Budget talks: This is getting nasty

Maybe you should actually read it.

 

Give him a minute.

I just PM's him a couple of must read BioFiles.

 

Those in a higher social class are not asked to do what those in lower social class are asked to do.

Taxes, military service, etc...

That message might go across party lines, but people need to always remember it when dealing with the government.

 

I did and that is what I got out of it. Figured I would save everyone else the time.

 

Efficient.

Maybe you could cite a couple of specifics from the article to support your synopsis.

 

My question to people would be, what is their definition of rich? I sure as hell hope it is not 90 grand a year.

 

The song came out in 1969 as a commentary on those who were well connected getting out of the draft.

Bill Clinton was a good example of one who benefited by being connected and not being rich. George Bush was an example of being connected and rich.

The lyrics have no application today other than the fact that its a good song.

Anyone going to war today has volunteered. I would bet that a fair amount of the Navy SEALS killed were college educated.

 

I'll get right on it Professor AZ

 

Interesting study: Researcher finds that the rich are "less empathetic, less altruistic, and generally more selfish."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44084236/ns/health-behavior/

I'm always a bit skeptical of psychology studies simply because the "data" is most likely to be self-reported surveys and artificial experiments, so take it for what it's worth. But I found this portion especially interesting.

In other words, rich people are more likely to think about themselves. “They think that economic success and political outcomes, and personal outcomes, have to do with individual behavior, a good work ethic,” said Keltner, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Because the rich gloss over the ways family connections, money and education helped, they come to denigrate the role of government and vigorously oppose taxes to fund it.

This has been the most frustrating thing to me. Wealthy people want to ascribe to themselves an up-by-the-bootstraps background, but it's simply not the case. The United States has very low wealth and class mobility compared with the rest of the developing world.

 

Joe Biden grew up in hardscrabble Scranton PA.

 

Interesting piece. I've long thought that the stability of a country has everything to do with a large, stable middle class. I've also contended that a large, stable middle class is not necessarily an organic product of a pure free market. When you see the direction our politics are going in terms of the dysfunction, it should not be a surprise.

 

I'm very relieved to see that the GOP picked 6 white guys in their SuperCongress draft. Heaven forbid we have any nation-reflecting diversity.