From: mccall@mksol.dseg.ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539)
Newsgroups: tx.politics
Subject: Re: Clinton has won...watch your pocket!
Date: 15 Nov 92 14:04:20 GMT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Texas Instruments Inc

In <21846@rpp386.lonestar.org> jfh@rpp386.lonestar.org (John F. Haugh II) writes:

>In article <1992Nov9.062220.6644@europa.lonestar.org> tom@europa.lonestar.org (Tom Kimball) writes:
>>"Only the little people pay taxes".  Where have we heard that one before?  

>Ah, now the straw man.

>You know, it isn't the fact that I pay taxes that pisses me off, but rather
>that I pay so damned much in taxes.  Including property, sales, federal
>income, and social security, we will pay about $50,000 in taxes next year.

Well, that assumes, of course, that we can believe numbers like this
from Mr. Haugh.  After all, he's already said that he will lie and say
anything that is convenient to his argument in this exact area (since
taxes paid are pretty much going to be related to income).

>>Thank you, George Bush and Ronald Reagan, for getting us into deep deep voodoo.

>Please, George Bush and Ronald Reagan aren't the ones that have invented
>entitlement program after entitlement program.  Had Social Security been
>run like a private business instead of a source of Democratic Party votes,
>the reforms in Social Security which are only now occuring (now that the
>tax rate is 7.55% for workers and over 15% for the self-employed ...)

This isn't correct.  Self-employed pay less, from what I understand.

>would have been made at the start of the Reagan administration.  The same
>is true for FSLIC, FDIC, DoEd, and so on.  

Uh, excuse me, but those programs are run BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH.
For example, the FSLIC and FDIC programs ROUTINELY pay out to people
who shouldn't be covered according to the rules of the program.  Why
do you think that is?  DoEd is a CABINET POSITION, for Christ's sake!

And let's not mention the jiggery-pokery by which the Republican
Executive has made its own deficits look smaller by folding in the
SOCIAL SECURITY SURPLUS.  Yes, indeed, it's sure run much better with
Republicans making those decisions.  NOT!

>Because House members are
>re-elected every 2 years and because their districts cover smaller numbers
>of voters, they must demonstrate incredible pork producing skills.

Horse manure.  So are we to presume that what you would REALLY prefer
is electing a 'lifetime legislature' or something?  The terms are
short so they have to be MORE RESPONSIVE TO THE PEOPLE THEY REPRESENT.
You will note that they can't 'produce pork' all by themselves, since
both the Senate (elected for the 'short' term of 6 years) *AND* the
Executive generally have to sign off on and agree to what they do.

>And, like it or not, =all= spending bills originate in the House ...

Yes, and nobody else is even allowed to speak to them to get things
they might want introduced in the House, the Senate doesn't have to
agree, and the President never proposes anything.  Yeah, right.  We
all believe that, John.  

Face it.  The bankruptcy of this line of argument is clear to even
small children; why are you still trying to push it?

-- 
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live
 in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden
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Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me.