If Ronald Reagan would be alive nowadays he would be a democrat ?!?

[DasTiger]

I am obviously a minority here so I will tread lightly with my thoughts so as not to further stir up anyone's emotions.

What you speak of FAC is a pledge to not raise taxes. Period. On anyone. Including the poor, the middle class or the rich. I could quote just as many articles or more that criticize every economic policy out there.

Why has society turned on the rich so much? I know that historically all revolutions are based on this. But can't people see that Big Government is the problem? Can't people understand the basics of human spirit? To achieve, to prosper? And don't people understand that most of our high level politicians are millionaires and wonder how someone such as that can become a millionaire from politics?

Mark my words. This out of control spending by ALL countries is insane. In my country I hope we'll stop it but who really thinks we will. The most successful societies in the history of the world are where the people are more free, more involved. I will shut up now. But I will retain my beliefs. And for the last time I will pull out the Milton Friedman video. I ask you to watch it. Really watch it.

I don't think unregulated free enterprise is the answer to all problems. There must be regulation. The bad side of human spirit requires it. But at what point does human spirit get crushed. At what point does Thomas Edison NOT create the light bulb. Is taxes on the $250 K or above population (which is what Obama wants) enough to stifle creativity? Is it 150K. Hell, I don't know at what point it is stifled. But at some point the Black market kicks in. And then Taxes tank. And then more taxes again and so on. Before you know it it's anarchy or revolution.

2 stories and I'll stop.
I have seen more US $100 dollar bills change hands at one time than anywhere else in the world. And that was at the 7th kilometer mall in Odessa, Ukraine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-Kilometer_Market All of it was untaxed and on the black market. Why? Because no one wanted to pay taxes and corruption is the rule there. A tax man there would be killed and never seen again. Yushchenko said he would regulate it and crack down but he didn't.
A Scotch tour guide in Normandy started to fill out a mountain of paperwork at the end of our tour of the battlefields. My brother and I asked him what he was doing. He said it was the French tourism papers he had to file. He offered to tear the papers up and he would half the price of the tour. We didn't do it but how many do? And how much does France lose because they tax the tourism trade at approximately 55% and regulate how many tours you can do a week? How much revenue is lost?

I think this all comes down to a belief in what a good society is. George Orwells 1984 maybe? Logans Run maybe? Or maybe one where we are free to decide for ourselves and reap the benefits (or failures) of those decisions.

And the assumption that all rich people did something wrong or evil to get rich is just wrong. Do some? Of course! (Look at Washington) Read "The Millionaire Mind". It might give you a new perspective on things.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Millionaire-Mind-Thomas-Stanley/dp/0740718584

Two last quotes:

"Property is the fruit of labor...property is desirable...is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." Abraham Lincoln

"Find somebody to be successful for. Raise their hopes. Think of their needs." Barack Obama

 

[Bert Blitzkrieg]

@Das Tiger. Yearly there are made lists of people/countries who are asked if they feel thea are happy etc. ( http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/344450/20120523/top-ten-happiest-countries-world-2012.htm#page9) . The US isn't in that list and hasn't been there for years. Most of the countries in this list have "big" governments. So they must do something right. But I agree that a govenment should not be too large. It costs money and makes it own bureaucracy. And I believe that government officials are too easy in spending money since it isn't their own and they are not really accountable for it (just like bankers).

And despite the relatively high taxes here in the Netherlands there are still Dutch billionaires and millionaires...

 

[Facman]

Why has society turned on the rich so much?

Simple answer, Reagan's Supply Side Economic policy (aka 'Trickle Down Theory' or 'Voodoo Economics') have increased the gap between the haves and have nots. So much so that the tide is turning, and the size and direction of the flow are now subject to change due to the dissatisfaction of the American People. Like it or not, the wealthy have poisoned the Goose that layed the Golden Egg. Now we can trade quotes from articles supporting our positions regarding the problem, but the real point is that in the ebb and flow of life, we are once again flowing with the inevitable tide. As Teddy Roosevelt did during his day, when he birthed the Progressive Movement, we are reacting to the excesses of the plutocrats. The wealthy and those who think they can do no wrong, are now reaping the fruits of their labors. I for one am glad to see it and will continue to vote accordingly.


http://www.americanprogress.org/iss...1/11998/the-failure-of-supply-side-economics/