Things I think are wrong with this country

[Good Old Neon]

Sorry I see spelling and grammar is not optional on this board only thinking

 

What you

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

love it when million/billionaires advocate raising taxes on people making $100,000 a year as if they were in the same league.

If his secretary is paying 34% then they probably are making decent money. He's talking about capital gains, not income tax.

[EL the Famous]

What you

[Good Old Neon]

were you kicked off the board or something?

 

 

Nope, but I have been raked over the coals on several occasions for behaving and/or responding in ways that others also have, but rarely get called on. Sort of like the way one lets a friend getaway with something they would not ordinarily let a stranger off the hook for

[ikol]

Sorry I see spelling and grammar is not optional on this board only thinking

 

An occasional typo is one thing, but when every post is an jumble of run-on sentences and complete disregard for spelling or grammar, it actually indicates a lack of thinking.

[caliber66]

Nope, but I have been raked over the coals on several occasions for behaving and/or responding in ways that others also have, but rarely get called on. Sort of like the way one lets a friend getaway with something they would not ordinarily let a stranger off the hook for

[Good Old Neon]

Where do you get your crosses? That one looks just lovely on you.

 

Well, most are hand hewn and crafted from fine South American Ipe

[Big Perm]

This post is related to the topic of thread, I'm not a fan of Norman Podhoretz, and I think he's currently Guiliani's Foreign Policy Advisor on his campaign, here's a video I saw recently

 

[swirlaround]

[quote name='JUDE

[yermom]

The sullying of Glenn's thread.

[Atticus]

I'm with you on looney tunes.

 

I think it's wrong that weed is illegal. I think it's worse that we have so many people in prison for drug charges while violent offenders walk the streets

 

I think it's wrong that anyone who wants to stem illegal immigration is branded a racist.

 

I think it's wrong that abortion isn't addressed by a constitutional amendment granting the U.S. congress the authority to legislate and protect women's rights rather than leaving such an important issue to a ridiculous string of mangled court opinions or up to the states.

 

I think it's wrong in this day and age not to have a popular vote for our president (that counts).

 

I think it's wrong that little to no value is placed on education and scholastic achievement while every move of athletes and pop stars is monitored and published as though they discovered a cure for cancer.

 

and what Scott's about to say right down here:

 

you are a tubgirl-strength douchebag

[Guest Jules]

Interesting interview with Warren Buffet this morning on the Today show. Mr. Buffet claims 17% of his income goes towards paying taxes, while the people in his office, his secretary for example, pays out 34% of her income. Mr. Buffet claims he does not employ an accountant, has no tax shelters and simply fills out the same income tax form as the rest of us. Yet, as a multi-billionaire, he pays less in taxes, per dollar, than middle income folks. Now, why, exactly, do you think that is the case? Could it be that the much, much better off among us have basically had an unfair hand in influencing how the tax codes are written, and have used that influence to tip the balance in their favor? And what of the companies that set up a PO Box in the Bahamas and get away with paying next to no taxes?

 

Why the hell on earth are low to middle income folks paying more taxes, per dollar, than billionaires without the help of any creative sort of bookkeeping?

 

I think the average person would be more willing to pay their taxes if they received a greater return on their investment

[Good Old Neon]

You may want to find the interview, as I

[DAngerer09]

I think it is a serious problem when I can't softly finger pick on an acoustic guitar at 11pm without getting a noise complaint from the people below me in my apartment.

 

Ridiculous!

[EL the Famous]

My point exactly - why or how the hell do billionaires get away with softly finger picking on an acoustic guitar at 11pm without getting a "noise complaint" from the people in my apartment below them?

[ikol]

My point exactly

[bjorn_skurj]

Share Our Wealth

 

As an alternative to what he called the conservatism of the New Deal, Huey Long proposed federal legislation capping personal fortunes, income and inheritances. He used radio broadcasts and founded a national newspaper, the American Progress, to promote his ideas and accomplishments before a national audience. In 1934, he unveiled an economic plan he called Share Our Wealth. Long argued there was enough wealth in the country for every individual to enjoy a comfortable standard of living, but that it was unfairly concentrated in the hands of a few millionaire bankers, businessmen and industrialists.

 

Long proposed a new tax code which would limit personal fortunes to $5 million, annual income to $1 million (or 300 times the income of the average family), and inheritances to $5 million. The resulting funds would be used to guarantee every family a basic household grant of $5,000 and a minimum annual income of $2,000-3,000 (or one-third the average family income). Long supplemented his plan with proposals for free primary and college education, old-age pensions, veterans' benefits, federal assistance to farmers, public works projects, and limiting the work week to thirty hours.

 

Denying that his program was socialistic, Long stated that his ideological inspiration for the plan came not from Karl Marx but from the Bible and the Declaration of Independence.

[ikol]

Did he literally piss on the Constitution or was that just implied?

[Guest Jules]

You may want to find the interview, as I

[aricandover]

Magnum T.A.'s 1986 car accident.

[Analogman]

Tip jars that seem to be in every fast food place now

 

The college kids who throw beer cans and fast food bags all over the street I live on

[aricandover]

Tip jars that seem to be in every fast food place now

 

we hit a kid with broom handles, when he tried to run off with our tip jar and co-worker's jacket.

[EL the Famous]

Magnum T.A.'s 1986 car accident.

 

good one.

[Good Old Neon]

You missed my point. Most (or all) of his income is from capital gains (a lower rate, I think ~20%) or bond income (low or no taxes), which results in a lower percentage come tax time. He most likely does not draw a salary from any of his companies, which would be at the normal income tax rates.

 

Whether or not you call these tax shelters, it is what it is.

 

The interview:

 

Tom: Are you surprised there's not more talk in this presidential campaign about economic fairness and economic justice?

 

Warren: Yeah. I-- I-- I am surprised-- it may be that everybody wants to be cautious-- while they're looking to get nominated, but-- but the degree to which the-- economic-- well, the taxation system has tilted toward the rich and away from the middle class in the last ten years is-- is dramatic, and I don't think it's appreciated. And I think it should be addressed.

 

Tom: You've gone very public with this.

 

Warren: Right.

 

Tom: You've talked about in your office, for example, you pay a much lower tax rate with all of your wealth than, say, a receptionist does.

 

Warren: That's exactly right, Tom. And I-- I think the only way to do it is with specifics, and-- and - and in our office, 15 people cooperated in a survey out of 18. I didn't make anybody do it. And my total taxes paid-- payroll taxes plus income tax-- and the payroll tax is an income tax. It's based on income.

 

Tom: Yeah.

 

Warren: Mine came to-- 17.7 percent. That-- that was the-- that was line 61 I think-- or, no, line 43-- is the percent of taxable income, plus payroll taxes, 17.7 percent. The average for the office was 32.9 percent. There wasn't anybody in the office from the receptionist on that paid as low a tax rate. And I have no tax planning. I don't have an-- I don't have a-- an accountant. I don't have tax shelters. I just follow what the U.S. Congress tells me to do.

 

Tom: Why do you think that there's not more outrage about that?

 

Warren: I-- I don't think people understand it. For one thing, you'll see a lot of surveys that say the rich, the top one percent pay this much of the income tax. Now I think what people don't realize is that almost one third of the entire budget comes from payroll taxes. And payroll taxes on income, just like income taxes are taxes on income.

 

And the payroll tax is over $800 billion out of two and a trillion, or something like that. And people don't understand-- they-- they-- that the rich pay practically no payroll tax. I mean, I paid payroll tax last year on $90 odd thousand, whatever the number is. I paid income tax on $66 million. But my double income tax, one of 'em quits at $90,000. And the remaining $66 million does not get taxed with payroll tax. So, the person who makes $60,000 in our office gets ta-- taxed in full on the payroll tax, and taxed in full on the income tax. And-- and all the statistics you read, particularly the one don't like taxes, well now, they totally ignore the payroll tax. And it's huge now.

 

Tom: Of all the tax lines that you've seen proposed over the years, a flat tax, a consumption tax, a more progressive income tax, which is the one that appeals to you the most?

 

Warren: Well, in theory a progressive consumption tax makes the most sense. I mean, if you tax the people who use the resources of society rather than ones who-- who-- who provide the resources of society, that makes more sense. And a consumption tax can be very progressive.

 

You can have just an unlimited IRA. As long as you invest money, and don't actually spend it for yourself, or your kids don't spend it, or whatever-- you don't get taxed. As soon as you start making withdrawals from society's bank, start using the resources, the-- the sweat of other people to-- benefit yourself, you would pay on that. That-- that's the one that makes the most sense. I don't-- it isn't gonna happen-- in all likelihood.

 

Certainly the worst taxes-- is something like a sales tax. I would say that we've got a pretty bad system, when we tax the person who-- who cleans out my office, the receptionist. They are paying 15-- payroll taxes, over 15 percent now, just for openers.

 

Most of my income is taxed at 15 percent, and-- and doesn't pay a payroll. Mainly it

[Analogman]

we hit a kid with broom handles, when he tried to run off with our tip jar and co-worker's jacket.

 

Not bad.