Comments on: The rural life: Thoughts the morning after

By: Catherine

Catherine — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:15:18 +0000

More than a million in a single year. And we paid AMT on money we never even earned. Shocking, yes, and rather painful. But we put the rest into property, like the Romneys, so nothing would have trickled down had we not been taxed. Government is messy and wasteful, just like corporations, so certainly we all want to work to improve that. But this notion that the country is being taken down by lazy, poor people is just so dismal and simplistic.

By: Kirk MacKenzie

Kirk MacKenzie — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 20:28:58 +0000

Mr Martin — I agree with you on: “But instead, it went to the government who wasted approximately 40% of it (depending on which audit you believe) on bureaucracy and waste and then arbitrarily decided who would get the rest.”…and that’s just accounting for what governments are *trying* to do, as opposed to what we want them to do. I also agree with the author agreeing with Governor Romney: “And we citizens also have to rise to the occasion.” I believe We the people must improve the way we carry out our constitutional duties. And that starts with our relationship with our representatives, from the city council to the House of Representatives.

By: Jack Martin

Jack Martin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:18:45 +0000

For the sake of the discussion Catherine, I will accept your assertion that you and your husband have paid… millions… in taxes. And I can appreciate your concern for the most vulnerable in society. So… how many more people could you have employed and DIRECTLY caused to be less vulnerable if your tax bill had been, let’s say, half? You could have employed a LOT of people for the half of the MILLIONS you paid and they could have driven their own destinies. But instead, it went to the government who wasted approximately 40% of it (depending on which audit you believe) on bureaucracy and waste and then arbitrarily decided who would get the rest.

By: James E.

James E. — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:12:13 +0000

Catherine, too much greed and me-me-me in our society. Sadly, I doubt it will change, but we can hope.

By: Catherine

Catherine — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:56:02 +0000

I wish people would judge the country by how it treats its its most vulnerable citizens. Personally, my husband and I have paid millions in taxes, and it has never once dawned on us to achieve less because we’d be taxed. I also have disabled family members, and I want to live in a society that ensures their health, safety, and autonomy. Sharing is hard, but it should be how we measure civilization.

By: James E.

James E. — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:55:10 +0000

Mr. Martin, I have read your three comments below.
We won, you lost, suffer the pain and stop relying on Rasmussen and Gallup.

By: Jack Martin

Jack Martin — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:41:43 +0000

First of all, I find it so interesting that it’s always the left-leaning members of the media who keep bringing up race and demographics. Always counting the numbers, making observations on the diversity of the faces. Conservatives don’t give a rat’s ass about someone’s skin color. We care about their political views. We care that, regardless of skin color, the mentality of this country is changing. As one tv pundit observed, “People are no longer following John Kennedy’s credo of not asking what your country can do for you. That’s exactly what they are asking. They want free stuff.” This is new in American history and will permanently change the country. And how will an individual be free to become a millionaire or billionaire if this mentality persists for another decade? The heaping regulations, punitive taxes and IRS intrusions on 7-figure earners drastically reduce any incentive someone has to achieve. And this quote “We use the power of us — the government — to provide opportunities that can enable the poor, with work and persistence, to someday move into the middle class, to become not-poor. “…is merely your opinion. Conservatives do not believe it is the government’s role to confiscate wealth and redistribute to whomever THEY deem fit. That idea is NOT American. That idea, however, does lead to dependency and ultimately, to Greece. Ms Meyer, all the while you are preaching to us to not be afraid of change, you are misunderstanding the nature of the change itself. We do not fear an America that is less white, we fear an America that is less motivated, whatever its aggregate skin tone may be.

By: kgg

kgg — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:38:10 +0000

“America is still America, still operating the way the framers of the Constitution intended, still choosing her presidents by a vote of the citizens, still motoring resolutely into the future.”

well said – thanks for that healthy dose of reality.