Investor Class

[shostakovich]

I heard somebody on a business program rating Bush on the good he has done for the "investor class". At the end he gave the president A+ on his moves to benefit the "investor class".

I certainly can't argue with the grade. He has done the most for the group that needs the least help. This is a big part of the misguided (IMO)Bush legacy.
Shos

[barfle]

Well, I'm a member of the "investor class." I work at a 50+ hour per week job, and I know that if I'm going to have a retirement that doesn't involve poverty that I have to do something intelligent with my earnings, so I invest them (although there are some really fun toys... ). That money goes into businesses to either hire people or to purchase capital equipment to improve their productivity and our standard of living.

Most people who feel that retirement is something good are doing the same. I'm not wealthy, although I'm comfortable, and hopefully in less than ten years I'll have enough wherewithall that I can have it support me instead of the other way around.

You know I'm no fan of Bush, but it's very difficult to cut taxes for someone who doesn't pay taxes like I do. And boy, do I pay taxes!

[OperaTenor]

What a disappointment! I thought this thread was going to be on smart investing.....

[barfle]

Originally posted by OperaTenor:
What a disappointment! I thought this thread was going to be on smart investing.....

Buy low.

Sell high.

[OperaTenor]

Thanks, I feel much better now.

[shostakovich]

From Barfle: "Well, I'm a member of the "investor class." I work at a 50+ hour per week job, and I know that if I'm going to have a retirement that doesn't involve poverty that I have to do something intelligent with my earnings, so I invest them (although there are some really fun toys... ). That money goes into businesses to either hire people or to purchase capital equipment to improve their productivity and our standard of living.

Most people who feel that retirement is something good are doing the same. I'm not wealthy, although I'm comfortable, and hopefully in less than ten years I'll have enough wherewithall that I can have it support me instead of the other way around.

You know I'm no fan of Bush, but it's very difficult to cut taxes for someone who doesn't pay taxes like I do. And boy, do I pay taxes!"

------------------------------------------------------
Hey there, member of the investor class. I'm not criticizing you. You work hard and plan well. You deserve a good retirement, especially necessary with the long life genes you've inherited. And if you pay lots of taxes, I'd feel better if that money went to help some (deserving) people who don't get a tax break because they don't pay taxes and fall through the cracks of any assistance. My criticism is of Bush's one-sided campaign to enrich the rich without doing ANYTHING to help the poor. That growing gap between rich and poor should be an embarrassment rather than a source of pride for our leaders IMO.
Shos

PS: "Buy low.

Sell high."


Hmmmmm, I'll have to try it THAT way. Thanks.

[piqaboo]

and hold for a year to get a lower tax rate on the profits.

[barfle]

Shos, I know you weren't criticizing the benefactors of the tax cut (which I am). And while I sympathize with those who haven't had the ability to jump on the bandwagon that I'm on, I don't feel it's proper (note my post regarding "morality") to take from the haves in order to give to the have-nots without their permission.

I've seen what two, three, and four generations of welfare have done to self-esteem, and what kind of people we turn out by doing what we thought was a kindness. It turns out that it's most definitely not kind to tell people they deserve what they don't. It makes parasites and derelicts, generation after generation.

The government owes nobody a handout. Charities can work wonders if they are given the opportunity.

[Marye]

Charities can work wonders if they are given the opportunity

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

Sorry Barfle... that is what this sentence sounds like to me.

[barfle]

Mary, I don't get the connection between a charity that is allowed to do what it was formed to do and a prison.
statement refers to the idea that charitable donations would increase if taxes were decreased. The reasons that charity is preferable to welfare include losing the idea of someone being entitled to a handout, and the idea that a charity, being voluntarily funded, comes from peoples desire to help, not from their aversion to punishment (for not paying taxes).

At the moment, charities are in competition with the government, both in collection and in dispersion of funds.

I hope that clears up any confusion.

<small>[ 11-09-2004, 04:13 PM: Message edited by: barfle ]</small>

[Marye]

Sorry Barfle,

You sounded like Scrooge. I was quoting Dickens .. but I am sure you knew that and I just made it all confusing.

Oh... never mind (Emily Litella-like).

[barfle]

OK.