"Income Inequality": So What?

[Fordsflylow]

The sad thing is that a majority of Americans aren't greedy. Most want to work, pay their taxes, have children, watch saturday football and pursue happiness in that manner. Some other Americans want to pursue happiness by making money, lots of money. Maybe there is a greed gene? Why, for example, does Mitt Romney need more than the 250 million he has stashed overseas? How much is enough for the Romney's of America? As for hard work, the hardest work some rich do is carefully select rich parents. Trump combing his hair might be the hardest work Trump does. Now I have to wonder who does comb Trump's hair?

You think constantly promoting yourself like Trump does is easy? What is it your business if Romney wants to make a lot of money? He has given away more money in the last 10 years than you will make in a lifetime.

It becomes my business when rich people use their wealth to buy politicians or judges to make laws so they can make more money. It is my business if rich people in their greed, destroy the middle class of America, and create a third world nation.
As for Trump giving away money, who cares.

That's not enough, now the con's want to take away the poor's right to vote.

 

[hortysir]

Not really that true, Rabbi.

I agree that every dollar given must come from somewhere else, but I disagree (very much so) with your assessment that it's always "a waste”....

Why?

When it comes down to affording the basic necessities of life (food, water, home), some folks have a vast overabundance of $$$’s compared to others. Essentially, what this means is that some people can afford all the things they need to live, afford many of the (reasonable) things they want, have the ability to save money, and still have a reasonable amount leftover to donate to others.

So we end up with a situation where the:

a.) Impact of the tax on the donor is extremely minimal with regards to quality of life.
b.) Impact of the tax on the receiver is measurably beneficial; sometimes lifesaving, in fact.

What occurs is a net benefit to society, just by shuffling some money from person A to person B.

Here’s another example. For me, donating $50/year to an orphanage results in virtually no measurable negative impact on my life. That money, however, will have a rather measurable positive impact on the orphanage. Result? Net benefit to society.

.
.

Here's the point you missed, Mensa Boy: how is it YOUR decision - or anyone else's - who "should" donate or how much they "should" donate, or who it "should" be donated to? The problem isn't that successful people mind giving to charity and helping others. The problem is that they mind YOU giving and helping with THEIR money.

You know who has an overabundance of money they don't deserve? The government, and the leftists who worship at its altar.

it's not THEIR money!

You are eat up

 

[hortysir]

You think constantly promoting yourself like Trump does is easy? What is it your business if Romney wants to make a lot of money? He has given away more money in the last 10 years than you will make in a lifetime.

It becomes my business when rich people use their wealth to buy politicians or judges to make laws so they can make more money. It is my business if rich people in their greed, destroy the middle class of America, and create a third world nation.
As for Trump giving away money, who cares.

That's not enough, now the con's want to take away the poor's right to vote.

 

[Dr Grump]

I'm not sure where to start.

Then please don't. The last thing this thread - nay, this board - needs is more mindless blithering from somebody who doesn't know their arse from their elbow and proves it with every post.

 

[rightwinger]

Provide "for" the general welfare

Do what is best for the country

Which isn't taking money from half the citizens to provide a home, food, education, medical, etc. for the other half from cradle to grave.

The Constitution actually defines what it considers to be the "general welfare" for which Congress is allowed to provide. Sadly, so many Americans have been educated by leftist teaching drones that they don't have the reading comprehension to grasp that the law doesn't lay down a list of specific jobs only to then say, "Or, you know, whatever you feel like doing".

Does it? Where?

 

[Dr Grump]

Which isn't taking money from half the citizens to provide a home, food, education, medical, etc. for the other half from cradle to grave.

The Constitution actually defines what it considers to be the "general welfare" for which Congress is allowed to provide. Sadly, so many Americans have been educated by leftist teaching drones that they don't have the reading comprehension to grasp that the law doesn't lay down a list of specific jobs only to then say, "Or, you know, whatever you feel like doing".

Why should the poor be expected to pay taxes? They're poor! If they are working poor they still pay all taxes (i.e. income tax, etc.) cept payroll tax.

Because Mitt keeps his money offshore and somebody has to!

 

[Dr Grump]

Give me a break. What's the limit on Super PAC contributions? Do you realize that these campaign machines are being run by our candidate's close friends and relatives, and are going to lead us into a MULTI BILLION dollar election cycle?

Do you realize that politicians today spend 30% of their time (on taxpayer's watches) fundraising? You don't think that they take into account their multi-million dollar donors when voting on regulation mandates and economic reform policies?

You need to get wise, my friend.

.

Dunce.
Do you know why they spend so much fundraising? Reagan got elected with the support of about a dozen people. After that each individual could only give so much. So now the candidates have to run after millions of people rather than do any actual campaigning.
What is your alternative? Ban campaign contributions and let only rich people, who can spend their own money, or incumbents, who have automatic advantages, get elected?

No - of course not.

How about publicly funded elections through tax credits (I read this idea somewhere in a book)? Each US taxpayer would have the option to donate $50 of their tax dollars to a Presidential candidate, and if they opt out, the $50 will still be deducted from their annual income (so there's really no reason to opt out).

That could generate billions of dollars, and would be much less corrupting than the setup we have today...

.

B-b-b-but if you take away the bribes - er payments - er, donations - of corporate America then you are denying free speech dontcha know! It is far more important that corporates can pay their way into a politician's pocket to 'protect' the 'first amendment' than it is to have a level playing field so you get a govt that truly is for the people.

What the likes of the Cesspit and Rabbi the Nimrod like - but fail to say - is they like being led around the nose by the uber rich, so they can hopefully get the scraps and leftovers and be grateful for it...

 

[hortysir]

Dunce.
Do you know why they spend so much fundraising? Reagan got elected with the support of about a dozen people. After that each individual could only give so much. So now the candidates have to run after millions of people rather than do any actual campaigning.
What is your alternative? Ban campaign contributions and let only rich people, who can spend their own money, or incumbents, who have automatic advantages, get elected?

No - of course not.

How about publicly funded elections through tax credits (I read this idea somewhere in a book)? Each US taxpayer would have the option to donate $50 of their tax dollars to a Presidential candidate, and if they opt out, the $50 will still be deducted from their annual income (so there's really no reason to opt out).

That could generate billions of dollars, and would be much less corrupting than the setup we have today...

.

B-b-b-but if you take away the bribes - er payments - er, donations - of corporate America then you are denying free speech dontcha know! It is far more important that corporates can pay their way into a politician's pocket to 'protect' the 'first amendment' than it is to have a level playing field so you get a govt that truly is for the people.

What the likes of the Cesspit and Rabbi the Nimrod like - but fail to say - is they like being led around the nose by the uber rich, so they can hopefully get the scraps and leftovers and be grateful for it...

Votes have been bought and sold since Washington bought booze for his voters

 

[Dr Grump]

Votes have been bought and sold since Washington bought booze for his voters

I know...ain't democracy American Style grand! Er, sorry, Constitutional Republicanism American style grand..

 

[thereisnospoon]

Provide "for" the general welfare

Do what is best for the country

^ still clueless.

so what do you believe the general welfare clause intended? and before you answer, i'd refer you to helvering v davis so you don't replace the law which applies, with your own opinion.

To insure the freedom and liberty of the people is not abridged.
Period.
It does not mean "government stipends".
Never did.
Article 1 Section 8
SECTION 8.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
Nowhere does that state or imply the federal government "may" or "shall" institute a system of entitlements for the poor or less fortunate who's malady is of their own doing and it is to funded by taxation of those who are working and producing .
Now, if your knee jerk reaction is going to be "so what your saying is we should just let the poor die in the streets?"..You can stow it. That's not what I stated or implied.
Read the phrase in italics.

 

[Dr Grump]

To insure the freedom and liberty of the people is not abridged.
Period.
It does not mean "government stipends".
Never did.
Article 1 Section 8
SECTION 8.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
Nowhere does that state or imply the federal government "may" or "shall" institute a system of entitlements for the poor or less fortunate who's malady is of their own doing and it is to funded by taxation of those who are working and producing .
Now, if your knee jerk reaction is going to be "so what your saying is we should just let the poor die in the streets?"..You can stow it. That's not what I stated or implied.
Read the phrase in italics.

Nor does it say it may not or shall not.
That aside, how many are poor due to their 'own' doing?

 

[thereisnospoon]

Let me begin stating that times are nothing at all like they used to be. I was born in 59, first of 3 children to a steelworker (36 years - retired) and house mom. We had electricity and running water in NW IL.

I dropped out of school in 75 and went straight to work as a warehouseman. Received my ged in 81. Got hired on as a trackman with Chicago & NW RR before relocating to TX to work for Norfolk Southern and hopefully year-round. Later I went to work for a very large construction contractor based out of Tulsa, OK, working in TX. Returned to IL in 87 working the state as soil surveyor before accepting a job for a slaughter/packing house as a foreman and ended up in the offset printing trade for 8 years before returning to school. Received my B.S. of Science in Recreation Management, minoring in Environmental Studies and graduated in 99.

Stayed in downstate IL after getting my degree and have been here going on 20 years. Worked for the park district as asst super of their 18 hole golf course, while trying to get on with the state in conservation. No go, even with my degree. Ended up taking a job helping a young man/entrepreneur get a franchise up and running, hurt my back badly and he suddenly had no use for me. After a year long recovery process and after sending out and delivering well over 150 app's I decided to put my one of my expertise's in lawncare and landscape to work and now have my own business for the past 4 years which is doing quite well. Puts food on the table with some left over.

I have 4 children, one dying at birth, 3 of which are still alive. Oldest boy is 34 and works for a secretive electronic hardware developer. 2nd son is 17 and doing well. Youngest daughter is now 15 and doing very well in school and sports.

As I stated at the very start times are NOTHING like they were back then, so there is no need for comparison imho. Unemployment for youth is currently in the 20% range, blacks 15%, whites 8.2% and I believe those figures do not tell the entire story or are accurate of just how bad it is. Wages have been going down or stagnant for blue collar workers for decades - since the reagan days and trickle-down bs that has not worked and never will, WHILE wealth has been increasing steadily for corporations and the upper 10%.

"Can't" ain't got shit to do with this depression combined with the foreclosures fiasco the banks brought on themselves and have no one to blame but themselves, but then again they don't give a rats ass what we peasants think.

THank you for replying. One of my mantras here at USMB is that life is about choices and choices matter. You were born in 59, me in 57. I graduated high school in 75 when you dropped out as a freshman. In 79, I graduated college and in 81, you got your GED. You went from a warehouse, to railroad, to construction, to soil survey, to a packing house and then offset printing over a 20 year period before getting your degree in 99. I'm sure you learned skills from one job that carried to another, but changing from one industry to another usually isn't a bump in pay because you are learning a whole new job. Imagine if you had stayed in school and graduated in 81 and then gone to college and graduated in 85 and spent the last 27 years in the same career path. Do you think life would be different for you? Do you think you'd have a different view of how to succeed? Do you think you'd have struggled as much? Do you think you'd blame people who have done better than you? We live and die by the choices WE make. We can't blame other people for our fortune or misfortune. Other choices that can be made....move locations. Looks like you did some of that, but for the unemployment rates you were listing for kids......it depends on where you live. If I had grown up in someplace like Detroit for example, I'd have been long gone long ago. Another smart choice is in what you study in school. I have a neice pushing 30 who is working on her doctorate in Medieval Literature. She is a highly intelligent girl. I'm interested in seeing what kind of job she gets when she is finally thru with school. Unless some old white haired professor dies at some college to create an opening, she will probably be a struggling public school teacher. There are good high paying career jobs out there, but you'd better get an education in the fields those jobs are in.

Look, I'm not trying to criticize you. We all pick a path and follow it. But the choices we make determine that path and the outcome. Blaming rich people because they have more than you is putting the blame in the wrong place.

So glad you felt the need to sit in judgement based on a summary of my life, while joining in with those who would love nothing better than deny me and anyone like me the right to sit in judgement of those with plenty or more than they ever will need be damned all the suffering in the lower classes. Also, so glad you made all the right decisions. Some folks can fall into a vat of shit and coming out smelling like a rose, me I'm not one of those people.

Why so defensive. Regrets perhaps?
You snipe at the OP because HE made the right choices while you decided to drop out of school. That is not a criticism. You chose your path which you thought at the time was correct for you. He chose HIS path for the same reasons.
Look, many people would look at your self bio here and say you have lead a full and rewarding life. Especially in light of the fact that your kids seem to be doing better than you. Which is the goal of every parent. To see their kids be more successful than they.

The statement "some people can fall into a vat of shit and come out smelling like a rose. Me. I am not one of them" appears as though you are whining.
Stop it. You sir, are very fortunate.
Stop complaining. Stop the envy of others.

 

[gallantwarrior]

The sad thing is that a majority of Americans aren't greedy. Most want to work, pay their taxes, have children, watch saturday football and pursue happiness in that manner. Some other Americans want to pursue happiness by making money, lots of money. Maybe there is a greed gene? Why, for example, does Mitt Romney need more than the 250 million he has stashed overseas? How much is enough for the Romney's of America? As for hard work, the hardest work some rich do is carefully select rich parents. Trump combing his hair might be the hardest work Trump does. Now I have to wonder who does comb Trump's hair?

You think constantly promoting yourself like Trump does is easy? What is it your business if Romney wants to make a lot of money? He has given away more money in the last 10 years than you will make in a lifetime.

Should the money he gives to his church be considered charitable?

Why would it not be considered charitable?

 

[gallantwarrior]

I'm not sure where to start.

Then please don't. The last thing this thread - nay, this board - needs is more mindless blithering from somebody who doesn't know their arse from their elbow and proves it with every post.

Why in the hell do you keep showing up then?

 

[thereisnospoon]

You are accusing the poor of lack of ambition and envy..completely avoiding the primary reason for the income gap, GREED. How many $billions did our government give the bankers and what do you think would have happened if they'd given that money to those who would spend it instead?

As you know, I volunteer at a local church and give out lunches every monday. Most of the people we see are having hard times, some through choice, other because of things done to them...we lost one of our regulars today due to pneumonia. He was not even 30. His whole life ahead of him and no job no matter how much he tried looking. Of course, it's hard to get hired when you have no address.

I'll bet a lot of you are now thinking how good it is that this young man is gone...no more hand outs for him....I pity you.

Giving money to the poor has the same effect as dumping it ito the ocean. Nothing. The poor spend it, mostly on cheap junk made in foreign countries. They don't invest it, they don't put it to work. They won't even use it to buy textbooks for school. Give the poor money and they'll buy Nikes for $200.00 made in Bangladesh and Ipads made in China.

My old landlord came here from Greece at the age of 14 and got a job in a garment sweatshop (how many American poor are willing to work in a sweatshop). In his off hours he worked for FREE at a tailor shop (How many American poor will work for free) just to get a few skills. He saved every cent he made. (How many poor are willing to give up the beer, the pot, the tv sets to save money?) When he got good enough he opened a small tailor shop of his own and lived in the back. He saved everything and bought a house. He didn't live in the house. He rented it out. When he married, he and his wife lived and worked in the tailor shop and bought another house that they didn't live in. They continued to live in the back of the tailor shop and rented the house out.

Today he's part of the 1%. He lives in a sprawling mansion in Rancho Palos Verdes. He lives off investments and spends his time on cruises all over the world. I know many like him. No American "poor" who complain because they can't find a job no matter how hard they look, but foreigners.

I will NOT help people stay poor. I won't feed them, give them money, clothe them, I'll throw it away in the trash before I help the poor stay poor.

The primary cause of poverty isn't the greed of the rich. It's the greed of the poor.

Bulcrap...they spend the money on food and rent and utilities, hardly things that come from China. Do some take advantage of the system? Yeah, mostly those illegal immigrants who sneak across our border and have kids then claim they aren't married while their husband works under the table. They send their money home so it can't be traced and are actually wealthier than some of our wealthiest people, especially when they go back to their own country.

It's the middleclass that's been losing ground....we need our middleclass to become a strong society again. I'm so glad you would rather the poor starve and die than give them money or help to become productive members of society, when the revolution starts, I hope you are one of the first to go, though in reality I know you will somehow survive and make it seem as though it was your idea.

No country can long survive with the majority of it's wealth in the hands of a few.

Oh, and immigrants who come here can get help not available to American citizens. Russians got low interest loans to purchase business when they then ran for 5 years tax free, the end of 5 years, they brought over their brother, or another relative, sold it to him, making a fortune and the brother then ran the business for 5 years tax free while paying for it with a low interest loan from our government. Ever wonder why businesses run by foreigners change hands so often? That's why.

It's also, probably, the main reason your Greek friend was able to advance as he did while most American citizens are tied to the bottom rung of the ladder with most of the middle rungs missing.

While my husband was unemployed and I was looking for work, I was astounded to find an organization paid by our tax dollars whose only purpose was in helping the Russians learn how to use our system. No such organization exists for American citizens..needless to say, they didn't hire me, and yeah, if I could have gotten the job I would have worked there, hating it all the time. It took me more than a year to find a job back then, the first time in my life it took me more than 2 weeks to find a job. When I found one, I kept it for a year and a half and then it was sent to India. So glad you didn't spend ONE penny to help us. I thank God every day for our luck and our family and our neighbors and friends, without which, we would have lost EVERYTHING. At the moment, I am also thanking God that you're not my neighbor.

Interesting how you criticize the government for doing something you don't like yet you wish to increase taxation to give more money to that same government.
Look, you are covering up yourself due to a weak argument.
You think that because you feel sorry for some people you have the right to be angry with those who don't feel worse about you feeling sorry.
Why would you expect a perfect stranger to do what your friends and neighbors SHOULD and did to help you?
BTW, you should have taken the job you thought you'd hate. Tough shit. Newsflash, most people do not "like" their jobs.
Now I must ask...Where in the OP's post did he mention ANYTHING about the Greek guy getting a special loan available only to foreigners?
You are full of shit.
There are literally millions of success stories about people who are self made millionaires that started with nothing. These are special people. Willing to do whatever it takes to become successful. Much of it self sacrifice. Those people should be commended. You show them only your contempt.
That is YOUR problem.
You envy them. You may even hate them. As far as you are concerned, they stole from you.
Meanwhile, you bitch and moan about how unfair life is. You admit you've never considered a career path. You flit from job to job, hating them all because those jobs did not pay you what "YOU think is fair".

 

[thereisnospoon]

I'm not sure where to start.

Then please don't. The last thing this thread - nay, this board - needs is more mindless blithering from somebody who doesn't know their arse from their elbow and proves it with every post.

Why in the hell do you keep showing up then?

He's the kid you stuck in right field because he was a pain in the ass. He showed up unwanted but you needed a body to even up the teams. So you put up with the baggage.

 

[Againsheila]

Giving money to the poor has the same effect as dumping it ito the ocean. Nothing. The poor spend it, mostly on cheap junk made in foreign countries. They don't invest it, they don't put it to work. They won't even use it to buy textbooks for school. Give the poor money and they'll buy Nikes for $200.00 made in Bangladesh and Ipads made in China.

My old landlord came here from Greece at the age of 14 and got a job in a garment sweatshop (how many American poor are willing to work in a sweatshop). In his off hours he worked for FREE at a tailor shop (How many American poor will work for free) just to get a few skills. He saved every cent he made. (How many poor are willing to give up the beer, the pot, the tv sets to save money?) When he got good enough he opened a small tailor shop of his own and lived in the back. He saved everything and bought a house. He didn't live in the house. He rented it out. When he married, he and his wife lived and worked in the tailor shop and bought another house that they didn't live in. They continued to live in the back of the tailor shop and rented the house out.

Today he's part of the 1%. He lives in a sprawling mansion in Rancho Palos Verdes. He lives off investments and spends his time on cruises all over the world. I know many like him. No American "poor" who complain because they can't find a job no matter how hard they look, but foreigners.

I will NOT help people stay poor. I won't feed them, give them money, clothe them, I'll throw it away in the trash before I help the poor stay poor.

The primary cause of poverty isn't the greed of the rich. It's the greed of the poor.

Bulcrap...they spend the money on food and rent and utilities, hardly things that come from China. Do some take advantage of the system? Yeah, mostly those illegal immigrants who sneak across our border and have kids then claim they aren't married while their husband works under the table. They send their money home so it can't be traced and are actually wealthier than some of our wealthiest people, especially when they go back to their own country.

It's the middleclass that's been losing ground....we need our middleclass to become a strong society again. I'm so glad you would rather the poor starve and die than give them money or help to become productive members of society, when the revolution starts, I hope you are one of the first to go, though in reality I know you will somehow survive and make it seem as though it was your idea.

No country can long survive with the majority of it's wealth in the hands of a few.

Oh, and immigrants who come here can get help not available to American citizens. Russians got low interest loans to purchase business when they then ran for 5 years tax free, the end of 5 years, they brought over their brother, or another relative, sold it to him, making a fortune and the brother then ran the business for 5 years tax free while paying for it with a low interest loan from our government. Ever wonder why businesses run by foreigners change hands so often? That's why.

It's also, probably, the main reason your Greek friend was able to advance as he did while most American citizens are tied to the bottom rung of the ladder with most of the middle rungs missing.

While my husband was unemployed and I was looking for work, I was astounded to find an organization paid by our tax dollars whose only purpose was in helping the Russians learn how to use our system. No such organization exists for American citizens..needless to say, they didn't hire me, and yeah, if I could have gotten the job I would have worked there, hating it all the time. It took me more than a year to find a job back then, the first time in my life it took me more than 2 weeks to find a job. When I found one, I kept it for a year and a half and then it was sent to India. So glad you didn't spend ONE penny to help us. I thank God every day for our luck and our family and our neighbors and friends, without which, we would have lost EVERYTHING. At the moment, I am also thanking God that you're not my neighbor.

Interesting how you criticize the government for doing something you don't like yet you wish to increase taxation to give more money to that same government.
Look, you are covering up yourself due to a weak argument.
You think that because you feel sorry for some people you have the right to be angry with those who don't feel worse about you feeling sorry.
Why would you expect a perfect stranger to do what your friends and neighbors SHOULD and did to help you?
BTW, you should have taken the job you thought you'd hate. Tough shit. Newsflash, most people do not "like" their jobs.
Now I must ask...Where in the OP's post did he mention ANYTHING about the Greek guy getting a special loan available only to foreigners?
You are full of shit.
There are literally millions of success stories about people who are self made millionaires that started with nothing. These are special people. Willing to do whatever it takes to become successful. Much of it self sacrifice. Those people should be commended. You show them only your contempt.
That is YOUR problem.
You envy them. You may even hate them. As far as you are concerned, they stole from you.
Meanwhile, you bitch and moan about how unfair life is. You admit you've never considered a career path. You flit from job to job, hating them all because those jobs did not pay you what "YOU think is fair".

I'm a mom of two special needs kids...my career path ended with their birth. I don't envy people like you, I feel sorry for them, not the same thing at all.

We have one of the most regressive tax systems in the world, not a good thing in any country.

Show me three people who have started with nothing and are now in the 1%? Just 3.

Even Bill Gates came from an upper middleclass family so you can't count him.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Pop Quiz:

Warren Buffet wants to "spend" 100 million dollars in the way that provides the greatest benefit to Society. These are his options:

(1) Send the IRS an extra $100,000,000.00 with his next tax return (this is permissible under U.S. law); or

(2) Send a check for $100,000,000.00 to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where it will be distributed to various charitable initiatives; or

(3) Go out and purchase American-made goods and services (boats, cars, furniture, artworks, golf lessons, etc) having a total cost of $100,000,000.00.

Which of the three options will provide the greatest benefit to Society. And why?

option 3 of course.
Those people which work for the employer from which those goods were purchased, in turn are paid a wage for their work. They then take their wages and spend on goods and services. It works down the line.
Example number 1.....The federal government is the least efficient of all. Most of the money given to the government will go to administration. Another portion will go to the general fund to spent on non-essential items. The remainder will spent unwisely as is the track record of our federal government.
Example number 2....I do not know for whom the Gates foundation works. I would find out first these two things: One, of the money collected by the fund ,what percentage is spent of administration and payroll?..Two, who are the beneficiaries of the the charities?
If the charities are non-partisan or apolitical, I would be inclined to favor the Gates foundation. That is only if there were no other options.
I think business and work is the steam that drives the economic engine. Tis best to stimulate the private sector with private money.

 

[Againsheila]

Pop Quiz:

Warren Buffet wants to "spend" 100 million dollars in the way that provides the greatest benefit to Society. These are his options:

(1) Send the IRS an extra $100,000,000.00 with his next tax return (this is permissible under U.S. law); or

(2) Send a check for $100,000,000.00 to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where it will be distributed to various charitable initiatives; or

(3) Go out and purchase American-made goods and services (boats, cars, furniture, artworks, golf lessons, etc) having a total cost of $100,000,000.00.

Which of the three options will provide the greatest benefit to Society. And why?

option 3 of course.
Those people which work for the employer from which those goods were purchased, in turn are paid a wage for their work. They then take their wages and spend on goods and services. It works down the line.
Example number 1.....The federal government is the least efficient of all. Most of the money given to the government will go to administration. Another portion will go to the general fund to spent on non-essential items. The remainder will spent unwisely as is the track record of our federal government.
Example number 2....I do not know for whom the Gates foundation works. I would find out first these two things: One, of the money collected by the fund ,what percentage is spent of administration and payroll?..Two, who are the beneficiaries of the the charities?
If the charities are non-partisan or apolitical, I would be inclined to favor the Gates foundation. That is only if there were no other options.
I think business and work is the steam that drives the economic engine. Tis best to stimulate the private sector with private money.

The thing that annoys me about the Gates Foundation is that they work really hard to provide computers for every student in new schools. That pretty much guarantees income for Gates as they don't provide new computers a few years down the line to the school that has become dependent on them and now needs new ones.

Kind of like a drug pusher, huh?

 

[thereisnospoon]

The sad thing is that a majority of Americans aren't greedy. Most want to work, pay their taxes, have children, watch saturday football and pursue happiness in that manner. Some other Americans want to pursue happiness by making money, lots of money. Maybe there is a greed gene? Why, for example, does Mitt Romney need more than the 250 million he has stashed overseas? How much is enough for the Romney's of America? As for hard work, the hardest work some rich do is carefully select rich parents. Trump combing his hair might be the hardest work Trump does. Now I have to wonder who does comb Trump's hair?

You think constantly promoting yourself like Trump does is easy? What is it your business if Romney wants to make a lot of money? He has given away more money in the last 10 years than you will make in a lifetime.

It becomes my business when rich people use their wealth to buy politicians or judges to make laws so they can make more money. It is my business if rich people in their greed, destroy the middle class of America, and create a third world nation.
As for Trump giving away money, who cares.

Straw man argument.
The only thing running over the middle class is the federal government.
It never occurs to you left wing lemmings that guys like Trump employ tens of thousands of people.
Who the hell do you think manages and maintains the properties Trump owns and/or operates? Robots?