Why say "free" when we mean "tax-funded"?

[Carl]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027452969

Wed Dec 16, 2015, 03:03 PM

RadiationTherapy (5,536 posts)

Why say "free" when we mean "tax-funded"?
"Free" seems to me to be a terrible word for Bernie's idea about education funding. It is easily rebuked - "nothing is free" - and is a terribly irritating word for many. I think tax-funded is more honest and does more work. By "work" I mean that many of our social woes can be traced to a divestiture of economy from community. Whether shipping jobs away, de-funding schools, ecological concerns, or passing off the health care disaster to future generations in the name of profit, people and businesses seem to be turning away from community. By bringing honor back to the term "tax" and "tax-funded," maybe we can re-discover some of our communities and better understand the interconnectivity of society and economy.

So, Bernie has my vote, but I wish he would please stop calling for "free" education. It sounds uninformed and I think it does more harm than good.

*I put this in GD because it is a comment on language - I don't think this is a policy or primary post*

You are liberals,you can`t be honest and win.

Response to RadiationTherapy (Original post)

Wed Dec 16, 2015, 03:28 PM

mythology (3,845 posts)
7. My guess is that people are more afraid of the word tax

We have a political culture that abhors paying taxes. It sucks as taxes can be used well and to provide for the general welfare, but so many people revolt against higher taxes.

Response to mythology (Reply #7)

Wed Dec 16, 2015, 03:36 PM

RadiationTherapy (5,536 posts)
12. This is part of the image rehabilitation that the term "tax(es)" requires.

We can't avoid it, I don't think. If we do, well, we may need a better word than "free".

The ones that want the "free" stuff seem to never be the ones to pay the taxes that provide it.

[Chris_]

'Tax-funded' doesn't have that same gibmedats allure that 'free' does.  It's simple marketing.

[CollectivismMustDie]

We have a political culture that abhors paying taxes. It sucks as taxes can be used well and to provide for the general welfare, but so many people revolt against higher taxes.

Words mean things, DUmmie.

To 'promote' the general welfare, and to 'provide for' it, are two very different things.


CMD

[DLR Pyro]

mythology (3,845 posts)
7. My guess is that people are more afraid of the word tax

We have a political culture that abhors paying taxes. It sucks as taxes can be used well and to provide for the general welfare, but so many people revolt against higher taxes.

that is because we are tired of paying taxes and watching politicians waste it on useless things like  countless vacations all over the world for the first wookie and her entourage, luxury housing for illegal alien kids while homeless vets languish on the streets, and ebt cards for able bodied people who use them at strip clubs. 

[thundley4]

That DUmmie is an idiot.

de-funding schools,

Most schools have a higher level of funding than ever before. Many of the schools with the highest spending per student are among the lowest performing schools.

Why? Two big reasons. Federal mandates/control and teachers unions.

[miskie]

Kind of easy, really.

"Free" comes with no strings attached. "Tax Funded" doesn't.

here DUmmy - go to this website. It will explain the problem to you in words you can understand. - And better yet, you can have the site read the tale for you !

http://www.meegenius.com/book/12/the-little-red-hen

[DumbAss Tanker]

That DUmmie is an idiot.
Most schools have a higher level of funding than ever before. Many of the schools with the highest spending per student are among the lowest performing schools.

Why? Two big reasons. Federal mandates/control and teachers unions.

Don't sell crooked inner-city gangsta-mentality school district administrations short.  When I live in NJ, Camden had one of the worst-performing districts in the state if not the nation, but spent a huge amount per student, in fact among the highest in the state and nation.  Of course in the process of 'Upgrading' things to a 'World class' school district with all that dough, they had done things like take fact-finding trips to Hawaii and every member of the board had a district-paid-for SUV to drive.  It was a lot like the plundering gang of corrupt thugs that ran Detroit.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Symbolism over substance.

[I_B_Perky]

Response to mythology (Reply #7)

Wed Dec 16, 2015, 03:36 PM

RadiationTherapy (5,536 posts)
12. This is part of the image rehabilitation that the term "tax(es)" requires.

We can't avoid it, I don't think. If we do, well, we may need a better word than "free".

Dummies, dummies, dummies.  I swear you people are so damned stupid you would screw up a wet dream.  The dem politicians, and their media wing... AKA the MSM... have already come up with a word for that with obumbles care.

That word is subsidies.

Get with the program you brainless wonders!

The poor get subsidized:

Housing
Heating & cooling
Food
Spending money
healthcare

Commonly referred to as welfare.  Everything that I, the taxpayer, pay for.

As for taxes, they got that covered as well.  It is called revenue.  I guess that makes me a revenue generator. Fancy name for legally extorting money from my family.

For that matter, government spending has been renamed investments.

I could go on and on... but there is no point for the simple reason you dummies are the stupidest people in the whole world.

[freedumb2003b]

'Tax-funded' doesn't have that same gibmedats allure that 'free' does.  It's simple marketing.

LOL -- Had to look that one up!  When I saw the meaning I even LOLd harder:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Gibsmedat

Gibsmedat
"Gibs-Me-Dat" (n.) Annuities, in the form of goods, services, or material (usually welfare checks) given predominately to minorities, in exchange for their tacit agreement to reciprocate by not burning down America's cities.

"Yo Tyrone, who you be votin foe in 2012?"

"I gots to go wit Obama baby. The democrats be givin out moe betta gibsmedat."

[DUmpsterDiver]

Meanwhile we Diddu's  peanut butter yer bread while Uncle Sugar adds the sweet stuff.  Dindu's and blm will be dealt with when they branch out of their enclaves.

[98ZJUSMC]

de-funding schools,

That DUmmie is an idiot.
Most schools have a higher level of funding than ever before. Many of the schools with the highest spending per student are among the lowest performing schools.

Why? Two big reasons. Federal mandates/control and teachers unions.

I'd love for those hapless turds to provide ONE example where schooling has been .... de-funded.  They can't.  It's all bullshit.  This fubar'd bureaucracy throws more money per pupil than anywhere else for, ever lower preforming, half-wits.

 

[Chris_]

That DUmmie is an idiot.
Most schools have a higher level of funding than ever before. Many of the schools with the highest spending per student are among the lowest performing schools.

Why? Two big reasons. Federal mandates/control and teachers unions.

40% of our metro/county budget goes to schools.  I think police and fire are a distant second.

We still have some stupid mother****ers walking around here.

[txradioguy]

Response to RadiationTherapy (Original post)

Wed Dec 16, 2015, 03:28 PM

mythology (3,845 posts)
7. My guess is that people are more afraid of the word tax

We have a political culture that abhors paying taxes. It sucks as taxes can be used well and to provide for the general welfare, but so many people revolt against higher taxes.

There is a difference between "general welfare" and the kind of welfare you are advocating for.

General welfare =  the health, safety, morals, and well-being of the people governed

Welfare = In the United States, depending on the context, the term “welfare” can be used to refer to means-tested cash benefits, especially the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and its successor, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant, or it can be used to refer to all means-tested programs that help individuals or families meet basic needs, including, for example, health care through Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and food and nutrition programs (SNAP).

[thundley4]

There is a difference between "general welfare" and the kind of welfare you are advocating for.

General welfare =  the health, safety, morals, and well-being of the people governed

Welfare = In the United States, depending on the context, the term “welfare” can be used to refer to means-tested cash benefits, especially the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program and its successor, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Block Grant, or it can be used to refer to all means-tested programs that help individuals or families meet basic needs, including, for example, health care through Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and food and nutrition programs (SNAP).

There is nothing in the preamble or the constitution about "providing" the general welfare, just promoting it. However it does specifically say "provide for the common defense". There was a reason the founders separated the two.

[txradioguy]

There is nothing in the preamble or the constitution about "providing" the general welfare, just promoting it. However it does specifically say "provide for the common defense". There was a reason the founders separated the two.

Damn...I got caught up in the word salad too.

Thanks for the correction.