State of the Union: Applause Sign, Soundbites & More

[wasteofo2]

Drag the country into a rotting cesspool of socialist idiocy is not what i would prefer,

I despise bush. But i despised kerry more.

when i speak of enema, i mean getting rid of it all. a metaphorical atomic bomb wiping out washingotn.

Why, you must hate America...

 

[Smurf]

Very interesting. Bush seems to be moving towards a model that Singapore has had for a long time : the Central Provident Fund or CPF for short. Of course, our model is more all encompassing and entrenched, but your leader seems to be sympathetic to this sort of thinking in principle.

In the CPF model, citizens are forced to put aside a hefty portion (a fixed percentage, dependent on salary bracket, I'm paying nearly 20 %) of their pre-tax salaries into government administered accounts. This money cannot be withdrawn even in part before the age of 55, and under recently introduced laws, cannot be withdrawn completely *ever* unless citizenship is renounced.

CPF money is supposed to support the elderly when they become economically non-viable and their dependents don't support them. Our government doesn't want to be stuck with the encumberance of looking after a massive load of aging people (who've slogged for the nation in their best years) with a welfare scheme, so they have this. There are some allowances in the use of CPF, for instance, investing in property is allowed using CPF monies, but replenishment of CPF is mandatory, with interest. The CPF can be used to invest in blue chip shares (non-speculative) but all dividends and capital gains have to come back into the CPF.

How does your intended system compare ?

Is it true you can get fined $10,000 for spitting in singapore?

 

[Curious3141]

Is it true you can get fined $10,000 for spitting in singapore?

Fines apply, but not that much, usually about Singapore$1000 (about USD 625).

 

[Loren Booda]

That's enough to keep a poor family in food for a year, spit or not.

 

[Smurf]

Hope that money goes towards social services heh.

 

[Curious3141]

That's enough to keep a poor family in food for a year, spit or not.

And your point is ??

That money goes into government funds, some of which of course goes to help those in need.

At any rate, I think it costs a lot more than a 1000 Singapore dollars to keep a family at the subsitence level in Singapore. The cost of living is not that low here. But poverty levels are very low and most enjoy a decent standard of living.

 

[Loren Booda]

The point being that in one country the value of spit feeds a poor family in another for a year. Singapore, like my US, enjoys a somewhat delusional economic view of the world.

 

[SOS2008]

And a few briefly-mentioned, minor notes:

Respect For Women – Would that mean allowing women to have determination over their own bodies and life?

Gang Violence – Would that mean taking control of our borders and enforcing immigration law?

Ethanol – Would that mean concern for the environment and energy alternatives to OIL? Right, and this “unlimited” source of alternative fuel from corn production would not be affected by climate/weather changes due to global warming…from use of fossil fuel (i.e. oil)?

Aside from tax cuts for the wealthy, trade deficits due to pacts with China, outsourcing American jobs, spending like drunken sailors helping countries other than our own, diverting funds away from Social Security, etc. could we think of some more ways to destroy America?

How do I get this purple ink off my middle finger?