congress to end poverty by requiring all americans to become wealthy or face fines

[unblock]

hey, if it makes sense to solve the problem of uninsured americans that way, why not use it for other problems?

solve the unemployment problem by forcing the unemployed to get jobs or face fines.

save the auto sector by forcing americans to buy cars or face fines.

so much potential in this private mandate concept!

:sarcasm:

[smokey nj]

1. That headline is Onion-worthy!

[tomm2thumbs]

61. they say that truth is always stranger than fiction - case in point here I think

[AnneD]

2. Wickedly delicious....

in a Jonathan Swift way.:evilgrin:

[Ken Burch]

86. self-delete

dupe post

[Ken Burch]

87. Y'know, "A Modest Proposal" has always made me a little nervous about eating

about eating meat products from THIS company:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. What if they can't pay the fine or penalty? Are they going to reinstitute the poor house?

Will they foreclose on the homes of those who default on their penalties and send them out into the streets? Will they get locked up in privatized prisons and work off their fines in chain gangs?

[unblock]

7. they won't have to, silly! out of fear of fines, everyone will choose to become wealthy instead!

we won't actually have to enforce fines, the fear of fines is enough to make the plan work!

c'mon, show a little faith!

:rofl:

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. I don't know what came over me

Of course we won't even need health insurance at all if they mandate good health. Everyone with cancer can just will themselves into remission instead of facing the high cancer fines.

[unblock]

16. capital idea! send it to baucus!

[AnneD]

10. Road Gang Slavery.....

Finally, really cheap labour. Consumer economy shot all to hell, but we can export.

[Why Syzygy]

43. That's what I envision. Prison! FREE health care! nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. Duplicate post - sorry

I'm having a little trouble with the board tonight. I click and nothing seems to happen.

[Xipe Totec]

5. 100% employment! A Worker's Paradise! n/t

[Liberal Veteran]

6. Can I get a tax credit and a side of deregulation to go with that?

[jberryhill]

20. Only If We Cut Capital Gains

Remember when that was the answer to every question?

[wroberts189]

30. Bush the first ..yes I remember.. we all see how well that worked out I hope. nt

[havocmom]

8. Too bad ignorance can't be as easily fixed

If only the Morans had to get a brain or pay a fine ;)

Love your OP. Priceless!

[unblock]

25. fixed, no. fined, yes. after all, what is a lottery but a fine on stupidity?

[excess_3]

9. felony or misdemeaner ?

to be uninsured?

[Gman]

11. Rush often lurks around DU

he's said so many times. Don't be surprised to hear this as a meme the latter part of this week.

[denverbill]

69. Rush suggested taxing the poor years ago. Link

RUSH ARCHIVE: It is time to get serious, and it is time to get tough about tax policy in this country. The middle class, coupled with the rich, make this country work. Those two groups working together in unison are what make this country work. Now, what's slowing this country down? Tell you who it is. The poor. The poor and the lower classes of this country have gotten a free ride ever since the Great Depression, when it became noble to be poor. Look at how we treat the homeless, why we celebrate them, why we make romantic figures out of them, why we make movies about them. We teach them to dine in Dumpsters now because America is so impolite, America doesn't care, America is so rude. My friends, we have the wealthiest poor in the world. They're the ones who get all the benefits in this country. They're the ones that are always pandered to. We have been encouraging poverty because they need government. And Democrats love giving money away to the poor, because it creates a need. And, boy, have we created a dependency class, and do they give anything back, do they pay any taxes? No. They don't have to file any income taxes. They don't pay a thing. They contribute nothing to this country. They do nothing but take from it. It is serious. It is time to get serious about raising taxes on the poor.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_073108/content/01125111.guest.html

[femrap]

12. After reading some of the

crap from other DUers today, you are a Blessing. Thank you. Too fucking funny! I love it!


It's up there with the Billionaires for Wealthcare!


I love it...kandr!!!!


A sense of humor is mandatory! :yourock: :yourock: :yourock:

[PA Democrat]

13. Max will have his banking lobbyist buddies write a bill for him.

Americans must deposit 13% of their income in a low-interest 10 year CD. Big penalties for early withdrawal and fines for those underachievers (losers) who fail to save the required amounts. After all, banksters need their guaranteed profits too!

[haele]

77. Not 13% - they're supposed to deposit 33% -

Everyone knows that a savvy family budgets are supposed to go like this -
A family spends no more than 33% of their income on housing;
the second 33% of income is to pay bills and "discretionary spending"
and 33% to save - not only for retirement, but for things like repairs, future medical issues and college funds...
That's the winning formula for wealth and protection for your olde age...or so I'm told by all the comfortable 2-income middle class workers with "healthy families" I know.


Of course most of them won't tell you how much they have outstanding on Credit Cards and mortgage leveraging. I've found most people don't realize how much interest they are paying until they suddenly find themselves bankrupt because the minimum payments they were making weren't putting enough of a dent on the principle owed.
When a major outlay of funds (repairs, college or retirement) starts looming, there's not been enough paid down on what they already have to be able to knock down those outstanding debts.

Haele

[burrowowl]

14. My Gut Hurts from

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Onionesque!

[intheflow]

17. The up side is that when we're all wealthy, we won't have to pay many taxes!

Especially taxes to help those less fortunate than ourselves! So this really is a win/win solution! Brilliant! :applause:

[unblock]

19. then we can REALLY end welfare as we know it!

[scarletwoman]

18. Applause! Applause! By gawd you've solved it! The end of poverty!

The solution was always right there, staring us in the face! You're a GENIUS!!!!1!!1!!!1

We are not worthy...

sw

[branders seine]

21. That is FUNNY!

Let's end loneliness too

And hunger

And not being tall

[wroberts189]

22. BRILLIANT ... I have never heard a more lucid analogy made yet. KNR nt

[MichiganVote]

23. EXCELLENT!!!

[Vidar]

24. Excellent. Bailouts are only for the fat cats.

[Stinky The Clown]

26. Ya ...... pretty much.

[scarletwoman]

27. Kicking -- this wonderful post deserves to be on the front page! (nt)

[eppur_se_muova]

28. Well, this IS the only approach Repugs understand ...

so, technically, it's not really satire. :evil:

Want people to do something? Just REQUIRE them to do it! None of this frou-frou, hand-holding, enabling, empowering, cooperation nonsense! No laws making it POSSIBLE -- just REQUIRE it!

Want students to do better? Just pass a law PUNISHING them if they don't! And since Repugs are really into collective punishment, punish the whole school! And if they don't have any of the resources they need to prevent punishment, well, punish them for that! It's the Repug ( = anal retentive, authoritarian control freak ) way!

[wroberts189]

29. Kicking this because I want to. nt

[blogslut]

31. Darn it!

I missed hyperbole day!

shoot

[earth mom]

32. Sad thing is that most freepers & GD-P DUers who would agree with those ideas!

:crazy:

[unblock]

35. i guess it's kinda colbert-esque in that way

some people just don't get satire.

[Hannah Bell]

33. kick/rec

[Naturyl]

34. I love this.

Very good satire. K&R.

[Echo In Light]

36. The preferred ideal re American "reform" = drops to its knees & sucks shit from ass

[HughBeaumont]

37. K & R. The sad thing is, what we take as a complete joke, the right wing is dead-serious about.

The whole "The Poor should just get JOBS" mantra is about as comical as it is unlikely.

Of course, if a person steadfastly believes that a person's value to the economy and society and their potential success absolutely HAS to be tethered completely to how gainfully they're employed, then they'll think this wack way of thought is unproblematic.

For the rest of us, it's lunacy.

:)

[Joe Chi Minh]

38. For crying out loud! What do you mean? In all seriousness, they're

already doing that. Have been for ages.

[PA Democrat]

39. Require homeless people to buy homes!

[unblock]

40. yes! and require the hungry to get food or face fines!

[anonymous171]

48. AMAZING! Send that idea to Whitehouse right away! nt

[lapislzi]

41. Fix the housing crisis

Everyone must buy a home or pay a fine! Everyone will use their newly mandated wealth to purchase a McMansion.

[Why Syzygy]

42. haha! Obviously why we've been misbehaving

and not carrying adequate health insurance! There's no LAW that makes me!


Write me a ticket! That'll fix me.

[unblock]

44. well, if you ask the insurers, yeah, that IS the problem

it's all those deadbeat young healthy people choosing not to buy health insurance who are responsible for driving costs up by forcing them to pay for the sick people without healthy people to balance it out.

ask me and that sounds like an argument for a GOVERNMENT mandate, but private insurers see no profit in that! so they push instead for the PRIVATE mandate.


ugh. seriously, would this be the first time in american history that the federal government REQUIRED all americans to buy a PRIVATE good or service or else face a government fine? auto insurance doesn't count, first because the requirement is at the state level, and more importantly because people can avoid it by choosing not to drive or own a car; there are other ways to get around. i'm not aware of a way out of the private mandate in any of the various insurance bills proposed.

[wroberts189]

64. Let me add: Oh yes ...they want those that are young and healthy.

They are drooling at the prospect like foxes at an unguarded hen house.

It will be like hitting the lottery for them. And it will be like the Dems. are punishing everyone for asking for reform.

It will be hung around our necks and we will drown.

The Dems. could go single payer if they wanted and be in power for the next 20 years.

[grantcart]

45. and a single sentence illuminates a whole like of bull shit

edited to ad

I wish you had not used the sarcasm tag, if somebody doesn't get sarcasm at that high high level, I would prefer that they get their panties in a bunch.

[unblock]

46. ha ha, i like the idea of a trap for the sarcasm-impaired!

:evilgrin:

[anonymous171]

47. Ahh "progressive" thought at it's finest. K&R. nt

[Romulox]

49. I'll agree to that, but only on the condition that you give me tort reform!!!! nt

[jonnyblitz]

50. great thread!! k & r.

:rofl:

[jeffbr]

51. NEXT: Congress to require poor and unemployed to prepay capital gains tax

or face heavy fines

[leftstreet]

52. And NO SUBSIDIZING those people too lazy to become wealthy!

K&R

[RedCloud]

53. So what about all these grandmas lined up for recycling?

Some of us run funeral businesses you know!

[KansDem]

54. Can I get a bailout *before* I make with the financial malfeasance?

It would save a lot of time!

[proReality]

56. That's how we get wealthy: bailout. n/t

[Mithreal]

55. Damn, that cuts through the crap. Thanks. K&R nt

[vinylsolution]

57. And all the teabagers are nodding....

... in agreement, as they trudge back to the trailer park.

:rofl:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

58. Republicans have been pushing the "require everyone to buy health insurance"

line since the Reagan administration. Literally.

I've always said that it makes as much sense as ending homelessness by requiring everyone to buy a house.

[Jon Boston]

73. Romneycare in Massachusetts

Coming soon for all of America.

[Ken Burch]

89. Or ending cluelessnes by requiring everyone to buy a clue.

n/t.

[irislake]

59. Wot?

I thought you were all rich already. I thought America was the richest country in all the world and that everybody was frantic to go an live there. And be "free" too. Isn't that the American dream?

[tomm2thumbs]

60. I want to force people to eat vegetables - I think it would be a better health care plan anyway

is that bad?

[wroberts189]

62. The whole spin in MA was that premiums would go down if there was a mandate.

The INS. corps promised...


Instead they jacked rates.. now you have to have it so they have a captive market.

And they did not fully fund the part where they help the poor afford it.

The model is.. as predicted by many.. failing fast... yet they want to do it to the rest of the country.

If the Baucus plan was ever implemented .. which I do not believe it will be.. but if it ever is I have some predictions.


Insurance companies will make *billions* more.
People will continue to have the exact same problems and will pay more.
It will all be blamed on the Dems. and we will be kicked out of power AGAIN.
A lot of Dem voters will give up and stop voting.

[blueworld]

63. You're a visionary...

I'm leaving now to buy lottery tickets with the money I used to spend on my meds & insurance premiums!:yourock:

[omega minimo]

65. Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!!!!

[gaspee]

66. 100th rec

And proud to be so!

Romney caRE IN MA sucks - and that's what they're trying to do to the rest of us!

[jotsy]

67. The kicker is they did it a decade ago and we just didn't notice.

Phil Gramm involved himself in some piece of nasty legislation that set in motion a financial services industry free for all, and a few summers later was a series of articles about how the hyper-rich had succeeded in sucking the middle class dry and would be setting their sights on the merely rich, and oh, doesn't it look like that's where we are about now. When banks and other creditors collectively generate tens of billions every year in late charges and overdraft fees, they know who such policies it hurts. It's not the affluent who provided that windfall, it was the folks from the middle to the bottom. When you stop to consider where we stand, in the aftermath of the perfect storm of mortgage meltdowns, recessed economies and an exodus of jobs, is it fair to ask our suppliers of existence why they keep wanting to up the ante.

It seems at times all they really want is for us to feel inadequate, lesser a being than they. How horrible it must be to host so much insecurity that all self worth lies in the ability to push others down, yet somehow view themselves as the cream of the crop, instead of the scourge on society they are.

The corpatocracy is too threaded in every aspect of our lives and their ties to government, and there by, its people, must be severed, and soon.

The first best step? Universal Care. NOW!

[defendandprotect]

68. Did they find the DNA link to poverty yet -- ???

[Kitty Herder]

70. Holy cow! Can I share that?

I want to use it for my status on Facebook. I'll give you credit for it.

[unblock]

71. please do!

or should i say, please du!

[Vincardog]

72. Solve the starvation problem by forcing people to buy food or face fines

[freddie mertz]

74. Brilliant. I LOVE this mandate solution!

Maybe we can use it to make everyone smarter, younger, better looking and more considerate too!

Wish I'd thought of it!

[undergroundpanther]

75. humanity wastes it's time

making believe it has to pay certain wealthy humans to exist.

Fuck them. Fuck the parasite wealthy.
Fuck their scam. They took away our freedom in a game they invented so they could rule the world.Make us think we must be dependant upon this corporate rigged, inhuman, system, play this pretend game, participate in this destructive, psychopathic, anti- humane,planet killing,empathy silencing,traumatizing, soul crushing, deadly, cradle-to-grave delusion ,chains of routine,and collective horrors of lives denied, suppressed,living someone else's dream,believing to be stuck in a rigged scam that we all pretend has to exist in order to survive...THEY LIE.


Do lions Pay rich people to exist, to eat or drink and find shelter?
Do birds, beetles, salamanders sharks or octopus? NO! They pay no greedy rich man for the privilege of being his slave to exist.

They OWE US!!! They steal happiness,self awareness,our lifetimes away from us so we will pay them to exist.They tell us to pay or die.

Maybe it is time to demand the rich pay US or we will take it all back.

But humans they let the rich and psychopaths rule them.We let the inferior humans micromanage our lives and let them make us pay them to exist.
This game we play this system we believe in,makes humans the stupidest creatures on earth and the most destructive..

[treestar]

76. The Swiss and the German plans are like this.

Methinks it is not that simple. One of those wonky things that take effort to understand. Dull and boring.

[unblock]

79. i'm very wonky, when i'm not cracking wise.

methinks there are several things different about swiss & german (and all of europe, for that matter) culture, laws, and society compared to the u.s.

i don't know anything about the swiss & german plans, so please tell me more. not dull and boring at all to me. but i'd lay odds that they aren't structured so as to make people in certain income ranges howl in pain or permit obscene profits by the insurance companies as a result of a captive market with no real controls.

[wroberts189]

80. Like the Baucus plan?? nt

[truedelphi]

78. Concise, true and funny,

In a perverse sort of way.

[Uncle Joe]

81. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, unblock.:thumbsup:

[liberal N proud]

82. Spot on

[winyanstaz]

83. K & R...

because it makes more sense than what Congress is doing.

[GreenTea]

84. The hansomly paid-off Baucus & Conrad by the insurance corporations certainly believe this.

[Ken Burch]

85. Good God...now Baucus is gonna THINK ABOUT IT!

[TK421]

88. If they force me to buy a car, can I at least get a break on the insurance cost?

I haven't driven in about four years due to money woes....what are my chances with that? or do I go to car prison?

[WyoHiker]

90. K,R, and repost to my FB page

[ptownbro]

91. Awesome

That definitely was a good one.