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Originally Posted by ottopilot
I'm middle-class and 1/3 of my income already goes to a variety of state, local, and fed taxes (SSI is a tax).
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So - relatively well off. I'm also in the middle class, and have about the same tax rate. If I were richer or poorer, a smaller percentage of my income would go to taxes (at least, if you include investment income). If I were very poor, and had kids I would get money from the government (net, counting for all social programs, food stamps, etc).
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Originally Posted by ottopilot
Regarding your question: I like the whole clean water, safe food, roads and cities thing. I don't get the second part of your statement. We have several new regulatory dictatorships, thugs and shakedown organizations like SEIU, Acorn, The Apollo Alliance, the Center For American Progress, and the brand new IRS Healthcare Gestapo. Which leaves us with the despots... the President, Nancy Pelosi and the US Congress.
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I believe the first four organizations you quote are in no way government entities, have little or no relationship to the healthcare debate, so I don't see how they are relevant to the discussion. The IRS, like death, will always be with us. You are now taxed if you are foolish enough to go without health insurance. If you can't afford health insurance, the government will provide a subsidy to you to help pay for it. Hyperbole aside, none of the members of government you mention are anything like despots. Please use words in the ways they are consistent with their actual definitions.
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Originally Posted by ottopilot
Perhaps if the question began with "Let me be clear".
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Let me be clear: hyperbole, exaggeration, and lies degrade all parties and make intelligent discourse impossible.