There are only two things certain in life: death… and Frank Blethen’s editorial board bitching about it.
The Seattle Times prints yet another editorial today railing against what has become euphemistically known as the Estate Death Blethen Tax, and it is curious to see the evolution of their rhetoric. With last week’s failure of the GOP’s cynical “trifecta” legislation, and the prospects of Democrats making huge gains in both houses this November — if not seizing outright control — the Times has apparently conceded that permanent repeal of the federal Blethen Tax is virtually impossible. And so they have settled for attempting to pressure our two US Senators into accepting the best deal possible… for, um, the Blethens.
In so doing they have produced an editorial that is not only arrogant and disingenuous, but at times downright insulting. For example:
Many other advanced countries, including Canada, Australia and Sweden, have no death taxes. These are not low-tax countries: Sweden has the highest tax load in the world, which it can do only by making taxes as efficient as possible. It recently abolished its death tax.
And suppose I were to argue for adopting an “efficient” tax system along the lines of Sweden? Hmm. You think the Times would editorialize in support of marginal income tax rates as high as 87 percent?
Of course not, but then, the entire Sweden reference is nothing but an intentional red herring, because the Times knows damn well that the Swedes replaced their Blethen Tax with a 1.5% annual Wealth Tax on single adult households in excess of about $200,000 (twice that for couples.) This is indeed a more efficient means of taxing accumulated wealth than a Blethen Tax, but I doubt the Times would advocate it as an alternative.
But the Times continues:
Both of our senators have heard these facts many times. Yet, it is an election year. Sen. Maria Cantwell is under pressure from her party’s left, which regards the death tax as a symbol of social concern. They like the idea of it, but they don’t know what it does.
Talk about chutzpah. The wealthy publisher of the largest newspaper in the state, conducting a concerted effort to pressure a Senator during an election year, has the hubris to attack Sen. Cantwell for bowing to pressure from, um, mere voters. Gimme a break.
And as for the argument that us Dems like the idea of the Blethen Tax but we “don’t know what it does”… well, fuck you. (Say what you want about us foul-mouthed bloggers, but at least we don’t try to court readers by accusing them of being uninformed idiots. And FYI, it doesn’t take much perusing of their op/ed page to realize these guys aren’t a bunch of rocket scientists.)
But more interesting than what the Times wrote is what they didn’t write, for in fact, the Blethen Tax should be somewhat reformed. Yet notice the reform on which the Times focuses: reducing the top rate from a nominal 55 percent to something much lower.
What the editorial ignores is the reform most likely to get support from Democrats like me — raising the exemption from the paltry $650,000 the tax would revert to in 2011. Hell, by 2011, $650,000 probably won’t buy you the median priced house in Seattle. Somewhere in the range of $3 million would likely be a reasonable number.
But the editorial totally ignores this part of the equation because it would have little impact on Blethen’s heirs, who will surely pay the top rate on the bulk of their inheritance barring anything but a ridiculously large exemption.
We care about family business
That editorial is so typical of the spin, omission, deficit of thoughtful problem solving encompassed by the conservatives. And the inclusion of Sweden in the argument makes it sound desperate.
I do agree that $2 million or $3 isn’t enough. I’d put it at $5 million because I want to tax the really wealthy, not the fringe wealthy. A couple of million isn’t that much anymore . . . although I’d like to have it. (lol)
Skag – Why do you want to attack the “really wealthy”? What did they ever do to you?
BTW, you are so fucking stoopid, you will NEVER have a million.
Ya know, Mark, all by yourself you are a good arguement for Single payer Health Care.
Damn right. This is one of your best posts ever, Goldy.
oh, look, Mark the Redneck! Speaking of millions, that’s what you’re going to owe in interest if you don’t make good on your 912 bet from last year.
MOH@6 Not only will ,em>MARKandtheRetardedRednecks Not pay their gambling debt, but this crew of retards will not contribute to Operation Helmet.
By the way,DoctorF*cktardMark, I’m still in favor of a Physician’s Draft. I want you to have an opportunity to serve in your Yellow Elephant War.
Roger Rabbit is going to suck a dick when he turns 80 and if he likes it he says he is really going to be pissed.
Ah Faux Redneck, what would you know about a million anything? And five million isn’t even the “really wealthy” but I’m glad to have them share the wealth.
Afterall, who else is going to keep my unemployment, disability and food stamps coming? Hmmmm?
Frank Blather bitching about the inheritance tax — a tax he won’t pay, because dead people don’t pay taxes — is as predictable as wingnuts calling liberals “traitors.” And in the same bullshit basket.
What I don’t understand is why Frank can’t afford to hire a good trusts and estates lawyer.
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“What did they ever do to you?” Commentby Mark The Redneck— 8/13/06@ 2:41 pm
We don’t call ’em “robber barons” for no reason … BTW Mark, how are YOU coming along on YOUR first million?
F I V E H U N D R E D T H O U S A N D D O L L A R S
$500,000.000
That’s how much Mark Retardo had to pay his dead crack-whore wife for child support and vagimony … and he still can’t come up with the $100 he owes Goldy.
HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR
Five hundred grand down a rat hole!!!
WHOOP HEE HAW HA HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR HAR
7
Hey young rabbit — you wanna suck octogenarian rabbit dick? For a good time, call 1-800-SUCK-ROG!
6
Of course they won’t contribute to http://www.operation-helmet.org/. They don’t give a fuck about soldiers’ lives. After all, they’re the warmongers who sent the soldiers to Iraq in the first place. They just use the soldiers — like they use the flag — as a symbol of patriotism to wrap around themselves in hopes nobody will see how unpatriotic their agenda really is.
So why is Frank Blather obsessing so much over the inheritance tax? Maybe his doctors told him something he isn’t telling us. Been nice knowing ya, Frank. Actually, I’ve never met him, but it’s been nice knowing him anyway. Where should I send the flowers? Is it too early to order them?
From the amount of ink Frank is spilling on this subject, we have to assume he plans to be pushing up posies soon.
Skag – There ya go… I figured as much. That’s why I refer to “The Producers” and “The Takers”. We know who you are now. You along with Thumb, Rabbit, and E who live off The Producers while returning nothing of value.
All Muslims out of the USA. ALL OF THEM! The USA must become a non muslim country.
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What do YOU produce, Retardo, besides greenhouse gas?
“Takers”: The rich and well connected who have bent social policy in their favor since 1980. The federal government is just a big feeding trough, run by their lapdog politicians who continue the push to tear up the social contract.
“Producers”: The rest of us.
You have it exactly backwards, vagina lips.
I make the world a “flatter” place. See, I help people around the world improve their lives by adding value to a supply chain which they would otherwise be unable to reach.
Read the book. It’s all there…
Congratulations to liberals for preventing Cantwell(D-Mexico, voted for NAFTA and CAFTA) from selling out to her cheap labor corporate Dem backers on estate taxes. She would have eagerly used the minimum wage increase excuse had a few honest libs not been watching.
Too bad there are not enough honest libs left to save the Dems from takeover by the Christian-hating, Bush-hating Soros types who have bought and now own modern liberalism;
“George Soros told a carefully vetted gathering of 70 likeminded millionaires and billionaires last weekend that they must be patient if they want to realize long-term political and ideological yields from an expected massive investment in “startup” progressive think tanks.”
Source:http://www.hillnews.com/thehil.....soros.html
Self-hating Jews like Soros will insanely and instinctively attack an evangelical Christian president (Bush) who believes that Jews have a God-given right to Israel; at the same time self-hating Jews will preach understanding and accomodation of Islamofascists, because Islamofascists will, if accomodated, complete the Final Solution of the Jewish problem.
A second Holocaust is the self-hating Jew’s dream, therefore a self-hating Jew like Soros will always direct his attacks against evangelical Christians like Bush(and sane Jews like Lieberman)and preach tolerance for Moslems. Bush-hatred among liberals is too obvious to require any further demonstration; the Soros approach of treating Christians as the main enemy is also gradually becoming mainstream liberalism,(see a couple of HA examples below):
“How about putting him and all his Republican buddies in a shipping container and sending them to Jesusland. We don’t need his ilk around here.”
Comment by Roger Rabbit — 10/27/05 @ 9:38 am
“Someone will take the fall with book contracts and jobs in Jesusland or presidential pardons in the pipeline.”
Comment by For the Clueless — 10/7/05 @ 8:24 pm
Unsurprisingly,libs blame America and blame Israel for Islamofascist terrorism. Unsurprisingly, libs oppose measures to combat Islamofascists such as the Patriot Act and domestic surveilance(the importance of which was recently demonstrated by the Brits). To modern libs, Christians(and sane Jews) are the main enemy.
Skag – There ya go… I figured as much. That’s why I refer to “The Producers” and “The Takers”. We know who you are now. You along with Thumb, Rabbit, and E who live off The Producers while returning nothing of value.
Commentby Mark The Redneck— 8/13/06@ 4:15 pm
Faux. . . When we “meek who shall inherit the earth” get to those pearly gates, we’ll put in a word for ya. Don’t ask me what word it’ll be . . . just keep your fingers crossed we’ll be kind. Although seeing your fanny on fire might be kinda fun . . .
Ass – What the fuck are you talking about? How do The Producers (the REAL producers) set up a “trough”. Give me even one example.
And what fucking “social contract”? So The Takers can live off The Producers? That’s no contract; it’s worthless shits like you voting for Robin Hood politicians.
Here’s the real contract:
1) Go to a school funded by The Producers and learn some marketable skills. (This requires moral character; this may be where you fall off.)
2) Get a job in the largest and most vibrant economy in the world. (This requires moral character; this may be where you fall off.)
3) Show up every fucking day for a few decades and work your ass off. (This requires moral character; this may be where you fall off.)
4) Spend less than you make and invest the difference. (This requires moral character; this may be where you fall off.)
5) Never stop learning. Always strive to do more better with less. (This requires moral character; this may be where you fall off.)
Skag – Tell my why you can’t follow my simple 5 step plan above.
1) Lack of moral character
2) Too lazy
3) Too stoopid
4) Why the fuck bother when I can just steal what I need from The Producers.
5) All of the above
Bush says we’re going to fight any country whose leaders harbor terrorists. So — when does he plan to begin bombing the White House?
“Bush’s Hypocrisy: Cuban Terrorists
“By Robert Parry
“April 26, 2006
“Like an aging rock star singing a beloved oldie, George W. Bush can count on cheers whenever he delivers a favorite line …: ‘one of the lessons learned after September the 11th is that we must hold people to account for harboring terrorists. If you harbor a terrorist … you’re as equally guilty as the terrorist.’
Similarly, Vice President Dick Cheney … declared that ‘ … Any person or government that supports, protects, or harbors terrorists is complicit in the murder of the innocent, and will be held to account.’
“But like much else from the post-9/11 period – when frightened Americans put their faith in Bush’s tough talk – this supposedly clear-cut rule applies differently when a Bush ally is implicated in terrorism and the Bushes are the ones doing the harboring. While the anti-harboring principle is cited when invading Afghanistan and Iraq, the Bush administration continues to turn a blind eye to the presence of right-wing Cuban terrorists living in the United States.
“This double standard was underscored again in early April when a Spanish-language Miami television station interviewed notorious Cuban terrorist Orlando Bosch, who offered a detailed justification for the 1976 mid-air bombing of a Cubana Airlines flight that killed 73 people, including the young members of the Cuban national fencing team. …
“Another Cuban exile, Luis Posada Carriles, also has been tied to the bombing, but the Bush administration has so far rebuffed Venezuela’s extradition request for him, since he sneaked into the United States in 2005. …
“But there’s really nothing new about these two terrorists – and other violent right-wing extremists – getting protection from the Bush family. For three decades, both Bosch and Posada have been under the Bush family’s wing, starting with former President George H.W. Bush (who was CIA director when the airline bombing occurred in 1976) and including Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and President George W. Bush. The evidence points to one conclusion: the Bushes regard terrorism – defined as killing civilians for a political reason – as justified in cases when their interests match those of the terrorists. Moral clarity against terrorism only applies when the Bush side disagrees with the terrorists.
“This hypocrisy often has been aided and abetted by the U.S. news media, which intuitively understands the double standard and largely ignores cases in which the terrorism is connected to U.S. government officials. The stunning TV interview with Bosch on Miami’s Channel 41 was cited in articles on the Internet by José Pertierra, a lawyer for the Venezuelan government. But Bosch’s comments have received almost no attention from the mainstream U.S. press. …
“In an article about Bosch’s remarks, lawyer Pertierra said the answers ‘give us a glimpse into the mind of the kind of terrorist that the United States government harbors and protects in Miami; terrorists that for the last 47 years have waged a bloody and ruthless war against the Cuban people.’ …
“The downed Cubana Airlines flight originated in Caracas where Venezuelan authorities allege the terrorist plot was hatched. However, U.S. officials have resisted returning Posada to Venezuela because its current government of President Hugo Chavez is seen as friendly to Castro’s communist government in Cuba … the Bush administration … is essentially ignoring Venezuela’s extradition request, instead holding Posada on minor immigration charges of entering the United States illegally.
“In September 2005, Venezuela’s Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez called the 77-year-old Posada ‘the Osama Bin Laden of Latin America’ and accused the Bush administration of applying ‘a cynical double standard’ in its War on Terror. ‘The United States presents itself as a leader against terrorism, invades countries, restricts the civil rights of Americans in order to fight terrorism, but when it is about its own terrorists, it denies that they be tried,’ Alvarez said. …
“Declassified U.S. documents show that after the Cubana Airlines plane was blown out of the sky on Oct. 6, 1976, the CIA, then under the direction of George H.W. Bush, quickly identified Posada and Bosch as the masterminds of the Cubana Airlines bombing. But in fall 1976, Bush’s boss, President Gerald Ford, was in a tight election battle with Democrat Jimmy Carter and the Ford administration wanted to keep intelligence scandals out of the newspapers. So Bush and other officials kept the lid on the investigations. … Still, inside the U.S. government, the facts were known. According to a secret CIA cable dated Oct. 14, 1976, intelligence sources in Venezuela relayed information about the Cubana Airlines bombing that tied in anti-communist Cuban extremists Bosch … and Posada …. The Oct. 14 cable said Bosch arrived in Venezuela in late September 1976 under the protection of Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, a close Washington ally …. On his arrival, Bosch was met by … Posada, according to the report …. Posada was overheard to say that, ‘we are going to hit a Cuban airplane,’ … the CIA report said. …
“In South America, investigators began rounding up suspects in the bombing. … Posada and Bosch were charged in Venezuela for the Cubana Airlines bombing ….
“After the Reagan-Bush administration took power in Washington in 1981, the momentum for fully unraveling the mysteries of anti-communist terrorist plots dissipated. … By the late 1980s, Orlando Bosch also was out of Venezuela’s jails and back in Miami. But Bosch, who had been implicated in about 30 violent attacks, was facing possible deportation by U.S. officials who warned that Washington couldn’t credibly lecture other countries about terrorism while protecting a terrorist like Bosch. But Bosch got lucky. Jeb Bush, then an aspiring Florida politician, led a lobbying drive to prevent the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service from expelling Bosch. In 1990, … Jeb’s dad, President George H.W. Bush, blocked proceedings against Bosch, letting the unapologetic terrorist stay in the United States. …
“Posada soon returned to his anti-Castro plotting. In 1994, Posada set out to kill Castro during a trip to Cartagena, Colombia. Posada and five cohorts reached Cartagena, but the plan flopped when security cordons prevented the would-be assassins from getting a clean shot at Castro, according to a Miami Herald account. [Miami Herald, June 7, 1998]
“The Herald also described Posada’s role in a lethal 1997 bombing campaign against popular hotels and restaurants inside Cuba that killed an Italian tourist. …
“Posada landed back in jail in 2000 after Cuban intelligence uncovered a plot to assassinate Castro by planting a bomb at a meeting the Cuban leader planned with university students in Panama. Panamanian authorities arrested Posada and other alleged co-conspirators in November 2000. In April 2004, they were sentenced to eight or nine years in prison …. Four months after the sentencing, however, lame-duck Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso – who lives in Key Biscayne, Florida, and has close ties to the Cuban-American community and to George W. Bush’s administration – pardoned the convicts. …
“While the terrorists celebrated, U.S. authorities watched the men – also implicated in bombings in New York, New Jersey and Florida – alight on U.S. soil. As Washington Post writer Marcela Sanchez noted in a September 2004 article about the Panamanian pardons, ‘there is something terribly wrong when the United States, after Sept. 11 (2001), fails to condemn the pardoning of terrorists and instead allows them to walk free on U.S. streets.’ [Washington Post, Sept. 3, 2004]
“Posada reportedly sneaked into the United States in early 2005 and his presence was an open secret in Miami for weeks before U.S. authorities did anything. The New York Times summed up Bush’s dilemma if Posada decided to seek U.S. asylum. ‘A grant of asylum could invite charges that the Bush administration is compromising its principle that no nation should harbor suspected terrorists,’ the Times wrote. ‘But to turn Mr. Posada away could provoke political wrath in the conservative Cuban-American communities of South Florida, deep sources of support and campaign money for President Bush and his brother, Jeb.’ [NYT, May 9, 2005] Only after Posada called a news conference to announce his presence was the Bush administration shamed into arresting him. But even then, the administration balked at sending Posada back to Venezuela ….
“Now, Bosch’s stunning defense of a terrorist attack that killed 73 people drives home the point again that the Bush administration has two standards for terrorists – one for its allies and one for its enemies. Suddenly harboring terrorists isn’t quite the heinous crime that it is when President Bush and Vice President Cheney are denouncing it to applause from American audiences.”
The foregoing article is quoted under the Fair Use doctrine; for complete story and/or copyright info, see http://tinyurl.com/lfdsm
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Hey Redneck, when are YOU going to get some moral character and pay your gambling debt to Goldy?
What do YOU produce, Redneck, besides greenhouse gas?
Faux “Skag – Tell my why you can’t follow my simple 5 step plan above.”
I want to inherit the earth.
Before I forget:
Exclusive.
Was the Jew killer a conservative or liberal. In the Seattle Times we have the following quote:
Haq’s friend said he couldn’t believe the timid, “geeky” man he knew from the tutoring center was capable of such violence.
“Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” he said Sunday………….
He said Haq was not a devout Muslim and often complained that the Tri-Cities were too politically conservative.
“I’m beginning to think I was his only friend in the Tri-Cities. I don’t recall him hanging out with anybody else.”
Now for the other side we turn to Goldy’s story from last week:
Psssssssssstttttttt…….
Ah it looks like the story was all a bunch of hot air. Well there you have it. Enjoy all you Nazi Libs.
Havana–Fidel Castro’s 80th birthday, on August 13th, will be celebrated in downtown Harlem, next Monday. Father Barrios said that in addition to paying homage to Cuba and Fidel, afternoon festivities will feature a wide variety of topics including current events in Lebanon, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, US immigration, the war against Iraq, and those who are looking forward to the impeachment of George W. Bush. […………………….The Democrat “Enemy From within”! Not a Republican within miles of these human vermin.]
Skag – Save the preaching. You don’t know what you’re talking about. There is nothing righteous about being A Taker. Look it up.
Gotcha, didn’t I, Faux. Can’t contradict the Good Book . . . shame on you.
Ass – What the fuck are you talking about? How do The Producers (the REAL producers) set up a “trough”. Give me even one example.
Never ending copyrights, for an easy starter.* You appear to be able to read. Look up economic “rent seeking”.
Gawd. What a sniviling dipshit.
*Despite what the Constitution actually says. You can look that one up, too. Great example of activist “strict constitutionalists” in action lining corporate pockets.
So you believe in stealing intellectual property. Figures…
As a holder of four patents, I disagree.
Four patents means nothing. . . they’re probably sitting in a drawer in the basement. Faux MTR . . . you are just plain funny!
And you have how many?
Have you ever created anything? Anything at all?
Have you ever started with a blank piece of paper and created something novel?
Didn’t think so…
Well, you certainly don’t need me in the conversation! (LOL) You are perfectly content talking to yourself . . . have a nice schizo life! Faux and his twin Faux! (LOL)
So, F*cktardMark, now you claim to be FedEx Mark. Are we having a little identity problem here?
The question is: Is F*cktardDoctorMark even qualified to be a vet for Roger Rabbit?
The estate tax needs to be eliminated or applied to everyone, regardless or their partnerships, trusts, and foundations.
Make it fair and equitable to all or make it go away.
It’s disgusting. Billions are wasted on tax attorneys, covers and scams to get out of paying the damn tax. Evading taxes is a multibillion dollar industry that needs to put out of business.
There goes that absolutist streak again. All or nothing. Right or wrong. Decide and stand by it.
C’mon Smeg, that is a ridiculous suggestion. I guess you are for the flat tax . . . right?
Watching a rabid lefwing nutjob such as Goldstein take potshots at his sugar daddy media spinmeister is quite entertaining indeed.
No Gidget,
I am not for a flat tax. A flat tax is based on consumption, not on assets or income. This state has a very regressive tax structure. It hurts the poor and the working people the most. This state needs a state income tax that is based on income. The only reason that this sales tax scam continues is that the most painful taxes are well hidden because they are collected at the distributor or wholesale level.
Go to a gas station and see if your receipt indicates that you just paid 30 plus cents to the state and 18 cents to the federal government for every gallon of gas. Go buy alcohol and cigarettes, the same thing, the sales receipt won’t tell you how much you just paid in taxes.
A flat tax is based on income. A consumption tax is based on consumption. And, I am actually for a consumption tax . . .
19
You don’t do shit. You’re a paper pusher. If you add any value to anything, how come you can’t pay a $100 gambling debt?
38
“The question is: Is F*cktardDoctorMark even qualified to be a vet for Roger Rabbit?” Commentby killatroll/saveablog— 8/13/06@ 8:39 pm
Good God, nooooo!!!! I wouldn’t let that retard near me with a nail clippers!!! :(
39
Spending money on attorneys and accountants to set up trusts for tax avoidance is a voluntary activity. No one is required to do it.
42
“Go to a gas station and see if your receipt indicates that you just paid 30 plus cents to the state and 18 cents to the federal government for every gallon of gas.” Commentby sgmmac— 8/13/06@ 11:00 pm
There used to be some validity to this argument, but in the current demand-outstripping-supply environment, you would pay the same at the pump for gas regardless of whether the federal/state taxes were $2 or zero.
That’s because pump prices are determined by supply and demand. The oil companies have determined that the current price range will result in an amount of demand they can fulfill from what they can supply. A lower price would result in empty pumps, gas lines, and shortages.
Consequently, if gas taxes were cut by 10 cents, the oil companies would raise their price by 10 cents to keep demand in balance with supply. If gas taxes were eliminated, the oil companies would simply raise their price by an equal amount to maintain the supply-demand equilibrium.
I would propose a solution to the Blethen family’s problem thusly:
If Mr. Blethen can let us know when he intends to die, let’s suspend the inheritance tax for that one single day. Hey, Frank….is next Thursday OK?
@39: They have eliminated the estate tax in Sweden. It has been replaced by an annual asset tax.
Sounds good to me. Estate planners are put out of business, and high priced tax attorneys will spend all their time trying to prove their client is actually not rich.
@43 Gidget,
Yeah, I was tired. That should have been sales tax is based on consumption. A flat tax assumes all are equal and should pay equally for services. why should a poor waitress making minimum wage page the same percentage of her salary as Bill Gates?
How about a compromise? Raise the tax-free transfer amount to $10 million and index it each year for inflation. The excess over the tax-free transfer amount would then be taxed at one, low, single rate, say 10%.
This should provide enough room for small businesses and farms to pass to the heirs without much impact on the entire estate. It still raises money for the government, and it simplifies things a lot. The way it is now is a mess (just like the rest of the tax code).
The only losers I see in this compromise is the accountants, tax atttorneys, and those insurance companies that sell life insurance trusts to wealthy clients. Those guys make enough money as it is now. They can afford to lose this little bit of business because it’s good for the country.
So MTRollfuck,
let’s say everyone follows your quaint little plan, and we all become “vibrantly” (what the fuck, are you trying to sell cars?) wealthy. We still have to pay for the cost of your wonderful adventure in Persia.
Even if everyone were as wealthy as commie pinko, self-hating, whatever, George Soros, we’d still face the question of allocating the burden of paying for your fucked up war.
Get it.
Oh, wait, I can answer my own question.
We’ll cut all tax rates to ZERO!
Naturally, that will create a huge boost to our “vibrant” (?) economy and bring in a flood of federal revenues to pay for MTRollfuck’s war against brown people.
Another flawless plan from MTRollfuck!
The Horror of it All!
Can it be true that a terrorist had to be tourtured to save American lives? Please, say it isn’t so……….
‘ringleader’ admits link with al-Qaida
“Arrested Briton has given ‘many clues’ but campaigners say he was tortured
Duncan Campbell in Islamabad and Randeep Ramesh in Lahore
The Guardian
Monday August 14, 2006
“Reports in Pakistani newspapers yesterday that Mr Rauf had “broken” under interrogation were described by a Pakistani human rights group as confirmation that he had been tortured. Asma Jehangir, of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, said that it was obvious how the information had been obtained. “I don’t deduce, I know – torture,” she said. “There is simply no doubt about that, no doubt at all.””
Please weigh in moonbats with your moans and crying over this barbaric injustice.
What does jaybo know?
Can we afford to remain in the dark any longer?
Is it right for us to put our children’s lives at risk for the sake of mere principle?
Let’s torture jaybo until he “breaks”!
Word is JCH has a dungeon underneath his trailer in Algona!
Found this interesting comment on the housing bubble blog.
———————————————————-
Comment by MS
2006-08-14 06:33:54
Looks like an interesting article that I’ll have to go read. I suppose that it makes sense since, if our economy isn’t at it’s peak, because population growth is slowing, then the fed isn’t doing it’s traditional thing of trying to throttle and choke the growth. as far as I can tell, future inflation will be fought through “death taxes” which absorbs money as people die so there isn’t a huge money supply for fewer people.
I don’t know much about economics, but that thought was on my mind.
How about a compromise? Raise the tax-free transfer amount to $10 million and index it each year for inflation. The excess over the tax-free transfer amount would then be taxed at one, low, single rate, say 10%.
This should provide enough room for small businesses and farms to pass to the heirs without much impact on the entire estate. It still raises money for the government, and it simplifies things a lot. The way it is now is a mess (just like the rest of the tax code).
The only losers I see in this compromise is the accountants, tax atttorneys, and those insurance companies that sell life insurance trusts to wealthy clients. Those guys make enough money as it is now. They can afford to lose this little bit of business because it’s good for the country.
Commentby Libertarian— 8/14/06@ 7:36 am
This makes perfect sense to me and I think it may be the first time I’ve agreed with you! This actually makes so much sense, it’ll never happen! (lol)
skagit @ 58,
You’re probably right about it never happening. Makes too much sense!