Just got this emailed to me. WTF?

[graywarrior]

Subject: FW: Want to redistribute your hard earned money?


Yesterday on my way to dinner at Applebee's with Tony, I passed one of those homeless guys in the area with a sign that read, "Vote Obama, I need the money!"

Once in Applebee's, my waiter had on a "Obama 08" tee shirt.

When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given my husband and me exceptional service, his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. So I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need -- the homeless guy outside. He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $5 and told him to thank the waiter inside. I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief, but seemed grateful.

As I got in my car, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution of the wealth experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn.

Well....I guess this redistribution of wealth thing is going to take a while to catch on with those doing the work.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

I earn way less than Joe the plumber and if I got a break I might be

tempted to hire a plumber to do some minor jobs rather than tackle them myself and so it goes with the rest of the country.... these people don't seem to realize that it is the middle class that supports their lifestyles. Dumbasses.

[Muttocracy]

3. yep, tradesmen are hurting when the housing market hurts. nt

[HysteryDiagnosis]

22. What blows my mind is how an economic downtick can completely

take virtually all of America's eyes off the tragedy that is the Iraq invasion and occupation.

[fed_up_mother]

26. Amen!

Last night neighbors were asking me if I thought Obama would be better for the economy, and I said, "Yes, but I decided to vote for him months ago because of the war, and our pitiful standing in the world community...thanks to Bush. "

Nothing has changed.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

30. America's great contribution to civilization, creating gatlin guns that

can vaporize human beings at a two mile range. The American military has turned war into a video game where the "casualties" are never human, but rather just blurry images on a thermal camera screen. I quote Rummy, "I don't know if we're killing terrorists faster than we are creating them". (Paraphrased of course)

[dubeskin]

1. Just reply saying that

Unless the person eating at Applebees made over 250,000 a year, they'd be receiving money back as well.

Just reply to your friend something like "If you don't want free money from the government, when you get money back because Obama's looking out for you, just give it to me, because I'll take it."

[Libertyfirst]

35. And you just had to spread such shit.

Thanks a lot.

[ROakes1019]

39. reply

How about telling anybody who believes there should be no sharing the wealth that he/she will have to pay his share of the cost every time he drives down a road and for his/her child's share of school expenses and the expenses of the military and on and on. I don't see why people don't understand that taxes are necessary for common good; things and services in a democracy aren't free. I'm still seething about my friend who is so rightwing but takes for granted her grandson's wife getting Medicaid for her pregnancy.

[Muttocracy]

2. Argh! that is my pet peeve - have seen it on multiple newspaper blogs

with each poster acting like it's their personal story. Must have been posting on some "get your nasty talking points here" website

[graywarrior]

14. The sender is my friend who just decided to vote for Obama.

Why do people make a decision and then decide to find ways to change their minds?

[Lifelong Protester]

46. Free the duck!! :-)

[graywarrior]

47. Take note

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=7632541

[Lifelong Protester]

59. Yes I did take note, I guess I was being over exhuberant

in making an 'early request', I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. So sorry if I irritated you at all, I just can't wait for it to happen!!
Thanks!

[scarletwoman]

4. It's been going around for a couple weeks. DUers have posted it here before, and some wingnut even

trotted out the same argument on TV somewhere recently.

Just your typical viral bullshit.

sw

[mwb970]

5. That's really straining.

What a waste of time it was for someone to write that silly tale. It may be that it is supposed to be "funny", but it's hard to tell.

[TooRaLoo]

6. Yeah. Waiters for big corporate chains are allowed to wear political tees.

These people are so stupid it pisses me off to no end.

I got one yesterday that said if prayer could move mountains, why not Obama?

Muslin Muslin terra bullshit etc.

Also, W is now a PROPHET and how dare we not listen to him.

:puke:

[anneboleyn]

16. snort! Exactly. Of course, they can't form basic, logical questions about what they read.

[KayLaw]

31. And homeless people . . .

have plenty of dough to have their own tee-shirts made. Anyone who believes such garbage is garbage.

On edit: I missed the part that said the homeless had a sign rather than a tee, but just he same, BS!

[Blue_Tires]

56. what waiter ANYWHERE wears a T-shirt of any kind?

real class joint...

i know the story is complete bullshit; the writer could have at least made it plausible bullshit...

[tsuki]

7. 5 will get you 10, the homeless guy got nothing. Just another

urban myth. nt

[AlCzervik]

8. Muchael Savage has been been spreading that one around.

[Doremus]

9. RW wackos have been posting that all over.

I replied on another board that the analogy is bogus.

If the woman makes $250K or more, she needs go outside and roll the homeless guy for his pocket change. Then keep both that AND the tip money.

If she makes less than $250K, she needs to go find a rich guy to give the $$ to.

[Buzz Clik]

10. Bullshit. Applebees has their own uniform shirts.

Typical knuckledragger insanity.

[graywarrior]

38. Great point.

I shall remind her of that.

[Orsino]

And not just bullshit. Freeper revenge-fantasy bullshit. n/t

[madaboutharry]

11. This is a stupid email.

I have no patience for the sophmoric spin that the republicans put on everything the democrats say. I

[graywarrior]

17. I just emailed her back with

This is fucking stupid.

[TooRaLoo]

25. Succint and accurate!

[graywarrior]

34. I learned good from you guys

[Clovis Sangrail]

12. doesn't Applebee's make employees wear uniforms?

I've only been there once... it was more than enough.

[Guaranteed]

20. But this story *would* take place in an Applebee's, though. nt

[graywarrior]

23. Kinda dirty place, ain't it?

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

13. Yeah right, a puke tipping... I can't even count the times I've seen or been with pukes

who are exceedingly cheap with their tips....I was getting my haircut recently and while I was waiting there was a puke spouting off. When he was done, he gave exactly a $0 tip...Assholes...

[yardwork]

15. What nonsense. Applebee's employees wear uniforms.

Has anyone ever seen a homeless person advertising an election? The entire story is made up and pathetic.

[Guaranteed]

18. "Those doing the work." Sure!

Yeah, you mean people leveraging their ownership of things- "letting their money work for them"- while at the same time pushing papers around so much that our economy gets destroyed. Yeah, those "hard workers."

As opposed to those people who have three jobs and never even get to see their kids but still live below the poverty line.

[regnaD kciN]

19. I call B.S....

There's no way Applebee's would allow their staff to wear political insignia, let alone a full candidate's T-shirt.

And that homeless guy's sign is a bit much, too. If I saw someone with a sign like that, I'd assume it was a McCain campaign operative pulling a prank; just like they did in 2004, dressing up as Arab terrorists carrying "Kerry" signs. :puke:

[Zorra]

21. Next time that pompous ass eats at Applebee's he'll probably get a big hocker

in his soup.

[tabasco]

29. LOL!

Today, I learned how to spell hocker.

[Overseas]

24. More Republican filth. They don't bat an eyelash about immense war profiteering

being done in their name to benefit Dick Cheney's company Halliburton.

Or the bailouts to Wall Street due to Republican deregulation.

No problem with those.

But let's show those who would DARE GIVE MONEY TO THE POOR.

Republicans really do seem to want the poor to BEG FOR EVERY PENNY.
THey want the poor to crawl to the church door to beg for help.
Then the rich folks can get extra Heaven Points for helping the poor and get
the recognition they deserve for their fabulous generosity.

Got it?

COUNTRY CLUB FIRST.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

27. I believe this was originally posted at the National Review online "corner" blog.

It's just more examples of how Republicans can't make a political argument without being an asshole in some way.

[happychatter]

28. fiction... even reagan's anecdotal fairy tales were more believable NT

[progressivebydesign]

32. that's another one of those stupid chain mails that are written by GOP staffers.

They are sent around as though someone at their kitchen table wrote it to a friend.

I guess they all thought that Bill Clinton was a socialist, too. because Obama's vision is very much a return to the 90s when we were all doing pretty damn well.

[BoneDaddy]

33. How bout when the gap between rich and poor becomes so

great the poor and middle class storm the Bastille and take everything you own.

[Onlooker]

36. That's kind of a clever argument ...

... for a man too cheap to help the homeless out of his own pocket.

[trof]

37. They're so damned afraid it's 'THEIR' wealth that will be redistributed.

"I've got MINE, pull up the ladder."
"Every man for himself!"
Almost all of the repugs I know are selfish bastards.

To me, Democrats believe in "honor thy neighbor".
Sharing the wealth.
Looking out for the other guy.

[goddess40]

40. we had a loser post this on our local newspapers blog

except he upped it to a $10 tip. Most republican's I know would choke before they gave anyone a $5 tip much less a $10 one.

Cheap heartless bastards.

[SidDithers]

41. I'd reply with...

Only a cheap-ass republican would tip $5 on a dinner for 2.

Sid

[baldguy]

42. I suppose before she always gave the tip to the restaurant owner?

[BanzaiBonnie]

43. Whoever wrote this little story is a liar

Applebees has uniform shirts and no one would ever wear a political t-shirt.

[graywarrior]

44. I love that some of you have brought this up

I can't wait to my emailer tonight

[margotb822]

45. Got the same thing. My Response:

thought you knew better than to ask me for my thoughts. It's kind of long, but read it anyways. Please.

Here's something that I wrote for my blog (yes, I know you're going to make fun of me). I don't know if it's ignorance or selfishness, but Republicans have somehow managed to get those who suffer from their policies the most to support them:

So, it's been, what, a week since the "Joe the Plumber" debacle at the debate, and I think it's fair to say that taxes are the most misunderstood issue in an election. Here we are, a nation fighting two wars (which is another issue entirely, but here we are), facing crippling economic slowdown and at an environmental precipice. How the party of "limited government interaction" got us to this point I'll never know, but these are problems where the government is either the only solution (war) or the likely leader of a solution.

I'm not for irresponsible government spending, but something's gotta give. Either government spending must come down drastically or the government must raise more income. What we have now is fiscal malfeasance at its absolute worst.

Now we have Republicans continuing to label Democrats as tax-and-spend. This will be the only time you ever hear me quote Cheney seriously, but "so?" In my view, a fiscal conservative is not someone who says they support small government but then goes and spends more than any administration in history. A true fiscal conservative spends what money they have, regardless of how much it actually is.

But, more importantly, who exactly are we taxing? It's misleading to say that only a certain type of tax scheme is "wealth redistribution." All tax schemes distribute wealth, plain and simple. The idea that somehow the wealth is going to trickle down has been proven false, not once, but twice now.

So, here are my thoughts. Any business person who believes that tax cuts are the best way to grow a business deserves to go under. These excessive tax cuts and rebates for businesses are nothing but corporate welfare. The best, and really only, way to grow a business is to sell more of your product. And, the only way to sell more is if people can buy more. So, doesn't it make more sense to keep the money in the hands of the people who spend it. Instead, with gas and food prices up 300 to 400%, people are struggling to cover their basic needs. They're not buying anything that's not a necessity.

I read a great piece on dkos (that I can't find anymore) that discussed the strength of the economy is in the rate at which money changes hands. It's like comparing the pulmonary system of a couch potato versus that of a triathlete. Right now, this economy is sluggish, slow and out of shape. We don't even have the energy to get off the couch, much less go for a run. And why is that? Probably because the last eight years have not been geared at truly growing our economy. Sure, there were shots in the arm, but we all know that steroids do more damage in the long run. The Bush tax plan was like steroids at the beginning, but the strength wasn't real and now we're suffering from crippling damage.

So, what do we need to do? Well, a good start would be to stop wasting $10-12 billion per month in Iraq and an increasing amount in Afghanistan. And then what? We need to keep the money in the hands of the people who drive this economy. So, rich people, sorry (not really), but you're heyday is over. You didn't hold up your end of the "trickle down" economy theory, so now we're going to go for the "trickle up" theory. I believe that when the many succeed, we all succeed. It's not socialism or communism, it's common sense.

-------------------------------------------------------
Here's a great piece by Paul Krugman on the real effects of Reagan and Bush: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/reagan-and-revenue/

And, I'm just going to add here that the problem with Republicans and their taxes is that they're not willing to look at regressive taxes, like Social Security, property taxes, sales taxes, etc. Everyone who makes more than $62,700 is taxed at the same amount, so basically, you and Bill Gates pay into SS the same amount. What is 7% of your income is barely measurable to him. And, SS tax has been raised nine times since 1977...all under the premise that the people who need it, the people who pay into it, are going to get something when they need it. But, the government borrows from that money to pay for things like no-bid contracts to Halliburton. The fact is that the tax burden on the average person has increased exponentially over the past 30 years, while taxes paid by the wealthy and corporations have dropped to their lowest levels, even while government spending increases.

If you need any more proof that Bush's economic plans don't work, look no further than the stimulus check and government bailouts of this year. I can't think of any more "spread the wealth" policies than 1) giving cash to people and 2) government buying bad investments from banks. The fact is that if this economy was sound and booming, we wouldn't need this massive government intervention. But it wasn't so we did. We needed it because an economy doesn't run on corporate tax cuts, it runs on the volume of business. When people buy things, when money changes hands, it runs. Economies were built to run from the bottom up.

But, the thing that bothers me most of all is that Republicans seem to think that the measure of a strong economy is how much more wealth the wealthy can acquire. That's absurd. We have millions of people without jobs (750,000 jobs lost this year alone), millions without health care and skyrocketing costs of living. And the solution is to let these people fail for the sake of the wealthy? No. The fact is, the strength of the economy is in the ability of each generation to have a higher standard of living than the previous. It's in the person keeping a job, buying a house, sending their children to college and saving for retirement. When the small people have small successes, the big guys do well, too.

Ok, I'll stop here. I could keep going, but it basically boils down to Bush ruined this country, Republicans are either evil, stupid or both, and anyone that follows them after the past eight years deserves what they get (and trust me, it won't be pretty).

[joop]

48. saw the same damn story somewhere else except it was $10 at Chilis

who cares. Fake is fake is fake and if it were true, they were just looking for a reason to stiff a waiter and I bet you they never gave a cent to any other person.

asses.

[KingFlorez]

49. Made up

How could the waiter be wearing anything other than his uniform while on duty?

[JackBeck]

50. One point that the cheap fucking right winger left out

Was that their tab came to about $100.

[jillan]

51. BS and here's why - there is NO WAY that a waiter at Applebee's would be able to wear

an Obama t-shirt.

No way - You cannot wear political apparel to a place that serves the public.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

52. Exxon would have a bigger distribution

some billions maybe?

[ladywnch]

53. I've seen a variation on this POS several weeks ago even before

the "redistribute the wealth" meme. I call BS.

[vanderBeth]

54. I call BS.

No way in hell Applebee's would let him wear an Obama (or McCain) shirt.

[Eyes_wide_ open]

55. Another point ...

I was a waitress for years, and while I agree that Applebee's wouldn't allow it, I think there's a more pertinent fact nobody's seeing. As it was an Obama shirt, that would indicate a thinking person, and no thinking waiter ... that depends on tips for his livelihood ... would wear a shirt that would be bound to piss off some of his customers, knowing that his pay is dependent on staying in their good graces.

Would you wear a shirt to work that guaranteed you would get a pay cut for the day ... even if it was only 20 or 30%? Admittedly a McCain/Palin supporter might(and that's why Applebee's would need such rules), but they're not exactly known for their critical thinking skills.

There's no doubt the story is BS IMO

[Lorien]

57. I'd ask the author of the letter what they think of the fact that Warren Buffet

pays a 17% income tax BEFORE taking advantage of any loopholes, while his secretary, who makes 65K a year, pays a 23% income tax. That's a redistribution of wealth from the workers to the wealthy. Is that fair? Should a person give less to his or her country because they've benefited the most from living here? Should they be rewarded for having the most rewards? Why is reverse Robin Hoodism OK with these people?

[Berry Cool]

58. Of course the story isn't true, for the million reasons people already pointed out

but one of the parts that rings the falsest is that we're supposed to believe that an Obama-supporting waiter would be upset if one of his patrons told him he was giving the tip to a homeless person because he needed it more.

I think it's much more likely that the waiter would say "You saw a homeless guy you'd rather give this money to than me because he could use it more? Well, by all means give it to him, then. Say, can you tell me where he is? Maybe we can do something about getting him into a shelter and a place where he can get hot meals. Try to do something to really help him."

Instead we're supposed to believe that he reacts the way the freeper himself would--that he gets all pissy about the idea that money HE supposedly earned is going to someone else more in need. Doesn't sound like an Obama supporter to me.