College costs shocked me...

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Originally Posted by Ws6
[Sounds good, let's just get someone to hold someone at gunpoint and take the money for it, then, yeah?

#TaxationIsTheft

It's an investment in the future. Not very difficult to understand.

Exactly. We're already taxed to death. I struggle to understand why people love burning money on the military, but are loathe to talk about affordable healthcare or education. It's insane.

I would love it if the taxes I paid were an investment in my country's future.

 

[Ws6]

Because tax money just leads to abuse and failure. Look at our military. Look at all the absolute hairbrained things they blow money on...that never get fielded, anyways, and then they award the company another few hundred million "for continuing development" even after calling the product a failure, etc.

Do you really want MORE of that in healthcare and education!?

Lot of good UHC did in lowering our cost to healthcare, huh? Why, insurance and medical care is just cheaper than ever, yeah?

Count me out of that. If people want something, THEY can pay for it for themselves. Not me, for them.

You know what taxes are? Taxes are men and women taking money from hard working people at gunpoint to give to other people who don't work hard/smart, because they bribed political appointees with positions, if they would issue the decree that said people should take your money at gunpoint. Don't think it's at gunpoint? I dare you not to pay a tax and find out. A man or woman with a gun, ultimately, WILL collect you. They might even kill you over it.

At least the common thug is willing to rob you themselves instead of trying to guilt you into thinking that it's "the right thing" because they elected a politician to do it for them and you should feel dirty not paying for their things.

Now, I'm not going to get into a shootout to protect money, because that's bad risk/benefit, but you better believe I'll never vote for some communist that wants to take what's mine, and I scoff at those who want to guilt me into supporting their lazy [censored].

 

[Aichiguy]

I would love it if the taxes I paid were used for constitutional purposes. Every single thing the federal government superintendents is inefficient and corrupt. The Constitution States that only those things explicit to the document are under the federal government's authority. All else goes back to the states where there is more accountability. Military spending is one of the few legitimate budget items. The size and scope of the federal government is appalling.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by grampi
They don't even teach anything worthwhile anymore...all that money just to be indoctrinated? Total waste of money as you come out of college stupider than when you went in...


Laughable. Our local manufacturing jobs in Pharma, guns, military tech, tech etc require 2 year college degree where the community college provides. No lazy high school grads need apply. Automation or cheaper labor abroad took care the simple manufacturing around here. I prefer educated population and high school not enough.

 

[Aichiguy]

The Constitution has been the template for exceptionalism for over 200 years. (What other country is the destination for millions who risk their lives for a better life?) It is unrivaled in the areas of freedom and prosperity. The further we stray from it, the more we look like the rest of the world.

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by Ws6
Because tax money just leads to abuse and failure. Look at our military. Look at all the absolute hairbrained things they blow money on...that never get fielded, anyways, and then they award the company another few hundred million "for continuing development" even after calling the product a failure, etc.

Do you really want MORE of that in healthcare and education!?

Lot of good UHC did in lowering our cost to healthcare, huh? Why, insurance and medical care is just cheaper than ever, yeah?

Count me out of that. If people want something, THEY can pay for it for themselves. Not me, for them.

You know what taxes are? Taxes are men and women taking money from hard working people at gunpoint to give to other people who don't work hard/smart, because they bribed political appointees with positions, if they would issue the decree that said people should take your money at gunpoint. Don't think it's at gunpoint? I dare you not to pay a tax and find out. A man or woman with a gun, ultimately, WILL collect you. They might even kill you over it.

At least the common thug is willing to rob you themselves instead of trying to guilt you into thinking that it's "the right thing" because they elected a politician to do it for them and you should feel dirty not paying for their things.

Now, I'm not going to get into a shootout to protect money, because that's bad risk/benefit, but you better believe I'll never vote for some communist that wants to take what's mine, and I scoff at those who want to guilt me into supporting their lazy [censored].

You're a [censored] fool. Taxes are a necessity of society, and spent properly by a government with its people in mind, benefit all.

Right now it's all corrupt and people prop up the corruption through their own ignorance. The AHC was never given a chance to succeed.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
You're a [censored] fool. Taxes are a necessity of society, and spent properly by a government with its people in mind, benefit all.

Right now it's all corrupt and people prop up the corruption through their own ignorance. The AHC was never given a chance to succeed.

You're telling me that taxes benefit all and work only when spent correctly by a non-corrupt government, and then you call me a fool for not wanting taxes?

Taxes have BECOME a necessity because people are entitled. I understand repealing them would kill off all the freeloaders, and that's not okay with the general populace of course, but I AM against any and all NEW taxes. We can't put this thing in reverse, but at least we can put the brakes on.

 

[grampi]

Originally Posted by talest
I think perhaps grampi is talking about other things, such as agendas of the social kind. The generation whatevertheycallit that was born 1989 or later is like a different species. Anyone under the age of 30 I do not think I can talk to outside of work...


Exactly!

 

[JeffKeryk]

Taxes? They should raise them for those who can afford it (like me) and lower them for those who cannot.
But use the $$ for things that will have a positive effect, like education.
Just my 2 cents.
Why? At the age of 25 I was in truly dire straights. At 33 I joined AA and De Anza College in Cupertino, studying Computer Science.
At 40 I got my 1st degree at San Jose State. Now I have 3. Education saved my life.

CA has high taxes. We are also the 5th largest economy in the world.
Much of this was fueled by the state, private and community colleges in Silicon Valley.

 

[Pew]

Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Originally Posted by Ws6
[Sounds good, let's just get someone to hold someone at gunpoint and take the money for it, then, yeah?

#TaxationIsTheft

It's an investment in the future. Not very difficult to understand.

Exactly. We're already taxed to death. I struggle to understand why people love burning money on the military, but are loathe to talk about affordable healthcare or education. It's insane.

I would love it if the taxes I paid were an investment in my country's future.


Because tax money just leads to abuse and failure. Look at our military. Look at all the absolute hairbrained things they blow money on...that never get fielded, anyways, and then they award the company another few hundred million "for continuing development" even after calling the product a failure, etc.


You're right on that point. The stupid crap the DoD wastes money on (why the [censored] does the army keep testing new uniforms? Choose one that looks relevant and not like grandma's couch.) Then the F35, V22s that kept failing, and the overly lack of the military's ability to actually do everything by itself. Not to mention the VA; oh we have extra money? Let's waste it on paintings so we can get a bigger budget next year.

But taxes are needed. I'm all for capitalism, but there's a place where the private sector shouldn't be. Only if our government services was more efficient and didn't require miles and miles of red tape.

Originally Posted by buster
I went to Rutgers University in NJ (state school). Ended up coming out with $15k in loans. I graduated in 2000. I went to school not knowing what I wanted to major in. I went because I knew if I didn't have a degree, job opportunities would be harder to come by (it's unfortunate that is the way society is). Unemployment has historically be lower among those with higher education. My career now (banking compliance/investigations) has nothing to do with my degree (economics/minor in biology). I changed my major 5 times while in college. I still don't have a single career I'm passionate about. My job is a job to me. It's a good one and I'm thankful for it, but I don't love it. Many of my friends went to private schools and came out with significant student loan debt. And they chose degrees that were not in high demand - Business Administration and Marketing are a few. Engineering and sciences I feel are always a safe bet. If you're going to a private school and majoring in History, Theater or Psychology.....good luck.

I will tell a kid today to go to community college first and bang out all the liberal arts/electives etc. then transfer to a school that is reasonable for a major you think you want to take up. I feel it's more important where you go for your master's degree than it is undergraduate.


Our VSAN software for our servers is made and supported from the Ukraine. We were just talking with them one night about life and they said that from a very young age they have to basically choose what field they're going in and they train/learn for it from it at that young age. Not bad, except they also say that if you end up not liking it the field that you choose or not doing good in it you're basically SOL; so I can kind of imagine both sides of the story.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Taxes? They should raise them for those who can afford it (like me) and lower them for those who cannot.
But use the $$ for things that will have a positive effect, like education.
Just my 2 cents.
Why? At the age of 25 I was in truly dire straights. At 33 I joined AA and De Anza College in Cupertino, studying Computer Science.
At 40 I got my 1st degree at San Jose State. Now I have 3. Education saved my life.

CA has high taxes. We are also the 5th largest economy in the world.
Much of this was fueled by the state, private and community colleges in Silicon Valley.


Well then why don't you donate to the charity or charges of your choice, instead of trying to hold the rest of us at gunpoint and force us to do with OUR money what YOU want? Hmmm?

Not a [censored] thing is stopping you from donating 0-100% of your income right now, this very moment, just as you propose. The fact that you want it taken by force says a lot...

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Taxes? They should raise them for those who can afford it (like me) and lower them for those who cannot.
But use the $$ for things that will have a positive effect, like education.
Just my 2 cents.
Why? At the age of 25 I was in truly dire straights. At 33 I joined AA and De Anza College in Cupertino, studying Computer Science.
At 40 I got my 1st degree at San Jose State. Now I have 3. Education saved my life.

CA has high taxes. We are also the 5th largest economy in the world.
Much of this was fueled by the state, private and community colleges in Silicon Valley.


Well then why don't you donate to the charity or charges of your choice, instead of trying to hold the rest of us at gunpoint and force us to do with OUR money what YOU want? Hmmm?

Not a [censored] thing is stopping you from donating 0-100% of your income right now, this very moment, just as you propose. The fact that you want it taken by force says a lot...

Good point.
I donate a minimum of (edited out) per year.
I also have Public Education in my trust, as I believe it will help the most people.

I did not say the rest of us; I said those who can afford it.
I hope this helps.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Taxes? They should raise them for those who can afford it (like me) and lower them for those who cannot.
But use the $$ for things that will have a positive effect, like education.
Just my 2 cents.
Why? At the age of 25 I was in truly dire straights. At 33 I joined AA and De Anza College in Cupertino, studying Computer Science.
At 40 I got my 1st degree at San Jose State. Now I have 3. Education saved my life.

CA has high taxes. We are also the 5th largest economy in the world.
Much of this was fueled by the state, private and community colleges in Silicon Valley.


Well then why don't you donate to the charity or charges of your choice, instead of trying to hold the rest of us at gunpoint and force us to do with OUR money what YOU want? Hmmm?

Not a [censored] thing is stopping you from donating 0-100% of your income right now, this very moment, just as you propose. The fact that you want it taken by force says a lot...

Good point.
I donate a minimum of (edited out) per year.
I also have Public Education in my trust, as I believe it will help the most people.

I did not say the rest of us; I said those who can afford it.
I hope this helps.


Who determines "who can afford it"? Are you suggesting a government committee to arbitrarily decide who to rob?

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Taxes? They should raise them for those who can afford it (like me) and lower them for those who cannot.
But use the $$ for things that will have a positive effect, like education.
Just my 2 cents.
Why? At the age of 25 I was in truly dire straights. At 33 I joined AA and De Anza College in Cupertino, studying Computer Science.
At 40 I got my 1st degree at San Jose State. Now I have 3. Education saved my life.

CA has high taxes. We are also the 5th largest economy in the world.
Much of this was fueled by the state, private and community colleges in Silicon Valley.


Well then why don't you donate to the charity or charges of your choice, instead of trying to hold the rest of us at gunpoint and force us to do with OUR money what YOU want? Hmmm?

Not a [censored] thing is stopping you from donating 0-100% of your income right now, this very moment, just as you propose. The fact that you want it taken by force says a lot...

Good point.
I donate a minimum of (edited out) per year.
I also have Public Education in my trust, as I believe it will help the most people.

I did not say the rest of us; I said those who can afford it.
I hope this helps.

I'm with you, and that's all I'll add further to this thread.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk
Taxes? They should raise them for those who can afford it (like me) and lower them for those who cannot.
But use the $$ for things that will have a positive effect, like education.
Just my 2 cents.
Why? At the age of 25 I was in truly dire straights. At 33 I joined AA and De Anza College in Cupertino, studying Computer Science.
At 40 I got my 1st degree at San Jose State. Now I have 3. Education saved my life.

CA has high taxes. We are also the 5th largest economy in the world.
Much of this was fueled by the state, private and community colleges in Silicon Valley.


Well then why don't you donate to the charity or charges of your choice, instead of trying to hold the rest of us at gunpoint and force us to do with OUR money what YOU want? Hmmm?

Not a [censored] thing is stopping you from donating 0-100% of your income right now, this very moment, just as you propose. The fact that you want it taken by force says a lot...

Good point.
I donate a minimum of (edited out) per year.
I also have Public Education in my trust, as I believe it will help the most people.

I did not say the rest of us; I said those who can afford it.
I hope this helps.


Who determines "who can afford it"? Are you suggesting a government committee to arbitrarily decide who to rob?

I can tell you this: One year I paid way over $120K in Federal Income taxes. That's a great problem to have.
I wish you luck in your career and life.

 

[SeaJay]

IMO, a nice chunk of the tax money spent on public schools through grade 12 is going into someone's pockets. At least in my neck of the woods where costs per student can exceed $30K per year. Teachers do okay salary wise, but not that good. Something's fishy. Not sure how much taxpayers are expected to pay on education, but if $30K per year per kid ain't enough, then something is rotten in Denmark is my conclusion.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

I can tell you this: One year I paid way over $120K in Federal Income taxes. That's a great problem to have.
I wish you luck in your career and life.


Good for you, but I for one am not a commie that feels entitled to a dime of what you earned, so enjoy it in good health. #Capitalism

 

[Alfred_B]

Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

I can tell you this: One year I paid way over $120K in Federal Income taxes. That's a great problem to have.
I wish you luck in your career and life.


Good for you, but I for one am not a commie that feels entitled to a dime of what you earned, so enjoy it in good health. #Capitalism

And then she slammed the door as she stormed out in disgust.

 

[Ws6]

Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

I can tell you this: One year I paid way over $120K in Federal Income taxes. That's a great problem to have.
I wish you luck in your career and life.


Good for you, but I for one am not a commie that feels entitled to a dime of what you earned, so enjoy it in good health. #Capitalism

And then she slammed the door as she stormed out in disgust.

Ma'am, I can assure you that I am not disgusted by JeffKeryk's income, or how they decide to spend/donate/etc. with it. 'Murica!


*I was curious though, how that shook out. JeffKeryk lives in Los Gatos. I live in NWA/SWMO.

To pay "way over $120K in Federal income taxes", that equates to an income of @ $450K+ (I presume under 500, or it would be "over $130K...").

Throwing that into a COL calculator, and it's ironic that their income and mine has identical purchasing power in our respective areas. It really blows my mind the CA is so expensive in some locations, just as I am sure it would boggle a CA'dweller's mind. I once asked a friend of mine who lives in Palo Alto about COL, and they told me my estate would easily be worth $8M, and that's before I bought another 7 acres. Crazy!

Which brings me to my next point...even in the same state, things vary, so how exactly, is some committee going to fairly decide who should be robbed to give to the lazy?

I'm against it.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by Alfred_B
Originally Posted by Ws6
Originally Posted by JeffKeryk

I can tell you this: One year I paid way over $120K in Federal Income taxes. That's a great problem to have.
I wish you luck in your career and life.


Good for you, but I for one am not a commie that feels entitled to a dime of what you earned, so enjoy it in good health. #Capitalism

And then she slammed the door as she stormed out in disgust.

Ma'am, I can assure you that I am not disgusted by JeffKeryk's income, or how they decide to spend/donate/etc. with it. 'Murica!


*I was curious though, how that shook out. JeffKeryk lives in Los Gatos. I live in NWA/SWMO.

To pay "way over $120K in Federal income taxes", that equates to an income of @ $450K+ (I presume under 500, or it would be "over $130K...").

Throwing that into a COL calculator, and it's ironic that their income and mine has identical purchasing power in our respective areas. It really blows my mind the CA is so expensive in some locations, just as I am sure it would boggle a CA'dweller's mind. I once asked a friend of mine who lives in Palo Alto about COL, and they told me my estate would easily be worth $8M, and that's before I bought another 7 acres. Crazy!

Which brings me to my next point...even in the same state, things vary, so how exactly, is some committee going to fairly decide who should be robbed to give to the lazy?

I'm against it.

Not bad on the income calc... Kudos.
Not so good on COL...
My COL is really low. No house payment, installed solar panels, etc.
It's all about investment. Especially education.
FYI, I minored in Econ; I am capitalist swine.