A word of caution: I'm going to tie responses to two posts into one post and I'm going to try to be brief, so this may not read as planned. I'm not usually good at being short-winded ïŠ
1) Definition of "entitlements" by Paul Johnson, political science professor at Auburn University:
The kind of government program that provides individuals with personal financial benefits (or sometimes special government-provided goods or services) to which potential beneficiaries have a legal right (enforceable in court, if necessary) whenever they meet eligibility conditions that are specified by the standing law that authorizes the program.Thus, SS and Medicare are entitlements. Their payment does not matter, as all entitlements are paid into in some form. You do not pay directly into SS or Medicare (as many people think), but it is a complex accounting that would make my post less brief.
2) Already tried infrastructure work with first two stimuli. Did not deliver desired impact. President even admitted failure.
3) Taxing employers more removes assets from production. Less production means fewer jobs.
4) You're right – you do have to spend money to make money. But, spending money does not necessarily beget more money. Politicians seem to be very naïve, clueless, and showcase their oversimplified thought process in that regard.
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5) You don't have to buy anything if you don't want to – its all a choice. You could choose to live close enough to work that you can walk – you may have to live in a refrigerator box to do it, but you can make that choice. The reason you don't is that you value some things more than living that close to work. But, that is your value judgment – we can't expect others to alter their behavior or relinquish their assets or freedom on the basis of your decisions.
6) If $1 BB is good, is $750 MM OK? How about this: If your current salary of good, why don't you take only 75% of it? Or maybe this: 48 of 50 state employee retirement plans own ExxonMobil stock. What do we say to the teachers, policemen, and firemen who can't afford to pay their bills in retirement because you wanted lower profits, which don't translate to cheaper gas?
Consider that only 3% of ExxonMobil's profits are made from US gasoline sales -- $30 MM is a LOT lower than $750 MM . Consider also that ExxonMobil profits about $0.02 from each gallon of gasoline sold in the US, while the average state gasoline tax is $0.48/gal.
7) I'll post my subsidy thoughts in the other thread, but maybe we can chew on this: subsidies alter the free market and hide numerous factors about price, such as scarcity, quality, capacity, and demand. Much like health insurance, subsidies hide information about the best quality products, the best providers, and the most cost efficient. AND, you're also paying for the subsidy through taxes.
I hope I kept it short enough