Hymen Asshole wrote:baffled wrote:Jon wrote:Hymen Asshole wrote:
It's not the governments job to ameliorate poverty and inequality!
Says who?
Seriously, find me the provision in the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist, or pretty much any other source you'd care to name, that says that the government has no place in ameliorating poverty and inequality.
I can wait.
I can't speak for Mr. Hymen, but I personally see it as "should or shouldn't".
I personally think the government "should" play a part in reducing poverty, but in nearly complete polar opposite ways as both the republicans and democrats seem to think.
Hey Baff, would you elaborate on your polar opposite way?
Sure thing. They're pretty much in line with most Tea Partiers and libertarians, as far as I can tell. Since I am a libertarian (probably something along the lines of a paleo-conservative, I guess, but these labels are pissing me off a bit at the moment), I guess that makes sense.
- Eliminate or drastically reduce the income tax, and wipe out all corporate taxes. If eliminating the income tax didn't fly (which it never would), a flat tax would work (Long shot, but maybe) for me.
I'm a state's rights kind of guy, so I could care less if particular states wanted to follow California's lead and fuck over businesses and the working class. Others wouldn't, and that's the way it ought to be.
The required cuts to the size and level of activity of the federal government would be a benefit, IMO.
- Eliminate or drastically reduce the federal minimum wage.
As a small business owner, I would love to hire unskilled workers to do the tasks I don't want to. As it stands now, I usually have to outsource these tasks, which makes my life more volatile than if I had an American working here on a full or even a part time basis.
It also behooves me to keep these people on board, by paying them more, as they become more skilled. My business would have a chance to grow in ways that only happen in periodic jumps now, and they would have a job they wouldn't otherwise have.
- Cut welfare and entitlements to the bone. I like the idea of a negative income tax with welfare programs being limited to the truly needy. No more EBT cards for cigarettes and energy drinks. I'm not entirely opposed to some sort of social safety net, but I think they should be handled at the state level, if at all.
Goes doubly for corporate welfare. No more too big to fail, bailouts or other such bullshit.
- National right to work.
- Get rid of the Fed.
There's more, and it's not exactly fleshed out, but that's off the top of my head.
The whole point would be that people would have to actually work or starve.