[Rhodes22-list] Flat Tax Anyone? Tossing ball back to Slim (political rant)

[Brad Haslett]

Dave,

You are so full of shit!

Brad



On 1/12/07, DCLewis1 at aol.com <DCLewis1 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Interesting that Ed thinks 36% tax is an oppressive tax rate (and
> that's  the
> max rate, not on your gross, its after deductions).  Look at the
> roads  you
> travel, the ATC, national security, public health, the commerce
> infrastructure, etc - seems like a one time good deal to me.
>
> For those of you who worry that you're paying school taxes for
> other  peoples
> kids, ask yourself who is going to be paying into the Social
> Security  fund
> on your behalf 10 years from now - it's those kids.  You better
> hope  they're
> educated and have good jobs, their Soc Security deposits are
> going  straight
> to you.
>
> Further, while Ed makes a good point regarding founders that begin and
> develop companies, I suggest they are likely a small fraction of the 1%
> under
> discussion.  I would encourage you to consider the real 1% - consider
> the  Grasso'
> s, who didn't start, found, begin or develop anything he just got
> the  NYSE to
> give him an egregious pay package.  Or Nardelli of Home Depot,
> or  Skilling
> of Enron, or Conrad Black accused of looting the Tribune, or the
> guys  that
> looted Tyco, or McKinnel of Pfizer, or Immelt of GE, or  Waggoner of  GM,
> or Ford
> of Ford......  Lets cut out the mythology and deal with cases,  and there
> are
> a ton of cases, and in all those cases the MBAs that won the water  cooler
> wars stepped up to run major corporations and made out like bandits
> -  that's
> the real story and that's the real 1%.  I can't think of a single  S&P 500
> corporation that's run by it founder.  And I respectfully  suggest that
> the MBAs
> that win the water cooler wars are no more entitled to  special tax
> consideration by society than anyone else - they are not founders,  they
> are watch
> standers, and there is a difference.
>
> Regarding founders: If you do found and develop a public company, you make
> out like a bandit even with the current tax code - and I don't begrudge
> that
> one  bit.  But you reasonably make out so incredibly well that even after
> taxes
> you are incredibly well off.  Consider Phil Knight, the guy who
> founded  Nike
> - I think he's the 48th richest guy in the US even after the current
> taxes,
> and that's fine but he doesn't need a change in the tax code to help him
> out
> he's doing very well thank you.  Consider Bill Gates, I think the richest
> guy in the US, money up the gazoo - under the current tax
> code.  Michael  Dell,
> absolutely not suffering at all - under the present tax code.  None  of
> the
> founder types I've mentioned need special consideration from the
> tax  code, they
> are all doing very very well by any standard - and I don't begrudge  their
> doing well, but neither do I feel sympathy for the tax they pay.   They've
> got
> it made and some of the reasons they have it made is the larger  society
> respects and enforces their intellectual property rights - at a real  cost
> to the
> larger society - the larger society facilitates their production  efforts
> with
> roads, power, terminals and infrastructure and security of all  sorts, and
> generally enables the commerce that they profit from so greatly -
> so  maybe they
> should pay more for that increased support.  If that increased  support
> weren't
> there, they'd have nothing or very much less.  The customs  inspector
> standing on the dock looking for counterfeit Nikes is not paid by
> Phil  Knight, but
> Phil Knight benefits directly from that customs inspector's  activities,
> maybe
> Phil Knight should pay more tax than the rest of us.   Maybe Bill Gates
> should
> pay more taxes, the US Government is investing time and  manpower trying
> to
> mitigate software pirating efforts in Asia and around the  world, a direct
> significant beneficiary is - Bill Gates.  I don't begrudge  any of these
> guys
> their wealth, but I also think they, more than some day worker  in South
> Carolina,
> are constructively exploiting, using, and benefiting from the  full range
> of
> government services and in consideration they should pay more  taxes.
>
> Dave
>
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