"Bring back blue collar jobs" is a huge selling point for politicians.    I agree we aren't revitalizing Detroit or stealing manufacturing jobs from China.    The problem begins and ends with the "skill" or "education" of our workforce.    Like it or not, far too many would be listed as "unskilled labor".   And there's just so much that they're qualified to do.   So "bring back blue collar jobs" is it.    It's a lot better than "Educate yourself/develop marketable skills and you will improve your chance to succeed."

The tourism angle is interesting because most people can work in the service industry if they learn to smile and be polite.

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 3:32:00 PM (view original):

Posted by silentpadna on 2/5/2015 3:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 1/20/2015 10:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 1/20/2015 10:24:00 PM (view original):
It's a mixed message he's sending with respect to education.

1)  Everybody should be given the opportunity to go to community college for free

vs

2)  Oh, you've been funding 529's to pay for your kid's college education?  Gee, that's too bad.

It's not like you lose the 529. You just have to pay income taxes on the gains.

Again, it's a subsidy used almost entirely by upper middle class households with kids. People who have the means to pay for or otherwise finance the cost of college. Ending that subsidy in order to subsidize the college education of the poor makes sense.

I'm jumping into this a little late.  But with a purpose. 

Not taxing something does not mean the same thing as "a subsidy".  A 529 plan gives incentive for people to save for college.  How is that a bad thing?  When the government does not tax something it's not the same as "giving them something".  That implies that the money belongs to the government in the first place, when it clearly does not.

"If you make less than $250,000 per year, your taxes will not increase by a single dime...."

Uh huh.

It is a subsidy. Most of the time, investment gains earned over time are taxed as income. To allow someone to keep gains untaxed is giving them something.

No it's not.  That's convoluted (though I understand what your are trying to say).  In terms of world view this is a very important distinction and I do not consider it trivial.   

Giving something to somebody implies the person giving it has it.  When I earn a nickel from my company - I earn it.  The government didn't give it to me by allowing me to keep it.  It was produced by me....not them.

That's like saying my life is a gift to me by the government - because they haven't decided to take it.   It was not theirs to give.

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 4:00:00 PM (view original):
It's not retarded. Allowing certain people in certain situations to keep income, tax free, is a subsidy. It doesn't mean it's a bad thing, we subsidize home ownership by making mortgage interest tax deductible, we subsidize raising children by allowing for dependent exemptions, and we subsidize college tuition by not taxing certain investment gains.

Posted by silentpadna on 2/6/2015 7:24:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 3:32:00 PM (view original):

Posted by silentpadna on 2/5/2015 3:03:00 PM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 1/20/2015 10:52:00 PM (view original):

Posted by tecwrg on 1/20/2015 10:24:00 PM (view original):
It's a mixed message he's sending with respect to education.

1)  Everybody should be given the opportunity to go to community college for free

vs

2)  Oh, you've been funding 529's to pay for your kid's college education?  Gee, that's too bad.

It's not like you lose the 529. You just have to pay income taxes on the gains.

Again, it's a subsidy used almost entirely by upper middle class households with kids. People who have the means to pay for or otherwise finance the cost of college. Ending that subsidy in order to subsidize the college education of the poor makes sense.

I'm jumping into this a little late.  But with a purpose. 

Not taxing something does not mean the same thing as "a subsidy".  A 529 plan gives incentive for people to save for college.  How is that a bad thing?  When the government does not tax something it's not the same as "giving them something".  That implies that the money belongs to the government in the first place, when it clearly does not.

"If you make less than $250,000 per year, your taxes will not increase by a single dime...."

Uh huh.

It is a subsidy. Most of the time, investment gains earned over time are taxed as income. To allow someone to keep gains untaxed is giving them something.

No it's not.  That's convoluted (though I understand what your are trying to say).  In terms of world view this is a very important distinction and I do not consider it trivial.   

Giving something to somebody implies the person giving it has it.  When I earn a nickel from my company - I earn it.  The government didn't give it to me by allowing me to keep it.  It was produced by me....not them.

That's like saying my life is a gift to me by the government - because they haven't decided to take it.   It was not theirs to give.

Posted by moy23 on 2/6/2015 12:41:00 AM (view original):

Posted by bad_luck on 2/5/2015 12:23:00 PM (view original):

Posted by moy23 on 2/5/2015 1:36:00 AM (view original):

Posted by The Taint on 2/5/2015 12:20:00 AM (view original):

Posted by moy23 on 2/4/2015 10:21:00 PM (view original):
a jordanian pilot gets burned to death alive and the jordanian king angrily vows to pursue ISIS until his military runs 'out of fuel and bullets' then backs that up by hanging two terrorists - but an american gets beheaded by 'the JV team' and our president goes golfing. he is such a horrible president.

If they had just beheaded him, the rhetoric from Jordan would most likely have not been so fierce. What do you expect us to do in Syria or to Isis? Just make glass?

I expect if you draw a red line in the sand you hold up your end of the threat. I expect you listen to your military advisers when they say do not withdraw from Iraq until their army is ready for us to do so. I expect you take this Islamic uprising seriously and not treat them like the JV team. I expect you retaliate when a US ambassador is killed in Benghazi. Ukraine? Great - now we need to supply them with weapons.... why the F have we not been doing that already? Hell, line up our army on their border and see if Putin advances further. The answer is no. Instead this clown in office is all talk, or golf. Spy on Germany and Spain - BUSTED! Iranian Nukes... no big deal. **** off Netanyahu - yep - did that - last I heard dems will boycott listening to our ally's congressional visit. Working with the Yemen gov't - right up until they resigned to terrorist threats last week. UAE - our ally in these Iraq bombings - until December 2014 when they withdrew from the attacks and our white house acted as if they hadn't - which just came out today. And I thought Bush walked us into a quagmire... its nothing compared to Obama.

Why do we care if Russia invades Ukraine? We are not the world police.

Revisiting this but its an interesting response. I hear it often from libs and it's aggravating. I guess it goes against so much of what I've stood for in my life. I still remember sticking up for a kid I didn't know on the school bus that was getting bullied by a bunch of older kids my age - yeah he was drawing some star wars stuff on the foggy bus windows but even at that age I knew this kid didn't deserve the abuse. I remember getting in a fight at the bar to help a young woman when the drunk guy that was hitting on her violently swiped their drinks off the table and on the ground after the woman told him to stop insulting her and leave. I don't care what the woman 'actually' said I knew the guy had to go. I helped raise over $300,000 for United Way this year and I'm proud of that. My job has allowed me to help countless people out of financial despair the last 10-15 years. I just wrapped up my taxes tonight and donated over $3000 this year to people I don't even know. Look - I'm not the world police either and I didn't have to do any of these things... but I did. It's the right thing to do. You are a liberal. I'd expect you to care about those in need. You have no problem demanding the wealthy help the poor but when it comes to helping those in need outside the USA you have boundaries? What makes a Ukrainian (which I know many people with family out there) any less of a person than an American? Can you answer that?

Posted by bad_luck on 2/6/2015 8:50:00 AM (view original):
Yeah you missed mikes point. Taxes are necessary for society to function. Being allowed to avoid paying taxe on certain income for a certain reason is a subsidy.