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Why punish the rich for good choices?
Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | 12/3/05 | Gregg J. Cavanagh

Posted on 12/03/2005 12:28:17 PM PST by rhema

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To: Gordongekko909

"3. Because if everyone was self-reliant, the Dems would lose their base."

You nailed it.


41 posted on 12/03/2005 2:14:55 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
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To: mr_hammer

"All kidding aside, I have been asked by many who see my family enjoying a boat ride. Who did you screw over to get that ride? A good number of the "less fortunate" as Boortz calls em are insanely jealous of others achievements. So it is very easy for an overly ambitious piece of crap politician to play the "soak the rich" card"

Agreed. I'm 32 and not doing too badly - bought a house a few years ago, my fiancee quit her job and goes to school full time, dont live check to check, etc... some of her classmates like to joke with her that she has a "sugar daddy" or people I know have expressed some jealousy...

...but here's what they don't see. The long weeks at a time I spend doing business travel and sleeping in hotel rooms instead of at home. My staying up 23 hour stretches to get a project done for a customer that HAS to get done by a deadline, so I git er done. Having taken only 2 vacation days in the last year and working straight through many weekend, like this one. My sister is one such jealous person - I pay for my fiancees school, and she wants my mom to pay for hers. (my sister is 29 and lives with her boyfriend.) I explained that paying for the person who you're engaged to's school is a grown up thing to do - having your mom pay for it isn't. She's a lib and doesn't get it.

TANSTAAFL
there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

I recommend "the myth of rich and poor" and "the millionaire next door," 2 excellent books on this subject.

Stay the hell away from "rich dad, poor dad" as the whole book is a made up bunch of crap. It's full of bad advice.


42 posted on 12/03/2005 2:16:59 PM PST by adam_az (It's the border, stupid!)
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To: Dan Evans

Bill Gates had MS DOS handed to him via Seattle Computer and dear old dad


43 posted on 12/03/2005 2:25:41 PM PST by dormouse
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To: adam_az
I agreed with you, right up to until you mentioned Rich Dad Poor Dad. I am curious as to what advice you found lacking in that series?

I do agree that Millionaire Next Door is excellent.
44 posted on 12/03/2005 2:31:47 PM PST by Pukin Dog (Sans Reproache)
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To: SQUID
If you work hard you will have something.

I don't have much. But if I didn't work hard I would have nothing, and deservedly so.

45 posted on 12/03/2005 2:33:11 PM PST by LibKill (Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. - Benjamin Franklin)
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To: SpitfyrAce

it helps not to develop stupid habits.

assume a pack of cigarettes costs approximately $3.00
assume a pack-a-day habit
assume the passage of ten years
10*365*$3 = $10,950.00 up in smoke

people really NEED to LOOK at what they actually do to themselves, look at what monies they expend without deriving any return (or any hope or expectation of return) before they start whining.


46 posted on 12/03/2005 2:33:19 PM PST by King Prout (many accuse me of being overly literal... this would not be a problem if many were not under-precise)
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To: Gordongekko909
Even if the major premise of number 1 is not true, not everyone is able to study harder, etc. Some people are born with more natural talent than others, and the possibility that some people should go farther than others in life simply because of some inborn characteristic is unfair, and must be remedied.

one thing i want to teach my young sons is to live on every other paycheck... cash in every other paycheck... sock away every other paycheck...

47 posted on 12/03/2005 2:37:58 PM PST by latina4dubya
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To: TaxRelief

That's pretty good, I like that. Kind of Orwellian and perfect for the current situation.


48 posted on 12/03/2005 2:40:53 PM PST by MadManDan
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To: adam_az
Stay the hell away from "rich dad, poor dad" as the whole book is a made up bunch of crap. It's full of bad advice.

like what? i'm curious to know what you think of as crap and bad advice...

49 posted on 12/03/2005 2:41:07 PM PST by latina4dubya
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To: King Prout

And cigarettes generally cost more than that.


50 posted on 12/03/2005 2:41:17 PM PST by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
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To: MadManDan

There's also Aesop's fable of the grasshopper and the ant.


51 posted on 12/03/2005 2:45:31 PM PST by Gordongekko909 (I know. Let's cut his WHOLE BODY off.)
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To: Gordongekko909

I was averaging the price from my period of costly vice from 1992 to 2002 down here in various locations in the South.

Down here, 11 grand is the price of two decent used vehicles.

Let us not go into how much money one can spend to no useful purpose on strippers, booze, entertainment, vacationing, prepared foods, and other luxury items.

1. I don't wish to spend hours taking the Fifth
2. The point is well made already: vices are expensive and yield no returns to their users

;)


52 posted on 12/03/2005 2:48:54 PM PST by King Prout (many accuse me of being overly literal... this would not be a problem if many were not under-precise)
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To: latina4dubya; Pukin Dog

see this url

http://www.johntreed.com/Kiyosaki.html


53 posted on 12/03/2005 2:55:28 PM PST by adam_az (It's the border, stupid!)
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To: SDGOP
I wonder how long till democrats propose a 'wealth tax' where they tax a ceartain % of your bank account/stocks.

That's the day I leave this country and never look back.

54 posted on 12/03/2005 3:03:53 PM PST by Centurion2000 ((Aubrey, Tx) --- America, we get the best government corporations can buy.)
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To: rhema
I have a Dem bro-in-law who firmly believes that only a few percent of the population have stocks and bonds aHe strongly asserts that the rich have most their money in land and practically nothing in stocks or bonds. Of course he's a retired public schoolteacher, so you have to understand his ignorance. (My apologies to the public school teachers who understand basic economics.)

And I have a number of friends who firmly believe that the rich pay no taxes. I informed one close Dem friend that the upper fifty percent of income earners pay 96% of all fed income tax. He straight out refused to believe me. He also didn't read a book from the time he graduated from high school until he recently retired at age 60. That's why most people are Dems...they're bone ignorant.

55 posted on 12/03/2005 3:04:40 PM PST by driftless ( For life-long happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: adam_az

I've read most of "the millionaire next door", and it is a book that should be read by everyone. One of the great things it delineates, among many things, is the fact that it is better to have the right attitude and work ethic than it is too start out with a lot of money and a poor attitude and work ethic. Many people who inherit large amounts of moola but have no understanding of how the moola was made usually end up blowing it


56 posted on 12/03/2005 3:13:02 PM PST by driftless ( For life-long happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: Dawsonville_Doc; King Prout
Ok, so where did you and I go wrong, since we're both hard working, quite intelligent, quite determined, and have decent backgrounds? Neither of us are even close to rich, at mid-30s.
Dude, sometimes luck plays a part.

What do you consider "rich"? Libs think that anyone who has a salary of over $100,000 or so is "rich". Those are the people they want to tax. In some parts of the country, that is rich; in others it is barely over median income.

Have you started your own businesses? You can't get really rich working for someone else (although you can be quite comfortable and have a secure retirement).

In my mind, "rich" is if you meet your goals in life. Not all of us want huge amounts of money. Comfort and self-reliance are good.

57 posted on 12/03/2005 3:32:06 PM PST by speekinout
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To: driftless

A friend got that book for me and i absolutely loved it. They should make it required reading in school instead of something like the koran...

Far too many people live well beyond their means instead of saving and investing. Lots of conservatives i know aren't very good at saving either, as soon as they graduated and got decnet to high paying jobs(as shysters,doctors, and engineers) they ran off and blew their money on things like houses they probably shoudlnt have gotten and high up cars and all the newest gadgets and gizmos and expensive vacations etc. and save absolutely zilch.

The funny thing is these same people have the nerve to turn around and criticize me for being 'too stingy' with my money. Lets see whose more financially stable in a few decades..


58 posted on 12/03/2005 3:55:02 PM PST by SDGOP
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To: speekinout; King Prout
In my mind, "rich" is if you meet your goals in life. Not all of us want huge amounts of money. Comfort and self-reliance are good.

What you have described is comfortable self-satisfaction. Rich has that - followed by seven zeros.

59 posted on 12/03/2005 4:25:57 PM PST by Dawsonville_Doc
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To: brytlea
I would love to see stats on how many people in the US are rich because they inherited the money. I'm sure that info is out there somewhere, but I'm not sure how to google it.

I'd wager that most of those are liberals or Country Club Republicans.

60 posted on 12/03/2005 4:29:40 PM PST by Mr. Buzzcut (metal god ... visit The Ponderosa .... www.vandelay.com ... DEATH BEFORE DHIMMITUDE)
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