Well mskid, what have you got to say for yourself?

 

I make more than $26,000!!!! Damn I am rich!

I guess I am the part of the dumb half. If the other half gets to sit around and watch TV and eat for nothing, I want to join their team.

I have always had a suspicion that it would be better to be a complete dumbass, who knows know better than to be what I am......not quite a dumbass, but not early smart enough to get rich. BTW, recently took an IQ test.......135.

 

Hey, 135 not too bad. You already pointed out the problem with a score like that:

Less than 100=dumbass
100-135=not quite a dumbass
135-150=not a dumbass
150+=some rich a-hole

All bets are off if you are famous. If you're famous you can be rich and be a dumbass.

 

I'd like to add that there are many exceptions to your policy. I deal with the owners of a number of large companies daily, all of which are wealthy people, and many of which are as dumb as a box of rocks. Wealth does not beget inteligence, nor does inteligence beget wealth. I would however totally agree with your statement regarding famous people, many of which appear to be total buttheads.

-Mike-

 

Anybody ever come into contact with those folks who say "they haven't paid income tax in XX years! Its not the law, so I don't do it!"

These people swear that they don't pay taxes and that there is nothing wrong it

 

I ran into a couple of those guys a few years back when I was working on a project at a federal penitentiary.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I pay ALOT in property taxes of which 2600 goes to schools.

I have no kids in public school in jersey

 

...that I know about.

 

Anyone understand the European tax system? Especially the EU? I believe that members of the EU have to adopt a fairly uniform system of taxation to prevent sucking revenue between states by consumers doing tax arbitrage. They have a rather high VAT (Value Added Tax, very similar to a sales tax) on just about everything.

This VAT is very, very high, even in less socialistic countries. Those of you who are advocating a flat sales tax should recognize just how high that tax would have to be to make up for sales and property taxes. Since that would probably scare the crap out of you, think of what services and other government programs (police, fire, armed forces, streets, schools, etc.) that we could do without or at a greatly reduced size.

This is not to say that there are not problems with the present system, but it is not all bad.

I have lived in three states in my life, and two of them had no state income tax, but very high sales or property tax (Washington and Texas), and the third was California, which has high sales and income taxes but very low (percentage wise) property taxes. The down side in CA is that due to Prop 13 the tax rate is low (1%), but since property values are very very high, the property tax revenue is still quite high. Arnold has some serious problems to fix!

But I ramble...

 

I don't want to disagree with you. Oh heck, yea I guess I do. But lets do some clarifying first. I think you're mixing things up a little and missing the point a flat tax is designed to address. In Florida for example, we'd still have the same property taxes and sales taxes which are managed and which accrue to the state and local levels. The flat tax that I was referencing would replace the federal income tax process. Local and state municipalities would continue to rack up their funding just like they do today, but it would be the federal government that would see changes in the way they rack up theirs. And as for the current federal income tax system, it's a complete disaster and should undergo a major overhaul to better serve everyone. Don't know about you but I'm tired of forking over $.30+ of every dollar I earn to the federal government (that's in addition to my local property taxes and the local sales tax I pay throughout the year on everything I purchase). With a flat tax in place of the current system I'd at least see some tax relief on my bill.

-Mike-

 

Couldn't agree with you more, BUT, we'll never see it. Too many tax lawyers, tax judges, tax courts etc would be put out of a job.
So the poor working class citizen will continue to carry the burden

 

Hey Gator, been a long time. I agree with you. What I would like to see (i.e. adoption of a flat tax) and what will actually happen are very different. Oh well, I can always wish for something better.......

-Mike-

 

Hey Buddy

Me, Iam wishing for a 11.7 friday at the track

 

To change the subject a bit, the one thing that I have always thought was absolutely STUPID is having to pay taxes on unemployment checks.

Here you have, for the vast majority of people on unemployment, someone that has busted their butt and now lost their job. I don’t know of anyone that even comes close to breaking even to what they made with an unemployment check.

To make matters worse they are required to go out and look for work. The majority of people on unemployment are going to be out looking for a job regardless if it is required or not.

I just don’t get it, someone that bust their butt, down on their luck gets some little check, is required to go look for work and PROVE it, and then gets screwed in having to pay taxes on it.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t believe looking for a job is a requirement for someone receiving welfare checks, nor do they ever have to pay taxes on all that money IF they ever do decide to get a job.

Is there something wrong with that picture?

 

Yep there is something drastically wrong with that picture, especially when we, as a country, are spending billions of dollars a month in Iraq.


I never looked for a job, when I was on unemployment.....hehe.

Just wined, dined, and 69'd my g/f