Billions and Taxes

Thai

Elite Member
The next time you hear a politician use the
word "billion" in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the "politicians" spending
YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in
one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and
20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of
New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you
each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family
gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??


Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes are the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"

And when he's gone,
We won't relax,

We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,

Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to
 
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Sweet I love having useless knowledge for conversations. Thanks Thai! :biggrin2:

(not meant offensively)
 
Thai said:


E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and
20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

See IRAQ WAR

Thai said:
While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division . .

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of
New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you
each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family
gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??


You also have to factor in the 10 dollars each for a bottle of water...
 
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Wasteful Spending


Even with all that 'wasted' money, you can rest assured that we still have plenty of dolts who still think that we are undertaxed.
:chair: :FOS:
=============================================


"Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed often - for the same reason."
 
Yea, taxes, taxes, taxes, man they suck, got a real nice bonus this year, and taxes took half, no joke, half.... what the hell?

Had all these plans with that bonus money...

update the kitchen to granite, more like plywood counter tops now.... (lol)


oh well thats the American dream... Work, eat, sleep, live free, and pay taxes...
 
I can't ***** about taxes too much...
Our more liberal neighbors in the western world pay way more taxes than we do for many things, but let's look at health care shall we?
Edit: screw that, we have an expert doctor on the forum, so I better be careful here...
I work in the medical industry and we charge too much for our products (3M, handling QA for tapes and devices) because we can easily get away with it. I mean, Medical is one of our largest margin divisions. Now, insurance is expensive. But it really sucks to have to wait in line for hours or lay in a bed in a hallway in a Canadian hospital (what I heard from a family friend who lives in Winnipeg, Canucks on the forum please dispute me if this is incorrect). In Norway the government owns the oil industry and many others. Social services are many, but taxes are rediculously high. I would rather keep some money and spend it how I want. Our taxes seem like they suck, but at least we don't live in a socialist country.
 
TheBlueWave said:
I can't ***** about taxes too much...
Our more liberal neighbors in the western world pay way more taxes than we do for many things, but let's look at health care shall we?
Edit: screw that, we have an expert doctor on the forum, so I better be careful here...
I work in the medical industry and we charge too much for our products (3M, handling QA for tapes and devices) because we can easily get away with it. I mean, Medical is one of our largest margin divisions. Now, insurance is expensive. But it really sucks to have to wait in line for hours or lay in a bed in a hallway in a Canadian hospital (what I heard from a family friend who lives in Winnipeg, Canucks on the forum please dispute me if this is incorrect). In Norway the government owns the oil industry and many others. Social services are many, but taxes are rediculously high. I would rather keep some money and spend it how I want. Our taxes seem like they suck, but at least we don't live in a socialist country.

Thus is the caveat for socialism- whether it is better for the few to be treated better or for all to be treated equally. And don't knock an entire country for having a select hospital with long waiting times. There are people who frequently die in hospitals here in the states because they have waited too long to be seen. There are overcrowded hospitals everywhere. You can find examples of extremes anywhere you look. Personally, I would pay an extra dollar per year if it meant someone isn't dying on the streets.
 
tomhaney1 said:
Thus is the caveat for socialism- whether it is better for the few to be treated better or for all to be treated equally. And don't knock an entire country for having a select hospital with long waiting times. There are people who frequently die in hospitals here in the states because they have waited too long to be seen. There are overcrowded hospitals everywhere. You can find examples of extremes anywhere you look. Personally, I would pay an extra dollar per year if it meant someone isn't dying on the streets.

I disagree with this. Now, i work as an intensivist at my hospital...so, i deal 100% with hospital medicine. Socialism sucks for lack of better words. I have nurses from Canada and whatnot who much prefer our "capitalistic" ways of medicine. People have to wait for months to get their sick gallbladder out...they just have to take constant antibiotics until that day/month comes. They only rush if you are literally on your death bed! :( One of my charge nurse's father had to wait 9 months for a colonoscopy in Canada because he was having significant blood in his stool! 9 months while you're bleeding out of your ass! He had to take tons of iron pills until then. Oh yeah, she's planning on getting her father down to the US soon.

Let's get something clear here...although we (doctors and hospital) may ***** & moan about someone not having insurance, we MUST accept them and treat them appropriately. It is against the law to turn away ANY patient...trust me, the punishment of doing such is much worst than treating the patient. Yes, my hospital gets people who just crossed the border last week seeking kidney dialysis. We suck it up and admit them to the hospital and run thousand of dollars of tests. But that's a good patient...because once you're on dialysis, this patient gets Medicaid. Woohoo. Or how about a patient i got last week who came in with nausea and vomiting for one month...incidentally just came over to TX one month ago...strange coincidence! :D Again, we had to admit him just like any rich spoiled brat and run the usual tests. Will the hospital or myself ever see a single dollar/penny?? Nope. We suck it up...and btw, my hospital is a "for-profit" organization, so, we don't get any government support either. I don't even bill "self-pays" (people without insurance) because i don't ever get anything and there are some honest poor folks out there who's credit rating may suffer horribly from my creditor going after them.

Why do we do all this?? Hey, remember, I have to pay BIG bucks for medical malpractice, esp. with what i do. My license and thus my career is on the line. And in this country, ANYONE can sue, not just the rich bas****s. Therefore, it doesn't matter who you screw, rich or poor, you are at risk of paying for it...and if it's something bad that you do, then your career is over.

So, despite what "SICKO" movie showed, keep this in mind...NO HOSPITAL CAN TURN AWAY PATIENTS, old or young, rich or poor. And although there are few instances where the poor gets the short end of the stick, it is the exception rather than the rule because, as some people in my field puts it, unfortunately, CYA (cover your ass) is the best way to practice medicine. And if you practice CYA, you run millions of dollars of tests on every single patient to avoid that one lawsuit that may get you. And you guys wonder why healthcare costs are so damn high! This is why everyone with a sick gallbladder gets it taken care of quickly in this country whether you have insurance or not. Hey, the sooner that you take care of this problem, the less the patient will keep abusing the system. BIG difference from what a socialist healthcare would do in the same circumstance.

When i was in Florida, we got Haitians and Cubans who just came over on the airplane (one way ticket of course) on dialysis, with AIDS, TB, etc.. We can't send them back. We have to treat them first. Oh yeah, our healthcare system is soooo cold...it's more like we are the only healthcare system that cares enough to treat whether we do it because we have to (avoid lawsuits) or because we want to. Whatever the reasons, these people get treated appropriately.

Oh yeah, from what i hear (correct me if i am wrong), there is no incentive for doctors in socialist medicine to work harder than what he/she gets paid. You do more, you get paid the same. So, why do it?? Why do that extra care when you're not being reimbursed?? No incentive to provide good efficient care.

There is a reason why people from around the world come to our country for the best care. They know that we cannot turn anyone away.
 
That may be the case in your hospital but there are MANY that won't treat you unless you have insurance or provide some method of payment upfront. State funded hospitals can't turn anyone away BUT many private hospitals can, and do, turn patients away. Here in Las Vegas they will only deliver homeless patients to the state funded hospital because other hospitals will not take them. I also find the assertion that medical care is "good" in the US particularly interesting. Sure, it's better than a third-world country but we lag behind many countries, including France (our arch-enemy) and even Socialist (well, not officially) nations, including Norway, Denmark and Sweden. All of which are ranked above the US in health system quality by the WHO- not my nurse's father. But the US spends more on health care, per capita, than any other nation. Interesting. Sort of like paying Mercedes prices for Kia quality. The US wants to think it has the best of everything and that is clearly not the case. And, if you want anecdotal evidence, I have personally been to a hospital in Sweden and it was no slower than here in the states. I only paid 30 dollars US and that was because I was not a citizen. I think the statistics and facts speak for themselves whilst people are more concerned with anecdotal "evidence"and horror stories. Anything to perpetuate the myth of US superiority...

Sources:
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
http://www.photius.com/rankings/world_health_systems.html
 
tomhaney1,

What was the reason that you visited Sweden's hospital?? What diagnosis did you have?

A lot of the time, the indigent population as a whole has a contract with a local state hospital. Thus, these patients are "encouraged" to go to the state hospital when they are sick. However, if they do not and end up in a local emergency room, then that patient MUST be treated there unless deemed appropriate to transfer to the state hospital (e.g. higher level of care). You canNOT lawfully "dump" a patient at another hospital. You canNOT lawfully tell a patient to go to another hospital. As a practioner, this makes you liable to severe punishment by both the medical board and authorities.

I encourage that you learn more about how the hospital system works before relying too much on these politically bias articles. And btw, as stated above, i work in the hospital system and know the law real well. Anecdotal stories or not, i can tell you that IF your hospitals around you are "dumping" patients, then these hospitals are doing things against the law. I doubt that you have a total understanding of the things going on at those hospitals to understand the whole circumstance.
 
Thai said:
tomhaney1,

What was the reason that you visited Sweden's hospital?? What diagnosis did you have?

A lot of the time, the indigent population as a whole has a contract with a local state hospital. Thus, these patients are "encouraged" to go to the state hospital when they are sick. However, if they do not and end up in a local emergency room, then that patient MUST be treated there unless deemed appropriate to transfer to the state hospital (e.g. higher level of care). You canNOT lawfully "dump" a patient at another hospital. You canNOT lawfully tell a patient to go to another hospital. As a practioner, this makes you liable to severe punishment by both the medical board and authorities.

I encourage that you learn more about how the hospital system works before relying too much on these politically bias articles. And btw, as stated above, i work in the hospital system and know the law real well. Anecdotal stories or not, i can tell you that IF your hospitals around you are "dumping" patients, then these hospitals are doing things against the law. I doubt that you have a total understanding of the things going on at those hospitals to understand the whole circumstance.

Said situation was told to me by a local EMT that I have known personally for 5 years. While it may not be "legal" it does happen... I was in because I stepped on a nail and had to get a tetanus shot and wound cleaning. Nothing major.
 
tomhaney1 said:
Said situation was told to me by a local EMT that I have known personally for 5 years. While it may not be "legal" it does happen... I was in because I stepped on a nail and had to get a tetanus shot and wound cleaning. Nothing major.

That's what i thought...a simple issue. I would not want to have any major illness in those socialist country...just imagine if you had to have surgery for a bad gallbladder or appendix...good luck with that! Next time in Sweden, ask anyone there about the waiting period for surgery or any procedures...you will be very shock!

Not to be critical, but your local EMT story is equally anecdotal, is it not?? I would ask him more details. It is possible that this patient had a medical condition that would be better serve going to a higher level of care center. Remember, most state hospitals are university-associated...therefore, they are usually the highest level care center (gun shots, accidents) and have the most technology and specialty support.

Again, unless there is a good reason, EMS is trained to bring the patient to the nearest ER. Trust me, i know! So, for them to divert their course to a farther away hospital for no good reason other than financial is ILLEGAL and extremely risky for them. Basically, if the patient goes bad, it's on their bloody hands! So, i would really ask him for more details...either you did not hear the whole story or he's yanking your chains. At the same time, ask him about his EMS policy and "dumping" of patients.

BTW, if this did occur, then the RECEIVING hospital can and will report the offending hospital/physician...and all hell will break out on the offender!! We are very vigilant of such things at my hospital...we don't dump and we certainly won't let anyone dump on us! Why would you think that other hospital will accept a "self pay" without question?? They do NOT. There is a whole process that you go through to get someone transferred from one hospital to the next...and it requires BOTH SIDES to agree. It ain't simple as what your friend said!
 
HiVel-JR said:
Man this thread got crazy.....

I need a beer!!! Just one though, its only Wednesday (lol)

I remember the days when drinking on Wednesdays was cool...:D Now I just think of how tired I would be the next day!
 
Haha that's when you know your old. When 1 beer will knock you out. I'll have that problem when I get older. I don't drink, at all. I'm probably the only 19 year old who doesn't. So my tolerance level will be at 0 when I get older. If I ever start, which is highly unlikely. :biggrin2:
 
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Man I started a pretty good debate here, interesting read!
Anyways, I love America. A guy can drink on a Wednesday, crash his car like an idiot, then go to a hospital and promptly be treated and realeased, pending the cops don't come around to the hospital to get a drunk.
My only take is that we charge too much because we can.
 

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