[geeks] Re: [rescue] Computerfests (was: first real server hardware)

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Sun, 18 Apr 2004, Andrew Weiss wrote:

> Because it is OK. Yes penalize people for being overly successful.
> What kind of sick mind thinks it is ok to charge minimum wage earners
> or people working two jobs just to make ends meet taxes at a rate they
> cannot afford to pay yet let someone who makes $100G a year manipulate
> his taxes to pay next to nothing.

To hell with that.  This is why our tax system doesn't work and should
be replaced with a consistent consumption tax.  People who buy more pay
more tax.  If you buy 30 cars, you pay tax on the 30 cars you bought.
If you buy two or three house, pay sales tax on two or three houses.  If
you can only afford to buy food, clothes, and basic needs, you end up
paying a lot less tax.  There's no way out of that without committing
conspiracy.

> To your point... you make more money... you pay a bit more in taxes..
> period.

Why?  If I'm working harder to make my life better, what gives someone
else the right to take more away from me?  That seems horribly unfair to
people who work hard and make good decisions.

> If they make a million dollars a year they should probably pay 300G's a
> year in taxes at least.

What problem do you have with people being successful?  Not everyone who
is successful is a corrupt, theiving suit.  It's more than possible to
be self-employed making that sort of money.  Why should I spend at least
FOUR MONTHS out of the year working for my right to breathe air?

> Yes they do.  They probably own more cars...

But you can only drive one at once, so they're not abusing the roads any
more than we are.

> more houses...

And thus keeping property values high, a benefit to the community
because they're ALREADY paying hefty taxes on that.

> send their kids to more expensive schools

And not taxing the public education system they're paying for.

> and because they stimulate the economy more

Oh, God forbid we have that.

How, exactly, again are they getting that much greater benefit from the
tax dollars they pay in, again?  If I may be so bold, I believe that was
Dan's question.  Does someone who pays 10x as many taxes get 10x as many
government benefits?

> and are more important to the economy's bottom line they have a
> greater responsibility to make it continue to work smoothly for those
> who cannot afford to do so.

Okay.  So they stimulate the economy and are important to it, which is a
good thing.  So we punish them by making them carry everyone else.  I
don't see how that follows.

> > So why do it?
> Because Bill Gates is morally bereft and a criminal.

It it not the purpose of the tax system to regulate morals.

> It's the only legal way to punish the man after the government
> realized it lacked the balls or power to do so.

Dude, drop the hate-mongering.  We're talking about funding government
services, not going on "Ass Kicking Tour 2004".  A far better way to go
after those people is to campaign for people to not use the products
their companies make on the basis of whatever they've done to irritate
you, but that's a different argument for a different thread.

> Lawrence Ellison is also an a$$hole of the extreme type.... and many
> more... Carly Fiorina anyone... and this is all just people in our
> own field.  We're not talking about penalizing hard working and quite
> successful people...

YES!  You are!  You cannot guarantee that all of the super-rich are
theiving suits.  Sure, it's your gut instinct, but what about people who
own small niche companies that do Very Well?  What about the (admittedly
overpaid) actors?  They may be stupid talking heads, but that doesn't
mean they're theiving suits.

> we're talking about outsourcing the suits.

So there'll be a portion of the tax code that says "If you are on the
list detailed in Chapter xxx, Section yyy, Paragraph zzz of the USC, or
if you have ever outsourced a job to foreign soil other otherwise been a
naughty boy, your tax rate is N%"?

> Make it be TIME TO MOVE for their lazy a$$es.

So that they'll move overseas, manage their companies from abroad, and
NOT pay any money into the system?  That seems to be self-defeating.

-- 
Jonathan Patschke  ) "Being on the Internet is not the same as being
Elgin, TX         (   famous.  That's like calling Cheetos 'dinner'."
USA                )                                    --Metal Steve