>>>>>>>Now Obama's tax plan raises Obama's taxes and those making more than 1/4 million a year.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> $250,000 is not that much money - and that include the vast majority of small businesses in this country.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Way to go in a bad economy - make it worse.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Well $250,000 a year might not be that much to you - but for almost ALL Americans it's way more than they will ever earn. Doing this will not make the economy worse.
>>>>>
>>>>>I have a recipe for anybody who wants to make $250K (maybe I should write a book <g>). Get up at 5:30 am or 6:00 am. Go to the gym. Then work about 10-12 hours trying to be productive. Think of ways you can advance yourself in your company. If your company does not offer the opportunity, start your own. Do that about 6-7 days a week. Stop watching dumb tv shows. Stop smoking pot, drinking and eating in excess. Stop listening to the liberal establishment that the government should take care of you. Anybody following my plan can make $250K (not in a week or a month; it takes years to get to this level).
>>>>
>>>>No, not anyone can. Some people simply don't have the raw ability.
>>>>
>>>>There are plenty of people of people out there who work hard and live right and take opportunities that come along and will never make that kind of money.
>>>>
>>>>Tamar
>>>
>>>I don't agree with you regarding "raw ability." But I agree with you that not everybody will make this kind of money. There is certain luck involved or karma or whatever one may call it. But striving for this number (or whatever number each has in mind) - without thinking that the government will "get" you if you reach this goal - is what I am for.
>>
>>As you say, there is a certain luck involved; I referred to it as opportunity some messages back. My thinking is that if you are one of the lucky ones, you have an obligation to pay that luck forward, and one of the ways you do that is by paying more taxes than the unlucky ones.
>>
>>Tamar
>
>I think you just turned everything upside-down <g>. You and I differ in fundamentals. You think that some people do not have the "raw ability" (that is you already look down on them) and some (like me) are lucky to fall into a fortune. (I will write you a story about your "raw ability" misconception in another message to make this one shorter). You disregard that luck comes to those who work hard. We are not talking about winning a lottery. I believe that people should be rewarded according to their work; no matter the amount. You believe in distributing wealth. The philosophy to which you prescribe leads to socialism and totalitarian regime. And I am not that much concerned about myself; I am worried about the type of country my children will live in.

I said some messages back that success has three requirements: ability, effort and opportunity. I don't think anyone succeeds without all three. Does effort lead to more opportunity? Sure, but some people start with greater opportunities.

I spelled out in detail in a message many of the opportunities I was given over the years, but it all stemmed from coming from a family of educated people and living in a community that made a point of giving their children opportunities. I started my life with a tremendous advantage over many others.

We tend to hear great triumph over adversity stories, people achieving success starting from very little. Whenever I look at such stories, there's always someone who made that first opportunity available, whether it's a Big Brother/Sister or a teacher or a neighbor or someone.

Those who are given opportunities have a moral responsibility to make opportunities available for others. I heard Bill Gates say this once: "The more success you have, the more responsibility you have." He's living that through his foundation.

We form societies to make more opportunities available for all. By banding together, people can specialize and do what they do best, and we can protect each other. Government is simply the mechanism we use to make the society operate.


>Let me give you a scenario of what Obama and extreme liberal establishment will bring. One of your kids will become successful - being it in law, medicine, high tech, whatever. They will be making good money and living in a nice house. One day someone will knock on their door and tell them "get out of here, you capitalist pig, this is now a communal property." You think this is far-fetched; I don't. I was in Spain two years ago when they had a general strike - basically socialists and communists parading around the city intimidating everybody and destroying other people's businesses. When I saw it, it was like someone transferred me to 1917 in Russia, rad flags, rad shirts, rad posters, angry faces, as I saw many times in the Soviet movies. The "occupy Wall Street" is the harbinger of what is coming.

I understand that this is what you fear. People have been red-baiting in this way for nearly a century. I consider it farfetched, at best.

Tamar