The government owe us a stable country, and to make decisions to ensure that the economy and the wellbeing of the countries citizens are taken care of. It's very easy to make simplistic statements about the role of government, wouldn't we live in a wonderful country if taxi drivers and hairdressers and various guys down the pub were in charge - don't you think so?
Why does the Government *OWE* You?
by teenyuck 38 Replies latest social current
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ashitaka
Minimal government is the path to liberty.
damn strait.
ash
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searchfothetruth
Teenyuck,
Talking of the British Government, they 'owe' us in the sense that they screw the working man for every penny in tax that they can and then don't provide the services that they promise.
Just think of the amount of tax we pay:
Just to drive our car we have to pay tax on the purchase of the car, we then have to buy road tax (+£150 per year). We then have to pay over £3.20 per gallon of fuel (80% of which is tax ) and now we are being asked to pay congestion charges to use roads that we have already paid to use.
We pay national insurance contributions. I pay over £160 per month but the NHS is not providing the health care that it should.
I pay over £450 per month in income tax. Then I have to pay £795 per year council tax for local services. £350 per year for water and the list goes on and on.
The people who are voted into power are there to represent the needs of the community that elected them. But they don't.
Our government needs to run the country but not try and excessively run the lives of the people it governs. Britain is becoming a nanny state. There are rules and laws for everything and it's getting ridiculous.
A news article showed last week that the members of the Russian Moscow State Circus now have to wear Hard-hats when performing!! How stupid is that.
Yes the government do owe us. They owe us to listen to us when we disagree with policy and they owe us to live in freedom and the right to run our own lives without camera's watching our every move.
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obiwan
The one thing I've always felt the government owes, not specifically to me but to the country is to take care of thier own. Thier shouldn't be one person hungry in this country, or in need of physical care. I sometimes volunteer my time to a food shelter and I can't believe the people who come in for food, from adults to children......pitiful.
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Yerusalyim
Obiwan,
I think that's best left in the hands of private volunteer organizations. Free handouts by the government don't encourage people to work. I can point to more than one three generation welfare families where I come from. I've actually heard a father instruct his son, not how to go look for a job, but rather, how to get more AID money. I beleive in a minimal security net, not a welfare state.
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obiwan
I guess I should have been more specific. I mainly aim those remarks to children in general. As for housing there are place here where people make 15-16 doolars an hour and still cannot afford housing, not because of thier financial situation but simply because the housing is to high. Arizona comes to mind, in Phoenix it's sky high.
I do however agree with this statement.
I beleive in a minimal security net, not a welfare state.
People do need to work, but sometimes it's not enough.
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funkyderek
As for housing there are place here where people make 15-16 doolars an hour and still cannot afford housing, not because of thier financial situation but simply because the housing is to high. Arizona comes to mind, in Phoenix it's sky high.
Maybe they should live somewhere more affordable, or do you think people have a right to luxury housing?
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obiwan
It does cost money to move, and you have to have a job to go to, it's not that simple to pick up and move a family. Dateline just had a special on that very subject. The job market is still extremely tough, people are moving to find jobs and in the process they find jobs only to be living out of a shelter or thier rv that they moved in. These aren't excuses, it's the way things are out there right now. They gave an example of a mother of two who's husband left her, she had a good job making about the same as I stated before, but the housing was to high, she lived out of a shelter, got moved into a temporary home, didn't know from one day to the next if she would be forced to go back to the shelter, got on a program to get into housing with some assistance and 1 year later got a home. Thats tuff trying to work, provide a home you can't afford, get your kids to school, and going through hoops with the government to get a home. I only gave Phoenix as an example, many other places are just as tuff, and unfortunately that's where most of the jobs are as well.
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funkyderek
I only gave Phoenix as an example, many other places are just as tuff, and unfortunately that's where most of the jobs are as well.
Do you think it's some sort of conspiracy that house prices are higher where the job market is better, or does it possibly have something to do with the law (market law, not government law) of supply and demand?
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obiwan
Do you think it's some sort of conspiracy that house prices are higher where the job market is better, or does it possibly have something to do with the law (market law, not government law) of supply and demand?
No, just greed, supply and demand. I used to live in Akaska and prices for everything are outrageous, there was no need for the high prices just people trying to make a buck, since most things have to be brought in by boat. The government has watch dogs for alot of commercial products, gasoline for one, if gas stations are caught riping off the consumer to make an extra buck even though they don't need to they are fined and told to roll back thier prices...at least here in Michigan they are, the government could do the same for housing. Material has to be provided for gas, it's the same for housing, you have to have material, and there is no short supply of that.