Posted on April 14 at 7:07 a.m.Suggest removal

Tom, I think you got it completely wrong. If the current tax system was eleminated, and a value added tax (VAT) was installed in its place, the rich would pay a lot more then they do now.

A value added tax or VAT is most fair and equal method of taxation because everyone would pay according to the life style they want to live. There would be no more loop holes and no more deductions for the rich to hide income. You pay according to what you use. Poor people who don't buy high priced items, won't pay a lot in taxes, rich people who buy a lot of luxury items would pay more in taxes, what is more fair then that.

Rich people would pay a lot more with this type of tax then they do today because there would be no more cheating or loop holes or deductions with which to hide income. With a VAT, you would pay up front when you buy.

This would be a win win situation for the government also. First of all, you would be able to reduce the size of the IRS to about half of what it is today, saving billions there. Secondly, the government would not have to worry about people cheating and not reporting income or not paying their taxes because with a VAT, everyone would pay up front when they purchase goods or services.

How much more fair tax can there be then this. Of course, such things as food, medicine, medical supplies, and basic clothes would be exempt from this consumption tax, as would be natural gas and heating oil for homes, gasoline, and electricity. But for everything else, everyone would pay a tax on what they buy and use.

For example, say we have a VAT tax of 10% on everything. If a rich person buys a house for 3 million, then he would pay $300,000 in tax up front at the time of the closing. If a low income person buys a house for $70,000, then he would pay $7000 in VAT. If a rich person buys a BMW for $60,000 he would $6000 in VAT , if a poor person buys a used Ford for $3000 then he would pay $300 in tax. What is more fair then that? Everyone pays their fair share according to what they buy.

If rich people don’t want to pay high taxes, then all they have to do is live a more frugal life style. Vise versa, if a poor people want to live way above their means and squander their money on luxury items they can’t afford, then they will have to pay the tax also.

The VAT is the only true fair tax.

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Posted on April 12 at 8:34 a.m.Suggest removal

I agree that welfare is necessary to help the truely needy like the old and disabled who are truelly incapable of working, but welfare in this country, and especially in liberal states like NY , OH, MA, NJ, IL, and CA, it is way out of control. For example, in NY, welfare has become a profession and a life long career. Children learn the welfare profession from thier parents and when a young woman is 16, they get pregnant and go right into the system with an apt of thier own just like their parent did.

In fact, welfare people make out way better, and have an easier life in NY then most people who work. In NY, if you are an unwed mother with one or two kids and on welfare, the state gives you a 2 bedroom apt in a nice complex. The complex has a gym , a pool, a park for the kids, 24 hour security, free cable TV, free wifi and central air. ALL FREE from the state.

Also, in these welfare apts, all your utilities are 100% free. You can use all the hot water and electric you want, you can keep your house at 75F all winter, and cool in the summer, and it is all free from the tax payers. In NY, social services even gives welfare people a free cell phone to use with unlimited free local calls. You read it correctly, welfare people get a free cell phone.

In NY all welfare people have a government issued credit card they use to buy food or other household goods. The max limit on these cards is so high, that it is almost impossible run out of money during the month. Most welfare people will buy more goods then they need so they can sell them for cash on the black market. Matter of fact, in NY, some restaurants even accept these welfare cards as payment.

In NY , welfare pays for all dental and medical needs regardless of cost, and they even pay for braces for the kids.

If you are on welfare and need a lawyer, no need to worry about costs, it is free of charge from the state. If you want to attend a community college or take classes in a trade school, all is free of charge, even if you never have plans to get a job afterwards.

If you need someone to talk to once a month because you are lonely, physiologist visits are free of charge.

I forgot to mention that in NY, social services even give out cash supplements on a monthly basis for misc. expenses.

After a few years, you get tired of your small two bedroom apt and want something bigger, no problem, just get pregnant again. With each new kid, you become eligible for a bigger apt, and you get an increase in your credit limit for food and household goods. The more kids you have, the more money you get. In NY, it is quite common to see welfare mothers with 4, 5 or 6 kids in tow.

When you look at all these benefits welfare gives you, tell me, what incentive is there to find a job. Why work in a minimum wage job busting your butt when you can sit on your butt at home and get everything for free.

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Posted on April 1 at 7:17 a.m.Suggest removal

You said it correct "However, it is our responsibility as citizens to hold our representatives accountable for their rhetoric. Next election, we must elect officials who realize words alone will not fix our economic problems"

We need to throw the bums out, both democrats and rhino republicans, and we need to elect even more conservatives then we did in this last election. Also , you failed to mention that every budget that was proposed this year by the congress to reduce costs, it was rejected by the "liberals" who control the senate.

With respect to the Bush tax cuts extension, wait to you graduate and get a professional job, and if in a liberal state like NY,CA,MA,NJ,IL,OH etc., and you see 40% of your wages go for federal income taxes, medicare taxes, state income taxes, county income taxes, city income taxes, and SS taxes, maybe you won't be so liberal. Then again, since you are an english major, you probably won't find a good high paying job, and you will be one of those people who think the government owes them a comfortable life at the expense of others.

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Posted on March 28 at 2:18 p.m.Suggest removal

Great article, brings back great memories of some good naps I had when I was at OU. Poly Sci and Ecomonics classes make for great nap times.

Of course , I can't forget the many saturday nights I spent napping on a couch in the 2nd floor lounge at Worchester House in Wilson Center waiting for my room mate to finish his "study date" with his girlfriend.

Oh and I can't foget my most favorite naps which took place on the south oval. There isn't a better nap than the south oval in the early spring with the warmth of the sun on your face and scent of the newly blossomed flowers filling the air, and closing your eyes and dozing off to the sounds of the hari-chrisnas ringing their bells. Those were the days and naps to remenber.

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Posted on March 23 at 1:06 p.m.Suggest removal

I think it would be great having the draft back. Sort of retro.

We could organize protests on the south oval where we can burn our draft cards, while chanting slogans like

"Make love not war"
"Hell no we won't go!!";
"Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids have you killed today!"
"Remember Kent State!"
"One,two,three,four! We don't want your f.....g war!"
"Eighteen today, dead tomorrow"

We could hand out information on how to go to Canada to avoid the draft.
We could wear white t-shirts with a big red bulls-eye target printed on the back under the word "Student".

I can't wait for the draft.

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Posted on March 10 at 7:17 a.m.Suggest removal

Hey Evan, we need to tax the rich in OK even more, and distribute a lot more of that income to folks like me. I live in NYC now, but I would love to come back home to OK if I could get the same welfare benefits (income distribution)as I get in NY.

I quit my job 2 years ago because I got tired of supporting the welfare state, so I decided to join it. In NY, the government took 60% of my wages with federal, state, city, and county taxes. I just couldn't support my family anymore. Seeing how well off the "poor" were in NY, it just made more sense to go on welfare, than to work.

Now my wife and I, we don't work. We stay home and collect welfare, and we LOVE IT!!!! We love pople like you who want give us other peoples income so we can stay home.

The state gives us a 2 bedroom apt in a nice neigborhood. The complex has a gym , pool, park for the kids, security, free cable, and free wifi. This is more than I ever had when I had to work.

Even all our utilities are free. We can use all the utilities we want, and its all free from taxpayers like you. In NY, social services even gives us a cell phone to use with unlimited free local calls. God bless the liberals.

Welfare now pays for all my dental and medical needs, thanks to those generous people who work and pay taxes like you Evan. They even pay for my daughters braces. My wife just had our 3rd child last year, and everything was paid by the state. You just keep writing great articles like this and keep advocating giving us "poor" everything. We love you Evan!

Now that we have 3 children, we are eligible to get a bigger apartment with 3 bedrooms, and we also will get an increase in our food stamp allowance and an even bigger cash assaitance. My wife and I are now thinking on having a 4th and 5th child because we will then be eligible for a four bedroom apartment with two full baths. With every kid we have, we get a substantial increase in food stamps and cash assistance.

I love welfare. Its like having a credit card without worring about making payments. I can buy almost all the food and clothes we need. So far we have never run out of funds and we always have plenty of food in the frig. Matter of fact, I buy much more than what I need so I can sell it on the "black market" to get extra cash. Why not, it is all free, so why can't I sell it?

I look back at how hard I use to work, and for what? Now, that I am "poor", I don't have to get up every morning to go to work. I watch TV all day without a care in the world. I go to the gym in our complex and workout , I play with my kids in the pool and the park in our complex, I hang with my buddies(who also don't work). I love welfare! This is the life, and if you liberals want to keep giving me more for doing nothing, god bless you all. I won't refuse your generosity, especially at the expense of all those suckers who work hard and pay taxes. You liberals just keep advocating income distribution,,,,we love you Evan.

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Posted on March 3 at 9:48 a.m.Suggest removal

Hey Jerod,great article. I quit my job 2 years ago in NYC because I got tired of supporting welfare. The government was taking 70% of my wages with federal taxes, state taxes, city taxes, county taxes, and I just couldn't afford to support my family anymore. Looking around and seeing how well off the non-working class was in NY, it made more sense to go on welfare than to work.

Now my wife and I don't work. We stay home with our kids and collect welfare, and we love it. NYS is the best. They give us a 2 bedroom apt in a low income apartment complex in a relatively nice neigborhood. The complex has a gym , pool, park for the kids, security guards, basic cable TV, and free wireless internet. This is more than I ever had when I had to work and pay for my own apt.

Even all our utilities are free. Now we never have to worry about paying for heat or air conditioning, or worry about water usage, or electricity. We can use all the hot water we want, we can keep our apt cool in summer, and warm in the winter, and its all free from taxpayers of NYS. Social Services even gives us a cell phone to use with unlimited free local calls. God bless NYS.

Before I went on welfare, I had to pay for my own dental and medical insurance , but now , thanks to those generous people who work and pay taxes, we get it all free. They even pay for my daughters braces. My wife just had our 3th child last year and everything was paid by NYS. God bless the liberals who give us all this for free. Just keep writing great articles like this and keep advocating giving us "poor" everything. We love you Jerod!

Now that we have 3 children, we are eligible to get a bigger apartment with 3 bedrooms, and we also will get an increase in our food stamp allowance and an even bigger cash assaitance. My wife and I are now thinking on having a 4th and 5th child because we will then be eligible for a four bedroom apartment with two full baths. With every kid we have, we get a substantial increase in food stamps and cash assistance.

I love food stamps. Its like having a credit card without worring about making payments. I can buy almost all the food we need. So far we have never run out of funds and we always have food in the frig. Matter of fact, I buy much more than what I need so I can sell it on the "black market" to get extra cash. Why not, it is all free, so why can't I sell it?

I look back at how hard I use to work and for what? Now, I don't have to get up every morning to go to work. I watch TV all day without a care in the world. I go to the gym in our complex and workout , I play with my kids in the pool and the park, I hang with my buddies(who also don't work). I love welfare! This is the life, and if you liberals want to keep giving me more for doing nothing, god bless you all. I won't refuse your generosity, especially at the expense of all those suckers who work and pay taxes.

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Posted on February 25 at 8:06 a.m.Suggest removal

My personal preference is the roman gladius short sword, good for fighting in close quarters like in class rooms.

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Posted on February 22 at 2:11 p.m.Suggest removal

I ask you liberals a question. Why do so many people in Canada come the USA for medical treatment, if socialized medicine is so superior, and thier doctors so skilled?

When I lived in Buffalo NY, I don't recall ever hearing any American citizen saying "I am going to Canada for my treatment because it is far better than what I can get in the US". Yet, when you go by the cancer clinic on the US side of the border, you see more Canadian cars in the parking lot than American cars. I wonder why! All treatment in Canada is free, so why are these Canadians comming to the US to pay high prices for treatment when they can get it for free in Canada? May be because we have prettier nurses,,,no I don't think so.... not in Buffalo. So what else can it be? Oh maybe it is because in Canada if you need treatment for cancer, you have to go to a government board who put you on a waiting list based on what a some administrators determine is your need, and this wait could be a year or more. Or maybe it is becuase there just aren't enough doctors in the country to perform the procedure you need. If you liberals ever have cancer, I suggest you go to Canada for your treatment, then you can report back what you really think about social medicine.

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Posted on February 22 at 1:25 p.m.Suggest removal

The welfare class in this country use 75% of the government services and pay 0% in taxes. The rich work thier butts off to become rich, while the poor sit on thier butts and wait for handouts from the government.

Rather than placing higher taxes on people who work, lets start taxing the people who don't work, since they use all the services. Why not pass a bill to start taking withholding taxes from welfare checks, taxing the value of rent assistance payments, and start taxing the value of food stamps. Lets give these welfare people a taste of some reality and what it is like to have the government take your money, just like the rest of us face every time we get our paycheck.

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