manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

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So you begin with the politics of envy! But, you have not defined conservatism in any clear way, merely repeating the mantra that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and then labeling conservatism as the cause. Why do this when our nation is still recovering from the influence of the worst president in history, and a Democrat at that, with its stifling regulations, executive orders, and outright violations of the Constitution. All of that is changing now.

Tug484

I have heard the rich get richer and the poor get poorer all my life, from every democrat I know.
That seems to be their mantra.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

We are living on a powder keg.

The white race as made many advances.
I have had my share of those advantages.

Now there are many wishing to have what we have & know how we got most of what we have.
Now we can learn to live with what is going to take place.
Or lose it all if we choose to fight it.
We have what we have & it is time to step a side & let some one else run the world.
Some one that may or may not do what we wish to see happen.

As uncomforting as it may make many feel:
If we as individuals wish to keep as much of what we have & with our basic way of life.

We need to use what resources & energy to create the one world government that we can live with.
If we don't take a leading role in doing that then we will end up putting up with what some one else creates.

Now this can all be done in a peaceful manner of face the power of others who want a say in how things get done.

As I see it most Americans lack what it would take to fight those wanting live as we know it.
We have nothing to gain & every thing to lose.
Others have nothing to lose & every thing to gain.
Now who do you thing as the strongest motivation?
Who can with stand the hardships & harshness of life the most?
The only real power is the power we have. Is the power to destroy the world.
Yes Trump has hinted about using our power to destroy others.
But once you unleash our atom bombs.
All bets are off on living a calm & pleasant life.

Inn war it is not wo kills the most.
But who survives the lonest.
The one who can live with the most primitive envirment.

As an old white male I will face what most of you will face (Collateral damage).
Just a casualty of war.
How many people that you have looked down as being less that human are going to join YOU in the fight.

How accustom have you gotten to a hot meal & a warm bed.
That is not what most Americans want to give up.

So how hard is some one who lacks the comforts you have become used to going to protect you?
We won the second world war because average people with much to lose.
Joined by people with hope of having a chance of living the American dream.
Fighting with that hope of being a true part of that they were fighting for.

If you were to look around I think you would see that will not be the case this time.

Now each of us as individuals are left with what ever most of us decide on.
I think may on this site are basing their bravado on what they will not be able to deliver.

My words may not derive much attention now but best hindsight is always too late.

I fail to grasp why so many on this site fail to grasp.
To weight all factors in looking at what is going on around them.

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

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Friend, you are talking rebellion or revolution and world government, and, in addition, our citizens not fighting to turn events back to our Democratic Constitution. Then, you sort of say "lie down and let it happen." On these points I totally disagree. True Americans will stand up for what we believe in, not curl up into a big ball and await their fate.

A world government is a total absurdity, unless it is forced upon us by outside powers, none of which really wants to tackle our military. Without question America will fight to ensure that our nation will exist and prosper, and not be governed by idiots from the rest of the world. We are a sovereign nation, and that means everything to freedom and liberty lovers.

Tug484

truthiness

...

I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Shelley

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

It is really fortunate that the US is not a kingship, nor will it ever be one. Yes, kings, Presidents, and Prime Ministers come and go, as do leaders of every sort. We here in the US have a Constitution that ensures our succession is selected by votes, not by the wrong end of a gun, or by hysterical climate change aficionados that do not know one thing about climate science. It is something of a miracle that our government has been in existence for two and a half centuries or so, has provided its citizens freedom and opportunity, and has defended us in several terrible wars.

Today, we have a vibrant economy and a strong military, and owe much to past generations of Christian soldiers that gave their lives that we can still speak English, and not German or Japanese. We have a lot to be thankful for, yet there are always those who choose to spin up and try to bring down our nation with lies and subterfuge. I will have none of it! If necessary, I will give the rest of my short years to defend the Constitution.

GmanTerry

I agree. To do less will destroy all our ancestors built and all we now have. We built it and we will fight to keep it. To do less is treason.

Semper Fi

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

I suppose one can't argue with charts, but you can argue with the procedures used and the base data sets used to make a point. Problem is, we are faced with one difficulty: we cannot see the data or assure ourselves that there was no hanky panky going on with the stats.

Oh well, the point is taken that there is wage stagnation in the US. The next question is rather key: what to do about it? If you let the government go hog wild and vote in some law that says the minimum wage will be $25, and later on, $30, and still later $35, Etc., what is going to happen to our capitalistic society?

Are we heading towards full socialism and eventually communism? Or, are we headed towards our heavy players deciding to move their operations away, to a place where they will be treated almost like kings? I really don't see where that would be! The Dutch has many places they could retreat to: The UK, the US, etc. For our companies not the EU!

Or, simply strike after strike after strike, and march after march after march that paralyzes the production of goods and services in the US. Does Venezuela come to mind?

Somewhere in this miasma there is the little thing called the national debt. Surely that plays a role here in the decision-making. Since I am just an old retired guy, I can't see through the mirk to a solution, but I am getting damn worried! We overspend every year, but we do need to somehow head towards a balanced budget, and paydown of our debt. Where does all this lead? Catastrophe or doubling down on capitalism? I vote for doubling down!

Tug484

I can give you an example for wage stagnation.
In 1959, a man came here and started working on a oil rig.
In 2006 an young guy went to work on a rig doing the same thing.
The older man asked him the hourly wage.
$19.00 an hour the guy told him.
The guy from 1959 told him that's the same hourly wage he got back then.
The reason, illegals started coming over and getting the same jobs, worked for less, and it undercut the wages.
A friend told me three days a week these Mexicans we're ready to be picked up to go work on the rigs.
The other four days, they had to hunt hands.
Our friend asked one why.
The answer, our wives will lose the welfare benefits.
Then another question the illegals would ask.
How much did it cost to have your baby.
Oh you're stupido. We had ours on welfare.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

Well if as a nation we have debt.
We can only pay it off if we tax enough to do that.

Some where there is enough money to pay all the bills.
We just need to tax that money to get what we need.

So much of our money ends up in just a few hands.
Hands that wish to pay as few taxes as they can.

Many work for less than favorable wages.
It can be stated that one way or another something needs to be done.
Pay more in wages or pay more in taxes.

You can only get the money from those that have it.

If the private sector can not or will not do it.
Then the government has to do it.
The government gets it money from taxes & fees.

To many look for some one else to pay for things.
It is those with the most & those with the least that create the most demand.
We seem to be faced with a plot to do away with the middle.
Leaving just a few at the top & the rest to fend for them self.

There are those that fend for them self.
Those with the most & those with the least.
All leading to a nation with just a few at the top & the rest just fending for them self.

We call that being a 3rd world nation.

Tug484

My dad said as long as I can remember, one of these days, the middle class will be gone.
Only the rich and poor will remain.
Another man claimed if you took all the rich people's money and gave it to the poor, the rich would have it all back in three years.

manning5 Loc: Richmond, VA

A quick look at census data says that 2.7 million people in the US make over $250,000 per year. The total revenue from this class I could not find. But this does not include those that have "old money" of millions yielding a substantial income from drawdowns. What I wanted to do was to estimate the revenue from a tax on both income and drawdowns to see if it would be enough to pay down the debt over time, afford us free medical and college tuition, and fund a substantial raise for other workers, as well as funding the operations of the government. Anyone want to look into this?

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

Just keep on supporting the right & it will all come true.
Now I am not for eliminating the right.

I am just looking for a better balance between the right & the left.
As we have it now the right is to far to the right.
The right wishes the left to just go away.
The left just wants to have a say in how things are done.

If we do not find a better balance leaving room for both.
Soon we will just be a third world nation.
A nation of just the very rich & the vary poor.

If you are not one of the very rich now it is very unlikely that you ever will be.

Little by little the very few with the most will have it all & THERE WILL BE NO MIDDLE.
I think there are many on this site thinking one day they will be one of the few.
Well at best some may just replace some of the few.

What are the chances for most?
Slim & only becoming poorer.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

Well I have see information that it would take an income of 10 million a year to be considered rich.
Now we are just playing with bigger numbers.
An illusion of having more.

I have bigger numbers than I ever thought I would have.
It seems that my reserves may not ever let me maintain my already contracted life style.
This site must have many millionaires on it.

So I am saying take a good look at what you think you have.
It may not be worth as much as you think it does.

I have saved for this time in my life.
I am not a shamed or proud of what I have.
If I had really wanted more I could have more.

Being self employed I could see what asking for more would mean some one else having less.
So with in my employment I did not have much of a gain in savings.
Most of what I have came from inheritance & just living with in my means.
I can live with out touching my savings.

Faced with an unending stream of others seeking some of my money.
During my years of working I met may demands for help.
It is clear to me now that depending on old retired people is a sign of something wrong with our system.
Some where the idea of greed is good rings loud & clear.