That old canard.

[meus_ovatio]

A random article became interesting because of the recent Wisconsin fight over public-sector compensation. UnitedHealth CEO makes 48.8 million.

This article sparks many interesting questions. They are:

Comments

[heavens_steed]

If you are so pissed about teacher's unions, why aren't you proudly explaining just how much more sick you are of paying for corporate failure?As a conservative sympathetic with Tea Party principles, I am against corporate welfare. Anyone who supports smaller government and free market principles should be opposed to any unjustified government welfare, whether it be for corporations or for individuals. However, corporate welfare is not the primary source of government spending and deficits. Entitlement and pension programs are

[meus_ovatio]

You mean the taxpayer money that was taken by force and funneled into executive bonus compensation was voluntary?

The only problem is that when the public sector has nothing left to feed on, it's going to starve and die.
Cool story bro, too bad it has nothing to do with reality. The public and private sectors both contribute and detract from economic performance. This simple narrative is an exercise in fairy-tale storytelling that has no basis in the reality of modern society.

[farchivist]

I am against corporate welfare.

Why do you hate business?

If you don't like to buy from or work with a particular corporation, you can go to another one

You probably also believe that a monopoly does not develop without government help or that if one does, it's because everyone is happy with the product. Like Microsoft Windows.

It's the wealthier and more productive citizens who are getting screwed and I defend them.

1) I'm not getting screwed, thank you.
2) I don't need (or want) your defense.

Secondly, when the rich and the primary movers of the private sector are punished, it means the rest of us will suffer too. There will be less prosperity and less job opportunity. When the rich get poorer, the poor get poorer too. That is to say, directly hurting the rich will indirectly hurt people like me.

Trust me, if I get punished you won't suffer at all. Trickle down is a lie. I'll still be spending the same amount whether I'm punished or not.

Lower the tax rates on the wealthy while simplifying the tax code to either a flat tax

[farchivist]

But actually, don't take my word for it.

[sealwhiskers]

I doubt many who should read this will, but it's a good read.

[farchivist]

No, I won't get a single response to this. I already know.

[lai_choi_san]

I'm so impressed to see that the way of martyrdom did not become entirely dead letter these days.
If I could, I would put your comment under a glass case with some saint-sulpician decoration.

[meus_ovatio]

Does anyone else find the rhetoric of personal responsibility so disgustingly twisted by those who would preach dependency?

[lai_choi_san]

I feel ashamed for I am a great sinner. ;)

[anfalicious]

My massa is so so good, he gives me food and water and only beats me when I'm bad. If we take away his right to own slaves I'll be out on the street with no one to take care of me.

You mention you're poor. Compare your situation to one comparable in any other developed nation. This is why people call cognitive dissonance. Being poor in the US is worse than being poor in any other developed nation, but it sure is the best place in the world to be rich; yet most of the poor in the US seem to be blaming government, not the robber barons who are enslaving them.

[sealwhiskers]

Don't forget the fear mongering by the right wing propaganda machine, that all those other countries are socialist, and that people are forced to only choose between one or two brands are dressed the same and hardly have any restaurants to go to, oh and all those awful lines to get to the doctor!

I know many lower income people in the US who have totally bought into these lies and think that their lot in life in the US is the best they can get.