Your tax dollars at work.

[flackt]

Could someone please add that pic of the Whaaaaammbulance for techs please?


Better yet lock this thread. In fact if techs even uses the word "Bush" and is not talking about plant life, then lock the thread.

ctrl+f bush

The only one that said it, in this thread, is you?

[rgharper]

Shouldn't the government agency support the head of said government?

Aside from the fact that these particular reports stink to high heaven and are possibly illegal on their face, the answer to your question is still no.

The head of any agency is nominated by the President and approved by the Congress. That means that you and I hired them, and they are responsible to you and I to report facts and perform their jobs without political bias.

I don't mind if the politicians lie - in fact, I rather expect they will. (And ain't THAT a sad statement!) But the people running the various government agencies had better be reporting the truth about their performance without any spin-doctoring ...

Remember a quaint little place called the Soviet Union? There, the heads of the various ministries were selected by the Chairman of the Party. Their jobs depended on his continued goodwill. So they courted it by reporting only what would make them (and therefore, the Chairman) look good and by ruthlessly suppressing anything that would make them (and therefore, the Chairman) look bad. By the time the government collapsed even the Chairman had no clue what was really going on in any part of the USSR. People starved as the agriculture ministry delivered glowing reports on improvements in harvests. Families lived four and five to a single-family apartment as the housing ministry reported that housing was improving every day. People froze to death as the energy ministry reported how it was improving performance in all areas of energy production.

[techs]

Could someone please add that pic of the Whaaaaammbulance for techs please?


Better yet lock this thread. In fact if techs even uses the word "Bush" and is not talking about plant life, then lock the thread.

There used to be time in this country when we all shared some values. This is a thread that was meant to look at the use of Federal employees as paid political operatives. Try and rise above petty political differences. Imagine how this could affect our country in the future.

[silencio]

We must get our news from different sources.

I think the economy is doing great, and getting better everyday.

No doubt.

[techs]

No doubt.

I noticed you did not give your opinion on whether you think it is ok for federal employees to use therir taxpayer paid positions to engage in blatant political activities and whether it is ok to use our tax dollars for partisan political advetisements.
I would really like to know.

[craigmodius]

This is a thread that was meant to look at the use of Federal employees as paid political operatives. Try and rise above petty political differences. Imagine how this could affect our country in the future.

Techs, people may think you're just a pessimist but sadly you're just an optimist.

It's not just taxes and economic policy where the bush administration is trying to enforce an agenda. This trend continues to the scientific community as well. Groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists and Science in Policy.org are speaking out against the administration's attempts to wield control over their independent research.

We expect our policy-makers, who have access to far more data than average citizens, to weigh all the evidence in choosing the optimal path. We may or may not ultimately agree with them, but if they claim that the data support their decisions, we trust that it does. The Bush administration has consistently violated this trust in crafting its environmental policies. By misrepresenting the state of the science, overplaying scientific uncertainty and presenting information as fact with no scientific justification for the assertion, the president has started us down a dangerous path where scientific results are merely fodder for political spin doctors.

sorry if this makes people uncomfortable, but 62 of the nation's leading scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates are alarmed enough to echo what Techs is saying.

it is not partisan politics to simply want to hear the untainted truth.

[techs]

Techs, people may think you're just a pessimist but sadly you're just an optimist.

It's not just taxes and economic policy where the bush administration is trying to enforce an agenda. This trend continues to the scientific community as well. Groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists and Science in Policy.org are speaking out against the administration's attempts to wield control over their independent research.



sorry if this makes people uncomfortable, but 62 of the nation's leading scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates are alarmed enough to echo what Techs is saying.

it is not partisan politics to simply want to hear the untainted truth.

Truthfully I think that is another issue.
Whenever I see a sign on a highway that says somthing like Mass Turnpike, joe Blow governer it ticks me off. Why is the govt. involved in any type of political advertising?
Here is a for instance if Kerry gets elected. See if you agree this should not be allowed:
IRS April 15 reminder 2005
Continued job growth due to President Kerrys program to make the richest Americans pay their fair share can only be sustained by the support of Kerrys fair tax proposal. The Presidents needed program to give more money to the working class has given Americans more disposable income which is needed to sustain economic growth..etc, etc.

If this happens I will be the first person to protest it. But if we let what is happening now set the precedent then you can be SURE it will continue.

[flackt]

[QUOTE=techs]Truthfully I think that is another issue.
IRS April 15 reminder 2005
Continued job growth due to President Kerrys program to make the richest Americans pay their fair share can only be sustained by the support of Kerrys fair tax proposal. The Presidents needed program to give more money to the working class has given Americans more disposable income which is needed to sustain economic growth..etc, etc.

QUOTE]

How do you figure rich people don't pay their fair share the highest bracket is 38%(or somthing like that) and the lowest is - 0.

I'm not rich by the way, but plan to be someday.

With the child tax credit I got back $800 more than I paid in. Seems like the rich are paying their share, and padding my refund check to boot.

Heck I felt guilty spending money, I did'nt really have a right to.

If my taxes get cut any more I'm sending it back!

[Major Kong]

Not to be a stick in the mud or anything because I'm not a GDUBYA supporter, but my industry is thriving at a pace we haven't seen in years (at least 7). And personally I'm doing REAL GOOD!!!

But to answer the question hasn't the IRS and other agencies done this in the past? I know I've gotten biennual report forms and TRI documents from the EPA with political blurbs in the past. Back in '98 & '99 we got some documents from the BLM with blurbs from the SOI - Bruce Babbitt. No matter though I don't like it! :butt:

[inferno_gn]

Hi there,

I though Bush sucks up all the surplus already and now making the US in debt. I though the economy is already going under. You know where are all your hard tax dollars going? Well, right there in Iraq. Look at the free cash they are giving away!

Ju Leon...

[jaeger]

Hi there,

I though Bush sucks up all the surplus already and now making the US in debt. I though the economy is already going under. You know where are all your hard tax dollars going? Well, right there in Iraq. Look at the free cash they are giving away!

Ju Leon...

Why am I not surprised that Inferno doesn't know the difference between debt and deficit?

[inferno_gn]

Hi there,

*lol* jaeger, that's the term I was looking for. Well, no one is perfect.

Ju Leon...

[craigmodius]

Truthfully I think that is another issue.
Whenever I see a sign on a highway that says somthing like Mass Turnpike, joe Blow governer it ticks me off. Why is the govt. involved in any type of political advertising?
Here is a for instance if Kerry gets elected. See if you agree this should not be allowed:
IRS April 15 reminder 2005
Continued job growth due to President Kerrys program to make the richest Americans pay their fair share can only be sustained by the support of Kerrys fair tax proposal. The Presidents needed program to give more money to the working class has given Americans more disposable income which is needed to sustain economic growth..etc, etc.

If this happens I will be the first person to protest it. But if we let what is happening now set the precedent then you can be SURE it will continue.

It may be another issue, but to me it is further proof of a trend of using federal agencies, scientific or economic, to enforce the administrations policies.

and the road sign thing doesn't bother me it seems more informative rather than a political advertisement.

[techs]

[QUOTE=flackt]

Truthfully I think that is another issue.
IRS April 15 reminder 2005
Continued job growth due to President Kerrys program to make the richest Americans pay their fair share can only be sustained by the support of Kerrys fair tax proposal. The Presidents needed program to give more money to the working class has given Americans more disposable income which is needed to sustain economic growth..etc, etc.

QUOTE]

How do you figure rich people don't pay their fair share the highest bracket is 38%(or somthing like that) and the lowest is - 0.

I'm not rich by the way, but plan to be someday.

With the child tax credit I got back $800 more than I paid in. Seems like the rich are paying their share, and padding my refund check to boot.

Heck I felt guilty spending money, I did'nt really have a right to.

If my taxes get cut any more I'm sending it back!

PLEASE read what I said. Not what you think I said. I gave a for instance. NOT stating this was my belief. I made the point that if you don't rise up against this NOW than it will continue. I picked something that might make a Bush supporter angry. To see how the result is bad BOTH ways.
Now as to your situation on your taxes I don't really know. I know that you really got an 800 loan. You will have to pay it back with interest. I know that in America we have the lowest tax rates of almost any developed nation, if not the lowest. At the old top rate of about 38 percent under Clinton we had a great economy. Under the new top rate of about 31 percent under Bush we have had arguably the worst economy in 70 years. And just so you know you do pay taxes every day. However they are not income taxes.
Oh I almost forgot. I wonder how many people pay the top rate? When you look at all the ways to shield your income like tax free bonds, etc I think many people pay much, much less. Of course these opportunities only are available to the rich.

[flackt]

PLEASE read what I said. Not what you think I said. I gave a for instance. NOT stating this was my belief. I made the point that if you don't rise up against this NOW than it will continue. I picked something that might make a Bush supporter angry. To see how the result is bad BOTH ways.
Now as to your situation on your taxes I don't really know. I know that you really got an 800 loan. You will have to pay it back with interest. I know that in America we have the lowest tax rates of almost any developed nation, if not the lowest. At the old top rate of about 38 percent under Clinton we had a great economy. Under the new top rate of about 31 percent under Bush we have had arguably the worst economy in 70 years. And just so you know you do pay taxes every day. However they are not income taxes.
Oh I almost forgot. I wonder how many people pay the top rate? When you look at all the ways to shield your income like tax free bonds, etc I think many people pay much, much less. Of course these opportunities only are available to the rich.

I knew I should never have gotten into this discussion, I have other boards, to discuss politics. I come here to get away from it.

Theres seems to be no turning back now.

I know about sales tax, and other use taxes.

I also know there is very little a president can do about the economy. He can only propose to raise or lower taxes. Maybe you can explain how exactly raising taxes helps the economy? What else can he do? Besides proposing more government give away programs.

The economy went south because of Clinton's tax increases, which took a little longer to take effect, because of the Web Craze in the stock market. Then the Web bubble burst, then someone came along and crashed some airplanes, and killed a bunch of people. It sure wasn't tax cuts.

I believe strongly that it is in recovery now, and there is allot of evidence to support that.

You keep trying to convince everyone that you are some kind of political neutral on this thread, but I think different.

As for me I claim no neutrality! I am a Conservative Republican, that refuses to buy into the Liberal Class Envy Trap.