And so the real issue comes to a head doesn't it, Gene?

Why don't you go live in another country? As liberals like you point out, most of the modern world has a nanny state like this.  Why not go there?

Moreover, if people like me did go live in some other country, who would pay for medicare?  I put in over $40,000 into Medicare last year, Gene.  How much did you put in?

It's not my responsibility to pay for the health care of retired people. It's their responsibility.

I've debated people on many issues over a long period of time. Gene is almost certainly one of the least intelligent regular participants in debates I've ever encountered.

Most people who are at his intelligence level burn out quickly as the flaws in their positions are made available.

Gene simply ignores them. 

The reality is, people like Gene never have influence because, as liberals like to point out, it's really people like me that are in control.  And we have a threshold of how much water we'll carry for the parasitic class.  Even here on this site, Gene's ability to write his rants is predicated on the generosity of people like me. 

Since I produce the site, I have control. The same is true of society. The people who produce things ultimately have control in proportion to how much they produce.

Last year, 43 MILLION Americans paid not a single net cent in federal income taxes.  And yet, parasites like Gene would argue that I should pay more simply because, as a producer, I have more available to confiscate.

Gene and his ilk will never win because no matter how you slice it, the producers are always the ones with the power.  People who DO things will always have the advantage over people who simply WANT things.

Raise our income taxes and we simply terminate marginal employees.

Raise the Medicare tax and we'll move our money into investments and LLCs which don't go through payroll.

...And ultimately, if they find some perfect way to steal our earnings and we'll simply stop producing.

What Gene and his ilk don't get is that people like me don't have to work. I've long since passed the point of needing to work. I have more than enough comforts to live the lifestyle that Gene and his kind thing is "more than enough". 

But if I did stop working (and others like me) then the parasites of our society really would have to either starve or pull themselves up. 

Gene can cry all he wants about "fairness" but reality is that people who produce will always be the ones in control of their own destinies.  And that is true regardless of how much money you make -- if you produce, you are in control.

There is nothing compassionate about supporting the theift of property of one citizen to be given to another person.

Compassion is not about beliefs. Compassion is about deeds.

I guess my question can be summed up as: Why should I care what you think about anything?

Gene, you're impotent.

You have no power. You have no influence. Your ability to rant is literally controlled by people like me. If not here on JU, then on other sites run by other producers. 

As I said before, I put in over $40k into the Medicare system last year.  I wouldn't be surprised to find out that that is more than you put into the system, even adjusted for inflation, than you put in throughout your lifetime. 

And again, if my Medicare costs got increased, I'd simply decrease my payroll income and put it into investments or other areas that bypass payroll taxes.  We all have thresholds.  If the government gets too greedy, they kill the golden goose.

Secondly, if Medicare is spending more than it is receiving, then obviously it is spending more than people have put in. 

Please, feel free to state how much you worked and put into medicare. Go ahead. Adjust for inflation. 

I would be more than happy to treat Medicare as a personal account.  Let people take out of it what they put in -- even adjusted for inflation.  Heck, adjusted for inflation +2% even. 

What happens is that people like you put a pittance into the system and then expect fully paid quadruple bypass surgeries.

It isn't the federal government's job (or promise) to provide lavish care for retired citizens simply because they paid token amounts into the system.

Probably not a good idea to go out and have a family if you only make $22,000 a year.

It should also be noted that Gene's definition of "stupid" is purely whether someone holds the same emotional values as he does.

There's nothing "stupid" or "not stupid" about what one thinks Medicare spending should be.

That's another reason why liberals are always confined to the kiddie table in the real world. Their emotions are what guide them rather than logic.

What I think is "stupid" is anyone who argues that "the rich" aren't paying enough income taxes while 40+ million Americans don't pay a cent in income taxes.

It's essentially like someone like Gene complaining that I'm not taking care of enough of his kids for him.  That is, ultimately, what we are talking about right? The productive class of society (the adults) taking care of the non-productive class (the 40+ million who pay nothing).