Quote:
Originally Posted by dannotoronto
I take my pay and go and purchase my own meals, shelter, beer and scotch. I get my porn for free so that is a benefit.
Did Steve take his military pay and go and purchase his own meals, shelter and health care premiums?
Nope. Yet he expects others too. That's hypocrisy. You can try and wriggle out of it all you want, but that's the truth.
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No, it's half of the truth, spun in a highly deceptive way. You deliberately ignore the quid pro quo in the relationship between the military and the servicemember.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dannotoronto
Every taxpayer has been working for the government from the day they earned their first legit paycheque. Steve lived off their hard work for 20 years while they supported themselves, their family AND Steve. Now that they're having a little trouble and need some of their own money back, he says no, you can't have it until I've decided that you've worked hard enough for it.
Just a tad arrogant, no?
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No, arrogant is your ongoing
personal attack on Steve.
If you want to discuss whether a member of the armed forces is "subsidized", fine, but there is absolutely no need to continue to make this a personal attack.
So let's examine the issue as a whole.
First off, you seem to think that servicemembers do not pay taxes. You are completely wrong on this count. Members of the armed forces pay income tax like any other citizen. (
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p3/ar01.html#d0e81)
Now, let's examine this "subsidy" concept of yours.
sub·si·dy
n. pl. sub·si·dies
- Monetary assistance granted by a government to a person or group in support of an enterprise regarded as being in the public interest.
- Financial assistance given by one person or government to another.
- Money formerly granted to the British Crown by Parliament.
A subsidy (what one gets when one is "subsidized") is a grant of money - i.e. there is no quid pro quo. The funds are given with no expectations or requirements attached.
This is plainly
not the situation with a member of the armed forces (or any other government employee for that matter), and IMHO it is utter foolishness to claim that it is.
Matt