The Government wants your Money

[Kirb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L00BjlAZ6F4

I was linked this by a Canadian friend desperately asking me whether it was a parody or not.



When the words 'Wheelchair Tax' and 'Breathing Tax' were used, I laughed.

'This was obviously a parody,' I said to myself. 'Who would even attempt this absurd level of fear tactics?'

And then I realized it wasn't a parody and in fact an actual GOP ad, and I went http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/6529/55760596.jpg

Careful guys, the scary black man knows where your money is.

[Blarg]

lol at the dude running

[Athas]

At first I was like "lol", but then I saw gop.com and I was like "why".

[Elesirdur]

I would like to deport every numbnut in Canada and America who thinks that governments have no right to their money to Somalia. There they can enjoy a nation that has no real tax system and everyone just fends for themselves. Then they can enjoy no real roads, sanitation, water, or health and human services to speak of.

[pahnphoenix]

guy1: "the government wants to TAX YOUR MONEY AWAY!"
idiot masses: "BOOOOO!"

guy2: "the government wants to tax you proportionately more than they do corporations or the rich. incidentally, the government is made up of people funded by those same entities. isn't that terrible!?"
idiot masses: "shut up you fucking communist."

to put it another way,

letter from gov.t: "you get $1000 back this year instead of having to pay on tax day."
idiot masses: "FUCK YEAH!"

progressive: "gov.t should provide health care, jobs, other necessities, etc"
idiot masses: "shut up you fucking communist."

edit: for the hell of it, let's juxtapose america's gross overspending on "defense" (not just buying too much, but paying obviously criminally inflated rates for various things), the public's apologist reaction to it, to america's criminal mistreatment/abandonment of veterans and flagrant lack of respect for the rights/interests of soldiers, etc, and the public's paradoxical apathy to that.

[Heavencloud]

Dear god, taxes to pay for health care instead of the emergency room that we -already- pay for! OH THE HUMANITY!

[Akucaen]

Considering our defense budget eclipses any other government by a long shot, why not drop that to equal the next big spender and divert that extra money left over to health care and education. (Or hell, just paying the deficit.)

[Ivve]

Oh Christ no, please don't make me pay taxes that will ultimately enable me to get health coverage I couldn't afford before. I want to pay inflated policy prices out of pocket directly to an insurance company. Why can't the government respect my wishes?! Oh woe, woe.

[Acturus]

Oh Christ no, please don't make me pay taxes that will ultimately enable me to get health coverage I couldn't afford before. I want to pay inflated policy prices out of pocket directly to an insurance company. Why can't the government respect my wishes?! Oh woe, woe.

Y'know...

There is something silly about one party paying money to a second party so that the second party can give some of that money back to the first party who will then pay that money to a third party to provide service back to the first party.

Whatever happened to using the healthcare reform to control costs, I wonder.

[Not not Mattaru]

I would like to deport every numbnut in Canada and America who thinks that governments have no right to their money to Somalia. There they can enjoy a nation that has no real tax system and everyone just fends for themselves. Then they can enjoy no real roads, sanitation, water, or health and human services to speak of.

I know right, I think I said this here or some other forum when healthcare was the newest thing to hate. Somalia is basically a Libertarian theme-park.

[Spieler]

Considering our defense budget eclipses any other government by a long shot, why not drop that to equal the next big spender and divert that extra money left over to health care and education. (Or hell, just paying the deficit.)

Because the idea is to be better off than the 'next best guy' not 'just as good'. I'm not saying that spending for defense shouldn't be overhauled, but doesn't mean that we should necessarily cut what we are getting for our military. We need to just do away with these no bid contracts and quit paying out the ass for some stuff that shouldn't cost what we are paying. Rather pay for that then some lazy ass who won't work and whats to get free shit, i.e. health care or welfare. (read: different than people who are actually looking for a job but are unsuccessful at the moment).

[Yabby]

I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that was a Glenn beck idea?

[Melchiah]

Most reasonable conservatives understand that a certain amount of taxation is necessary to maintain the society and the comfort level we enjoy. Toll roads are bullshit and end up costing the end user a MFT more in the long run than in the taxes they cost to build. Same can be said for any for-profit organization involved in things that should be public services/property.

However, the amount of government spending is what pisses people off. The government in America is ridiculously inefficient and those excesses are passed directly to the taxpayer.

[Benevolentone]

I can't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to make or believe that obviously ridiculous commerc... Wait a minute. How can I be surprised at stupidity in this country... Glenn Beck has an audience. How silly of me.

I don't know about you guys but I am glad that it seems like all these conservatives have forgotten about their retarded anti-Mexican shit. They took our jarbs herpdy derpdy doo. I would much rather hear about how we are slowly becoming a socialist country and how the world is going to end and god will smite all the communists. It is better than straight up racism at least.

[Beckwin]

I like how it was vaguely racist, you know, superimposing the black guy on pictures of prison bars and stuff.

[Yabby]

I can't believe that anyone would be stupid enough to make or believe that obviously ridiculous commerc... Wait a minute. How can I be surprised at stupidity in this country... Glenn Beck has an audience. How silly of me.

Yea i gave up on a large % of the US knowing this guy has a following. And i really wish people that didn't like him would stop watching his show because i think he is getting the Howard Stern effect (Where people who hate him watch more than those that like him just so they can hear what he will say next).

[Stiker]

First thing I thought when I saw this thread: no shit the government wants your money, taxes are due!

[Absolutely Virtue]

If you think that sucks, try living in Washington, working for the federal government (as a contractor), and busting your ass every single fucking day to help people- only to hear about how inefficient you are, how wasteful you are, and how you should be eliminated.

In the last five years, I've worked on three contracts:

1) Protecting our pension system. Companies have to file something akin to tax returns on their pension plans. This is to make sure that they have enough assets to cover the pensions they owe their employees. Because, and I know this sounds crazy, sometimes these corporations raid those funds to screw over employees. The government makes sure the workers get what's been promised to them. Clients: Department of Labor, Department of Treasury, Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation

2) Evidence-based education spending. School districts are bombarded every day by companies claiming that their educational program has been proven to demonstrate that it helps teach kids. They cite studies proving the effectiveness as justification for why our collective school systems should spend billions on their products. Schools don't have teams of economists on staff to help them decide what to buy, so they turn to the federal government. The government evaluates the scientific rigor of those studies to see if they can legitimately claim that the products do work. Here's another shocker- almost none of the 'studies' can demonstrate scientific causality. Many of them are downright facetious. Client: Department of Education

3) Improving the nutritional value of school meals. Ever seen what schools try to serve kids? With budgets stretched by lower tax revenues and citizens who don't want to pay additional taxes, what do you think happens to the quality of the food served to kids? Don't ask. Client: Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service

Which program should we cut so you can save money on your taxes? The market would be more efficient, right? Of course it would be. We would all be better off with Wall Street managing our pensions, Nickelodeon writing elementary school curriculum, and McDonald's serving our kids lunches.

[Alleya]

Yea i gave up on a large % of the US knowing this guy has a following. And i really wish people that didn't like him would stop watching his show because i think he is getting the Howard Stern effect (Where people who hate him watch more than those that like him just so they can hear what he will say next).

Glenn Beck has approx ~2.5 million viewers.

Large % = 0.008?

[Not not Mattaru]

Which program should we cut so you can save money on your taxes? The market would be more efficient, right? Of course it would be. We would all be better off with Wall Street managing our pensions, Nickelodeon writing elementary school curriculum, and McDonald's serving our kids lunches.

I lol'd.

By the way...if you think the government is responsible for dealing with public goods it is by definition inefficient and that is why you pay taxes - because it is so difficult to determine value of public goods efficiently.