2. Taxes (I)

[salt6]

Have you ever asked someone how much they earn on their last pay check? After they answered I always ask them, if that was the total amount they earned or if that was how much the government let them take home.

I also like tell them to sit down and write checks for each amount the government withholds each pay day. They seem to get an idea then.

[waffendude]

seems about 60% of my income goes to taxes and fees of some kind--- i think---to me it's kinda hard to determine what they deem a tax----how about all of those fees on our utility bills---in addition to taxes----seems like the same thing to me---just another way to mislead us
so our income gets taxed---then whats left over we spend and get hit with sales tax---this goes on and on and on.
obama will fix it all ---yeaaaaa
waffen

[42rocker]

In Florida they did NOT raise the taxes too much lol lol

BUT BOY DID THEY START RAISING THE FEES. Want to renew something do it NOW (in Fla) a lot of driving things almost double starting 09/01/09....
Add $100 to your renewing your tag per year....
List is larger but I can't remember the numbers for each of the items. But if you have be READY to pay a lot more.

GOD HELP AMERICA

Later 42rocker

[www.Prussia.us]

I think many Americans would not mind paying taxes if the money was efficiently and properly spent. It takes revenue to maintain a superpower status, pay the interest on the growing debt, have a footprint throughout the world, run a vibrant space program, a first class military, etc.. but we all see how money gets pi**ed away in every apparatus of government from the highest level to the smallest locale.

That is the truly galling aspect of it all, and any of us that have worked, or work, in government have seen the repugnant waste of resources first hand.

However shame on human nature for letting it happen, personal politics do not seem to matter, I have seen liberals and conservatives alike justify why it is okay for them, or their department, or their project, or their district.

How to fix it all is the $64,000 question.

[noonxnoon]

you ever think about how much your money is taxed?

The company you work for has to pay taxes on their profits...then you pay your taxes...then you go to buy something...it is taxed...the person you gave the money too has to pay the tax for the product/service...then their payroll is taxed, etc etc...

just a big wheel going 'round and 'round.

...you are right Prussia...in order to be the superpower with a kickass military...taxes are that evil that keeps things going.

[Bil]

I am reading a good book,"The Teapot Dome Scandal" ,by Laton McCatrney.He has also written another good one on Bechtel Corp. You see the corruption that ran the country even in the 20s.Things we see happening today.Crooked,corrupt elected and appointed officials.Elections bought.Lying,scheming ba$tards taking from the American people vast sums without any care about how it affects anyone but themselves.Big businessmen in cahoots with government officials,bending the rules and using payoffs to enrich both ,the public be damned.The same stuff that has brought the country to the state it is in now.The only diferance is that at that time,there were still honest politicians [a few] that knew what was right and what wasa wrong,and were willing to stand up for their principles.When was the last time you heard that word being used in referance to any sort of official.How about the word 'shame'? It was something that was not always felt by the guilty parties,but instead,it was something that was heaped upon them by outraged citizens.Now the guilty have no shame,either from within or from the sheeple.we will see a bit of change when we see some poor sap that worked all of his life and scrimped and saved for a little bit of comfort and lost it all has finally had enough.When someone like that walks into a fancy restaurant and blows the head off some corporate bigwig eating a $500 dinner after serving 6 months in a country club 'jail'.All we are seeing is frustrated people that are at their wits end,totally helpless and with no idea what to do,and end up killing some totally innocent folks at some shopping mall.The people that get hurt are just like them.It needs to happen in the financial offices,the country clubs,the yacht clubs.And not random,it has to happen to those responsable.Only then will they begin to wake up.Am I advocating this?? NO!! But the corruption that has permeated our society cannot be cleaned up in the ballot box. The folks that got those government bailouts and then gave bonuses should be followed by people holding signs,pointing out exactly who stole grandmas savings.Places that cater to them should be made to feel shame for taking stolen money.Corrupt officials should go to the same jails as the other thieves.The things they bought should be taken away and their families turned out into the streets to work or starve.It may sound harsh,but it's OK,none of this will ever happen-there is no resolve left to enact these measures.It will continue as it has,but each time someone gets away with something,it will make the next crook even more bold.God help us all. ---bil

[www.Prussia.us]

Noonxnoon, you are so right about the hidden taxes everywhere, it is not just something that gets paid in April to the IRS.

Bil, all of them excellent points. If I am not mistaken, speaking of shame, one guy involved in the Teapot Dome scandal actually committed suicide instead of facing the investigation and what they did then, was tame compared to what has been going on the last few decades in Washington, especially under the last administration-sorry guys but it is true.

I do not advocate any unrest either. It would be a most humorous occurrence if public citizens began to mete out proper retribution to the guilty parties and their families, styled like the French Committee of Public Safety in the late 18th Century. Otherwise the Oligarchs have nothing to fear, to wit Ken Lay of Enron gave over a $1 million to both of the last two presidents, how long would he have really served in that country club “jail” if he did not expire?

[Bil]

The fact that he did expire before sentencing negated the 'Guilty' verdict,and since according to the law,no penalty involved,his wife got to keep the stolen money.If he had lived to be sentenced,it would have been liable to forfeiture.Don't you just love how this country works! ---bil

[42rocker]

Something to think about again as we start to get ready to vote again.

Later 42rocker