low income gets? Do I get home heating assistance? No.

You could if you wanted to stand in line and fill out a lot of paperwork.


Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
No I could not - it's income based.

In our area it's "need based" which I suppose could be code for "income
based." It seems to me that if you buy a huge house and can't afford to
heat it, you're still better off than somebody who cannot afford even a
small house, much less the heat.

BTW our power & gas companies both have assistance programs, it is not
just the gov't.



... Do I get food stamps? No.


You probably couldn't get those... do you want them?


No, but the point is that it's a direct benefit that I don't and can't
obtain.

Once again it's "direct benefit." Do you truly believe that the *only*
possible benefit the gov't provides is to hand some people money?



... Do I get Husky Healthcare for my kids? No.

But OTOH you do get medical care that is supervised by the gov't,
provided by doctors & nurses that have been trained in accordance with
carefully regulated programs... in short the gov't has provided all the
background services & infrastructure for your medical care... and you
can afford the best, lucky you.


That's part of the general common wealth - not direct assistance.

I see... if you benefit from it, but people who can't afford it don't,
then it's "general common wealth"...

How do you think people who can't afford a car feel about paying for
their share of the interstate highways?

If you are as wealthy as you imply, then you probably have
investments... stocks, bonds, etc etc. Do you pay for the operation of
the SEC? Who benefits from it? How about the Federal Reserve System?


Ah, now you want to muddy the water... it has to be "direct gov't
assistance" now, in the form of cash handed to you by the gov't?


No - you ain't getting away with that one. You said, right from the
git go, that I was benefitting more than those who have less income
that I have.

And you do... however, you want to look at the lowly ant, and make
statements about elephants. You insist that only "benefits" to be
included in the discussion are cash subsidies.

BTW you might consider looking at where your income is derived... are
you 100% positive that absolutely none of it is derived from any kind of
gov't contracting at all?


... That means direct government assistance - not that which
promotes the general welfare. I'm sure you understand the difference.

Nope... *you* have decided that the only benefits *you* want to include
in your game are ones that you *think* you don't benefit from.

For example, day care assistance promotes "the general welfare" in that
provides a larger pool of labor and also feeds slightly better
socialized kids into the school system. And the public school system...
if you want to live in a society of cavemen, then you don't need public
schools... in the meantime, it promotes *your* well being by allowing
you to live in an industrialized and technical society with a higher
standard of knowledge & skill than would otherwise exist.



Let me put it this way... at the most basic level, the gov't prevents
some low-life from smacking you over the head and taking away all your
expensive toys.


Really? How so? It takes an officer approximately a half hour to get
here from the local barracks - that's if there is one available at the
local barracks immediately.

Oh? And there is absolutely *no* deterrent value in the presence of
police & the court system & prisons etc etc?

Email me your address


It's also why I carry.

Hint- so do crooks... and they often shoot first.



Oh please. Make a rational argument for crying out loud.

I am. You're the one insisting that the *only* beneficial function that
gov't has is to hand out checks, and crying that you ain't gettin' any
(or is it bragging?).




Think.


I have. I might suggest the same for you.

I have... and you have not. I suggest reading a few basic macro
economics texts, and using somewhat less narrow definitions of the term
"benefit."

Regards
Doug King