School plan cuts taxes for richest- DMN

[js]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050404dntexsessionmain.2022c.html

[hamiltonpl]

I went to Highland Park High School as Robin Hood began. I am thankful for the excellent education. However, Rick Perry does not need to decrease taxes for the wealthy. He is just pandering to the folks most likely to fund his re-election campaign. The more I read about Rick the more I believe he is a crook.

Accordingly, money alone will not fix Texas schools. HP spends less per student than Dallas. Washington, DC spends more per student than any other place in the nation. Money does not solve your problems -- it brings new ones.

Good schools have parental involvement, motivated kids, and great teachers. Good teachers will not accept $70,000 a year if they are assaulted by the students. Kids don't learn with guns in their classrooms. Schools have a lot of problems, and more money will not solve all of them.

The easiest, laziest thing to do is to throw more money at a problem. I see it all the time in HP. Some parents never see their kids or have a relationship. Then those parents spend thousands on their kids -- hoping it will take the place of a relationship. It does not work. It takes the time and energy of the parents to make a difference. Involved and concerned parents is what both HP and Oak Cliff kids need.

[js]

I agree.

[mikedsjr]

I'm pretty sure that there are alot of poor school districts who have alot of parents who care for their kids. But since you went to a wealthy school district, your schools were able to give you more options to expand and make yourself into a better person than in a poor school district where they have less options.

And also, kids in Highland Park are from parents who typically finished college and more. Whereas poor school districts probably have more parents who made it through high school and didnt have the ambitions to go to college but did have the ambition to become a farmer or something else. So the view of priorities of school maybe be different.

Not everyone can be a CEO. The country survives on the common man working his tail off to feed his kids, while the HP CEOs get free food from people trying to smooze them. Without the common man, CEO would be forced to work the assemby lines and build their own cars and mow yards and dig ditches.

I personally don't think the problem is with our schools. Our problem is with values of right and wrong and accepting responsibility. That is our problem today.

[freewaytincan]

Please, please, please don't start the whole "tax cuts only benefit the rich!" stuff, because if you force them to pay more just because they're successful, just for the sake of "equality", you step into the realm of socialist tactics.




The more I read about Rick the more I believe he is a crook.

You don't need any kind of current action to tell you that. You ever met him in person? I regret to say that I have. I felt dirty just standing nearby, much less having to shake his hand.

[JBB]

Good schools have parental involvement, motivated kids, and great teachers. Good teachers will not accept $70,000 a year if they are assaulted by the students.

You have no idea how true this is. My wife teaches in one of the more affluent districts in the area (not HP), where she has more parent involvement than she knows what to do with. She could easily go teach in another district next year with one of her close friends and enjoy higher pay and cheaper insurance. But, she keeps telling me that losing the parent involvement that she has now would easily cancel out the added benefit.

[Foucault]

Please, please, please don't start the whole "tax cuts only benefit the rich!" stuff, because if you force them to pay more just because they're successful, just for the sake of "equality", you step into the realm of socialist tactics.
Do you honestly believe that a tax cut for the rich benefits the poor more than taxing the rich and giving that money to the poor? Or that, because they're successful, they deserve all that money and and that poor people are poor because they don't work enough? Everyone is not created equal, and your assumption that if everyone works hard they can get rich simply isn't true. What is your definition of "equality"? Because it seems to me that when A can afford gourmet food and live in a multimillion dollar house, and B has to choose between food from Wal-Mart and living in an area with only moderately bad crime, that that's not equality. B cannot be A, because A has had manifold opportunities B will never, ever have. So are A and B equal?

[Lakewooder]

The only place I think we should 'throw money' is at teachers. Double their pay, make THEM CEOs of their classes with the ability to make the rules and deal with the unruly. Then back them up!

But, if the CEO / Teacher is bad, then the board can toss them...

Despite the elements of dichotomy here, I think you get my drift.

[freewaytincan]

Do you honestly believe that a tax cut for the rich benefits the poor more than taxing the rich and giving that money to the poor? Or that, because they're successful, they deserve all that money and and that poor people are poor because they don't work enough? Everyone is not created equal, and your assumption that if everyone works hard they can get rich simply isn't true. What is your definition of "equality"? Because it seems to me that when A can afford gourmet food and live in a multimillion dollar house, and B has to choose between food from Wal-Mart and living in an area with only moderately bad crime, that that's not equality. B cannot be A, because A has had manifold opportunities B will never, ever have. So are A and B equal?

Do you honestly believe that a tax cut for everyone but the rich benefits anyone more than taxing the rich just their fair share?

So if everyone is not created equally, then why is that the basis of our Constitution? I certainly agree with that one statement; no one is equal. Is that the only justification you can give for taxing one group more than another?

[bloodandpopcorn]

what is the rich's fair share? Do they not owe more to the society that gave them all of the money, directly or indirectly, in the first place? If youre lifestyle is already better than 99.5% of the rest of the world, is it such a travesty for you to be "forced" give up that third house in Honolulu so that a poor child can be given better educational opportunities?

[Columbus Civil]

That poor child needs to get off his ass and work instead of waiting around for a handout.

[js]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050504dntexperry.18cdf735a.html

I am glad that there is reasonable people in the capital.

[freewaytincan]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/050504dntexperry.18cdf735a.html

I am glad that there is reasonable people in the capital.

I didn't get to read all of it, but it's good to see people realizing how bad Perry really is. I'd like to see Hutchinson run against him. That would be fantastic, with her as governor.

[Foucault]

I Miss Ann Richards!!!

[freewaytincan]

I Miss Ann Richards!!!

Ol' Lightbulb Hair? Meh.

By the way, about taxes? Here's my position: if ten percent is good enough for the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, it's more than enough for the government's needs.

[Foucault]

Do you think the government spends the money on itself? The money goes to the needy, and the government is merely an organisation that distributes it. I don't even know that ten per cent would take care of our defense budget (especially now- did you hear he's asking for $25B more?).

[bloodandpopcorn]

And we all may have to be signing up for a draft before much longer. Both Bush and Kerry favor a draft. What is the world coming to? does anybody here rember vietnam? (that last sentence is a refrence to a quirky pink floyd song, replace vietnam with vera lynn)

[freewaytincan]

And we all may have to be signing up for a draft before much longer. Both Bush and Kerry favor a draft. What is the world coming to? does anybody here rember vietnam? (that last sentence is a refrence to a quirky pink floyd song, replace vietnam with vera lynn)

No, actually, not all of us. I can't be in the military, not even with draft. Every recruiter I've talked to has confirmed it. Which really sucks, because if there were (which I doubt, God forbid many of my self-centered, materialistic peers actually do something useful, even if it is in the military), I would not be able to serve the same way as everyone else my age could.

But I will say that the likelihood of a draft, even now, is not very high. And no, I don't remember Viet Nam, but you know what they say about these things: you will only see what you want to see.

[Foucault]

I think 'Bush favors a draft' was taken out of context and he was actually referring to [draught] beer. :D

[bloodandpopcorn]

Hahaha! Foucault, you're the coolest ;-)

And Urban, count yourself lucky! I would that I could not be considered for a draft. I haven't seen a direct quote from Bush, but I've seen two from Kerry (of all people! Mr.-Vietnam-protestor-extreme) that essentially say "We don't have enough people, and if this conflict and the death rate continue, draft is inevitable."

on a related topic, from the DMN letters page:

"There is a draft. Unfortunately, the Army has resorted to forcing soldiers to stay in for indefinite periods of time against their will. We have been drafted against our will. This has a very bad effect on morale as the troops see the Army as a big, bureaucratic, insensitive machine that tells you only partial truths when you sign on the dotted line.

My fellow soldiers and I have served our time. All we ask is that our time and effort be reciprocated and appreciated. Please put pressure on the Army to consider less archaic and unimaginative ways of retaining troops.

Capt. Russ Lee, now stationed in Baghdad, Iraq
Harker Heights"

That's almost worse than actually drafting. Disgusting. I hate our military.

And sorry for going so far off tpoic. I'll stop now.

[freewaytincan]

That's almost worse than actually drafting. Disgusting. I hate our military.

Ha ha ha ha! It sure would be funny if they decided to just all go home and not protect anyone. You'd probably hate that more.

[drumguy8800]

By the way, about taxes? Here's my position: if ten percent is good enough for the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, it's more than enough for the government's needs

Uhh, just for clarification there, giving 10% to the church is not Biblical. Therefore it is not "good enough" for God, but only, when you give 100%, when you give up everything and give everything away (which is Biblical), then THAT is "good enough" for God. Tithing is a common practice, but never in any sense could it possibly be considered "good enough" unless you're Catholic or (maybe baptist?), as they consider tithing to be a set-in-stone practice.

Sorry, that was way off topic, I just really don't think that denominational practices should go hand-in-hand with God's orders.

I personally think that we need to have a MUCH higher tax rate, so that Americans can enjoy life like people in the Netherlands (I think its like.. 63% there..) do. the government can take care of stuff for its citizens, therefore improving its citizen's lifestyles. And a mixture of socialist services (social security, medicare, affordable housing) and capitalist services is what makes America great. Not all socialist concepts are bad. They just all need reform.

Or, we could make a system of intelligent government, where people can sign up for higher tax rates. This may sound odd according to our current idea of taxes, but if you just give a set ammount of money to the government to provide you with extra incentives.. like.. major, attractive incentives.. then people would definetly line up for such a program.

[freewaytincan]

Uhh, just for clarification there, giving 10% to the church is not Biblical. Therefore it is not "good enough" for God, but only, when you give 100%, when you give up everything and give everything away (which is Biblical), then THAT is "good enough" for God. Tithing is a common practice, but never in any sense could it possibly be considered "good enough" unless you're Catholic or (maybe baptist?), as they consider tithing to be a set-in-stone practice.

Sorry, that was way off topic, I just really don't think that denominational practices should go hand-in-hand with God's orders.

I personally think that we need to have a MUCH higher tax rate, so that Americans can enjoy life like people in the Netherlands (I think its like.. 63% there..) do. the government can take care of stuff for its citizens, therefore improving its citizen's lifestyles. And a mixture of socialist services (social security, medicare, affordable housing) and capitalist services is what makes America great. Not all socialist concepts are bad. They just all need reform.

Or, we could make a system of intelligent government, where people can sign up for higher tax rates. This may sound odd according to our current idea of taxes, but if you just give a set ammount of money to the government to provide you with extra incentives.. like.. major, attractive incentives.. then people would definetly line up for such a program.

Derek...you know what I meant.