10:45 CST

[Chadeaux]

Hey Chadeaux, I spent some time in Arkansas myself. Right in the middle. Married a Cajun girl and had a kid there. Been awhile.
Some say the cure is more jobs. Funny people. First comes NAFTA, then make it ez to take a company off shore. Even reward leaving the USA with the jobs. Then our leaders wring their hands and ask "How did this happen?" Our fearless leaders got us into this and have no real clue how to fix it. Any healthy economy needs jobs. Maybe putting a hold on their pay checks would sober them up.
Naw, the air is too thin way up there.
I think an equal tax for rich people is about fairness. They know it won't fix much as there just aren't enough of them. Probably a good thing.
Kind of irritating when a guy can sit by his pool sipping a Margareta and paying 15% tax while a working stiff gets up everyday, goes to work and pays more. It's said the rich need more money because they create jobs. OK, so where are the jobs?

Ah, so you've seen some culture . . . the wife, not Arkansas (JK). Got some Cajun blood but am a member of the United Houma Nation (First Nations / Native American), same for my wife.

Arkansas was a case of culture shock for me. Down here in Southeast Arkansas, I was once told by Mr. Cabiness (formerly with Job Services - State Employment Office) that the area still hasn't recovered from the great depression of the 1930's.

A flat tax sounds great to me . . . but not like the politicians call for. I believe it should be a flat tax on INCOME. That would be fair across the board.

"Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him".

 

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[hvacker]

Ah, so you've seen some culture . . . the wife, not Arkansas (JK). Got some Cajun blood but am a member of the United Houma Nation (First Nations / Native American), same for my wife.

Arkansas was a case of culture shock for me. Down here in Southeast Arkansas, I was once told by Mr. Cabiness (formerly with Job Services - State Employment Office) that the area still hasn't recovered from the great depression of the 1930's.

A flat tax sounds great to me . . . but not like the politicians call for. I believe it should be a flat tax on INCOME. That would be fair across the board.

"Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him".

Good to speak to a person from your Nation. Where I live, Native (Original) Americans are well represented throughout the State. Not sure but NM might have the largest Native population in the US. Their lives seem like an extended family and the idea of hording wealth I haven't seen seen.
When I lived in Ark and also Louisiana it seemed the money was made by just a few and everyone else scraped by. New Mexico is also a poor State in some ways like making money but very rich in other ways. I've managed to do ok here by adapting. Others seem to come and go.
When looking at all the jobs that are depended on our tax system like CPA's lawyers even form printers there is a lot of politics to keep it as it is.
Like you said "Indeed, everyone to whom much was given, much will be demanded of him". That should be sent to Washington written in stone.
Living in the USA brings out both positive and negative aspects of human nature. I guess history will tell which side wins. Kinda like a split personality Que'No!?

 

[Rebel - KGC]

It IS hard when you have your own culture "up-bringing" (Tribe) and yet, have to be like a WHITE American. ALL "Founding Fathers" were WHITE... MEN. Cognitive Dissonance is EVERYWHERE...

 

[onfire]

Hey Chadeaux, I spent some time in Arkansas myself. Right in the middle. Married a Cajun girl and had a kid there. Been awhile.
Some say the cure is more jobs. Funny people. First comes NAFTA, then make it ez to take a company off shore. Even reward leaving the USA with the jobs. Then our leaders wring their hands and ask "How did this happen?" Our fearless leaders got us into this and have no real clue how to fix it. Any healthy economy needs jobs. Maybe putting a hold on their pay checks would sober them up.
Naw, the air is too thin way up there.
I think an equal tax for rich people is about fairness. They know it won't fix much as there just aren't enough of them. Probably a good thing.
Kind of irritating when a guy can sit by his pool sipping a Margareta and paying 15% tax while a working stiff gets up everyday, goes to work and pays more. It's said the rich need more money because they create jobs. OK, so where are the jobs?

H. To answer your question on "Where's the job's" Maybe we have to look at the rules and restrictions placed on Co's by the environmentalist's (Epa) Sierra club, Osha, and god knows how many other Government run agency's. It does cost Millions to adhere to these rules. So I guess passing the cost down to the consumer is not smart business' Let's face it Wal Mart did not become the leader by sticking with American made good's. The majority of Fokes don't care where it's made it's the price.

Even talk about raising the Mim. wage to 15.00 would you pay 5 or 6 $ for a big mac?(Example) Back in the 60's I worked for U.S. Steel 35 thousand employes then. Dirty work, hot very little rules Money was outstanding piece work etc. These plants were built for the war effort Back then Safety was at a mim.(not a good thing) These factory were not built for comfort they were money maker's for business and people. Work ethic was quite different back then People just don't want to get dirty anymore.

On tax's, I ran a business back in the 90's and I paid 52% with S,S. and fed and state tax's. where do you get 15%? The only way is get rid of the loop holes.

 

[Chadeaux]

It IS hard when you have your own culture "up-bringing" (Tribe) and yet, have to be like a WHITE American. ALL "Founding Fathers" were WHITE... MEN. Cognitive Dissonance is EVERYWHERE...

Greetings Rebel. My upbringing in Louisiana was quite a bit different. Prior to the Civil War, Louisiana used special designations to classify different peoples. A "Free Colored" was a black man or woman who had either bought their freedom or had been granted it by their owner. The were still not allowed to own land or vote, but they were free of slavery. A "Free Man of Color" was used to denote any "non white" who also was not "negro". The classification usually applied to "savages" as the First Nations were called. A "Free Man of Color" could own land or even own slaves. There was a distinction.

Fast forward to the end of the 19th century / early 20th century.

Oil was discovered in our tribal home. How do you get these people off of this land without having to pay for it? At first, deceptive practices were used to get these uneducated savages to turn over the mineral rights to their land. However, when some began to get wise to the process something new had to be done to assure that the oil could be taken without compensation.

It was at this time that the State of Louisiana decided to make the classifications of "Free Man of Color" and "Free Colored" one in the same. Why?

Since blacks could not legally own land, by changing our classification to "Free Colored" they could "legally" take much of our tribal land. A side benefit was that they did not recognize my people as a tribe until the end of the 20th century. The Federal Government still refuses to do so as there are still legal issues over the seized land.

My people have had peace treaties with France for centuries. That nation recognizes and deals with us as a sovereign nation within the boundaries of the United States.

My family did not want us kids to know we were not white. While blacks were allowed to attend black schools, Indians could only attend Indian schools. My parents wanted me to have a proper education. Since we could more easily pass for whites than blacks, we moved to Mississippi and I entered public school. Once established, we were able to move back to Louisiana.

I did not know I was that much different from the other kids until after I became an adult, then it was explained while doing family tree research. I have lived my entire life as a white man. I did study history, I studied the Bible (my father was a Minister). I didn't accept what the teachers told us unless I could find it in the very old books at the library.

The Constitution and Declaration of Independence have always been an interest of mine. My upbringing is what made me who I am today. I now delve into some of the details of other Native American cultures more closely related to where I now live.

Were mistakes made? Yes, but those men are not here now. They have all received the wages for their mistakes. I only hold to task those who I see now.

How can someone living under such laws not be appreciative of the thought put into those documents that guarantee our freedoms? How can they be so indolent as to let those freedoms be taken away in the name of some promised safety by a group that have allowed these things to happen in the first place?

How?

 

[Red James Cash]

How can they be so indolent as to let those freedoms be taken away in the name of some promised safety by a group that have allowed these things to happen in the first place?

How?

I'll answer that,because the fools take what they have for granted.They think it will always be there and they are way to blind,or they just dont care,to see what they have taken for granted for so long disappear.Little jimmys soccer game is much more important than opening ones eyes to the truth.And they have the gall to still call themselves Americans.

 

[Rebel - KGC]

Greetings Rebel. My upbringing in Louisiana was quite a bit different. Prior to the Civil War, Louisiana used special designations to classify different peoples. A "Free Colored" was a black man or woman who had either bought their freedom or had been granted it by their owner. The were still not allowed to own land or vote, but they were free of slavery. A "Free Man of Color" was used to denote any "non white" who also was not "negro". The classification usually applied to "savages" as the First Nations were called. A "Free Man of Color" could own land or even own slaves. There was a distinction.

Fast forward to the end of the 19th century / early 20th century.

Oil was discovered in our tribal home. How do you get these people off of this land without having to pay for it? At first, deceptive practices were used to get these uneducated savages to turn over the mineral rights to their land. However, when some began to get wise to the process something new had to be done to assure that the oil could be taken without compensation.

It was at this time that the State of Louisiana decided to make the classifications of "Free Man of Color" and "Free Colored" one in the same. Why?

Since blacks could not legally own land, by changing our classification to "Free Colored" they could "legally" take much of our tribal land. A side benefit was that they did not recognize my people as a tribe until the end of the 20th century. The Federal Government still refuses to do so as there are still legal issues over the seized land.

My people have had peace treaties with France for centuries. That nation recognizes and deals with us as a sovereign nation within the boundaries of the United States.

My family did not want us kids to know we were not white. While blacks were allowed to attend black schools, Indians could only attend Indian schools. My parents wanted me to have a proper education. Since we could more easily pass for whites than blacks, we moved to Mississippi and I entered public school. Once established, we were able to move back to Louisiana.

I did not know I was that much different from the other kids until after I became an adult, then it was explained while doing family tree research. I have lived my entire life as a white man. I did study history, I studied the Bible (my father was a Minister). I didn't accept what the teachers told us unless I could find it in the very old books at the library.

The Constitution and Declaration of Independence have always been an interest of mine. My upbringing is what made me who I am today. I now delve into some of the details of other Native American cultures more closely related to where I now live.

Were mistakes made? Yes, but those men are not here now. They have all received the wages for their mistakes. I only hold to task those who I see now.

How can someone living under such laws not be appreciative of the thought put into those documents that guarantee our freedoms? How can they be so indolent as to let those freedoms be taken away in the name of some promised safety by a group that have allowed these things to happen in the first place?

How?

Why we have the Articles AND various, diverse Amendments...

 

[Rebel - KGC]

I'll answer that,because the fools take what they have for granted.They think it will always be there and they are way to blind,or they just dont care,to see what they have taken for granted for so long disappear.Little jimmys soccer game is much more important than opening ones eyes to the truth.And they have the gall to still call themselves Americans.

WHO are "the Fools"...? Have "the gall to still call themselves, Americans"...? WOW!

 

[hvacker]

H. To answer your question on "Where's the job's" Maybe we have to look at the rules and restrictions placed on Co's by the environmentalist's (Epa) Sierra club, Osha, and god knows how many other Government run agency's. It does cost Millions to adhere to these rules. So I guess passing the cost down to the consumer is not smart business' Let's face it Wal Mart did not become the leader by sticking with American made good's. The majority of Fokes don't care where it's made it's the price.

Hey Onfire. I don't like rules in my life much either but with some exceptions. I've got a lot of history and can remember when our industries were literally killing us by embracing wild west anything goes capitalism. It's ez to want to run a business the way one chooses but our industries were irresponsible and the rules came out of necessity. You mentioned OSHA. I can tell you from experience, construction were literally life threatening at one time. Not just construction sites but our industries as a whole. Today is very different and I'm happy about it. Those that do the $itching today are the same people that in the past willing to sacrifice workers for more money.
As far as people not caring about price, it's a matter of education. When they learn their job went to China, everything changes.

Even talk about raising the Mim. wage to 15.00 would you pay 5 or 6 $ for a big mac?(Example) Back in the 60's I worked for U.S. Steel 35 thousand employes then. Dirty work, hot very little rules Money was outstanding piece work etc. These plants were built for the war effort Back then Safety was at a mim.(not a good thing) These factory were not built for comfort they were money maker's for business and people. Work ethic was quite different back then People just don't want to get dirty anymore.

US Steel in particular lost interest in steel when steel only accounted for 6% of their profit. Most profit was made in plastics. After WW2 the Japanese steel industry was destroyed so we did what we often do, we rebuilt it. The difference was we made it state-of-the-art. For American steel to compete they would have had to do the same here. To them it wasn't worth it. I remember a NY skyscraper built in the early 60's with imported Japan steel, paid the shipping and tariffs but still saved millions over American steel. American steel industries chose short term profit over modernizing and America lost most of it's steel production.
Raising American children by telling them they are going to college and won't have to work like their fathers did is hopeless. Especially when the kids aren't college material. I think this will change soon.

On tax's, I ran a business back in the 90's and I paid 52% with S,S. and fed and state tax's. where do you get 15%? The only way is get rid of the loop holes.

Maybe I wasn't clear. The 15% tax is what is paid on investment profits. There are many people that live off just that income. In my business just my social security and Medicare tax is 15.7% alone.