Davy Crockett wrote: Please do not mention government guys, i will get violently ill and I doubt OBAMA care would save me or anyone else for that matter.

Another grape nehi please.

In our pretend world, they are our best customer. In real life, they massively screw up everything they touch. I prefer the fake world where I own a bar and smuggle weapons. It's much nicer.

And in our pretend world, I am a retired Senator, so I have the Exemption Privilege. If memory serves, all of the Jolly employees are ex-Congress and Executive Branch, and I believe Paul was a federal judge, or at least he had the nickname The Judge. Parrot was on the other end of the Justice system. But he "knows people."

No need for that health care thing we wrote for The Masses.

Manfred The Bartender "See you at the Senate inquest"

Hi guys, just dropping by for a drink. I'll take a Velvet Hammer thanks Manfred.

hammer_tool wrote: Hi guys, just dropping by for a drink. I'll take a Velvet Hammer thanks Manfred.

In our honorary black and white mug. Cheers.

Hammer tool's evening is on the house. Congrats hammer!

Manfred wrote: And in our pretend world, I am a retired Senator, so I have the Exemption Privilege. If memory serves, all of the Jolly employees are ex-Congress and Executive Branch, and I believe Paul was a federal judge, or at least he had the nickname The Judge. Parrot was on the other end of the Justice system. But he "knows people."

No need for that health care thing we wrote for The Masses.

Manfred The Bartender "See you at the Senate inquest"

And they all thought I hired you guys just for your quick wit and pleasant demeanor...

I always thought it was for my good looks and fancy wardrobe....

May I another fake grape nehi, here's your fake money to your fake bartender at your fake place.

May I use the fake bathroom.

PAUL, YOU DO HAVE GOOD LOOKS.

QUESTION, DOES FAKE GRAPE NEHI TASTE AS GOOD AS THE REAL STUFF, I CANT TELL.

Paul Mantz, Jr. wrote: I always thought it was for my good looks and fancy wardrobe....

It was Paul, it was.

Thanks, that makes me feel better. I'll sleep well tonight because tomorrow will be a........



$$http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jsw_r0hILQ&sns=em
Remove $$ to use. Use $$ to tip the kid behind the bar.

Paul Mantz, Jr. wrote:

Jacklpe wrote:
Paul, I want a big donkey on the top of mine.

You're the boss.... Here's your trophy!

If you want to make jokes about your sister, that I am just helping through college, please explain that to her over Thanksgiving dinner.
She was only hired to give you the bird.
I respect her.

MANTZ! Did you see the sign?!?

Good thing its allergic to logic, one statement of "follow the constitution" and he went straight into cardiac arrest.

Congratulations Boston fans. Your team played very well.

Well, I just found out today that my new "affordable" healthcare will cost me an ADDITIONAL $133 A MONTH next year. Thank you, Sir. May I have another?

Affordable, as turns out, means something completely different to people that actually pay bills and taxes.

I didn't pay that much for my first car! (Working 2 jobs and full-time high school at the time, btw)

Affordable = affordable for some and paid for by others. Congrats now you know why this is run by the IRS. And people laughed when we called it a tax scheme.

Oh and here's a beer for your trouble. If memory serves, you like them frigerated.

It's easy to be generous with other people's money. I'm pretty sure that was the average voter's intention. Plus, most are so distracted by non issues that they never understand who and what they are voting for in the first place. It's gonna be fun watching them squirm now that they are realizing that this is going to come out of thei wallets. I've already had a few years to come to terms with it... My policy back when I worked for someone else doubled in cost overnight when the law was passed. We had what was considered a "Cadillac" policy that only the very wealthy could afford. Umm. I'm a truck driver. I am a long long way from being one of those who would be considered the "wealthiest" among us. Yet, I was immediately treated as such. If that did anything for me though, it made my benefits package less appealing and allowed me to not have that "hook" in me that was keeping me working for someone else, rather than chasing my own dreams.

I have the utmost respect for John McCain, although I am not nor was I ever his biggest fan politically ... But, he nailed it when he said elections have consequences. Yes... Yes they do.

I thank the good LORD i have the VA and my wife has Medicare so we are covered. There are a lot of folks being hurt by this, not just a little bit but a whole lot. WE HAD SEVERAL WARNINGS THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN.

I ALWAYS WATCH THE NEWS AND LISTEN TO TALK RADIO, I ALSO AM VERY VIGILANT AS TO WHAT IS GOING ON IN CAPITAL HILL THEREFORE MYSELF AND PEOPLE LIKE ME KNEW THAT THIS WOULD BE A FIASCO. THOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY ARE LEARNING THE HARD WAY.

Obama is not done, he promised the TRANSFORMATION of the USA and he is going to have it.

I WANT TO THANK DOGFIGHT AND EVERYONE ON THE FORUM FOR PROVIDING A EXCELLENT ESCAPE FROM THE PROBLEMS OF THE USA YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST.

Hey Jacklpe. Your new soup menu looks interesting. But I still rather take beer...

May I ask how much you guys pay in taxes?
Not in $, €, £,or ¥, but in %

I pay 34% of my salary in taxes and ~ 3% to the union.

Just in property taxes alone i pay $ 20,000 a year. When you add my personal taxes, gasoline taxes and every other tax known to mankind it is totally overwhelming. We are being choked out of existence.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not anti tax completely. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN REDISTRIBUTION AND I HATE THAT THE GOVERNMENT WASTES SO MUCH OF THE MONEY ON NOTHING. EXAMPLE, THE GOVERNMENT JUST SPENT A BILLION ON A USELESS WEBSITE.

bellsaj wrote: May I ask how much you guys pay in taxes?
Not in $, €, £,or ¥, but in %

I pay 34% of my salary in taxes and ~ 3% to the union.

Whe I was an employee, probably close to 30%. Plus property, sales, and other taxes. Now I pay a whole lot less because of the depreciation and deductions that I am able to claim with the equipment that I have financed, fuel, business costs etc. I still have to pay payroll taxes, unemployment, social security, heavy vehicle use, state corporate registration, thousands in fuel taxes, etc, but I do pay less, for now at least....

Over regulation, and how it is affecting the industry I'm in, is another huge problem though. Emissions control equipment that has been mandated on heavy trucks here is causing a lot of small companies to go out of business. The technology is not good at all, and has taken the rugged and reliable trucks that we have had for a few decades and turned them into unreliable money pits. I've had this one a month now, and just had to drop $800 on it yesterday, plus I'm a day late on this load now... All b/c of an emissions system that doesn't work right, and shouldn't be on here in the first place. We as a country are regulating ourselves into bankruptcy. I think I may move to Belize....

Just for income tax.... It varies each year for me, but on average for state and federal combined it's around 40%.

Sales tax in my state is 7.25% on almost everything. On gasoline it's $.54 per gallon. Davy own rental properties I believe. So, my property tax is considerably less, but still a couple thousand a year, including vehicles.

According to many though, I'm not paying enough...

Well the 34% is only income tax them my employer pays the social expense to the gov. That money I don't even see on paper. But with that included I'd say its ~62% then we hav 20-25% sales taxes, fuel is about 75% tax .. 1 liter 95 is $2.07, diesel is $2 today LITER NOT GALLON. Don't have price per gallon but I guess you guys will do that math. If I sell a proparty I have to pay 30% tax on the profit I make.

Hey guys I'm here with my costume called "SHEEP FOR BRAINS"

WHERES all the candy, I cant see t well.

Enough politics for me for now... I had to stop listening to talk radio because the meds weren't working any more. In a moment of weakness I posted and felt the old familiar feeling. Now a little meditation and I'm all good.

Jacklpe, I've come to realize even more this week how much people "don't get it" when it comes to truck drivers. I'm managing a $35mm expansion (more like 70, if you factor in the equipment that will be installed) at a major pharmaceutical manufacturing site. Part of the job is installing a new road to be used by employees and the trucks that bring in materials and haul out the finished product. During construction we have to route all this traffic to a little side road by installing 2 access points to leave the property, take the side road and re-enter the back of the property. The brilliant civil engineering on the job plugs everything into his 3d modeling software and whatever kind of calculator he uses and determines that the temporary entrances can be as little as 24 feet wide.

I voiced my concerns that the trucker were absolutely not going to be able to make the 90 degree turns on and off the side with these clearances, much less would 2 way traffic be possible. For days I've been trying to explain this. For days I've had to hear how the engineer calculated this and that. I also got plenty of comments along the lines of "the drivers will just have to be careful". Well I finally got my point across. I had a guy driving a little day cab with a 40 foot flat bed (not a sleeper rig, not a 53' trailer) do a test run on the entrance, while the owner's representatives observed.

After the trucker took ALL of the road and ALL of the shoulder, just to make the left onto the property, it finally sunk in. I was instructed that I needed to widen the entrances immediately! Why didn't I think of that!?!? Not blowing my own horn, but I was the only person to think of this. Had we opened the road and put the drivers in a spot where they had to use it, every incident and close call would be their fault. There are dozens of people on the team and nobody thinks of these things.

I appreciate what y'all do and I'm sorry y'all have to put up with the crap you do.

bellsaj wrote: Well the 34% is only income tax them my employer pays the social expense to the gov. That money I don't even see on paper. But with that included I'd say its ~62% then we hav 20-25% sales taxes, fuel is about 75% tax .. 1 liter 95 is $2.07, diesel is $2 today LITER NOT GALLON. Don't have price per gallon but I guess you guys will do that math. If I sell a proparty I have to pay 30% tax on the profit I make.

I would do more than joke about going to Belize.

ParrotHead wrote: Enough politics for me for now... I had to stop listening to talk radio because the meds weren't working any more. In a moment of weakness I posted and felt the old familiar feeling. Now a little meditation and I'm all good.

Jacklpe, I've come to realize even more this week how much people "don't get it" when it comes to truck drivers. I'm managing a $35mm expansion (more like 70, if you factor in the equipment that will be installed) at a major pharmaceutical manufacturing site. Part of the job is installing a new road to be used by employees and the trucks that bring in materials and haul out the finished product. During construction we have to route all this traffic to a little side road by installing 2 access points to leave the property, take the side road and re-enter the back of the property. The brilliant civil engineering on the job plugs everything into his 3d modeling software and whatever kind of calculator he uses and determines that the temporary entrances can be as little as 24 feet wide.

I voiced my concerns that the trucker were absolutely not going to be able to make the 90 degree turns on and off the side with these clearances, much less would 2 way traffic be possible. For days I've been trying to explain this. For days I've had to hear how the engineer calculated this and that. I also got plenty of comments along the lines of "the drivers will just have to be careful". Well I finally got my point across. I had a guy driving a little day cab with a 40 foot flat bed (not a sleeper rig, not a 53' trailer) do a test run on the entrance, while the owner's representatives observed.

After the trucker took ALL of the road and ALL of the shoulder, just to make the left onto the property, it finally sunk in. I was instructed that I needed to widen the entrances immediately! Why didn't I think of that!?!? Not blowing my own horn, but I was the only person to think of this. Had we opened the road and put the drivers in a spot where they had to use it, every incident and close call would be their fault. There are dozens of people on the team and nobody thinks of these things.

I appreciate what y'all do and I'm sorry y'all have to put up with the crap you do.

Thank you for being the guy who DID. Think about it. People take for granted what is not right in their face. Honestly, I think a lot of people think this is some kind of hobby or something. Maybe like a biker, who chooses to ride a motorcycle for fun or to work etc... Far from it. Every stinking thing people eat own wear build with etc comes by truck. Often in its manufacturing process or journey from raw material to consumer good it goes on a truck several times. But... We just take up space, drive too slow or too fast, and have sh*tty dispositions I guess. I don't know.... Maybe we are considered a necessary evil by many, and they just hope they can ignore us if it's at all possible. But, I don't want a medal, or whatever. I just ask that people give us a little room and patience and don't pass anymore stupid laws that compound problems we already have, yet help no one.

Btw professor, pardon my punctuation. I'm tired and just don't have proof reading in me tonight.

Btw, I feel ya on the politics. I go on binge and purge cycles with it can feel marked deterioration I my health when I'm on a big binge. Right at the moment it's in a very controlled place, which is pretty awesome for me. I've never actually managed to keep it in a balanced state b4.

Jacklpe wrote:

bellsaj wrote: Well the 34% is only income tax them my employer pays the social expense to the gov. That money I don't even see on paper. But with that included I'd say its ~62% then we hav 20-25% sales taxes, fuel is about 75% tax .. 1 liter 95 is $2.07, diesel is $2 today LITER NOT GALLON. Don't have price per gallon but I guess you guys will do that math. If I sell a proparty I have to pay 30% tax on the profit I make.

I would do more than joke about going to Belize.

Well we don't have the same system as you have.
We don't have to pay a fortune to send our kids to collage.
Our health care is almost free of charge no matter if you cold or have brain surgery.

For example.
My oldest son goes to what you call collage.
We don't pay one penny for that.
The school is 50km away but the school pays for his buss or train tickets every day. (Well they give him a card thats allows him to ride free of charge)
My daughters who live with me every other week (chared custody) get to go to shool and back to me in a cab. I think you guessed it, the school pays the cab to. How can the school do so you ask. It's because we pay for it with our taxes.
And we have a roof of how much you have to spend on medicines. When you hit the roof it'll be free the rest of the year. The roof is I think ~$200

Some honest questions that I do not know the answer to.

Do you feel that you see a reasonable return on the money you spend?

Do you have to wait a long time for major healthcare services?

When it comes to your healthcare, are you able to make your own decisions regarding your doctors, course of treatments, etc?
Does your healthcare system deny any treatments to people who are extremely old or extremely sick because of the financial impact on the system and the other people it serves?

Do you feel like your government is using the money you give them wisely?


I hate taxes, but I'm also smart enough to realize that it's all about cost vs return. Our return is very little right now, and much of what we pay and what we borrow is either being siphoned off, or spent on "entitlements". In the mean time, many have paid into the "entitlement" system for their entire working lives, but our politicians have taken that money, spent it elsewhere, and left us broke and unable to pay the bill.

Exactly, it's much about how effectively the money is spent. Bells, in our system over here, we have one major flaw, and both parties do it:
- When we want to pass a law, rather than debate over the best law for the people, our lawmakers run deals with each other
- One party says, if you want me to vote for your law about making light bulbs more energy efficient, then add a provision in that law to give my state funding to light our biggest bridge with so many light bulbs that it would be the best bridge ever, so people will remember me and vote for me
- The other party says, ok I'll add that, but only if I can add a provision that gives me a big bunch of dollars to put a million light bulbs underwater in our lakes, spelling out my name. People could swim all night, and remember me when they vote next time. We could tell everyone that all those light bulbs will create jobs, even though it's demand that used tax dollars hee hee. Oh and remember we congress are allowed to buy stock in the light bulb companies before we pass the law, so we can make tons of personal profit on the deal.
- The first party says ok, but make sure we call this law "Light for the Children" and have those other provisions way in the back. If anyone asks about the pork, I'll say that I had to do it in order to get your vote, and you can say the same about me. These people are too stupid to know the difference.

There, law passed. Votes on record. Voters duped. Money spent on seemingly praiseworthy causes, and many not praiseworthy. And money wasted, oh, so much, billions and billions.