Fight The Power or Be The Power?

ShawnXx: Are you content being "a voice" fighting for your rights and freedoms or do you want to be "the voice" the leader of the people?

Is there anyone out there who believes they can do a better job than Obama and why?

PigCatcher: I think that I'm a strange guy. I mean why would someone do what I do?

I am rich......All those Republican tax cuts for the wealthy directly benefits yours truly. All the corruption going on? Benefits me......a lot.

Yet, why do I stand up for Obama and go against Romney? Why do I stand up against corruption? Why do I fight against the very same power group that I am considered to be a part of?

Doesn't make sense, does it?

Yet, here I am.........supporting Obama and his initiatives for the poor and middle class.

Go figure.

ShawnXx: It makes sense to me. You give a damn about what's right..not just what's right for you. That's a quality a leader should have but it's also one a person should have.

PigCatcher: maybe because I came from a very poor family. And I watched how my parents worked so hard in a foreign country to raise me.

Hell, I still don't know how they managed to put me through private school but they did.

PigCatcher: at any rate, thank you for saying what you did just now. You were very kind with your words.

Fruitbat1919: Maybe it is difficult sometimes to say who is the voice of a leader and who is the voice that leads. We have all heard of somebody being 'The face of...'. It is often the 'face of...' that people follow, when that same person is lead by another or others. Personally I would hate the lack of privacy of being in the spot light for too long....

ShawnXx: You're welcome but that's just how I see it. My parents worked hard and I was the oldest of 4, my baby brother was handicapped, so I also helped in supporting the family. My dad retired a few years ago but he's trying to get another job because times are tough.

ShawnXx: @ Fruitbat I think fighting for rights as a person or a leader are similar in ways and equally important.

ShawnXx: Working hard for your family is a fight in itself. We're all fighting for something we believe in strongly and some people chose to be the leader. Is it arrogance that motivates people to become leaders?

MercuryDragon: I am the "ow" in the word "now"

ShawnXx: That doesn't sound so good Jared don't be hating yourself.

MercuryDragon: Of course, I say this in jest.

ShawnXx: Of course Joker that's why I responded that way.

MercuryDragon: As someone who has no aspirations to be a political leader, I'm content with voicing my political opinions locally. When something comes up within my community, I go to a community meeting and talk about it. That's about as far as I really go with either side of the question.

ShawnXx: Well, that's admirable and that's the way it should be in order for rights and freedoms to exist. Leaders can't do all the work and they don't. People are in control even if they aren't aware of it.

MercuryDragon: Yep.

ShawnXx: Leaders are important and people put a lot of faith in them but we should all be aware that we do influence our environment positively and negatively and can't put all the blame on the leader.

ShawnXx: Hmmm....all these lurking egos on wire but not one leader...interesting...I guess it's easier to talk crap about Obama than it is to go up against him...interesting...nope not really.

Azathoth: You already know my ideas...on what I believe it takes to make a leader and whether or not I could be one. Of course, in some ways, I have been one. School offices, captaining athletic teams, etc. I will have to go over the whole of this thread before I totally give all of my 2 cents, Shawn.

But it has real potential, this forum thread. I hope it takes off like it should.

ShawnXx: I already know you are but...mmmm....you're too nice to be a leader. People would just call you the next Jimmy Carter.

Azathoth: Yeah, right. You know better than to say I'm too nice. You also know I've got a mean streak...which is probably more a problem. Being diplomatic and trying to get along, isn't being too nice. I'm a born leader.

ShawnXx: I was just trying to mention your thread baby. Thanks for your support. *strong handshake*

Azathoth: <----those little guys may be in need of a little upper-body work. lol

No, I thought that may be the case. I realize, also, that I may seem overly cocky to some. I still don't think it's a bad cockiness...if it's not damaging to others and it can be backed up, imo only.

OCD_OCD: "SosweetlySo: Hmmm....all these lurking egos on wire but not one leader...interesting...I guess it's easier to talk crap about Obama than it is to go up against him...interesting...nope not really."

I don't think it has anything to do with ego. It has more to do with economics. Look at where the tax dollars come from. The tax dollars to pay for all of the social programs comes from taxpayers. Who are the major taxpayers? Corporations and small businesses. Who are the major employers? Corporations and small businesses.

Businesses must plan and budget for all of their costs, including taxes. If a business is run on a small percentage of profit, anything that affects that percentage can mean the difference between staying in business and losing your business.

For anyone who lives in Canada, you may not be aware that many small businesses are S corporations. That means that their corporate income is taxed at the same rate as personal income. So let's say I have a corporate income of $2 million dollars. I have 4 employees, rent, car payments, office supplies, telecommunications, office equipment, programs, gas, insurance, payroll taxes. How much money do you think is left?

The money that is left goes to either paying the owner, or is most likely budgeted to increase their business by hiring more employees or purchasing more equipment, etc. If there is not enough money to increase the business, or if the profit in the company is reduced by extra taxation, then one of two things is going to happen. You either close your doors, sell your company if you can, or close the doors and let everyone go and hope that you can squeeze enough out of your remaining assets to start over.

The first thing that always goes after you have cut your expenses to the bones is your personnel. That means people are going to be without a job. That means the government isn't going to get any taxes from them, the government is now going to have to pay them because they are unemployed. That is going backwards.

You keep choking off enough businesses and putting them on the cusp of failing or not failing, then those businesses will continue to lay people off. The layoffs have already started. They will be cutting back hours on the employees they are able to keep.

It's all in the numbers. You kill off the golden goose, there will be no more eggs no matter what you do because without the goose, you will end up empty handed.

OCD_OCD: This is a video which explains about small businesses and how and why they will be affected.

http://www.mrctv.org/videos/how-obama-tax-hike-hurts-ohio-small-business

Azathoth: ...and then there are businesses that have laid employees off, simply because Obama was re elected. I know what fiscal conservatives believe. I know what Forbes and other capitalist oriented websites say. They've been saying it for years. It's stale now, in my opinion, and it doesn't answer all of the questions.

My questions are: Are we (from the people to the government representatives) ever going to actually give an honest damn about the little guy? I realize we need tax payers. I realize that the majority of those at the top pay lots of tax money. I also know that if it actually was so much money...that it made a huge dent in the richer person's wallet...that it's enough to freak out at Obama's re election...but... Then aren't those filthy rich still rich? When is "stuff" going to STOP being the most important measure of happiness and success? When are we going to care about ALL of our people, instead of coddling to the already wealthy?

Edit: "My questions are: " (not "question is" )