Re: Recent commentary: another stimulus? Oh, boy!

1. Do you have a home loan?
2. If you bring in less money is it harder to pay back the loan?
3. Is the1.2 trillion we spent on Iraq an example of those compassionate programs that have given us this deficit?
4. We had a surplus just 11 years ago.
5. Isn't it true that the more you own, the more you take advantage of government services? Take an oil company for example. We fight wars, build infrastructure, protect shipping lanes, educate workers, create trade deals, maintain ports, maintain communication networks, and a thousand other things that help them. Joe City Dweller walks to work, doesn't own a home but rents instead, doesn't have a car. Sure he benefits from some government programs but not anywhere remotely close to the oil company. Yet his net income is going down and his taxes are going up while the oil companies gouge us and ARE GETTING SUBSDIES TO BOOT! how is that fair?

Re: Recent commentary: another stimulus? Oh, boy!

Tw9ff,

1. No, I rent. I have owned and paid mortgages on three homes, the last one foreclosed. Your point?

2. Yes. Your point?

3. I don't understand the thrust of the sarcasm/false dichotomy.

4. And a few other times in our history, yes. Doesn't last, does it?

5. I'm against subsidies for corporations, farms, the arts, etc. Regarding oil company subsidies, we're either paying for it through taxes or we'll pay for it through increased prices for gasoline at the pump. Which would you rather have? The people who pay income taxes (about 52% of the populace) subsidizing the oil companies to the tune of $20 billion over the next decade (according to the NYT in May, 2011)...or everyone who drives a car paying higher gas prices at the pump? I'm not saying I like the subsidies; I'm just saying that you need to examine what you wish for. The oil companies would simply charge more for their products...and the poorest people who drive cars would be hardest hit. If that's more "fair" then great!

The Town Crank