"For of those to whom much is given,

[safeinOhio]

much is required", Luke 12-48. Sounds to me like it is saying tax those making over 350k to pay for health care. The spin will say that is not what is meant.

[Flying Dream Blues]

1. That's right...and people forget the tax rate used to be much higher.

I don't mind paying extra if that's what's required for me to feel proud that my country is finally giving everyone access to health care.

[dana_b]

2. tell that to these people

from Michael Moore's page. These people creep me out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eefJTh-BNFM

[Oregone]

5. disgusting idiots. 80%++ would pay less if they funded it properly

including those ignorant sobs

[Zavulon]

3. "Much is given?"

Bad reasoning if you want people on your side. The people I know who make mid six figures work their asses off and believe their salaries are earned, not given. I agree with them. If I made that much and somebody told me that it was "given" to me, my middle fingers would pop up like switchblades.

By the way, if you think the taxation will stop there, you're sadly mistaken. Obama can't possibly pay for all of this this without breaking his vow.

[Oregone]

7. Ever seen a graph of how people get wealthy?

Ill give you a hint, "working" takes a distance 4th place to inheritance, marriage, and crime.


That aside, their ability to "work" and "earn" wealth depends on a stable and healthy marketplace, as well as tax-funded systems to help it flourish

[Oregone]

8. dupe

[safeinOhio]

10. I'd throw this at them

It is God's plan that you were "given" the gifts of opportunity and skills that got you there. Buy the way I worked my ass off for 30 years, with a broken down body to prove it and never made a quarter of that.
Don't under estimate what Obama is going to, and can do. If he can lower the amount of GPD spent on health care, he has paid for it in the big picture.

[Zavulon]

15. No sale.

First off, I'm not religious and don't believe there's a God passing out skills and opportunity to whomever he sees fit while ignoring others. If that were the case, then a strong case could be made that God is a major-league racist.

Second of all, hard work isn't a guarantee of wealth, but that doesn't mean that those who work hard and get wealthy anyway are simply God's pet projects or don't deserve what they have. Not everyone who is financially well-off inherited their wealth.

Third of all, assuming that you mean "GDP," I don't believe for a moment that the amount spent on health care will ever get lower. It's going to skyrocket. Regardless of what faith you may have in government as a steward of our money or its ability to handle such a massive responsibility, government programs almost never come in at or under estimate, and the biggest programs never do.

[Jane Austin]

12. Mid six figures isn't "the Rich"

Seven figures is.

[Zavulon]

16. A lot of politicians disagree with you. (NT)

[Taitertots]

19. Mid Six figures is the top 1% wealthiest

Seven figures is .5% wealthiest.

[Jane Austin]

21. You are right. I was thinking $150, 000 - not $500,000.

Needed more coffee.

[Taitertots]

22. That is still way above median

$150,000 a year is more than the vast majority of people make. It is right around the top 5%. Still among the richest people in America.

[Tansy_Gold]

13. I don't want "people" on my side.

At least not people who can't figure out how much of their wealth is "earned" and how much if it is handed to them on a silver platter after being earned by and stolen from someone else.




Tansy Gold

[safeinOhio]

4. So, the guy who is being taxed on $350k

after deductions, that is what is left after expenses like paying employs, 1%? Seems if he hired more help he'd have more write-offs and keep more. Yet we keep hearing how this is a "job killer".

[jwirr]

6. Absolutely! and your interpretation is much closer than The Family

interp.

[Deja Q]

9. You assume we are a Christian nation...

[safeinOhio]

11. I assume that the Christian right

will squeal the loudest.

[Obamanaut]

14. I have known a few successful people. They were not "given"

anything, but rather worked many hours over the usual 40 per week. Does Luke say anything about redistribution of income?

Or maybe, Luke refers to the recipients of the bounty taken from the diligent workers - much is required of them because so much has been given (redistributed) to them.

[safeinOhio]

17. I'm glad you asked

Not so much Luke, but, a lot from Matthew and Proverbs. Many more, too much to list. I don't buy into most of it. Then I don't believe the Bible is inerrant like conservatives do. Take Rush Limbaugh, "with talent on loan from God". So, that's how he got his 400 million contract. This is just a tool to use against those screaming socialism and redistribution. They have no idea what they are talking about. Over the last 8 years wealth has been passed from the poor to the rich. The middle class is all but wiped out. Lobbyist paid by the rich have rewritten the tax codes to redistribute the wealth upward.

"If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered."
-Proverbs 21:13


"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."
-Proverbs 31:8-9


"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
-Matthew 6:24


"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.'"
-Matthew 19:23-24


"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least among you, you did not do for me.'"
-Matthew 25:41-45


"He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished."
-Proverbs 17:5


"He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich--both come to poverty."
-Proverbs 22:16


"Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'"
-Matthew 19:21


"He who gives to the poor will lack nothing, but he who closes his eyes to them receives many curses."
-Proverbs 28:27


"People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."

[Obamanaut]

18. If you don't "buy into most of it" why are there so many excerpts?

Do what you will, I'll not respond further. I am a non-believer, and this could not end well.

[Taitertots]

20. So does everyone else

As if the ultra wealthy somehow work so much harder than everyone else. I work 40 hours every week and make low five figures.

Every top one percenter makes that money off the backs of the other 99%. Any refusal to acknowledge this is just their ego.