Who is your choice for our next President ?

[ERDoc]

Really, 20 million unemployed, but all we have to do is say "I am Bill Gates", I am Bill Gates", I am Bill Gates", and all will be just fine.

I think I see what your problem is. You don't seem to understand what hard work means. I said, if you are willing to work hard there is opportunity there. A Bill Gates will only come along every once in a while but there is still plenty of opportunity.

[Asysin2leads]

Five bucks says that if florists made stock options flamingemt's economic theories would be markedly adjusted. I know artists. Real artists. People not only with talent, but who work incredibly hard and persevere to perfect their craft. They are so good that they are able to support themselves. They are the 0.01% of the population who can pull that off. The other 99.9% adopting "the life" and all its accoutrements and smoking weed or doing LSD while living off student loans and writing essays about the whether the brightness of a modern art piece represents simple brightness or the artist's yearning to achieve in a phallocentric nihilist world, they're just waiting their money, my money, and their parent's money. If you haven't sold a piece in years, its because you're not really that good an artist and need to find another job.

[JPINFV]

Spoken like true republicans living off the government but in denial that you do. I do not know where you work, but if you are in EMS, you are totally funded from the government tit. You are either funded by a municipal government body through taxes, or you work for a private/hospital service that is funded through Medicare/Medicaid. Either way, the government pays your salary and benefits.

So the obvious solution is to refuse to treat patients on Medicare/Medicaid? Furthermore, how does selling a service to the government require support for any and all taxes?

If we had everything over a million dollars that ten of these people earned, we would not need charity JPIN, we would not have a national debt, we could afford free college tuition, healthcare, and social security for everyone, and could probably take your tax rate down to zero.

http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/

You're point? I don't expect to live off of Bill Gates tit.

yes net wealth is the same as income,

I own a car. It's a 2003 Sebring with almost 100k miles on it. It's worth a few thousand dollars. It was worth a few thousand dollars last year. It will probably be worth a few thousand dollars next year. However, just because I own a car doesn't mean that I get a few thousand dollars every year because that's what the cars worth.

Similarly, I'm a couple hundred dollars in student loan debt right now, thus making my net worth a couple hundred dollars in the red. However, I don't gain a couple hundred dollars in debt every year because my net worth is in the red.

[romneyfor2012]

I think what he is trying to say is that both are connected. They could not buy the things without the money, especially now that bank financing is impossible to obtain. So if Bill Gates only made 1 million, and then purchased 4 $ 250,000,000 Rolls Royce, he still has a million dollar net worth until the cars depreciate.

Conversely JPIN, if you made 20,000 and spent all of that on stuff (daily living), and then borrowed another 12k for school, you would have a negative net worth of -12k (unless you had other assets to offset (like your car; take 3k off and you are now -9k)

[paramedicmike]

So if Bill Gates only made 1 million, and then purchased 4 $ 250,000,000 Rolls Royce, he still has a million dollar net worth until the cars depreciate.

Not trying to be nitpicky but check your numbers. If he bought four Rolls Royce cars valued at $250,000,000 each his net worth would be -$249,000,000 (negative 249 million dollars).

[romneyfor2012]

A car was a bad example, as it immediately depreciates. Your net worth is everything you own in assets, minus what you owe. So if he bought a million dollars worth of gold with cash, and it maintained its value that day, he would still have a million dollars in networth (assuming this was his total assets minus his total liabilities).

Any business owner will tell you that they do not draw a paycheck, as it means they double tax themselves. Instead they let the business pay their liabilities (house, cars, other bills/expenses). So although they may not get the traditional paycheck, they still get paid. CEOs are the same, most of their pay comes from ways other than paychecks.

[HERBIE1]

I think one of the biggest problems we have these days is the entitlement mentality and a feeling that the world/government/society/everyone owes you something. That was not the mentality that made this nation great. We were defined by our work ethic, our spirit, our ability to dream big, to take chances, and to work towards a better life.

We also knew that there were NO promises in this world- of success or of wealth- unless you were a trust fund kid or born into wealth. At some point in the recent past, a movement developed that fed the notion that we somehow "deserve" something- for whatever reason- without ever needing to work for it.

Sorry- some folks will be wealthy, some will be poor, and the vast majority will simply be struggling to keep their heads above water. That's life. Some will be dealt a shitty hand in life, some can overcome the odds despite coming from humble beginnings, some can seemingly have it all- good family, money, education- and still throw it all away.

I'm not a religious person, but since when did we give the green light to covet thy neighbors goods?

[akflightmedic]

I'm not a religious person, but since when did we give the green light to covet thy neighbors goods?

It happened when we took religion out of schools!! Those damn atheists are ruining everything good we have in this life.

[FireMedic65]

I am voting for Trump... if he is going to run or not!

[aussiephil]

Personally I wish ALL politics was more like the Italian politics. I mean it's sort of exciting & at least when Illona Staller, aka La Cicciolina, was there it was worth watching.