The Entitled American, an excerpt from my Facebook :)

Borrowing from the below article I posted this: 

"A big chunk of the money to pay for the [Healthcare] bill comes from lifting payroll taxes on households making more than $250,000."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/business/24leonhardt.html?hp


and the replies to that flowed, at times pretty fiercely from both sides, i put an * to denote a comment of my own


"Considering how great the gap has grown between the upper class and lower class over the past thirty years, I have no problem with that."


* "Unfortunately, $250k in Manhattan and $250k in Jefferson City Mo isn't the same but viewed upon as the same and that's just the first thing."


"Those who make the most buck make it because society is structured in a way that allows them to thrive and make that money. Without the structure and stability that our society offers, it would be a different game. Society gives them roads to ship goods, police for security, firefighters, EMTs, water, and in every other civilized country on the earth, some sort of healthcare. The argument here is that those who benefit the most (i.e. over $250k) are those who also have the most responsibility back to the society for their good fortune.
I'm not arguing socialism, just a more fair, just and moral society."


"you're completely wrong on your previous post. Stating that society has "given" successfull people anythingimplies they haven't paid for a portion of it or taken on part of that burden. It's dangerous to believe that creates an obligation to those making less."


"Did you guys hear about the new Obama Value Meal at McDonalds? You can order anything you want, and the guy in line behind you has to pay!"


"So, societies that promote large degrees of inequality between the classes survive and thrive? Not without the use of violence. It is not sustainable. It is not the middle ages anymore, we live in an era of democracy."


"Paris Hilton. I'm comfortable with Paris paying more taxes."


"Paris Hilton and a $250k household are not even in the same sport, let alone ball park, come on....."


"I like Joe's McDonald's point the most. Concise and wise."

"So, societies that promote large degrees of inequality between the classes survive and thrive" - was never mentioned by me, but I bet Straw Man is TICKED!"

" I'm in NY Metro so cost of living is almost NYC. 250k with a houses and a kid or tow AINT rich. I've been singing this song since Obama's campaign...needs to be a cost of living adjustment based or ..."

I ended with the below:

"Some things that I've read here and abroad really scare me, the only rights that I know of in America are the rights to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness. Essentially these rights impose nothing on the American, actually they try to do the opposite, they try to allow the American to be left alone. They are rights TO action, not to reward, to guarantee the CHANCE to work for what you want not to be given without effort by someone else.


Look at the right to the PURSUIT of happiness, not the guarantee of happiness but the pursuit of it. You have the right to try to achieve, not the right to receive something even if you need it.


To call it morally right is not true at all either. Politicians are promoting the illusion to Americans that they are simply entitled something because it is there or because they want it. That is simply NOT what our founding fathers had in mind. But nonetheless this entitlement spreads and where does the cost of these entitlements come from? It's confiscated by the government from it's citizens through taxation. Essentially redistributing the wealth of it's citizens, dipping their hands in the paychecks of Americans in their persuit of happiness, imposing on them the obligations of the Governemnt's entitlement promises. What is moral about forcibly taking from it's citizen's paychecks, what's moral about denying real rights?"

God Bless America.