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The state of the global economy
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KWSN - MajorKong Send message Joined: 5 Jan 00 Posts: 2892 Credit: 1,499,890 RAC: 0 |
welfare make approximately $60,000 in free stuff annually Well, Frank is not far wrong in his statement. $60,000 / year is $5,000 / month. Food (SNAP): $649/month (for a family of 4... more gets more) Housing (Section 8): maximum of $2000/month. We are up to $2649/month. TANF : $351/month (family of 4). up to $3000/month. Health Care : A bit trickier to figure. The Federal benchmark premium is for the second-lowest premium on a ACA(Obamacare) Silver plan. The national average premium (in 2013) on that is $774/month before any tax credits or subsidies for the 'standard' family of 4. Now then Medicaid is better than a ACA Silver plan. There are ZERO out of pocket expenses on Medicaid. Totally free. So... let us just use the $744/month figure. We are now up to $3,774/month. Now for another... Earned Income Credit on Federal income taxes. This is a refundable tax credit... roughly $7500/year or $625 / month. We are now up to $4,399 / month. That is $52,788 / year. This is just the big 5 programs. There are loads of other Federal, State, and Local programs out there. Plus this is just for a family of 4. As I said before... More kids, more money. Also, if you get SNAP, that (at least in Texas) means free school breakfasts and lunches for your school-age kids. $4/day... 20 days/month... $80/month per kid. 2 kids, that is another $160/month. Free cell phones can easily net you another $200 / month. We are now up to $4,759 / month or $57,108 / year. Add in transit (bus/train) subsidies for low income people. Are we there yet? Most likely. The list goes on and on. Frank is approximately correct in this. If he errs, it is on the low side. Links? Spend a few minutes with Google. But the controversial one is likely going to be the health care one. I'll link that one. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/marketplace_premiums_ib_final.pdf With this kind of drain on the public treasury (remember Taxpayer-Funded public treasury) it is little to no wonder that our economy is getting flushed... Again... Flush me, J! (MiB II) |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
welfare make approximately $60,000 in free stuff annually If you think these things are what is draining the economy, then please provide a breakdown of these costs are in relation to other things the government pays for. Reality Internet Personality |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
welfare make approximately $60,000 in free stuff annually But that's perhaps what a household can get in welfare. A household can be anything between 1 or 2 persons or many. How can you make any form of stats from that? |
betreger Send message Joined: 29 Jun 99 Posts: 11361 Credit: 29,581,041 RAC: 66 |
Major you used a family of 4, now divide your hypothetical 57K by 4 and I get a very different picture. $1425/ mo. hardly sounds like living high on the hog. Remember Frank claimed it is an individual benefit. people on so called welfare make approximately $60,000 in free stuff annually from our dwindling working class. |
shizaru Send message Joined: 14 Jun 04 Posts: 1130 Credit: 1,967,904 RAC: 0 |
Apologies, late to the thread. Es, a couple of articles before the one you quoted the same author had this to say: "...we now know that seven of the world’s largest investment banks paid Britain £21m tax on £3.6bn of profits they made in the UK in 2014. Five of them, including Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, paid no UK corporation tax at all." and "Indeed, sometimes they go further, actually rigging markets. Deutsche Bank last year paid the largest Libor fine in history – £1.7bn – for its role in rigging the market in interbank interest rates in New York and London." And while £1.7bn isn't peanuts, I'm sure we can all make an educated guess that the fine was most likely a bargain compared to the money made. "In 2016, the lack of integrity in business across the west, and in Britain in particular, will become more politically salient. Whether it is food companies openly selling food that makes buyers unhealthy, car companies that dodge emission tests or investment banks being too clever about avoiding tax, consumers and citizens are going to ask ever harder questions about why today’s capitalism behaves with so little integrity." Salient? LOL. Unfortunately I don't share this guy's optimism. More importantly, I think our definitions of Capitalism, Socialism and Communism are severely outdated. They just don't apply anymore. Not the way they did when I was growing up. And especially not the way they did for anyone a couple or more decades older than I am. This is Casino Capitalism. A totally different beast. And when you couple it with psycho politicians, an unprecedented amount of lobbyists all across the western world, and a plethora of tax-havens to choose from.... Well, you get the picture. PS Anyone else notice that "Think Tank" is slowly becoming a dirty word[s]? |
bluestar Send message Joined: 5 Sep 12 Posts: 7031 Credit: 2,084,789 RAC: 3 |
Strange, the title of the thread is the same words that I would like to use here. Namely the state of the global economy. As usual, there should be made a separation between finances and the results by means of possible economical gain. Remember back in the 1920 or 1930's when both the United States and also the rest of the world was suffering from a depression. If you are the one who are handling or administering the budget in your business or firm, it should be somewhat difficult to deal with those numbers that end up in red. They end up being in the wrong place of the table or chart, making any piechart for the representation of the numbers for a budget somewhat useless or possibly hard to understand or comprehend. We should not forget that during that time of the recession, the U.S. Government chose to have the Hoover dam being constructed. This is because even a deficit or a depression sometimes makes an investment a valuable undertaking to carry out, even though the end result might not necessarily be profitable. An investment on its own should be based on a specific calculus when it comes to doing such a thing and whether or not such a thing might end up profitably or not, at least the desired thing became carried out. Therefore, if an investment by means of a project ends up in a profitable way, one might also be able to speak about its possible value as well. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
Well no one in their right mind actually thinks Obama was actually left wing.So center politics is bad, but wing politics is good. Insightful. Since Reagan was centrist, signing the largest tax increase in history at the time ... |
Sarge Send message Joined: 25 Aug 99 Posts: 12273 Credit: 8,569,109 RAC: 79 |
A blank name again. Awww, how sweet. Capitalize on this good fortune, one word can bring you round ... changes. |
Wiggo Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 34744 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 |
Did you expect any other result from Guy when he gets caught out on double standards again Sarge? Even after all the proof of it that he deleted? At least he can't delete the contents of his posts now, even if he can still change his name. ;-) Cheers. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
A blank name again. The problem is a blank name may say how much he values himself. Might be a clue that he is willing to do something "rash" in support of those things he rails for. Certainly wiping ones self away is not a thing a normal person does. |
Wiggo Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 34744 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 |
A blank name again. When has Guy not done anything "rash" when he's been caught out? Cheers. |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
A blank name again. Well, https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/sovereign-citizens-movement Sovereigns believe that they — not judges, juries, law enforcement or elected officials — get to decide which laws to obey and which to ignore, and they don't think they should have to pay taxes. Sovereigns are clogging up the courts with indecipherable filings and when cornered, many of them lash out in rage, frustration and, in the most extreme cases, acts of deadly violence, usually directed against government officials. |
Wiggo Send message Joined: 24 Jan 00 Posts: 34744 Credit: 261,360,520 RAC: 489 |
A blank name again. Yeah we have a few of those idiots over here Gary, but thankfully our courts do deal harshly with them and their BS. Cheers. |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
“Robust innovation is essential for economic growth and progress,†said co-author Stephen Ezell, ITIF’s vice president for global innovation. http://www.thenextsiliconvalley.com/2016/01/21/4688-the-case-for-innovation-altruism-europe-leads-in-global-impact-on-innovation/ ITIF reported that on a per-capita basis Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom were the three countries that did the most to support global innovation and the least to detract from it. Singapore and the Netherlands take the number 4 and 5 positions. Interestingly, the USA ranks number 10, Germany 12, Japan 14, Israel 23, Brazil 41, Russia 42, China 44 and India is way down at 54. . Meanwhile, Greece was the 14th-worst per capita, in its net impact on global innovation and Ukraine was fifth-worst. Schumpeterian economies seems to be more innovating then Adam Smithian economies. |
shizaru Send message Joined: 14 Jun 04 Posts: 1130 Credit: 1,967,904 RAC: 0 |
Founded in 2006, ITIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute—a think tank—focusing on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. https://itif.org/about Flag wavers for the PIPA/SOPA campaign https://itif.org/publications/2011/12/05/pipasopa-responding-critics-and-finding-path-forward "ITIF is led by its president and founder, Robert D. Atkinson..." And who is this guy? Best I could come up with is 3 economics books on Amazon read by... no-one. But I hit the jackpot on YouTube... He's in bed with (and on the panel of) this lovely fellow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0zbv_34guk No idea if Finland and Sweden should actually be worried... I spent less than ten minutes doing the research, sorry. Probably not, likely just a list of countries that are PIPA/SOPA campaign darlings. But I'd keep my eyes peeled if I were you. A pat on the back from the Koch Brothers Crew could be a red flag. PS Anyone ever notice that "Think Tank" is slowly becoming a derogatory term? Oh wait! I asked the same question just yesterday;) |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
Founded in 2006, ITIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute—a think tank—focusing on a host of critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. Actually I dont't know what your aiming at. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_SOPA_and_PIPA That Internet should be open to all is obvious. But using Internet as a tool to steal innovating products is wrong. Without regulations there will be no more innovations! |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
That Internet should be open to all is obvious. Well, there would still be innovations, just nothing that would be commercially exploitable. Kind of like sending culture back to the stone age where how to start a fire would be a jealously guarded secret handed down through the family. |
janneseti Send message Joined: 14 Oct 09 Posts: 14106 Credit: 655,366 RAC: 0 |
That Internet should be open to all is obvious. Starting a fire is knowledge but it require tools to make it. Driving a car is also knowledge but do you take an others car to use it by yourself? |
Gary Charpentier Send message Joined: 25 Dec 00 Posts: 30651 Credit: 53,134,872 RAC: 32 |
Hi MajorKong... No fail. The (Don't confuse me with the facts) Left. Fail, not a sentence, Subject, verb, object. Believes that $60,000+ per year. Fail, not a sentence, Subject, verb, object. For a family of 4, is poverty!!!! Fail, not a sentence, Subject, verb, object. Then, when posting their Fantasy Beliefs. Fail, not a sentence, Subject, verb, object. The Left congratulates themselves for their Intelligence and Understanding. No fail. http://nlp-addiction.com/eliza/ > Hello. My name is Elisa. How may I help you? |
Es99 Send message Joined: 23 Aug 05 Posts: 10874 Credit: 350,402 RAC: 0 |
Hi MajorKong... Where did this $60k a year come from? People here are spouting it as if it were fact? The closest I could find was $35k a year for a small minority of people. I'd say that is on on the poverty line, especially in the US where there are so little public services that everything is included in that figure. Do ‘welfare’ recipients get $35,000 in benefits a year? "It’s correct that a single parent can receive $35,000 in benefits, if he or she lives in one of the 10 states listed in the Cato report, or Washington, D.C. But the median welfare package, which would have been the relevant number to use, is about $28,800 — lower than Grothman’s figure. The single parent in the Wisconsin legislative analysis received even more than Grothman’s claim. The report’s analysts acknowledged that the specific situation they studied would apply to a small portion of Wisconsin residents — fewer than 260 out of the state’s total population of 5.7 million (that is, less than 1/200th of 1 percent of the state’s population). Even if student aid was subtracted from the figure, it would still be difficult to figure out how many single parents fit his narrow focus. Grothman’s statement in the interview lacks context, especially given the numerous caveats involved. His portrayal of a single parent “easily†receiving $35,000 is not accurate in a national context, since that would apply to only one in five cases, based on the Cato report." Here is a breakdown of the federal budget: FY15 Federal Budget Spending Estimates for Fiscal Years 2014 - 2019 Now in my opinion, government's job is to provide infrastructure, healthcare, pensions (which people pay into anyway, so that's actually their own money they are getting back), education and a social safety net such as welfare. People here might not agree with that, but considering that most people who go on welfare only spend a short time on it, its does seem to be doing its job. You might need it one day, be glad its there. Does the military spending need to be so high? Again, that's your personal thing, but I don't think there is much argument for saying that its poor people that have bought down the economy. Especially as everyone knows that it was the banks and their fraudulent practices. I really don't understand why everyone is so quick to point at poor people. Does it make you feel better for some reason? Reality Internet Personality |
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