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What is everyone smoking?
Re: Demcratic Debates
She had answers but was extremely cocky! I don't trust her at all. She's good at lying, yes. lol
I'm fairly liberal, but each one of these goes too far for me.
--We already give huge tax breaks, imo for no reason, to people who have kids so why hamper businesses by forcing them to give parents paid maternity leave just because they CHOSE to have a family. That's totally ridiculous. Paid maternity leave is common in Canada, but that is because businesses choose to do that, though they do get a tax break. That last sentence is how I am pretty sure it is done, but don't quote me!
I wouldn't even side-eye a tax break given to businesses for offering this, but it shouldn't be mandated.
--I think minimum wage absolutely needs to keep up with inflation and it hasn't, but $15/hour would be essentially doubling it and that would be crazy and an absolute disaster. I looked it up once a few months ago and, if it were to have kept up with inflation for the last few decades, it should be somewhere around $9 and something. So, yes raise it, but not to $15/hour.
--Free college is probably the one out of the three I have the least problem with. Because there would obviously be huge benefits to our country as a whole if we had a more educated populace. But I still think our system of subsidizing state colleges, but not having it be completely free is the best way to go.
I know school loans added to the enormous escalation of education costs have become a big problem in our society. But, I think that stems more from students choosing private universities instead of state ones anyway. I'm not knocking that choice! I'm more just pointing out there are already substantially cheaper ways to get a college degree if that is what one wants.
Plus, people often don't value what they get for free.
Not exactly parents (at least not that I know of), but yes someone with a disability that leaves them unable to work. I actually do not have an issue with that type of exemption. Or with exemptions for people who are taking care of foster children. For me, the difference is those are examples of someone selflessly taking care of another person who would otherwise be an even bigger burden on our society.
And I would agree with your point about population if this was currently a problem in our country. But at the present time, it isn't. I also don't think whether there is a tax break or not would influence anyone, one way or the other, to have more or less children.
Totally agree it is far more expensive to pay for all the things kids need than the tax savings, but that still doesn't mean parents should get a tax break. I only mean that from a policy standpoint, definitely not blaming anyone for taking whatever tax breaks they can claim. For example, I think a deduction for mortgage interest is ridiculous also...just because someone CHOSE to buy a home, like me. But, as a homeowner, I will also take whatever tax breaks are given to me even if I don't agree with them.
Ack. None of my responses are posting to TN. So here's what I said in response to @BlueBirdMB
This is a link to Wikipedia about the birth rates to sustain a population. While I don't like Wikipedia, here it is drawing on a multitude of sources and studies to explain the situation. Basically, a population needs to average at least 2.1 children per couple to sustain itself. Many European countries, all fall under this number of 2.1.
If these populations are not being replenished at at least 2.1 children to each couple, and due to immigration of another demographic moving in with this new demographic reproducing at an extremely high rate by comparison, then after a short while the original population will become the minority and the immigrants will become the majority. This is what is happening in Europe. Many European governments are actually giving their citizens monetary incentives to HAVE MORE KIDS.
ETA:
Link to Wikipedia that I mentioned in my PP. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-replacement_fertility
For the record, I wasn't complaining about anything or anyone. I was just stating the facts behind shifts of demographics in populations and how it's mathematically-based.
Regardless of whether or not the Muslim population explosion continues or not after the 2nd generation may be immaterial. If the Europeans have fewer than 2.1 kids per couple, which they do, and the first generations of Muslims are having as high of an average of 6, 7 or even 8 children per couple, then the sheer numbers of people produced in that 2nd generation of Muslims will outnumber the European population even if the 2nd and 3rd generations of Muslims have 3, 4 or 5 kids per couple that cause a decrease in the Muslim population boom. That initial explosion in Muslim families, in conjunction with a significant reduction in European family size, will create an overall increase in the Muslim population. Then, factor in death rates. Smaller European families, will die off and not be replaced by their future generations. Muslim death rates will more than adequately be replaced.