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

[Andrew Weiss]

On Apr 18, 2004, at 11:54 AM, Dan Duncan wrote:
>
> Wow, goodbye charitable contributions.  Your method will significantly
> drop the budgets of organizations that do a lot of work helping
> people.
>
> You don't really want that, do you?

I don't think so... it doesn't work like that.
>
>> You make 200 G's a year... you pay ${Hypothetical high num}%
>> You make less than 20G's a year... or something like minimum wage...
>> (i.e. below the cost of living for your area)... you pay 0
>> You make in the middle and pay ${sliding scale}%
>
> So you want to penalize people for being successful?


> If I take time out of my already busy day to either work extra
> hours or get a second job to better help ends meet, not only
> does that extra income take a serious toll on my time and energy,
> but I should be rewarded by having to pay taxes at a higher
> RATE on that extra income than I pay on my other income?
>
> What the fuck kind of sick mind thinks that is ok?
>
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 your point... you make more 
money... you pay a bit more in taxes.. period.


> Why should any individual pay, for example, more than $100k a year
> in taxes?

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

> Do they receive more benefit for their money?

Yes they do.  They probably own more cars... more houses... send their 
kids to more expensive schools and because they stimulate the economy 
more 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.

> <Snip>


>> Unlike the UK we can cap this at 50% or so... but I'm enough of a
>> bastard I'd love to see Bill Gates paying 99% taxes.
>
> At least you admit that doing so would be a bastardly thing to do.
>
> So why do it?
>
Because Bill Gates is morally bereft and a criminal.  It's the only 
legal way to punish the man after the government realized it lacked the 
balls or power to do so.  Lawrence Ellison is also an a$$hole of the 
extreme type.... and many more... Carly Fiorina anyone... and this is 
all just people in our own field.  We're not talking about penalizing 
hard working and quite successful people... we're talking about 
outsourcing the suits.  Make it be TIME TO MOVE for their lazy a$$es.

>> You are married/civilly united etc... you get no breaks (No more gay
>> marriage problem...)
>
> Umm... marriage PENALTY?  You don't get a break for being married.
>
> The taxes come out higher.
>
Don't throw that one out there... You know what I'm talking about... 
all the withholdings and deductions you can do for dependents etc.

Reduce taxes in the long run.  Besides the marriage penalty is being 
addressed right now.

Andrew