people who make a lasting positive impact on society.
I would clarify…social workers make a lasting impact on society.
Positive?
Not from the looks of some of the cases that I see.
Enabling would be more appropriate.
Enabling and creating.
Have to keep redefining poor so that they can create more “clients”. The poverty pimp business in Maine is very good.
And here I was thinking I should go back to school to get an MBA.
Especially in Maine, coming from a family with the financial means to support one’s college education is not the norm. Students that are dedicated and fight to get into college need a leg up. Many of them hold down work-study positions as well as jobs off campus, but its not always enough; and they need to turn to outside resources for help. There is no shame in asking for help when you really need it. Once these students graduate with their degree they are able to find good paying jobs and discontinue the need for outside help.
No danger of the students paying the taxpayers back though.
Blame the colleges for charging whatever the market will bear. Every dollar that government (ie taxpayers) gives you is sucked up by the education empire. Surely you realize that they take into account your loans and welfare when deciding how high to raise tuition don’t you?
Lauren Kowalczyk,Maybe you should be complaining to the evil capitalists who charge whatever the market will bear no matter how much it impacts the poor students trying to get an education. They are the real evil capitalist pigs that are forcing you to live on the dole and amass huge student loans while you are just trying to get an education. You know, those evil capitalists at the University who increase tuition at twice the rate of inflation. Shouldn’t they be sharing the wealth and actually lowering tuition in these hard times? Bunch of evil capitalist pigs hiding behind ivy covered walls.
Well, so much for “positively kind”.
LOL
The truth is unkind.