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jdhill 0
Not all situations are the same... if we blew someones house up, and it was not a military target, we should rebuild it. But we did not take out the electrical backbone or the water disto system, Iraqis did, and that money should be repaid.
As for the UN, I'm not surprised that they are reluctant to jump in at this point (the administration should not be either), but I still feel they have some responsibility... so on that I guess we will agree to disagree.
J
As for the UN, I'm not surprised that they are reluctant to jump in at this point (the administration should not be either), but I still feel they have some responsibility... so on that I guess we will agree to disagree.
J
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
jdhill 0
Quotewe imposed
Don't you mean that the UN imposed?
And that's not the reason anyway... Sadam's rule/plundering was the main reason
J
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke
billvon 3,006
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>Iraq was in bad shape a long time before we got there.
True; we should fix what we broke and restore sufficient order before we leave - we don't have to build them new townhouses. Basic utilities are sufficient.
True; we should fix what we broke and restore sufficient order before we leave - we don't have to build them new townhouses. Basic utilities are sufficient.
Quote>Iraq was in bad shape a long time before we got there.
True; we should fix what we broke and restore sufficient order before we leave - we don't have to build them new townhouses. Basic utilities are sufficient.
I'm in total agreement there. I think that the Iraqis should take on some responsibility also. They could be pounding nails with a hammer instead pounding statues with their shoes.
never pull low......unless you are
Steel 0
I would be more in favor of a higher sales tax on non-essential items and ellimination of all income tax.
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And who is going to decide what is non-essential. You are probably thinking stuff that you don't care about. Little do you know that this can come back to haunt you. Your thinking cigarettes let them tax the hell ouf of the smokers, maybe alcohol, possibly bullets screw those people that want to go target shooing. But in the end the most likely hit will be gasoline. Mainly because of all the environmentalist who feel great about themselves because of their hybrid cars but don't see the whole picture. They can't simply look at Europe and realize that with this mentality before you knew it gas prices would triple or quadruple. I guess if you make $300K or more yearly then your jumping won't be affected. But the rest of us would be totally screwed if our gas prices became like that of Europe.
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And who is going to decide what is non-essential. You are probably thinking stuff that you don't care about. Little do you know that this can come back to haunt you. Your thinking cigarettes let them tax the hell ouf of the smokers, maybe alcohol, possibly bullets screw those people that want to go target shooing. But in the end the most likely hit will be gasoline. Mainly because of all the environmentalist who feel great about themselves because of their hybrid cars but don't see the whole picture. They can't simply look at Europe and realize that with this mentality before you knew it gas prices would triple or quadruple. I guess if you make $300K or more yearly then your jumping won't be affected. But the rest of us would be totally screwed if our gas prices became like that of Europe.
If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.
And who is going to decide what is non-essential. .
Most whuffos would consider skydiving to be non-essential (as rediculous as that sounds).
never pull low......unless you are
pds 0
a few years ago i was staying with a friend in australia and was dumbfounded by the price of computer equipment due to the vat.
and although i don't know this to be fact, i remember being told that femenin hygien products such as tampons were considered luxury (i.e. nonessential) and had a 30% vat applied.
anyone from au can confirm or deny this?
and although i don't know this to be fact, i remember being told that femenin hygien products such as tampons were considered luxury (i.e. nonessential) and had a 30% vat applied.
anyone from au can confirm or deny this?
namaste, motherfucker.
TheAnvil 0
The AMT was put in place to satisfy some idiots who were angered because some people had managed to avoid paying any income tax. It's an abomination.
So you want to tax interest, eh? Capital gains tax, perhaps? Taxing folks on profits they make from investing money they've earned (and already been taxed on). I don't like it.
The US$10 million you refer to in your example - how do you think it got there? Being as only about 1-2% of millionaires inherit their wealth, the only logical assumption is that the money was more than likely EARNED. EARNED means TAXED. I don't care if Joe Shmoe millionaire lets it set there - he's free to do so. How many people do you know that have that kind of cash in the bank don't do work of any sort? For that matter, how many people are in such situation? Not many people with that kind of capital keep it in a savings or a checking account.
Your use of this example indicates an animosity towards such people, usually due to jealosy of some sort. I share no such animosity and am glad for them. Always remember that under the current system, the rich pay the most taxes - by a long, long shot.
So you want to tax interest, eh? Capital gains tax, perhaps? Taxing folks on profits they make from investing money they've earned (and already been taxed on). I don't like it.
The US$10 million you refer to in your example - how do you think it got there? Being as only about 1-2% of millionaires inherit their wealth, the only logical assumption is that the money was more than likely EARNED. EARNED means TAXED. I don't care if Joe Shmoe millionaire lets it set there - he's free to do so. How many people do you know that have that kind of cash in the bank don't do work of any sort? For that matter, how many people are in such situation? Not many people with that kind of capital keep it in a savings or a checking account.
Your use of this example indicates an animosity towards such people, usually due to jealosy of some sort. I share no such animosity and am glad for them. Always remember that under the current system, the rich pay the most taxes - by a long, long shot.
Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
TheAnvil 0
Gasoline is about the only commodity that has had its price not really indexed to inflation. Odd, eh?
Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
quade 4
Quote
So you want to tax interest, eh? Capital gains tax, perhaps? Taxing folks on profits they make from investing money they've earned (and already been taxed on). I don't like it.
Kind of sounds like you don't actually know how it works!
You don't pay income taxes on the money you've already earned and invested. You do pay taxes on the income of investing that money.
That's why they call it income tax.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver
The World's Most Boring Skydiver
TheAnvil 0
I know perfectly well how it works. You work and get a paycheck, which is subject to taxation. After the tax comes out, if you invest this money and make a profit, that profit is again taxed. And as I said - I do not like it.
Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
quade 4
Oh kayyyy . . . I guess I have to agree with you a bit. I don't like having to pay taxes either, but taxes on investment income seems pretty fair to me.
After all, a guy works hard as a bricklayer and gets taxed. He actually did some real work. Investment income is basically "free" money -- no actual work required.
Please try explaining to the guy that sweats on the construction site why he has to pay taxes and a person that did essentially nothing other than loan a business some money gets to reap the profits of that loan and NOT pay taxes on it?
Please tell me where the "fairness" of a system like that is.
After all, a guy works hard as a bricklayer and gets taxed. He actually did some real work. Investment income is basically "free" money -- no actual work required.
Please try explaining to the guy that sweats on the construction site why he has to pay taxes and a person that did essentially nothing other than loan a business some money gets to reap the profits of that loan and NOT pay taxes on it?
Please tell me where the "fairness" of a system like that is.
quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver
The World's Most Boring Skydiver
QuoteYour use of this example indicates an animosity towards such people, usually due to jealosy of some sort.
Not at all. You're making an assumption. Because I think it's unfair that an elite few with the most money get to make the rules that benefit them at the expense of others, doesn't mean I'm jealous. It means I have a problem with inequity.
QuoteFor that matter, how many people are in such situation? Not many people with that kind of capital keep it in a savings or a checking account.
You're right, they invest it, and often live off of those proceeds. There are quite a few millionaires who make lots and lots of money each year through investment strategies funded by the companies they work for that pay them a symbolic $1/year salary to avoid paying income tax. As long as the money continues to sit in investment vehicles and is not cashed out, it is not income. So, they can continue to accumulate wealth and not pay a dime of tax.
The top 1% of the population has 30% of the countries wealth. These are the people making the rules, and they do it to favor themselves, not to be fair. I have no problem with someone getting rich, but they should pay an equitable amount, not be given loopholes.
Where do you think the capital gains come from? They come from profits. They come from the money that consumers spend. They come from the majority of average people. Not taxing capital gains is a way for those who are accumulating wealth to accumulate more. Like I said, the economy is a closed system. Without taxation of capital gains you have a big ass pyramid scam, nothing more.
TheAnvil 0
Quite easy, actually. One of my college room-mates is a financier so I know quite a few of them. Being an Appalachian farm-boy turned engineer I know a lot of manual laborers too - many of them my relatives.
Your assertion that the financier did no work is utterly incorrect. The research these guys do is enormous and extremely time consuming. I don't know of any that work less than 10 hour days - and 12-14 hour days are common.
The financier more than likely applied himself oh, let's be conservative and say 10 or 20 times moreso than the bricklayer while going through school. No work? Try tackling some of my old room-mate's PDE's or financial optimization mathematics he was doing at graduate school. It's not easy stuff and I've got all the coursework for a PhD in engineering!
No work? Pshaw. That's an absurd statement by any measure.
Your tactic is one the left uses frequently. The rich don't work. They sit in offices all day and make $$. Publicly exhorting a position is an easy method to get cheers from uneducated masses but impossible to defend when placed under scrutiny. I challenge you to try keeping a CEO/CFO's working hours. Try studying an equivalent amount of hours as they do for their CFA certification - or reading an equivalent amount of books. Do that and then call it no work......hehehehe....most people wouldn't last a week.
Your assertion that the financier did no work is utterly incorrect. The research these guys do is enormous and extremely time consuming. I don't know of any that work less than 10 hour days - and 12-14 hour days are common.
The financier more than likely applied himself oh, let's be conservative and say 10 or 20 times moreso than the bricklayer while going through school. No work? Try tackling some of my old room-mate's PDE's or financial optimization mathematics he was doing at graduate school. It's not easy stuff and I've got all the coursework for a PhD in engineering!
No work? Pshaw. That's an absurd statement by any measure.
Your tactic is one the left uses frequently. The rich don't work. They sit in offices all day and make $$. Publicly exhorting a position is an easy method to get cheers from uneducated masses but impossible to defend when placed under scrutiny. I challenge you to try keeping a CEO/CFO's working hours. Try studying an equivalent amount of hours as they do for their CFA certification - or reading an equivalent amount of books. Do that and then call it no work......hehehehe....most people wouldn't last a week.
Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
rehmwa 2
QuoteInvestment income is basically "free" money -- no actual work required..
Any day traders or investment brokers out there want to talk to this one? Obviously research and doing your homework is so easy, you just sit on your butts and get lucky without any effort.
c'mon Quade - mental work is just as much of a personal investment than labor. This is just a little too historically socialistic in comment, I'm sure you did not mean it.
Some (not me) might say the brick layer took the easy way out and didn't take the effort to work and go to college at the same time. Me, I think it depends on the individual. But I'll never blame the investor for the choices the bricklayer made.
...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants
You missed his point, that they both should pay tax on their income. Just because one got it from investing and the other got it from laying bricks, why should the investor not have to pay tax?
TheAnvil 0
And the top 1% of the population pays what percent of the taxes? You neglected to mention that in your diatribe against them.
Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!
QuoteAnd the top 1% of the population pays what percent of the taxes? You neglected to mention that in your diatribe against them.
You're right, I neglected that info. The 1% of the population who has 30% of the wealth pays......20% of the income tax. hmmmmmm
Mostly due to the economic sanctions that we imposed. Of course Saddam absconded with a lot of the countries wealth. We can just tell the Iraqis to get it back from him.
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