two undecided voters. . . (kinda long)

[stellanoir]

walk into a bar. . .no just kidding. . .

Two undecided voters were just interviewed on Weekend Edition on NPR by Scott Simon. Undecided voters kind of boggle my mind at this point so I took notes.

A woman from N.H. was asked what she liked about both candidates. She is a stay at home mom who used to work as a teacher. She surprised me by buying into the * is good on education because of the (underfunded, draconian ) "No Child Left Behind Act" (ruse-I don't know a single practicing teacher who feels that way), and said she respected *'s handling of 9/11 and how he dealt with confronting (creating more) terrorists.

She said she respected Kerry for his service in 'Nam because her father had served there as well. She said she didn't know enough about Kerry's Congressional record (people are so clueless of how complicated bills are in the Senate). She was deeply concerned about the deficit and the outsourcing of jobs. She liked Kerry's convention speech.

She felt there had to be better more competent people who could be running but none want to endure the process of running or the intense scrutiny.

A guy from AZ was then asked the same question about both candidates. He said that he thought Kerry had a good heart and agreed with his agenda of waging a more sensitive war on terror (yay-really pleased me to hear this-after Cheney's stupid spin-"It's sensitivity towards the Islamic people, not the terrorists" -you idiot).

He also felt it imperative to fund stem cell research. Simon said, "it sounds like you have made a decision." He responded, "well I'm deeply concerned about Kerry repealling the tax cuts for the very rich because we fall into that category. I've got to talk to my wife because we usually vote the same way and just haven't had a chance to discuss it yet."

He too said that he felt neither Kerry or * were the "brightest stars out there."

I can't believe that someone making over $200,000 would be so unwilling to make a short term sacrifice for the good of the nation to rectify all that's wrong in this country. I guess he might just be unconvinced that his tax increase won't be grossly wasted and mismanaged as is usual so he didn't make that connection.

An aside. . .

I almost wonder if it might be interesting to survey a sampling of those higher income recipients to see what percentage of them would be willing to voluntarily pay higher taxes for a short termed period in exchange for tax incentives down the road? Senator Biden and Pres. Clinton are always insisting that a lot of them would. I think they're right.

Similarly, I've always wondered if asked, what percentage of the uber wealthy senior citizens who are living quite well off their investments and who have tons of assets, would be willing to forego receipt of their social security checks for a limited amount of time until the deficit was eliminated, universal health care was achieved, education was ameliorated, our infrastructure was restored, our environment cleaned up, etc. . .for posterity's sake.

I guess the question really is, just what percentage of the older wealthy folks are more philanthropic than greedy? My random sampling reflects that they're mostly more philanthropic in their later years.

No way to prove it though.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Anecddotal evidence

I know of a 63 year old who makes a very good salary working on a popular TV show who donated $2000 to Kerry....check my sig line to read his thoughts on philanthropy.

[stellanoir]

4. It's that very demographic I'm refering to.

Folks that have substantial savings, are still earning, have grown kids who are finished with school, enough toys, a big enough house etc.

Everyone I know who is at that stage of life and not struggling WANTS to give back in some capacity.

Many don't know how to do so. I swear many (over 65) would sacrifice their SS for five years, or on a year by year optional basis. Many of them are well aware that they got many of the benefits from those who were slightly older than they were, who had to sacrifice during the Depression, and WWII so many really feel obliged to give, unlike some other generations.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. I'm a fan of Sam Waterston

because of his concern for others. He volunteers for many, many different charities, and donates his acting talent for the PBS show "The Visionaries". As a long-time board member of Refugees International, he pays his own way to troubled spots around the world to check on refugee situations. On Sept. 12, 2001, he was at Ground Zero, asking the rescue workers for their autographs and bucking up the people working there. He has also attended functions for widows and orphans of NYC police, and given what comfort he could. All without a lot of publicity (it took a lot of searching to find out most of this, and it definately wasn't published in any mainstream magazine). He is a man who walks his talk. Might interest you to know Sam received an honorary doctorate from Yale the same year Chimp did. But Sam got a louder round of applause, which I think was well deserved.

[Love Bug]

2. Re: the rich guy who supports stem cell research...

fat lot of good retaining his tax cut is going to do him if he gets sick with something stem cell research could have helped find a cure for. Talk about short-sighted!

[stellanoir]

3. yeah-

I had the same response but he did sound kind of youthful, probably building his "nest egg", and still considers himself immortal. (kidding)

[JohnKleeb]

5. on the stem cell guy

my grandfather is right yet again, "its all about green" Greedy pig.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

6. The short answer to your question...

I can't believe that someone making over $200,000 would be so unwilling to make a short term sacrifice for the good of the nation to rectify all that's wrong in this country. I guess he might just be unconvinced that his tax increase won't be grossly wasted and mismanaged as is usual so he didn't make that connection.

The sad reality is, for most (not all) people, the more money they start accumulating in life, the greedier they get. It's as simple as that.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

7. No generalizations are fair or needed here.

Everyone has a different reason for being either generous or stingy.
Most folks are pretty tight as a matter of habit and it can be viewed as selfish or greedy when they tend to become "well off".
I think the biggest factor is indebtedness or lack of.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

9. Notice I said most, not all. I guess the population I have the most

experience with is doctors since that's my "world". What I see as a general tendency is, the more money people have, the more important money becomes in their lives and there is more relative greed.

I sense these tendencies in myself and try to resist it.

It is true that with most doctors, debt is a significant part of the picture, especially during the period of finishing training and starting in practice. Either financial debt--I've had friends finish school with 100-200K worth of debt-- or owing a billion years of military service as I did.

[stellanoir]

11. true

and with malpractice insurance and potential suits looming as an on going potential, few doctors are well off anymore. The system in my home state is so extreme, doctors are leaving in droves even though many like it here, they can't make a living. It's really sad.

Definately not the demographic I was thinking of because they could never save enough to guarantee that they wouldn't have a bad outcome from an honest mistake that was not even their own, that could cost them zillions and possibly result in loss of their license.

[stellanoir]

8. see response #4

Though I think what you say is true of some people but I really believe they're in the minority.

Others, some of whom were wildly ambitious and whose greed was seemingly insatiable under 50 seem to go through a re-evaluation of their priorities, in their late 50's, early 60's. I've just seen it too many times to think that it's rare. I think it would be really interesting to see what percentage of them would give back as an option, not a requirement.

But like I said, no way to tell