"The rich don’t use any government services, so they shouldn’t pay taxes" (Faux news wisdom)

[El Fuego]

I just heard this line of BS on Faux news which I was forced to watch during lunch.

This is what I learned on Faux from their very stern and authoritative expert bimbo: “Only the lower classes use government services.” The super wealthy don’t use services like housing assistance, food stamps, or welfare. So they are disproportionately taxed! It is a very grave injustice. The rich don’t even need government services! Ergo, they should not pay taxes!

If we’re going to follow this absurdity to its logical conclusion, it would seem that only people who are poor enough to actually need food stamps and welfare will be required to pay taxes. But they don’t really have any money, since they're poor, which is why they need the food stamps and the welfare in the first place. :eyes: So we’ll just cut out all assistance to the needy since the needy can’t pay their own way. (Mission Accomplished!)

I’m not one of the mega rich, and I don’t use housing assistance, food stamps or welfare either. So why should I have to pay taxes?? I don’t have kids, so I should be able to opt out of paying taxes to support public schools, right? Is that the way this ala carte tax system works?

So let’s say the super rich shouldn’t pay taxes because they don’t need food stamps or welfare. Fine. But they can’t use any other government supported infrastructure either. They can’t drive on interstate highways funded by the federal government. They can’t fly in airplanes because they would be using aircraft control infrastructure. They can’t vote, because that’s a governmental function supported by taxes.

And if their homes catch on fire, it will just have to burn-baby-burn, because They. Don’t. Use. Services.


(I have nothing against the super wealthy, I just had to rant back the idiocy of fox news.)

[htuttle]

1. The US military has been protecting their investments for over a century

[terisan]

8. Excellent Point. n/t

[Kber]

22. Excellent point - and the biggest part of the budget btw

Bill Gates argued that the rich benefit the most from living in a safe society where the rule of law prevails since they have more material wealth at stake. Therefore, he suggests that the rich should pay a larger share of taxes than they currently do.

[Poiuyt]

2. Have they forgotten the military?

How much is Bush's war costing again?

[BOSSHOG]

3. I guess they don't drive on paved roads or are protected by our military either

I don't get housing assistance, welfare or food stamps and I'm not rich. Just another example of conservative lunacy.

[YOY]

20. Nor would they need police/military assistance when the Plebians come to burn

down their houses and lynch them (those ingrateful peasants!)

[AnneD]

4. Tell that to

Donald Trump and Ross Perot. :eyes:

[Solon]

5. What the fuck do they do, hover above our public roads?

Do they use there own private police or fire department, what about military, do they have there own so we don't have to protect their investments?

[rfranklin]

7. The truly wealthy have helicopters...

Because they do not sit in traffic jams.

[Solon]

18. Anheiser Busch the third, or whoever the fuck owns Busch brewery...

flies over my house on the way to work about once a week or so.

[LiberalFighter]

47. The airwaves are still regulated by the government

whether by the FCC or FAA

[NewJeffCT]

39. the rich just walk on water

I think that is what Supply-Side Jesus says...

[rfranklin]

6. You should have something against the super wealthy....

They are the ones who are funding this right wing idiocy. It is used to poison the minds of the people who they are screwing into voting against their own best interests.

[Rosemary2205]

9. LOL

another doozy from the right........ LOL

Guess none of them ever used a public street - eat food transported on the highways or railways -- or benefit from the integrity of the banking and investment systems guaranteed by taxpayer funded law enforcement and judicial systems.............

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. It wasn't meant too be a thought provoking statement, quite the opposite, I think.

:evilgrin: And I bet the results, i.e. feel sorry for the rich, even though most of us aren't, were achieved from the faux snooze viewing audience.

[SharonAnn]

They don't fly and don't have to worry about other planes falling on them.

They don't ride on the highways nor use any items that are transported on them.

They don't take any medication and don't need safe food.

They provide their own air so they don't need to worry about pollution.

They can't catch contagious illnesses so they don't need the CDC and Public Health organizations.

They don't hire people who need to be able to read and calculate or they educate those they hire after they hire them.

They dn't need to be secure, so they don't need a military to protect their country nor law enforcement to protect themselves and their property.

They don't use hospitals or ambulances and wouldn't ever need emergency help.

etc., etc.

[Lurking Dem]

10. That's farkin' hilarious!

How do they spew crap like that with a straight face?

[Odin2005]

50. That crap is typical Libertarian selfish, anti-social ideology

[SteppingRazor]

11. I agree with the lady on Fox News!

And now that the military and the police are no longer protecting anyone making more than a low six-figure salary, let the looting begin! :evilgrin:

[sandnsea]

12. They got rich with those labor subsidies

That's what we need to start calling social programs people - cheap labor subsidies. That's what they are. Costco is the proof which is why they really hate Costco. Most low income workers can be paid enough to not need any govt programs, but then the stockholders would have to make less.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/?p=69

[orwell]

13. So the rich don't use...

...the court system, foreign aid, government investment in R&D, the military, interest on the national debt (largely paid to "the rich"), ag subsidies (largely paid to corporate agribusiness), oil subsidies, roads, bridges and other infrastructure...and so on...

That's news to me.

Hey, how do you like that, Faux actually coming up with fake news.

Who'd a thunk it?

[treestar]

The rich use the court system far more than the middle class or the poor!

Heck, it's getting to the point where only the rich can afford a civil suit!

[panader0]

14. Not just the military, what about roads, bridges and countless

other "services" that the rich use. And I have something against the super rich. heir carbon footprints are huge, with flying to Paris for lunch, etc., and not paying their share of taxes. No one gets to be super rich without stepping on the heads of many, many people. For every person that is super rich, it takes many people to be poor. Obviously, everyone cannot be super rich, who would do your laundry?

[melm00se]

15. I'll bet that they are

referencing this study:

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/2286.html

[Norquist Nemesis]

16. Also no protections involving police, FBI, or the military.

And no government contracts from said agencies either! :)

[jus_the_facts]

17. THEY. GET. CORPORATE. WELFARE.

[Richard Steele]

19. The super-rich use the PEOPLE who use those services.

At the end of the day, who has the most $$$ in their pockets
from the LABOR and SERVICES which "government services"
make possible?

Consider the "Government subsidized" low-rent housing near
the minimum-wage factory;
Who benefits MOST from that: the residents or the FACTORY OWNER?

[unpossibles]

24. bingo!

show me a "self-made" millionaire who went to a desert island penniless and got rich with no help from a society which benefits those who already have connections and money, with no laws, no roads, no police, no food subsidies, and most importantly, with no low-wage labor pool.

no one exists in a vacuum. Humans got where they are by being social animals. get over it, you greedy fucks. I gladly pay for education even though I have no children because it helps the society where I live be a better place to live. Duh.

[genie_weenie]

21. Excellent propaganda.

Faux is doing an excellent job of obfuscating. The plutocratic elements of governmental leaders, captains of industry and the military continue to play the members of this country off against one another.

Zinn captured this beautifully: The Coming Revolt of the Guards, from A People's History, "How skillful to tax the middle class to pay for the relief of the poor, building resentment on top of humiliation!"

[jwirr]

35. Only that is not working for *ss & co. The resentment of the poor is

much less now that many in the middle class are so close to being poor themselves.

[genie_weenie]

42. While I agree the middle class are being eliminated

with wanton glee by the Plutocratic Rulership, I'm not sure we will ever hit the critical mass needed to do anything about it...

[jwirr]

48. I agree, most people are too busy trying to stay in the middle class

to be able to keep up with the political reasons that are behind it.

When I was small I remember being very angry that so many people were blind to the real plight of the poor. I was about 11 years old. The reason I knew what was happening was that I was in one of those families. But there was an even stronger reason: my father and I listened to almost every news coverage that was on. He was a farmer and would come in to get a drink or eat and the first thing he did was turn on the radio. When he realized I was mad he pointed out that not everyone listened so closely to the news. (It helped that you could trust the news back then.) We also read a good newspaper.

Today my family relies on me to tell them the news because they are all working all the time! Two of the health care workers have been working doubles for months now. At least in my family they know that there is something wrong.

[genie_weenie]

52. Good Luck to you and your family. n/t

[KansDem]

23. "Forget it, Jake. It's 'FoxNews-town!'"

[TahitiNut]

25. I've heard more sanity in the drunken ravings of homeless, mentally disturbed winos.

What kind of nation have we become that such utter pig vomit infests the public media?

[truebrit71]

26. So they don't need the police/fire dept/ roads..either?

Stupid Fox Noise...

[wizstars]

27. I have something against the super wealthy--they don't pay their share of taxes...

If they have a yacht, they certainly avail themselves of Coast guard services, weather forecasts from gov't agencies. If they have a plane (or jet), they use the FAA, as well as public airports. They certainly drive their cars on gov't-built highways. And we won't even talk about govt subsidies to businesses they own. ad infinitum. Leave it to Faux to spew this kind of cr@p. Lousy rat-b@st@rds.

[liberal N proud]

28. Then they shouldn't drive on roads, use the internet, get first rate medical care and much more

Since they don't want to pay for the highway, they shouldn't use it, dirt roads only for the rich.
Since they don't want to pay for taxes, they should turn off the computer, they can use carrier pigeon to send messages.
Since this don't want to pay taxes, they can get the medicines from the 19th century.
Oh and lets not forget the food, they should only eat food not protected by the FDA
As far as vacation goes, we won't need to worry about seeing the rich at the National Parks, they can't even drive there anyway.
Where do they plan on landing those private planes of theirs? They wont be using the airports build by "Federal Tax Dollars"

[stillcool]

29. Aren't taxes factored in to the price of goods?..

and don't the rich avoid taxes by re-investing earnings? Aren't those wealthy foundations of philanthropic purity just money-laundering institutions that provide tax-free advertising? Isn't the corporate tax system just more of the trickle down pissing on the poor kind of thing?

[Canuckistanian]

63. And don't they get to write off business losses?

Wish I could write off all the money I've lost in my life due to corporate rip-offs.

[jwirr]

30. I guess they do not use our roads, airports, railways, police services,

fire fighting services, medicare, schools, military protection, use our communications systems and use the energy sources that have been subsidized by taxes, and above all they do not breathe our clean air, drink our clean water, enjoy our wildlife areas. They are kidding themselves if they think they are self-sufficient.

[GDAEx2]

31. What's the matter with them? Paying taxes is patriotic!

They have a problem supporting This Glorious Country and Our Troops?
Why do they hate America?

[Maccagirl]

33. "Freedom isn't free!:"

Isn't that one of their mantras?

[in_cog_ni_to]

34. Oh GOODIE! That means they can't use our roads, drive over our bridges, use our public shools,

or enjoy our park system! They wouldn't be able to benefit from ANY of our infrastructure.... EXCELLENT idea! They can just stay home and enjoy their freakin' money which would run out in no time because no one could drive to WORK! :bounce::bounce: Sounds like a good plan to me!:thumbsup:

Think about it...we wouldn't have to look at them when we eat out, our children would be free of having their religions shoved down their throats at school, our teachers would be ALL DEMOCRATS, we could go to our State Parks/National Parks without having to endure repuke STENCH and we would never ever ever have to put up with a repuke ANYWHERE! :loveya: That thought makes me happy.:)

Go for it freepers!

[El Fuego]

36. Wow, I think you're onto something!

That's bloody brilliant!

[Selatius]

37. Super rich DO USE gov't services. It's called CORPORATE WELFARE.

I remember when Reagan and Congress bailed out the Savings and Loans fuckwits in the 1980s. I remember NAFTA. I remember that bullshit Medicare prescription bill Bush Jr. passed or the horrible bankruptcy "reform" bill. Yeah, the super wealthy don't use government aid. Give me a break.

[blogslut]

38. I guess "the rich"

...float on air and eat whatever falls from the sky. :)

[tjwash]

40. So the next time the S & L's crash, or their multinational needs bailing out...

...no government assistance or bankruptcy protection for them. Likewise if their business gets completely destroyed by a hurricane, tornado, or other natural disaster they will get no federal aid what so ever.

[Ganja Ninja]

41. The rich use more government services because they are rich.

How many poor people own a private plane? Yet the government provides air ports, air traffic control, accident investigation, regulation, licensing, weather forecasting and so on for private aviation in this country.

How many poor people own a yacht? Same deal applies here. All sorts of government services are provided for people yachting and boating that the poor can't use because they aren't wealthy enough to need them.

We could go on all day finding ways the government provides services for the wealthy that the poor don't ever use. I don't know if it's dishonesty or stupidity on the part of FOX but I suspect it's a combination of both that leads them to make such blanket statements.

[ck4829]

43. Um... The Secret Service investigates any theft of something $50,000 or more

[blondeatlast]

44. Plenty of ultra-wealthy in AZ. Let's cut off the Central Arizona Project to them.

Forcing them to pay for their own water will clear 'em out fast. Fine by me! :rofl:

[Johonny]

45. Hmm

Last time I checked the EPA doesn't protect just the poor. The FDA doesn't protect them? The FBI, CIA, FTA... So those guys at the airport directing planes are of no use to them. So tracking of hurricanes are of no use? So when those forest fires rip through the more expensive real estate they are some how immune… Heck who gets those 500 million dollar sports stadiums cause it sure ain’t the poor.

[Bigmack]

46. The rich need more protection...

than the rest of us. The whole force of government.... military, police, fire, zoning, etc... is designed to protect their investments.

I pointed out to a naively freepish friend that he owed a helluva lot more taxes than I do because the whole government is there to protect him from the have-nots who would come and take his lovely waterfront home by force... or put a sewage outfall through his front yard.... or start a pig farm next door. His million-dollar house ought to be taxed a helluva lot more than my $250,000 house. (Inflated NW prices.)

When I told him "Freedom ain't free.", I thought his head would explode.

[leftofthedial]

49. the rich are parasitic vermin

they exploit workers (and our planet) to death, steal most of the product of that labor

and then justify their privilege by virtue of their wealth

[Lurking Dem]

55. Oh fer fuck's sake.

Does a trash the idiots on Fox thread have to turn into another Eat the Rich thread?

[leftofthedial]

59. I wouldn't eat them

with *your* colon

[Lurking Dem]

62. Lovely.

[ComerPerro]

72. they are parasites. They contribute very little to society

[Lurking Dem]

75. Broadbrush much?

[BluePatriot]

51. Highways? Military protecton? Border control?

Naaah the rich don't use those things. :sarcasm: I hate Fox "logic."

[madrchsod]

53. ? what about the tax breaks they are handed

by federal,state,and local taxing bodies to locate plants,reeducate workers. the gifts of water and sewer installations or improvements roads, for their office,manufacturing plants. all this helps the bottom line and the stock and dividends..oh ya those low cost loans that the average working or small business owner do not get...

eat the rich.....

[ecstatic]

54. Well their "servants" do--the people that help them stay rich

By buying their products and patronizing their businesses. Oh yeah, and like others have already pointed out, they use roads, police, infrastructure, etc. What a bunch of idiots on FAUX. :mad:

[LynnTheDem]

56. Roads? Traffic signs? Stop lights? Garbage removal?

Snow plowing? Primary schools? Secondary schools?

Yet again, Faux Noise proves how easy it is to make total fools out of their rightwingnut believers with the stupidest shit ever spewed.

[Rex]

57. Is she smoking crack? The rich stay that way because of the 'lower

classes'. Snort! What the fuck does she think she is? Stupid @#$@#@#)(%$#($@!

Hey sweetcheeks, there are only TWO fucking classes in America. The Rich and the Working class! Guess which one you fall in ya @#@#&%(@!#%(#&(@#! :middlefinger:

[Jade Fox]

58. I guess the rich never drive on public roads or....

use public parks, or flush their toilets and use public sewer systems......

[Tsiyu]

60. If the rich are having such a tough time here in America,

why don't they just leave? Hell, they've taken most of the decent jobs out of the country; they should follow suit.

Actually though, the rich are doing very WELL here in America, aren't they? That's why they're, well.....rich.

And why are they doing well?

Because the tax dollars of the working class are there to bail them out of any circumstance they may encounter.

Want to pay slave wages so you make a better profit? Great! The US Government will subsidize your crappy pay scale by giving your poverty-waged employees food stamps! Problem solved with tax money!

Want to pollute the environment so that you can make a bigger profit? Here in Tennessee, Tenncare will handle the cost of that inner-city child's asthma medication. Problem solved with tax money!

Want to live in a gated community regularly patrolled by the police? Tax money!

Want a workforce with half a brain? Let the working class finance the schools with THEIR tax dollars!

Want to eat out at a restaurant that is regularly inspected by the Health Department, one that serves food inspected by the USDA? Let some other sucker pay for that safety!

Don't want to pay any corporate tax or help with financing local infrastructure like schools and water systems when your overdevelopment stretches thin the resources of the town you're currently raping? Great! That town is so desperate for jobs, they'll cut you a deal, and the working man and woman will pay to build that new road to your plant and finance the schools and water treatment plants to serve those 1,000+ home subdivisions you're slapping up!

Aren't taxes great? Don't they do awesome things for us? They do awesome things for the rich as well, though many of the rich refuse to pay them because they "don't need the stuff tax money can buy."

What a load of horse shit.

And that's an insult to manure.

[WorldResident]

61. I guess he never heard of corporate welfare or the War in Iraq

Or roads ... etc.

[WinkyDink]

64. I can go for not protecting or saving them!

[gravity]

65. Services benefit everyone

even if they aren't directed towards you personally. For example, universal healthcare can lower private insurance costs, since part of the cost of medicine goes to help paying for people who can't pay for themselves. Public schools help create future human capital, and can lower crime rates, so there is a less of a chance of being robbed.

You can't look at just yourself to see the benefits of government programs, because everyone in society is dependent on each other, and what affects other people will affect you too.

[Zorra]

66. Then they shouldn't complain when hordes of armed crackheads,

and tweakers invade their mansions and rob all their possessions because they don't pay cops to protect them.

[treestar]

67. The rich use MORE government services!

this is that one dimensional thinking about the economy again.

Big trucks use the roads and damage them the most. That's how the rich get rich, because of the stuff going on!

They are the ones with the property that has to be continually protected by the courts, and even the cops!

They are the ones benefitting from almost everything the government regulates or does. They are the ones putting the pollution out there. They are the ones who can afford frequent flying and frequent travel, using the roads and making it necessary for us to pay for the government to monitor everything from security to air traffic control.

It goes on and on.

it is amazing how ignorant the public is to allow this kind of illogic to find an audience.

[yardwork]

68. I don't use food stamps or Medicaid either, so can I skip paying my taxes, too?

What a bunch of a-holes they are on Faux.

[NorthernSpy]

69. alrighty: let's limit all subsidies and tax breaks to the value of a food stamp allotment...

Problem solved. Next?

Somehow, I don't think they'd go for that. So the rich don't get food stamps: so what? What they do get from the government is far more valuable.

One small case in point: the federal flood zone insurance program, which in practice is just another costly federal subsidy for the comfortable. Shorefront property is way too expensive for working class people to buy in the first place. But when the sea eats a row of waterfront mansions, taxpayers who could never in a million years afford an ocean view will be collectively forced to underwrite the rebuilding.

Same for disaster assistance in general. Poor evacuees get cups of soup and cots, and maybe a little cash, and this evidence of their "dependence" is put on TV for all to see. But what you don't see is this: it's the allegedly "self-sufficient" affluent who get the big rebuilding money. Multi-billion dollar federal grant programs for helping Katrina victims rebuild exclude anyone who was unable to keep their homeowners' insurance policies current. That means that the people who need the help the most are abruptly shoved away from the table when the real goodies are handed out, while those who need little if any government help get first consideration.

[Sapere aude]

70. The government is supposed to provide for the common welfare. The rich are as much a part of this

government as anyone since it is a government by and for the people. Therefore the rich must also provide for the common welfare. Besides when it comes to protection the wealthy have more to protect so maybe they should pay more.

[nadinbrzezinski]

71. They don't use highways, freeways and byways?

And if they get into an accident, they don't call the cops, or send for EMS\Fire?

Oh I forgot, many of them also do not use public eductaion of one manner or another

Nor do they employ the products of such.

Yep I see how they don't use the services... really

And that is just from the top of my head

[chemenger]

73. You are wasting your time ranting against Faux News.

They are a lost cause.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

74. Are you kidding me. I rarely see rich old people who DON'T use their Medicare.

I haven't seen these people seeking to pay doctors tens of thousands out of pocket to avoid using Medicare.

[ComerPerro]

76. and its not as though they send their SS checks back with a "no thank you" note

[DuaneBidoux]

77. It is the Social Contract of Rousseau. You get the benefits, concrete and otherwise of living in...

a country where you have the chance to succeed. If it bothers them so much they can move (as individuals) to another country and give up their rights to be protected as an American citizen.

Anyway, taxes aren't paid to "the government." They are paid to ourselves, for the things that we have decided as a community are needed for our health and welfare (including paying for a military that, in theory, protects those rich and poor alike).