Things you dislike about your country.

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Harpers government, full stop. He's doing his damnedest to make Canada the next America.

A little secret that you don't hear mentioned is that in his Reform days he made comments crediting the American conservative movement for playing a large part in making the USA great. My god I hate the man.

As do I. Here's to hoping enough of his ministers fall asleep for his budget to fail.

I also hate the mayor of North Carolina who does nothing at all for my state.

North Carolina is a State and is run by a governor, not a mayor.

ruveyn

I've heard this term used by resident's of Michigan's Upper Peninsula to describe denizens of the Lower Peninsula: "Tr***s" because they live "under the bridge."

Listen up! You're not going to believe this.
More and more jobs require a permission slip from the government.
Today one in three Americans need a license from the government to do business. One in three.But it didn't always use to be this way.
Back in the 1950's just one in 20 Americans needed the government's permission to do their job. But now across this country, some 102 low and middle-income jobs now require a state license.
I'm not talking about gastroenterologists, or high-rise architects.
Jobs like barbers, massage therapists, auctioneers, interior designers.
For the average worker in a licensed profession, it means nine months of education or training, an exam and 200 dollars in fees.
Think of how much that time and money will hold you back from getting where you want to be.
Let's get specific.
In New York, to be a barber, before you get your license, you'll need 884 days of training and three exams.
So if you trained Monday through Friday, every week, no vacations, it would take nearly three and a half years to do the training!
But lawyers go to school for just three years. And they only need to pass the bar once. Not three whole times.
And I’ll tell you, the haircuts we get around here don't look any better than the ones in New Hampshire or Wyoming where barbers have to get less than a quarter of the training.
So your hair is on the line with an untrained barber... It takes some time to grow back. I guess I get that.
But then why do emergency medical technicians need just 35 days of training? These are folks who literally hold people's lives in their hands! The part that'll make your head spin is how much these requirements change as you go from state to state....

I'll start.

2. The War on Science.
6. Pro life and Pro choice groups.
8. The main thing that bugs me not allowing gay men and women to get married.

We believe most politicians are simply interested in getting re-elected and will do whatever it takes to accomplish that.
We feel most politicians and the political system are lacking common sense and civility which is what they would like to see in solving the nation's problems.

Unstable economy.
Too much greed/ selfishness.
Not a firm enough hand in diplomacy.
Not enough industry.

1. Government invading the private sphere.
2. Politicians who no longer represent the agenda of their voters but the agenda of their party.
3. Too much bureaucracy and too much incompetent bureaucracy.
4. Conformity being overvalued.

2. Culturally, many citizens of the U.S.A. are content to be ignorant and to dismiss facts as irrelevant or as being part of a conspiracy without engaging in their own sourced research.

What bothers me is that half the population votes for a candidate they don't even like.

2. That the media has been so successful in manufacturing people into thinking there are only two political parties worth voting for.

No incentive to keep manufacturing domestic.

Affirmative action lets people get hired or accepted into colleges without being the best candidate.

Privacy is dwindling- even without patriot act provisions being used.

A government of self serving politicians that has the founders turning over in their graves.

An education system that barely qualifies you to run a carnival ride.

Bureaucracy.

Religion in government.

14. America's anti-intellectual mentality.

1. Not enough jobs.
4. Population density is way too high.

It may be that simple in Canada, but not here in the US.

Short version is, I got a large Christmas bonus. My company usually doesn't give Christmas bonuses, so I hadn't taken that into account. If it hadn't been for that bonus, I wouldn't have bumped up a bracket and would have been fine. Ironic thing is the increase in tax liability was waaaaaay more than the bonus that caused it. I'd have been better off if I hadn't gotten the bonus.

Nonsense.

The only income that gets taxed in the top bracket is the amount of income that exceeds the threshold for that bracket.

Suppose that the threshold for the top bracket is $50,000. If you earn $49,999 in salary, and you receive a $100 bonus, your total income will be $50,099. $50,000 will be taxed in the lower brackets, and only $99 will be taxed in the higher bracket.

If your tax liability was larger than your bonus, then your accountant is a mental m***et who cannot do basic arithmetic.

Oooor, may be I just misunderstood his explanation. Fact is, it's my money. I earned it. If I had sat at home and done nothing, the gov't would have less income to tax. But I don't, therefore the gov't takes more and more every year. I am being punished for my achievements with an ever-increasing tax burden.

If you want to see it that way, why see taxes as a punishment though? it's not its a way of making sure public services and help for citizens who need it is provided. I guess I don't see why someone should complain over having to pay taxes because it might go to someone less fortunate if they own a car, house, enough money for food, toiletries whatever entertainment they choose or nice vacations? But I imagine you must be renting some cheap apparentment in the bad area of town, have to take the bus or walk to work when you can't afford the bus and you probably can hardly put enough food on the table. In that case I guess I see your point and taxation is a punishment for you, but maybe the first description describes you better.

The first scenario is pretty close to where I started. Second scenario is a fair description of my life at this time. What enabled me to progress from the first to the second is realizing that my life is my challenge. It is not my place to ask for others to fight that challenge for me, they have their own challenges to face.