ILikeDubyah said:
First I'd like to say that debating FDR belongs in another post, but since we're on the subject, FDR found out Pearl harbor was going to happen somewhere around November 24th. He then decided to pull major defenses away from the hawaiian islands & bring them back to San Diego...There is no comparison between 9/11 & Pearl Harbor in that aspect.
How many steps away from communism did we come during the great depression? The only reason the New Deal & New Deal II weren't completely communist was because no one would go for it in the first place.
Electricity in rural areas would have gotten there eventually with expansion...you can say "electricity AT THE TIME was thanks to FDR."
and, I do speak German today....fluently.
Anyhow. I stand by my original statement. Minorities were able to vote as early as 1869. Lynchings may have been commonplace, but today it's been replaced by gang warfare, and drive-by shootings that kill innocent people. Seniors still make up a large portion of those living in poverty...300 a month from social security just doesn't cut it....way to go, Social Security act of 1935! As for bigotry & racism, they're still around...people just whatch what they say & how they act in public. The only difference now is that it's not all out in the open, how people feel about eachother....(A project I did in college) when asking 100 caucasian woman what they though of a picture of a woman walking down an urban street filled with male minorities at night....98 of the women said they felt "uneasy", "afraid", or "scared"....you can't tell me it doesn't still exist, and more than likely at the same rate it did 100 years ago.
None of the opposing posts have convinced me as to why things like pre-school should undoubtedly be paid for by the fed.
1. Due to poll taxes and other measures meant to keep minorities from voting, it wasn’t until the Johnson Administration that African American’s right to vote was actually protected and enforced. Moreover, 100 years ago, Women could not even vote.
2. Prior to the New Deal and Social Security, seniors made up the largest demographic living in poverty. Today, seniors are the wealthiest demographic. Oh, and do you know when the poverty rates actually dropped here in America? Answer: During the New Deal, the Great Society, and during the Clinton Administration. Since Bush took office the poverty rate has consistently risen. Way to go “Compassionate Conservatism”
3. Of course bigotry and racism is still around. However, American society for the last 100 years has consistently become more socially liberal and tolerant. There is far less racism and bigotry today than there was 100 years ago, or 30 years ago for that matter. Hell, a little more than 30 years ago, a lot of states didn’t even recognize interracial marriage.
4. Gang violence is nothing new. In fact, violent crime rates today are lower than they were at times during the 1800s.
The problem with the radical right is that they idealize a time and culture that never existed. They talk about how immoral America is today compared to the past. I mean come on, we have a lot of premarital sex today and sex certainly sells, but we used to horsewhip slaves, work young children 7 days a week in deplorable conditions in sweat shops, prostitution and pornography was more common in the civil war era than even today, women were treated as second class citizens, minorities couldn’t even use the same restroom as whites and could be lynched if they even so much as glanced at a white woman, gays were imprisoned, there were no environmental protections and entire species were hunted and or driven to extinction, poverty rates were at third world levels, venereal diseases were rampant… I can go on and on, but on balance we are a more moral, just, and tolerant society today than we have ever been in the history of man. Sure we have our problems, but they pale in comparison to the societal problems of the past.
Moreover, as I stated earlier, I don’t think that everyone ought to get their day care paid for, but I do think it’s a necessity for working families that are having a hard time getting by or many single parents.
The median income of family households where both parents are typically employed is: $53,991
The median income for family households with only one female parent present is: $29,307
Of course by median, that means that half of American house holds earn less than those figures.
The nationwide median single family home price is: $208,500
Now assuming a typical family where both parents worked that earned the typical median income of $53,991 a year wanted to purchase a home. Now say they found a modest home for less than the national median home priced at $190,000 and since it’s their first home, they put 5% down on it so they borrow $180,500.
So with taxes and insurance, their payment is approximately $1282.00 a month.
After taxes, assuming they have 2 kids, their monthly take home income is about $3200 dollars a month.
So $3200 a month
Minus House payment at $1282 a month leaves $1918
Minus Typical Car payment for 2 modest cars and insurance at $750 a month leaves $1168
Minus Typical Utilities assuming they try to conserve at $300 a month leaves $868
Minus Gas and maintenance on the cars if they try to conserve at $150 a month leaves $718
Minus Insurance payments for what their work doesn’t cover for their kids at (if they are getting a deal) $150 a month leaves
$568
Minus Food if they are also frugal at 500 a month leaves
$68
So at this point, that typical American family has 68 dollars left a month. Now, of course I haven’t even taken into account clothing, money for emergencies or home repairs, money for school supplies or the seemingly thousands of other expenses that families incur.
So by your reasoning, if that family were to do the right thing, they would cut their income nearly in half and the mother would stay at home to raise the kids.
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