The Red Dragon Economy

[Red Dragon]

I think average income these days for two people working is about 80,000. I think 14k use to be poverty level, not sure anymore. If you make 100k a year you are probably upper middle class.

[Jeff&Peks]

Poor or rich your life is what you make it. If i had kids that can't eat or lost my home and had to give up a Chow then thats my fault, Not Obama's, not Bush's, Not the illegals, its all up to me on how I want to live. If i can't build a 10 million dollar home then I guess I'm not that interested becouse if that was what i really wanted I would get it one way or another.

[nuke]

Poor or rich your life is what you make it. If i had kids that can't eat or lost my home and had to give up a Chow then thats my fault, Not Obama's, not Bush's, Not the illegals, its all up to me on how I want to live. If i can't build a 10 million dollar home then I guess I'm not that interested becouse if that was what i really wanted I would get it one way or another.

So you are middle class.

Who's fault is it when people are poor?

[Red Dragon]

Poverty level is still about the same. http://aspe.hhs.gov/POVERTY/09poverty.shtml Poverty means you are poor. Jeffro, doesn't sound like you qualify for being poor, if you have a 1000 buck to toss around at will, you aren't likely at poverty level.

[chris]

oh wait sorry.. but it sure seems like you can barely survive (espcialy back when gas was so expensive people couldnt' DRIVE to work cuz they couldn't aford it) making $40,000 - $50,000... not with a family. so what is middle class? My sister told me, if I am not mistaken that they are considering you "rich" now if you make $250,000 or more now. so... middle class is $50,000 - $249,000...???? Ok, I guess I would fit in there... but I don't qualify for the $13.00? Isn't it for the "middle class?"

[nuke]

Jeff is a conservative and doesn't even know it, lol.

Jeff just told us that it is up to him how he lives, not the government. Welcome to the republican party, Jeff.

[Red Dragon]

oh wait sorry.. but it sure seems like you can barely survive (espcialy back when gas was so expensive people couldnt' DRIVE to work cuz they couldn't aford it) making $40,000 - $50,000... not with a family. so what is middle class? My sister told me, if I am not mistaken that they are considering you "rich" now if you make $250,000 or more now. so... middle class is $50,000 - $249,000...???? Ok, I guess I would fit in there... but I don't qualify for the $13.00? Isn't it for the "middle class?"

You would likely be catagorized as upper middle class if you make a combined family income of 100k. The new tax law is 200k for single, and 250k for married, that is what they consider rich. I can tell you that 200k is alot of money, and if you made that much, you shouldn't have a care in the world, I've made half that much being single and I didn't have a care in the world.

[chris]

I can see what you are saying Jeff. Those who make money yet spend it un-wisely are the only ones who should be held accountable for their bad decision making. BUT, what about those whom have lost their jobs because of others bad decision making.

Example: * I DONT feel bad for the company down the road that is pretty much going bankrupt considering the guy has ALL KINDS OF TOYS and a huge house... spent money needlessly and is now paying the price.
* I do feel bad for the guy that was making 15.00 an hour working for this idiot who had to lay people off because he can't afford it anymore.
* I DONT feel bad for the bastard that won't pay his bill to the company that I work for, yet we just saw his kid (who is in HS) driving around in his new SUV.
* I feel bad for that very same guy when we point this out to another company that he owes money to... like $40,000. Yep... gotta love it.



Red.... well, I personaly only made around 14,000 or so last year. I was laid off from my $40,000 + a year job 2 octobers ago because of the begining of the failing real estate market. so, now that I am re-married our combined would make us "upper middle class I guess?"... hmmm...

[chris]

I'm not worried actualy... Everyone needs insurance adjusters these days... and thats what hubby does.. Business is good... people are burning down their own houses. what can ya do? insurance fraud on the rise.

[Jeff&Peks]

Who's fault is it when people are poor?

Remember, I live in a black and white world, it either is or it isn't. I'm talking America only, If you are poor to the point you can't eat or have a place to live then thats your fault, I blame all kids problems on the parants and I blame all Chow problems on the owners but like with Chows if its a health problem then its not your fault.

[chris]

Yeah... if there is one thing I know about Jeff... and I know more than one... nothing is GRAY for Jeff BTW.. what kind of TV did you get Peks?

[nuke]

Who's fault is it when people are poor?

Remember, I live in a black and white world, it either is or it isn't. I'm talking America only, If you are poor to the point you can't eat or have a place to live then thats your fault, I blame all kids problems on the parants and I blame all Chow problems on the owners but like with Chows if its a health problem then its not your fault.

You sound like a conservative republican. You are evil for thinking that people are poor because of their own decisions.

[Red Dragon]

I can see what you are saying Jeff. Those who make money yet spend it un-wisely are the only ones who should be held accountable for their bad decision making. BUT, what about those whom have lost their jobs because of others bad decision making.

Example: * I DONT feel bad for the company down the road that is pretty much going bankrupt considering the guy has ALL KINDS OF TOYS and a huge house... spent money needlessly and is now paying the price.
* I do feel bad for the guy that was making 15.00 an hour working for this idiot who had to lay people off because he can't afford it anymore.
* I DONT feel bad for the bastard that won't pay his bill to the company that I work for, yet we just saw his kid (who is in HS) driving around in his new SUV.
* I feel bad for that very same guy when we point this out to another company that he owes money to... like $40,000. Yep... gotta love it.



Red.... well, I personaly only made around 14,000 or so last year. I was laid off from my $40,000 + a year job 2 octobers ago because of the begining of the failing real estate market. so, now that I am re-married our combined would make us "upper middle class I guess?"... hmmm...

I've been owed that kind of money before with a business, and I can tell you for a fact it is a bad feeling when someone won't pay up. It affects everything to do with the business, and can affect the employees by not getting paid. I have a friend that got stiffed for over 300k last year, they ended up breaking even with the business after a great year, that isn't how it's suppose to work!

[chris]

Well Nuke.. there are some that are poor by choice. With our government giving everything away.. why not be poor.... I have a perfect example.

We just hired a boy, (20) whom lives with his mom who chooses to be poor and is very concerned with her son making to much money because she will loos her "housing"... in other words, because he lives with her and has a job and is trying to better HIMSELF, SHE will loos her free ride and to be quite honest he will too, so he is being punished for trying to better himself when he needs a little help for now. Am I making sense?
I know what you are going to say... make the boy move out. The boy knows what his mother is doing is wrong and wants to help her the right way. He is the one who will be hurt in the end.

stay tuned...

[Jeff&Peks]

Wrong thread

[Red Dragon]

He needs to get out of there or he will end up just like her, it's like a disease with some families. It's a way of life to them and they don't have any ambition to change it. Times are tough right now, but they weren't like that. I couldn't fault anyone for taking assistance right now, but when things get better they need to move on and get off welfare. Seniors that have paid into the system their whole lives are another story, they should get whatever they need.

[Charlotte Paige]

John McCain and Sarah Palin would have been a better choice...
THAT gives me nightmares

[PurpleKisses]

My post got deleted...... or never showed up, not sure.

But I am a Obama supporter and think that Bush was the worst thing that ever happened to our country. It is sad that we have lost all respect for our country and our President. I wish Obama the best of luck and could not imagine being handed the HUGE problem that he was given. I can't wait for alot of people to eat their words when he proves alot of people wrong. I truly hope he does. I was raised with the lesson that our President should be respected no matter how much you disagree. And I do agree with that. I honestly hated Bush, I do think that it was the worst possible decision this country has made in a VERY long time(Personally, I would have LOVED to have had Al Gore) but I still gave him respect as our President..... it was hard to swallow but I did. I kept up a hope that he would change and try to 'make it right' at then end......of course, he didn't but I still gave him the hope.

I would love to see all of you do a better job then Obama in just a few weeks. At least he is doing SOMETHING. Not blowing up buildings and killing thousands of people to start useless wars.........

I hope someday this man, and all future Presidents, will get the respect they deserve.

GO OBAMA!!!

BTW, We are in one of the worst possible jobs for this economy, and we do not get to reap many of the benefits that people are getting out of this stimulus package, but we have learned to cut back a little, live within our means, and consider ourselves DAMN lucky that we are not in NEED of that help. There is NO room for greed in this country....that is what got us here in the first place!

[Red Dragon]

Oh, kinda like the ones that tried to blow up the world trade center, then the ones that flew airplanes into the towers and the pentagon? Yep, lets just try and talk to those people and reason with them and hope they don't do it again. Tell all those masses of people that Saddam murdered and tell their families the war was useless, better do it long distance, cause they would probably slap the crap out of you, or at least throw a shoe at you.

[PurpleKisses]

Depends on what you believe. Self starting a reason to go to war seems like a selfish thing to me but what do I know? Especially when you start a 'war' with one country of someone you and your dad have been 'buddies' with for years and then moving on to another country that had nothing to do with the initial war.....not saying saddam didn't deserve what he got, just saying it was done under false pretences, cost us alot of our economy, thousands of innocent soldiers lost their lives, bush got rich, we "found" oil and Osama bin Laden is still free (but that was all coincidence, right?) Yeah, go bush!

[Red Dragon]

You've been listening to the liberal media too long. First off, Saddam was working on weapons of mass destruction, they found massive amounts of "yellow cake" in the country, it was not mentioned until after they had safely moved it out of the country and into Canada. Secondly, Saddam terrorized his people and used biological weapons on them, killing massive numbers of people in his country. Thirdly, it was a war on terror, and Saddam harbored terrorist. If that isn't enough reason to go into Irac, I don't know what is.

Hug a dog, not a terrorist!

[Jeff&Peks]

For someone that thinks Bush was the second coming you sure don't listen to him much, Bush's ending speech was "I'm down right sorry ya'all But I went and done messed up on the war in Iraq" then he went and blamed the CIA. There were never any weapons of mass destruction, suddam and Osama couldn't stand each other so Osama was never in Iraq nor were any terrorist,Saddam made daddy bush mad at one time so they used 911 as an excuse. From day 1 Bush had no idea what was going on in the white house his staff ran everything. Bush reminded me of the bumbling stupid king that just runs around smiling with no clue to anything while the mean Guy (Chaney) was planning an over throw of the kingdom. Osama, his terrorist and the Taliban are stronger today then they were 8 years ago now we have to waste more money and lives in Afghanistan where we should have been in the first place. Ah duh, we gave Osama weapons to fight Russia in Afghanistan so we will attack Iraq maybe Osama is shopping in Bagdad. Damn you supposed born again christen extremist are whacked. Go back to third grade and learn to read. There is a fine line between religion and insanity.

[Red Dragon]

For someone that thinks Bush was the second coming you sure don't listen to him much, Bush's ending speech was "I'm down right sorry ya'all But I went and done messed up on the war in Iraq" then he went and blamed the CIA. There were never any weapons of mass destruction, suddam and Osama couldn't stand each other so Osama was never in Iraq nor were any terrorist,Saddam made daddy bush mad at one time so they used 911 as an excuse. From day 1 Bush had no idea what was going on in the white house his staff ran everything. Bush reminded me of the bumbling stupid king that just runs around smiling with no clue to anything while the mean Guy (Chaney) was planning an over throw of the kingdom. Osama, his terrorist and the Taliban are stronger today then they were 8 years ago now we have to waste more money and lives in Afghanistan where we should have been in the first place. Ah duh, we gave Osama weapons to fight Russia in Afghanistan so we will attack Iraq maybe Osama is shopping in Bagdad. Damn you supposed born again christen extremist are whacked. Go back to third grade and learn to read. There is a fine line between religion and insanity.

Wow, Jeff, you are really off your rocker. Gee, lets just let them build the nukes, then we can do something about it when they lob them over on our soil, after they kill millions of us, we can go hug them and tell them to stop because it's wrong.

Lets see, Obama's priority was to bring the troops home when he got in office. Now he says he will start bringing them home about the same time Bush planned to bring them home. BUT, he is going to leave 50,000 troops over there, gee, wonder why that is? You liberals crack me up, talk about out of touch with reality.

You must have missed all the beheadings and such, yep, no terrorists in Irac.

[Charlotte Paige]

Depends on what you believe. Self starting a reason to go to war seems like a selfish thing to me but what do I know? Especially when you start a 'war' with one country of someone you and your dad have been 'buddies' with for years and then moving on to another country that had nothing to do with the initial war.....not saying saddam didn't deserve what he got, just saying it was done under false pretences, cost us alot of our economy, thousands of innocent soldiers lost their lives, bush got rich, we "found" oil and Osama bin Laden is still free (but that was all coincidence, right?) Yeah, go bush!

Could not have sad it better myself.. I have been writing posts and deleting them over and over to reply to this thread, trying not to stir the pot further. This hits very close to home for me. I have been unemployed for over a year now, and several of my family members have lost their jobs since then as well. In my 39 years I have never seen things so bad. Some may say "oh there are jobs out there, look @ Mcdonalds" Guess what, I haven't applied at Mickey D's yet, but I have applied for jobs that paid 1/3 of what I was making (which is very close to mcdonalds pay) and NOTHING. Why hire me when they can hire a younger person? I am forced to find a job out of my field now. Thank goodness I have a very dear friend that is helping me out in my time of need (and my pets time of need). My friend offered to still help when I found a job even if it wasn't enough to pay my bills. So I am fortunate... but I am still in the worse shape financially than I have EVER been in my life. I have gone through my savings already, I live in an apartment and I am single. It is really hard not to cry everyday.
When Barack was elected.. well it was the first light of hope I have had in this past year. He has only been in office a few months. I really hope that he is able to turn things around in this country. I do believe he is a good man and has his countries best interest at heart. So I am all for change.. it can only get better is how I see it. And that is how I have to see it to make it through everyday.

You must have missed all the beheadings and such, yep, no terrorists in Irac.

The first beheading was of Daniel Pearl in early 2002. It took place in Pakistan by close allies of Osama bin Laden. The IraQi war did not start until March 2003. Yes I do know that there were other incidents that occurred in Iraq after the war had started. But I do believe they would not of happened if we were not there in the first place. Most of them were innocent contractors looking for work in Iraq because of lack of work in the US and Britain.
I know Saddam was a terrible tyrant and needed to be stopped. But I do not think Saddam was an active threat to the US until we invaded Iraq. Alot of people have lost their lives, innocent Iraqis and innocent Americans in Iraq. We have to stay there now because of what was started by Bush. If we were to just pull out now... we would look very vulnerable to other terroists. I believe there would have been a better way.
Anyway, I am done... this thread as I said just hits too close to home for me not to say something. We all can have our different opinions liberal/conservative,etc. but to think some may think this is a time to joke... I just sit here and shake me head

[Laura]

It truly baffles me how anyone...anywhere...could think this spending that Obama is doing is the right thing to do. I don't agree with pretty much anything on his agenda but that's just me. The Stimulus package...the budget though...how can people approve of that? Where can I get the blinders that prevents me from seeing that this is nothing but Christmas in Washington for the democrats? Can someone explain how tripling the deficit in ONE MONTH is a solution to anything? Can someone explain why if it is all so wonderful has the stock market fallen another 3000 or so? Do people only listen to Obama and never listen to all the economists and experts who talk about what should be done for the economy and how w/out spending trillions on pet projects that it would have fixed itself with a little boost here and there?
What comes after trillion because that will be the next word in our daily vocabulary before he is done.
I have got to find some Obama Rose Tinted blinders.