Now MP Confused is a gift that keeps giving.
"As I read through these comments I am amazed at the spitefulness displayed by those who chose to live the urban lifestyle. I truly do not know where these folks get their information.
Perhaps the most significant statement is the one defining rural as people who want there roads and bridges and urbanites as people who want light rail and buses. No matter how many rail lines you build and bus routes are available urbanites are still dependent on someone else to transport them. Rural residents do want decent roads and bridges but they can and will travel independently when necessary. Just remember every dollar the government spends comes out of the working taxpayer's income. The government has no money to spend that it hasn't taken from some who earned it." Candace
"They take it from us (actively employed and successful urban folks) to give to you (unemployed, struggling rural folks). Kinda underlined by the premise of the article. Don't get me wrong, we're happy to help, as is our nature, being generally liberal and such. We just tend to get a bit miffed when folks decide they need to "take their country back" at the expense of those footing their ever increasing tab. Just because rural folks seem to want to be left to fail out of some misguided sense of duty doesn't mean we as a society should just leave them to it. Pride truly is one of humankind's greatest impediments to progress." Matt
"Being from an extended family who is footing a lot of the bills for many low income folks in the state. Somehow I find this amusing.
Now you do realize that most citizens get more out of the system than they pay in in taxes. I mean education costs for those who have children are huge, then there is Medicaid, food stamps, child tax credit, safety, roads, etc...
For a minute there I though it was a Conservative commenting... :-) " G2A
7 comments:
And of course Paul chose to jump in...
"The only people who don't seem to understand where the tax money comes from are rural voters who think they pay for their own roads and bridges. Urban liberals aren't the ones whining about their taxes, and we've been happily footing the bill for rural services, infrastructure, and schools for decades, that's not spite.
Urban liberals don't have a problem with rural America, we wan't everyone to have good roads and bridges, and health care, and decent schools, and we aren't complaining about paying for it. Republicans on the other have one idea and only one idea, and that's shrinking the "cost" of government. We need $1.2 trillion worth of new spending to bring our infrastructure up to grade. Republicans "offered" to spend $300 million, then agreed to $600 million but the refused to come back and actually pass that spending in a special session. If you're a rural voter and you think you're going to get ANYTHING from republicans, you're just not being smart, and or you're just not paying attention.
Nor is it particularly smart to think that trimming a few regulations here or there to get government out of your way is going to create some kind of economic bonanza. Regulations didn't cause the recession, or shut down the mines, or cut down all the old growth trees. Regulations didn't poison the water with farm run-off and they don't determine the price of commodities. No business gets to exhaust, or pollute, or destroy public resources for profit, that means farms.
Roads and bridges have nothing to do with being "independent", different locations and populations need different types of transportation. No one's trying to build a light rail system in Luverne MN because they'er just so independent down there, it simply wouldn't make sense. It's not about someone "else" moving you.
So here's what happens if rural voters decide that whining about their taxes and electing small govement republicans who rely on politics of division and resentment is a "good" idea. The Twin cities will get it's rail and mass transit, and rural areas will get zilch. Why? because we don't need rural money to pay for our transit but rural area's need our money to pay for their roads bridges. That's not "spite", it's economic reality. And that's not going to be a pissing match that urban liberals started so where's the "spite" really coming from?
One thing it is to complain about where your own money is spent, but you're complaining about where urban citizens are spending their money because they're spending it on their own transit instead of yours... yeah, real "independent". My advice? Just don't go there, vote for politicians who want to solve problems and represent you rather than turn you against your fellow citizens." Paul
"This is ironic.
I am pretty sure the Urban Liberals are also unaware of where the money comes from. The reality is that it comes from the wealthy people who live in the Cities, Suburbs and Rural Communities. And that does not stop Urban Liberals from asking for more than they are already given.
Most citizens pay in less than they receive back in infrastructure, services, credit, etc.
Imagine a medium income Minneapolis household with 2 children. 13 years of school / child care at $20,000 + 17 years of the child tax credit at $1000 per year). That's like $554,000 in expense. And that doesn't include Medicaid, food stamps, earned income tax credit, higher ed, infrastructure, national defense, etc.
My point is that most of us have some people to thank for paying most of our bills and it is not decided by physical region." G2A
Total US Spend per Capita
Apparently $21,000 per year person to fund our country. Now who here thinks they are paying anywhere near their "fair share"?
Personally I prepaid a little before the girls came along. Hopefully soon I will be back helping to pay for our country instead of being a drain on it!!!
I just had a humorous image of Paul and Matt standing behind some big rich guy... They are yelling at some farmers telling them to be thankful for what they are getting, and to stop complaining... All the while ignoring that they are also drawing off the efforts and wealth of the big rich guy.
This whole topic is absolutely fascinating. Group 1 of dependent people (Urban Liberals) telling Group 2 (Rural Conservatives) that they should be thankful and stop complaining. While Group 1 (Urban Liberals) is standing their complaining how unfair their lot in life is, and how they deserve more of the pie...
Candace, Thank you for this amusing foray into the mind of the Urban Liberal !!!
I am perfectly ok with supporting rural areas. But if rural legislators don't allow the cities to also fund their own projects, how can they expect cities to fund theirs?
--Hiram
In terms of freeloading, let's recall that it is our president elect who has made billions of dollars without paying taxes. If Mr. Trump believes paying taxes is for schnooks, what does that make us, the people who do pay the taxes from which he has benefited so enormously?
--Hiram
Hiram, PEOTUS should not have to pay taxes on money he never got. He had a LOSS, remember? Besides, it was Democrats in Congress who wrote that Byzantine tax code, and all Trump did was comply with it. Let's find another definition for "freeloading."
Has it occurred to anybody that rural folks use more roads and bridges per capita than city folks, or that metro folks need more police and fire protection and spend more on education and welfare? What happened to "we're all in this together"? So long as we spend on the "public good" it shouldn't matter where the public lives.
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