What Is Next For The Point?

Congress offered me a bridge to nowhere, and I says, "Thanks but no thanks!" :) OK, so it's not the place to use the quote, but it's the closest I think we're gonna get.

My mom was on food stamps when I was a kid, because nursing didn't pay enough. Our baby sitter was government subsidized too. Seems like a good use of tax revenue to me. I was on unemployment for half of 2002, which sure helped out considering I had just bought a house. My taxes pay for a decent school district, roads, recycling and police. I'm OK with taxes, even though I don't agree on where 20% of it or so goes.

The idea that there should simply not be any income tax is beyond fundamentalist thinking, it's just a total disregard for reality.

mk522, in re-reading your original post it doesn't seem nearly as nasty as it did, so I counter-apologize for reacting so harshly. In my defense, I was cramping really badly at the time and my Pamprin hadn't kicked in yet. (Joke.)

Yes, let's get back to discussing the park. I hear Mr. Boeckling may Commission daily Ferry service to and from Cleveland in '09.

Edited because Jeff got in my way. ;)

tedfuzz said:
Well, I'm sorry that I made a grammatical error. But why should I have to pay for other people to go to school and receive health care, especially those who are here illegally, which is becoming very common around here.

Who fed you that crap? Welfare and other social programs account for around 15% of the total federal budget, and out of that budget, less than half comes from individual income tax. Look it up. And the notion that illegal immigrants account for any significant portion of that is insane.

If you're going to be angry about something, get the facts first.

But why should I have to pay for other people to go to school and receive health care, especially those who are here illegally, which is becoming very common around here.

And, your point? Have you ever met someone who has come to this country illegally? I have a couple of friends (yes, friends - people I go to the bar with - OH NO CALL INS!2111) that have been in this country illegally for 11 and 12 years, started a successful restaurant and contribute more to society than your average American does in their lifetime.

They didn't "steal our jobs" because I'm 100% certain no one around here was thinking about opening a Mexican restaurant in the old closed down Denny's - and now that it's there, and has been for almost 10 years, they sure are grateful they have a place to grab free chips and salsa and throw down some margaritas before jumping in their minivan to go pick up their kids from soccer practice.

[url][url]First of all bholcomb I am one of them persons that is on Food Stamps. But I am employed and work so please don't group all people on government assistance in that one unmentionable category. It is sad when working full time a person can barely get by anymore. The credit crisis was started way earlier then the past year it has been going on since the late 90's when the gov't started to give low income mortgages and selling them houses they couldnt afford in the first place. In the end it is sad that we all have to pay for the minority of people's lack of common sense.

Back to the issue of what is next for CP. I do agree on the Raptor, Millie, and TTD do need a paint job. Overall I forsee more infrastructure improvements.

I'm sorry to hear about your situation KHTO. Please excuse Ben, as he's a heartless right-wing nutjob who wears "NOBama" t-shirts. ;-)

I may not always be able to help the less fortunate, but I do what I can and I hope if I'm ever in a similar situation, I meet someone who thinks exactly like I do.

I'm sorry for all the people on food stamps and unemployment, but it's not everyone else's job to take care of them. I personally believe a fundamental right is the right to starve to death. Please don't yell at me about this, I just don't see why I should have to pay for any social services directly benefiting specific individuals. Maybe if we would stop having to choose between socialists and fascists for public office than everyone could keep their income and provide for themselves. If you can't provide for yourself after that, than it's not anyone else's problem.

Well first off thanks for the posting Exit.

As for you Tedfuzz we all have the right for our opinions. All I was saying is that at least I do work and as I see it is my tax money that I pay into the crappy broken system. I for one don't plan on permanently being on them but for now it is a help.

As I was saying about the credit mess we are in it was when the gov't created the Housing act back in the mid 1990's as of right know I can't recall it exactly. By putting people into houses that for one they couldnt afford, giving them crazy mortgages, doing no credit checks, income checks, or employment checks, is pure non sense. It is not only the Republicans fault it is the Democrats fault and it is the Regulatory positions that failed us and let this happen.

Hopefully after the housing and credit crisis runs it course we can get back to the way it used to be to buy a house you need to have stable income, a clean credit history, a job, and a down payment. It is pure non sense no money down for a mortgage. What we need is to bring common sense back to America.

As to state for the record I am not a Republican or Democrat I am a proud conservative and at this time neither president candidate has my support. As we need a third party a party of common sense.

Sorry Walt and Jeff for talking off the subject.

Back to the point what I think CP should do is paint the Raptor, TTD, and Millie. Also do some infrastructure work as in redoing more bathrooms.

I would venture a guess that only minor improvements will be done. Maverick is coming off its first smooth season, and with nothing being announced a coaster is pretty much ruled out.

I would like to see Breakers get some updates. If I'm paying however much a night you would think to expect some better accommodations. I realize it is old, even if they just added new TVs or something.

Painting the Raptor would be a good idea, it's pretty faded. I'm not real concerned with repainting of rides, though. I would prefer to see a new flat of some kind.

^ I agree with you on the financial situation by the way.

Anyways, yeah, back to CP. Anyone else notice that some of Dragster's track is turning pink? I think she could definitely use a fresh coat of paint.

And yeah, I tend to refer to the rides as "she". :)

Don't even get me started on the messed up college system...financial aid is such a joke, and it amazes me everytime I see a student slacking off in class whos tuition is fully paid for by people like me...I fully support paying taxes towards the educational system, but I wish they'd get a better grip on those who abuse the system...

...we also have a kick-ass Mexican restaurant here in EC, hands down the best authentic Mexican food you'll ever find...they get their produce fresh every morning, and the margaritas, let's just say you end up staying awhile...

But yeah, about them improvements at CP...;)

tedfuzz said:
stuff

Guarantee your opinion changes when you're paying rent/bills/food/gas, and suddenly find yourself in the unemployment line.

It may seem like the cushy tech jobs will always be there, but don't get too comfortable. It's not easy to find work when your skill set becomes worth more than a company can afford to pay you.

I do pay rent/bills/food/gas etc. And so what, I'm not unemployed, and thank god for that. But even if I did lose my job, you're assuming that I would expect the government to be there for me, which I would not. I might have to drastically adjust my standard of living until I found a new job, but to assume that everyone has this sense of entitlement...

...so yeah, how about good old Cedar Point. :)

tedfuzz said:
Maybe if we would stop having to choose between socialists and fascists for public office

Yeah, because if you adopt aspects of those "dirty, evil" systems into ours, terrible, awful and unimaginable things will happen! Puppies will die, hell will freeze over and the Tigers will actually win a World Series. OK, so maybe 2 out of 3 will happen.

You sound like someone who is highly susceptible to "red scare" or "reefer madness" nonsense.

KHTOExtreme said:
I am one of them persons that is on Food Stamps. But I am employed and work so please don't group all people on government assistance in that one unmentionable category.

I'm sorry for your situation, but instead of crying about it on a Cedar Point message board and waiting on the government to fix the problem, why don't you do something about it? Learn something new by reading books or taking a class to better yourself, stop going out to dinner and pay off the credit card debt that is crushing you, sell the house or car that you never should have been allowed to "afford" in the first place and rent a $500 per month apartment or buy a used car, whatever. I don't make that much money and I don't find it to be all that difficult to survive on it.

I was watching Dave Ramsey the other night and there was a 43 year old woman on who was only pulling in $15,000 a year. It is pretty hard to survive on that amount of money, but is it the government's job to just hand her more? No. He told her to do exactly what I just told you to do. He mentioned this website and a couple of books that I can't really recall at the moment to get started.

Tedfuzz,

In about an hour I am giving a lecture on Herbert Spencer; look him up...you two seem to have an awful lot in common.

financial aid is such a joke, and it amazes me everytime I see a student slacking off in class whos tuition is fully paid for by people like me...I fully support paying taxes towards the educational system, but I wish they'd get a better grip on those who abuse the system...

What's messed up is the insane raise in the interest rate on student loans over the past 15 years. How do you know what students are on loans and are slacking off? Coming from poverty, if there were not loans, I never would have gone to college. I did my fair share of "slacking off" as an undergrad, but now academia is my career. Apparantly now they make students on loans wear "Im here on your dime, thanks." t-shirts?

The people I really feel sorry for are the folks sandwiched in the middle. I feel "lucky" that we were poor enough that I qualified for loans, grants, etc...the number of people unable to get loans is what is frightening to me.

The problems with our education system, which we all chip into, start long before college.

Now back to the park...we're going to our first KI Halloween tomorrow...it will be insteresting to see what they do different down there. 3 more weeks till CP.

If I lost my job I wouldn't expect the government to take care of me. I'd find a new job, even if it paid considerably less. If I had to move, I'd move. Things happen, but it's not my job to bail you out.

And why should I pay for your groceries if you can't afford them? I just can't imagine that someone can't afford to eat and doesn't do anything to better themselves so they can.... I'm guessing it's more priorities than anything. Drinking, smoking, going out, cable tv, expensive cars, houses, cellphones, computers, internet access... they're all expensive and not necessary. I also put a sweatshirt on this morning here so I didn't have to turn my heater on because it's a fortune to run

Almost always the folks paying with a bridge card (Food stamps here in MI) are eating tons better than me. I try to keep my grocery bills under $100-150 a month if I can.

DJ - I think his point was that we have, essentially, the same "system" regardless of which letter (D/R) that we choose to support.

WTF, Matt? Where do you get off assuming all kinds of things about someone you don't know?

There are two issues that annoy the piss out of me. The first is that people think that they're being materially hurt by funding social programs, despite the fact that it accounts for such a small percentage of what you pay.

Second is that this idealist micro-view that simplifies it as some absolute moral issue. People try to come off like they're some kind of intellectual champion, when in reality they completely ignore all of the implications of eliminating such programs. There's a bi-directional impact on any kind of decay in society, especially in terms of the economy.

Of course, the subjective part is that I can't stand heartless bastards that have never been a victim of circumstance, and think it's OK to just disregard their fellow human beings.

I disagree, John. Reading this post shows, quite clearly, that he has a genuine (though asinine and unreasonable) dislike for socialism, and thinks that simply because the founding fathers didn't come up with an idea 200 years ago, there's no way it could a good one. That's moronic, to say the least.

Add in the fact that he's not voting in order to show how much of a rebel he is, and, well... I should probably stop before I say something I shouldn't.