Harvey: Why is the wealthiest nation in the world BEGGING for donations?

[JoeOtterbein]

The USA is better than that. Every burden suffered by one of US, should be carried by ALL of US.

We do not need to beg for a pittance of pocket change from the wealthy. Like the tiny-fingered donation of a tiny fraction of Trump's wealth. We need to demand the wealthy pay BIG TIME for THEIR senseless, endless and ego-centric wars. In ADDITION to the rebuilding of the nation after ALL disasters. The rich and POWERFUL need to repay the USA for providing the soil, toil and mind-power for their own success.

[Tanuki]

1. Because Grover Norquist said he wanted to make government so small

you could drown it in a bathtub, and the entire GOP signed a pledge to help make it happen? And now the 4th largest city in the wealthiest country in the world is drowning in a bathtub, too.

[Warpy]

2. Because it's owned by a bunch of plutocrats who think they'll be happier

if the rest of us are all dead. That's why they bought the government out from under us and that's why the government is so stingy.

[leftstreet]

3. The "US" isn't wealthy. A bunch of wealthy people live here n/t

[mountain grammy]

6. Exactly

[Yupster]

9. Yes, if you owe $ 20 trillion

you aren't rich.

What are our interest payments? $ 400 billion a year?

[quaker bill]

13. Actually when you do the math

the debt comes to roughly our national income for one year. Think for a moment how it would be if the typical family owed only 1 year of pay for everything, their house, their car(s), their credit card(s) all added together, then only paid a 2% interest rate.... Now on top of that imagine they had a printing press in the garage to make more money... (Actually the government now does it all virtually, no ink or paper involved these days).

Now I do not have the press, and I pay 4%, but otherwise have gotten to just this place. It is really quite comfortable.

The myth that the nation is drowning in debt was invented by republicans for republican purposes. It is the "reason" we "can't afford" good schools, healthcare, feeding the poor, protecting the environment... It is never the reason we "can't afford" more missiles and bombers.

There is plenty of wealth here, we just refuse to collect taxes from those who have it.

[Yupster]

20. But doesn't your debt go down a little bit each year?

You get debt when you are young and gradually pay it off each year until eventually you are middle aged and debt free. That way you don't leave debt for your kids to pay on.

We're a 250 year old prosperous nation. We should have paid off our debts long ago. We certainly shouldn't be still accumulating $ 500 million to $ 1 trillion more debt every year. There's justification for debt in economic crisis or wars or natural disasters, but we're running huge deficits in good years and bad.

You compared it to a family situation, your own. How would your situation be if you had your annual income full of debt and bought and added another car and car payment to your backyard every year as far out as you can see.

Think of all the good we could be doing with that $ 400 billion we pay each year to bondholders. That's tens of millions of people's taxes going to nothing but paying interest on the debt.

[quaker bill]

23. You are missing the point

as long as my income grows as quickly as my debt, it never becomes a problem.

This whole notion of deficit fear is a republican scare tactic designed to serve republican goals. The thing to actually think about is how much good the $4 trillion a year that has been transferred from the working class to the 1% would do. It is this transfer of wealth and income that has you feeling poor. Republicans blame it on the national debt, but it was never true. It is not a problem and never has been.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. Yep. The notion that we are a wealthy nation simply isn't true.

Right up there with having the best health care system in the world. That's another totally incorrect notion.

What we are best at is bullying. No one, not even Putin can match us. We also have the world's largest military. We spend as much as the rest of the world combined, and it shows. Of course, over time, we can't sustain that kind of spending. And just how long this country lasts as an actual global power will be highly dependent on whether or not we temper our military spending. Which probably won't happen.

Have we EVER closed a base outside of this country?

[uponit7771]

11. +1

[JI7]

12. compared to most others it is .

[JoeOtterbein]

4. One reason may be that big biz loves patting themselves on the back for "contributing"

When it is clear from the facts that they DO NOT.

[The_Casual_Observer]

5. We build worthless aircraft carriers, f35 fighter jets

nuclear warheads and launch rockets, standing armies all over the world. The tax money collected doesn't even stretch this far so even this shit is bought with borrowed money.
There is no money to do anything.

[LittleBlue]

8. The reason you think they're worthless is because, paradoxically, they exist

Nuclear warheads and aircraft carriers are such an effective deterrent, we rarely see offensive actions against our country. Before we extended our defense umbrella in the form of NATO, backed up by those weapons, the western world suffered repeated warfare on its own soil.

The lack of wars declared against our country give a false impression that these weapons are useless.

[gratuitous]

18. No, the F35 really is useless

But the contracts to build it were spread out into 48 states, and nobody wants to give up their piece of this boondoggle. So our country continues to pour billions of dollars into development of a fighter jet that doesn't address any realistic threat, can't fly in the rain yet, but boy oh boy, it sure does look sexy. So our own citizens go hungry and homeless, and our schools continue to fall apart.

Our nation's security would be enhanced far more by a financially stable, well-educated populace than it ever would by a fleet of F35s.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. That has crossed my mind, too.

We've spent thousands in taxpayer money following Trump's entitled extended family around the globe - when that money should rightfully be spent helping the citizens who desperately need help right now.

[freddyvh]

14. and this morning i read

Texas has turned down food and etc from Canada?

wow

[Lurker Deluxe]

15. And this morning I read

That a group of aliens on the dark side of the moon purposefully slowed the rotation of the moon causing the tides to change, Harvey to stall, and one of the worst floods in history.

Funny what one can read on the internet.

[roamer65]

16. Because Bu$h bankrupted the country.

[alarimer]

17. Because Americans are politically selfish.

They are not selfish generally on a one-on-one basis, but our political system is seen as a zero-sum-game. If someone over there gets help, then it means that "I" won't (though it isn't true). So we will not spend the money to have an actually sane social safety net and sensible regulations because it will harm the pursuit and acquisition of the almighty dollar.

[HughBeaumont]

19. Probably the same reason families with cancer have to beg for "health Care".

Given the choice between "helping others" and "not even slightly inconveniencing our nation's wealthy", we choose the latter with stunning regularity.

[maveric]

21. Tax cuts for the wealthy.

Among other things.

[MiniMe]

22. To pay for the tax cuts for the wealthy