SEIU president Andy Stern will be stopping by a special Monday night edition of Drinking Liberally, from 5:30PM to 7PM, to talk about his new book, A Country That Works. So please join me tonight at the Montlake Ale House, 2307 24th Avenue E, for a pint of beer, free appetizers, and some fascinating conversation with one of the modern labor movement’s most influential leaders.
Don’t know who Andy Stern is, or what the letters SEIU stand for? Check out David Postman’s latest post.
ANOTHER REPUBLICAN CORRUPTION SCANDAL!!!
The Associated Press reported today that ex-FDA chief Lester Crawford will face criminal charges involving stock ownership and conflict of interest.
“WASHINGTON (Oct. 16) – Former FDA chief Lester Crawford was charged Monday with lying about his ownership of stock in companies regulated by his agency.
“The Justice Department accused the former head of the Food and Drug Administration with falsely reporting that he had sold stock in companies when he continued holding onto shares in the firms governed by FDA rules. “The criminal charges were outlined in court papers known as an ‘information,’ a legal document which ordinarily precedes a guilty plea. …
“The papers state that Crawford also failed to disclose his income from exercising stock options in Embrex, an agriculture biotechnology company regulated by FDA. …
“The former FDA chief was accused of making a false writing and conflict of interest. The court papers say that Crawford chaired FDA’s Obesity Working Group at a time when he and his wife owned stock in soft drink and snack food manufacturer Pepsico and food product manufacturer Sysco. The panel Crawford was chairing was making decisions affecting food and soft drink manufacturers.
“Crawford … abruptly resigned from the FDA job in September 2005 but gave no reason for his decision to step down. …”
Another case of the Bush administration putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop!!! For complete story and/or copyright info, see http://tinyurl.com/yd6ruj
According to an online Globe and Mail poll, 63% of Canadians (over 30,000 respondents) believe the Republicans will retain control of the Senate and/or the House.
What can you tell your northern neighbours to make us believe otherwise? My local friends and family thought the Dems would win in 2004 but Seattle is quite different from the rest of the country. The way we see it, the voting bloc down here is rubbing itself into a frenzy at the salacious prospect of damning the middle class into corporate servitude.
Just what we need, another UNION.
Unions have done more to hurt this country under the guise of protecting workers.
To understand the Republican concept of “public service,” all you need do is read Mark the Retarded Redneck’s postings — he thinks I was a fool for devoting my career to poorly-paid public service instead of working in the private sector for as much money as possible. And that’s the key to understanding the mentality of ALL Republicans — with them, everything boils down to money, money, money! Crawford probably has no idea why he’s being charged with crimes … after all, all he did was use his public office to make money for himself and his wife … that’s what public office is for, isn’t it? To enrich yourself? What is there, besides money? And because this viewpoint is universal among Republicans, who lack any iota of understanding that public service involves selflessness and personal sacrifice to benefit others, we can count on a non-stop flow of corruption scandals from Washington, D.C., as fast as the news media (what’s left of it) can process them into breaking news stories. There will be no end to the scandals of this administration, because their greed and selfishness are infinite — and because they are utterly clueless about what “public service” means and what you’re supposed to do when entrusted with the powers and responsibilities of a public office. They think government is their private playground and piggybank. And that’s why every damned one of them eventually will be indicted and go to jail.
3
Next thing Sven will tell us is that peace kills babies.
2
Tell your Canadian friends the elections here are rigged, and the majority of Americans aren’t as stupid as we look.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/.....is-friend/
And yet ANOTHER republican going to jail.
Republican = crook.
3 (continued)
America had a tiny middle class until unions came along. Unions lifted millions of Americans to middle class prosperity. Organized labor created the middle class. The cheap labor conservatives are out to destroy unions, and if they succeed, we’ll lose the middle class, too. It’s already happening.
Nope. But unions are as often counter productive to the workers as they are protective.
Unions are self perpetuating. Every time they demand higher wages with strikes as the negotiating tool, they drive up consumer prices and set the stage for the next strike.
I was a member of the Machinists union at boeing which did more to protect inept workers then it did to protect the innocent. By doing so they made sure that quality and safety were at risk.
Sorry, I have joined two unions, and all they got me was good benefits. I have that now in the high tech industry, without a union.
Unions were necessary, and served a valued purpose.
Now they are leeches and parasites.
The cheap labor conservatives are out to destroy unions, and if they succeed, we’ll lose the middle class, too. It’s already happening
Once again, you know you are including Maria Cantwell in that label, right? Her stance opposing minimum wage reform based on lies and her support of Nafta and Cafta qualifies her.
Lots of ignorant wannabes vote Republican because they think sucking up to rich corporate interests will get them a piece of that wealth, too. What they don’t understand is the rich don’t believe in sharing. The rich will take their votes and labor, then fuck ’em!!! Without a union, you have to argue with your boss for better pay and benefits yourself, and what do you think your chances are? Who holds all the cards in that deal? Huh? By the way, have any of you rednecks wondered why your boss is having you train the new employee how to do your job? Have you been worshipping the boss enough lately? That’s usually a sure sign that you need to go see the boss and tell him, “Boss, I think you’ve been paying me too much, and I’d like to ask for a pay cut.”
10
Of course I can count on a lying piece of Republican shit like you to claim Maria Cantwell is against raising the minimum wage, Sven.
When a cheap labor conservative mouths the words “minimum wage reform,” what he really means is the boss gets the tip jar and the waitresses get $2.13 an hour.
Fuck you, asshole.
7
Yeah, I posted on that one yesterday. At the rate Republican congressman are going to jail, the Democrats don’t have to win elections, they’ll take control of the House by default because there won’t be any Republicans left by January.
Roger, answer the question.
You do know that Maria Cantwell by basis of her support of the trade agreements and her opposition to a fair minimum wage is by your own definitions a cheap labor conservative, right?
Please answer the question.
9
Typical wingnut. Thinks workers are “leeches and parasites.” After all, unions are nothing but a group of workers. I have an idea. Production requires three things: Capital, material, and labor. Let’s remove “labor” from their factories and let them see how much profit they can make from their capital and material with no labor. After all, “labor” is just “leeches and parasites,” so labor isn’t needed and won’t be missed.
12,
Sorry
Maria used that demagoguary and lied through her ass.
The Labor Department confirmed that minimum wage workers would not be affected.
Maria is a lying cheap labor conservative.
14
Maria Cantwell supports a fair federal minimum wage, but her definition of what constitutes a “fair” minimum wage differs from yours.
P.S., in case you haven’t heard, Congress outlawed slavery 130 years ago.
“Maria is a lying cheap labor conservative.” Commentby sven— 10/16/06@ 1:36 pm
After this post, absolutely nobody can take this whack-job who calls himself “Sven” seriously.
No Roger,
Unions are the parasites. They care nothing for ther worker, only for power.
The worst of the lot is the teachers union.
Truth hurts. She supported cafta and nafta.
Cheap labor.
She voted agaisnt the minimum wage increase based on lies.
deal with it.
16
Bush’s Labor Department saying minimum wage workers won’t be affected is like Bush’s EPA saying there’s no evidence of global warming. Or, to put it another wya, it’s like Bush saying he never said Iraq had WMDs. We’re in Alice-in-Wonderland here, folks, and Sven is a cartoon character from a bad remake of an old Disney movie.
cuss at me some more Roger.
That and Ad hominem attacks are what you use instead of truth and logic.
19
To accuse teachers’ unions of not caring about teachers is truly laughable.
They dont care about education.
Thanks to them we dont have charter schools here in washington.
I’ll curse at you Your name is obviously a typo: SVEIN. Or is good old anglo-saxon, SWINE.
Ah, so Roger falls back on the intellectually powerful “liar liar pants on fire” defense.
Well done.
20
The only liar on this page is you, Sven. Maria voted against all the crapola the GOP linked minimum wage too. I have a question for you. Why didn’t the Republican leadership allow a vote on a clean minimum wage bill that contains only a minimum wage increase and nothing else? You do know they held the minimum wage increase hostage for things they knew the Democrats couldn’t possibly vote for, right? And the whole purpose of this was so they could campaign in this fall’s elections by saying the Democrats voted against increasing the minimum wage. They — and you — must think America’s minimum wage workers are stupid. I have news for you, nobody is buying the GOP’s bullshit, or your bullshit. All the polls are pointing to a Democratic blowout on Election Day. Eat shit and die, Republican fucktard. You guys told one lie too many, and nobody believes you anymore.
“to” not “too”
coward
Furthermore, if I feel like ending a sentence in a preposition, I will, and if you don’t like it, bend down real far and suck your own dick.
29
fascist
Thank God, certainly not Christo-fascists, that we do not have charter propaganda mills here is Washington. Fuiten’s own Kindergarten Headmaster is in litigation over sexual misconduct toward minor children. We do not need to give these people greater range. . . .
Why didn’t the Republican leadership allow a vote on a clean minimum wage bill that contains only a minimum wage increase and nothing else?
Simple. Because the republican leadedship was playing politics. Because the republicans suck ass. That is how politics is played. Democrats and republicans both laundry list the legislation with add ons and earmarks. I claim no superiority for the repubs here.
The question is though was there anythign really worth voting against? IS the estate tax repeal really that big of a deal?
She used the minimum wage as her whipping boy and lied about it. I have no respect for that, considering it also screwed people here out of the sales tax deduction.
11: Roger, that’s been the problem for decades now.
Hard-working blue-collar workers are being used by the Republicans for political purposes, then screwed by them and told that its the Democrat’s fault. Their main tool is to divide the working class, by turning the white blue-collar workers against the black or hispanic blue-collar workers. They argue that the blacks and hispanics are welfare cheats who are trying to live off their Ythe white’s) hard-earned tax money. But when the Republicans get into power, the first thing they do is cut taxes to the rich, and borrow money from future generations to fund contracts and schemes which get their buddies rich. It’s ALL the working people that end up paying the bill.
coward was addressed to anonymous, not you.
Roger you may be many things, but coward is not one.
Nor am i a facist. I am libertarian, and anti government.
Swine advocates charter-propaganda mills for our educational system. Typical neo-convict anti-middle-class America Hating shill.
careful RR you will sven a coromary. ‘nuts like hgm are not used to anyone voicing opinion. They are of the ‘cut and spend’ wing of the Unitarian Party.
Thank God, certainly not Christo-fascists, that we do not have charter propaganda mills here is Washington. Fuiten’s own Kindergarten Headmaster is in litigation over sexual misconduct toward minor children. We do not need to give these people greater range. . . .
Which proved you know nothing about charter schools.
Well done.
No Swine, you are a neo-convict shill who is anti-American. Fascist Governmental actions are just fine with you.
33
“The question is though was there anythign really worth voting against?”
yes
“IS the estate tax repeal really that big of a deal?”
yes — it will cost the government billions. Why should wages be taxed more, so that people who already receive $2.5 million of unearned income tax-free can receive an unlimited amount of unearned income tax-free? Why should only work be taxed? Why are Republicans trying to create even more disincentives against work, when wage earners are already the most over-taxed segment of the economy, and there are already so many disincentives against working that it’s amazing anybody still works?
I love opinion. Thats why i read and post here.
I hate demogoguary. I hate illogic.
I hate political posturing that lets politicians lie for political gain.
I have an idea — screw work! Let’s all live off investment income, inheritances, and real estate flipping. The Svens of the world can grow their own food, build their own houses, and empty their own bedpans. Why should any of us lift a finger to do any work for any of them?
41
Now here we have an example of a lying Republican who has learned how to talk a good game but what he does is the exact opposite of what he says. If any of what you said in #41 were true, you would not be a Republican, you lying fuck.
P.S., your mother is a five-buck whore
Peggy and Rog:
About the only thing I can say about Canadians commenting on US politics is that in general they know more about the US political process than most Americans know about the Canadian one. That’s a pretty low bar.
There’s a lot of mutual ignorance, and I’ll leave it at that.
Great then, join us in throwing Hastert, Frist and Ney out on their ears. Or do you wish to persist in fishing in troubled waters and try to obfuscate and turn aside the collapse of these criminal’s enterprises?
I disagree roger. I see no reason why the government should be able to tax your income, then tax your profits, and interest, then tax your capital gains then get another bite at it when you die.
They should excercise better spending then more taxes.
And yes, the current republican congress has spent like drunken sailors and that sucks. I am for smaller government and less entitlement.
I have to go — got some errands to run — I’ll be back to torment the trollfucks who haven’t been hanged by 5 PM.
re 10: She wasn’t against raising the minimum wage. She was against the poison pill in the bill that alsorepealed the inheritance tax.
But , you already know that.
You are just lying and manipulating because that’s what you are.
35
gee, that’s kind of you, sven. I take back what I said about your mother.
I’ll save that line for some other Republican traitor. Later.
No, my mother is a working class woman dying of cancer in california.
re 46: Do you consider billions for kakamamie schemes like star wars to be an “entitlement”? You may answer with more than a yes or no.
Swine, I spent thirty years listening to pigs like you grunt about smaller government and fiscal responsibility. When they got in to power they made Orwell’s nightmare pale by comparison. Swine I know your ilk. I say, GO TO! And may God rot your pernicious, lying tonge half a grain a day in Hell evermore.
46
“I am for smaller government and less entitlement.” Commentby sven— 10/16/06@ 1:58 pm
Me too. Corporate welfare costs taxpayers 5 times as much as what we give to single moms, so you know where to start cutting, right?
51
gosh, I’m sorry. My mother was run over by an SUV on Green Lake Way.
I never advocated corporate bailouts.
Ever.
But I dont think increases in social welfare help people get back to work.
And the welfare state is just as much a product of the labor gap we have between the Union caused “skilled labor” pool and the unskilled minimum wage pool.
Thats one reason i oppose unions. They make the gap worse.
Lucy,
Do I support defense research?
I did when it was necessary in the 80s.
Now I am not so sure, though the fact North Korea has Nukes and missiles and an iunsane leader makes me wonder.
I also wish the UN had balls enough to deal with that.
re 42: Real estate flipping got me completely out of debt. I don’t approve of all the crap that goes on in this world, but I can play the game. Many Republicans have the problem of believing that hard work and honesty will get you rich.When they finally figure out that they are getting nowhere they cast about for who is to blame.
Is it themselves? NO
Is it credit card companies and rapacious creditors? NO
Is it their corporate overlord? NO
Is it poor welfare moms in the ghetto? YES
I also support tax reform and abolishment of the IRS
I dont blame the moms. I blame a culture that never deals with the root causes, it just throws money at it and hopes it goes away.
That applies to any aspect of our societyt hat does it.
An example?
The NEA wants to throw more money at education, but education never improves.
re 57: Do you realize that from the beginning, Sven, scientists have known that the star wars weapons are impossible to make.
It’s all been a government – business rip-off of America. Do you know what that is when industrialists and politicians rule a country? And, if you shrink the government there’s only …
How firmly do you think Exoon – Mobil executives believe in the dictums of Adam Smith or the simplistic , yet energetic, ruminations of Milton Freidman?
Oops
The full AP article is here: http://www.centredaily.com/mld.....773242.htm
Reid to reimburse campaign for donations
JOHN SOLOMON
Associated Press
WASHINGTON – Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for the support staff at the Ritz-Carlton where he lives in an upscale condominium. Federal election law bars candidates from converting political donations for personal use.
Sven: I was in education for years and I agree with you. What American schools need (generally speaking, of course) is smaller class size, old-time blackboards, a bunch of good books — and the ability to expel chronically disruptive students forever.
60 Sven, you might also look at some other examples:
Throw more money at executive salaries, and watch more and more jobs eliminated or shipped offshore. (Al Mullaly and GM certainly come to mind.)
Throw more money at “defense” and watch as more and more of the world goes to war.
Throw more money….and most of us will run out of money to throw.
Lucy,
I am not convinced it is impossible. I think technology has found ways to do many things considered imp[ossible, that it may be.
That said, you may or may not be right, I have not researched it much.
Throw more money at executive salaries, and watch more and more jobs eliminated or shipped offshore. (Al Mullaly and GM certainly come to mind.)
I was referring to government, but ok.
Guys, stop picking on sven. Sven, recognize that Maria Cantwell is a centrist. Everyone, remember that school is really an indoctrination practice, that’s why many homeschoolers without education credentials like to indoctrinate at home, and that’s why public school districts allow Channel One in.
An education, a REAL education, needs to come from a desire for knowledge beyond the falsehoods and half-truths and “yay for our team” propaganda that is school.
People say Americans need more math and science taught in schools. That would take money, and that would come from local property taxes, and lots of people out there think “I got through school with other people’s taxes and as long as I conveniently forget that, I’m all for keeping my tax burden down locally” and vote against school levies, and for a central government hellbent on expanding its powers and responsibilities at the expense of smaller ones, and collect from nationwide taxpayers to fund programs that don’t benefit the taxpayers. Then the masses act all surprised that graduates from other countries’ schools, where math and science are valued, come here and take jobs.
It makes my head spin.
Peggy,
I know a few homeshoolers who aree far better teachers then any accredited teacher. Yes there are homeschool nutbags, but there are also very efficient ones.
The same with charter schools. All people think of is religious wackos, but there are many with no religious affiliation that do great jobs, but are chartered.
Education already gets plenty of money. Washington is a good example, where per student spending is high but scores are not,.
What is needed is taking the indoctrination and correctness out of schools and teaching. There is so much bullshit taught in schools now that the concept of teaching a basic education and critical thinking is lost as long as we can teach a hodge podge of socially correct nonsense.
More money is not the answer. Changin all the current paradigms is.
As for Maria being a centrist?
I will pass at that one.
there are many with no religious affiliation that do great jobs, but are chartered
Name seven within the City of Seattle for pupils from K through 8. Also tell me how you know they do great jobs — do you put your own children through? How many of these chartered schools have annual tuition below $14,400?
Washington is a good example, where per student spending is high but scores are not
This map does not show me that Washington State ranks high per pupil spending by state. For me, high is in the top 20%, not the top 66%.
We dont have as many here, that is the point. Charter schools have never been given the chance here.
http://www.wacharterschools.org/learn/FAQ.htm
As for spending, that was a 2001-2002 chart. In 2004 we ranked 15th in spending.
Yet we rank in the bottom twenty.
I am all for more funding, but only if it is coupled with smarter spending.
Sven: What you think you are advocating is exclusive prep-school educations for the masses through “charter schools”. It ain’t gonna happen. The money will just get ripped off — excuse me, “privatized.”
Would you like those shirts martinized, that cash privatized?
9 sven
“Every time they demand higher wages with strikes as the negotiating tool, they drive up consumer prices and set the stage for the next strike.”
Wrong. Price increases are due solely to wage increases only when productivity is fixed. When productivity rises (as it is relatively rapidly in our country, and has been for years), wage increases can pe “paid for” with productivity increases without raising prices.
In fact, it is that falling real wages in a time of increasing productivity that is driving the huge shift of capital to the rich, CEO slaries, rising stock market, etc.
So an employer may choose to raise prices, but don’t blame the workers.
The SEIU represents the last throws of the union movement in this country. All of the unionized auto companies are crumbling under present and future promises of benefits beyond the value of the labor. The grocery unions grasp at Wal-Mart in the hopes that voters will not realize that most all of that work is essentially a commodity now, and that very unskilled labor can stock shelves and pass an item by a scanner. And the major killer of morality and learning in the US, the teacher’s unions, will be obsolete in 10-15 years as everyone will be able to school at home online.
Good riddance…..
sven
Maria Cantwell supports raising the minimum wage and always has. But why should she vote for the deceitful Republican estate tax repeal wrapped in a minimum wage sucker punch, when next year the Democrats can pass it outright?
Having given up on having an actual free market to set wages, I now think the minimum wage should be raised to $20 per hour. Then the US gets right to where the left wants – half the population unemployed and sucking off of government, and of course thinking the demoliars will get them more bennies. And do not get me started on SSI. Keep the system as-is, except increase the benefits so that they system can go broke like any similar private ponzi schemem would.
A little gift for the wingnuts.
Libs should click on the link too. It’s freaking hilarious.
62
Oh, sven….
Here’s Harry on the fund:
Keep trying to gin up a scandal, though. I’m sure Harry was covering up for COngressmen sexually harassing pages…wait, that was the Republican House Speaker. Well, I’m sure he was taking bribes in return for influense….wait, those were Republicans Bob Ney and Duke Cunningham. Well, I’m sure Harry has been funneling millons in lobbyist funds though his unqualified daughter’s firm…wait, that’s Republican Curt Weldon.
Well, I’m sure he’s done something they’ll catch him at. And as soon as the Republicvan trials are all over, we can get to his. If he gets caught fro something. If he’s done anything. So far beyong Somomon’s snarky “aren’t these legal events suspicions?” stories, no one has anything.
71 sven
“ In 2004 we ranked 15th in spending.”
You mean it’s been TWO YEARS and we haven’t seen the results yet? Shameful.
75 Dems-Hate-Babies-and-Soldier
Actually, the SIEA represents a resurgence of union organizing. You’ll see the payoff for the work they’re doing soon enough.
BRITISH CORONER RULES KILLING OF NEWSMAN IN IRAQ BY U.S. TROOPS WAS MURDER
A British inquest judge, after an 8-day trial, ruled the 2003 shooting death of a British TV journalist by U.S. Marines was murder, and has called for the prosecution of the troops responsible, but the U.S. military says its troops “followed the rules of engagement.” A videotape from a U.S. tank turned over the British authorities by the Pentagon has a missing 15-minute segment that a forensic expert testified was erased.
For complete story, see http://tinyurl.com/yhygk9
The righ wingers get what they deserve…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15...../newsweek/
HA HA HA HE HE HE HO HO HO You fucking morons have been played from day one by these assholes and NOTHING makes me happier than watching Christians getting screwed by Bush!
46
The government can tax inheritances for the same reason they can tax wages. Why should wages be taxed, and inheritances exempt? The heirs are receiving money, which they didn’t earn, that has never been taxed. Furthermore, the first $2.5 million of it never will be taxed, whereas only a few thousand dollars of wage income is exempt from taxation. Here’s how it works:
Grandpa buys as piece of commercial property for $275,000.
By the time grandpa dies, the property is worth $2,750,000.
Upon grandpa’s death, the “basis” of the property is “stepped up” to its current value, so neither the estate nor the heirs owe any capital gains tax on the $2,750,000 of capital gain.
The first $2.5 million is exempt from inheritance tax, so only $250,000 is subject to inheritance tax. This $250,000 represents money that has never before been subjected to income tax, capital gains tax, or any other tax.
Now explain how that’s unfair to the heirs, who did absolutely nothing to earn the $2,750,000 — they didn’t put up the original $275,000 for the property, they never paid any property taxes on it, they never took any risk, they never did any work, they never produced anything, they did absolutely nothing to receive this $2,750,000 of income except to be born into grandpa’s family.
Daddy Loves Pages…Actually, the SIEA represents a resurgence of union organizing.
Right. Scraping the bottom, or at least close to minimum wage earners. Like I said, raise the minimum to $20 and get all the dancing out of the way. Get to the two-tier society the left hates – by implementing their pet policies.
By the way, you forgot to address the downward spiral of the value of so-called union jobs.
correction
“on the 2,475,000 of capital gain”
Harry is a crook and has been for a long time. He also has a huge mouth that he likes to insert his foot in occasionally.
Rising costs in products can be blamed on rising costs for supplies, equipment, transportation and lots of other factos. It isn’t a simple reason or a simple fix.
Roger,
The problem that I have with it – is the forced liquidation of assets so that the state and the feds can get their share.
Unless Grandpa left a pile of cash with the property, the property has to be sold to pay the taxes. It may not hurt if it’s just a commercial property, but it does hurt when it’s antique cars, furs, heirloom jewelery, family homes and businesses………….
RightEqualsDeadTerrorists…NOTHING makes me happier than watching Christians getting screwed by Bush!
And you are sad when Bush screws the islamofacists? Sounds like you probably drink in celebration whenever another soldier is slaughtered.
Bush is the best friend “the Islamofascists” have. He has never screwed them, not at all. They play him for the idiot he is, and he produces for them. He is their poster boy for recruitment. As the bumper sticker says in tribute to our embarrassment-in-chief: We can’t kill the terrorists as fast as we’re making them.
Now, I’m not saying we should leave the inheritance tax the way it is. Frank Blethen has a legitimate concern. Four or five generations removed from Alden Blethen, ownership of the Seattle Times has been diluted among numerous Blethen descendants. The Blethen family collectively owns only 51% of the stock, with the other 49% owned by Knight-Ridder. This means if only 1%-plus of the stock changes hands, the Blethens will lose management control and become passive shareholders in a business controlled and run by Knight-Ridder.
Frank apparently doesn’t have any problem with future generations of Blethens inheriting pieces of the family’s ST stock. But if any individual Blethen family owns more than $2.5 million of ST stock — and I’ll bet Frank does — upon his passing, his estate may have to liquidate other assets to pay the inheritance taxes, or if his heirs have insufficient non-ST assets to cover the taxes, there could be a forced sale of some of the ST stock held by the estate. This is Frank’s nightmare, because it could result in voting control of the corporation passing out of the Blethen family’s hands.
Now, it’s not the fault of wage earners far less wealthy than Frank that the Blethen family, at some point in time, sold off 49% of their family business to someone else. I don’t know what the history of that is, but I imagine it was done to raise funds for business expansion, and the original sale may have been to an entity that was acquired by the company that became Knight-Ridder. Ownership of businesses changes hands so frequently nowadays that often there’s a long and tangled trail back to the original arrangement. In any case, repealing the inheritance tax would cost the Treasury something like $750 billion over the next 10 years, and that has to be made up somewhere — either by raising taxes on someone else, or cutting defense spending, or cutting Medicare or Social Security benefits, or by racking up more deficits.
Why the fuck should a family that owns 51% of a business worth well over $100 million get away with paying no taxes on transfer of that property, when people earning minimum wage have to pay income taxes? Their problems with Knight-Ridder are their problems, not the taxpayer’s problem. But here’s what I think we should do for the Frank Blethens of the world.
First of all, we should tax the heirs, not the estates; and previously untaxed capital gains should be treated as ordinary income to the heirs, or at least as capital gains realized by the heirs. In effect, this would abolish the inheritance tax, and subject inheritances to income taxation.
Secondly, we should provide a “going concern” tax deferment for non-cash business assets and non-liquid stock (e.g., stock in closely-held corporations subject to restrictions on sale to the general public). What this would, in effect, do is postpone taxes on the inherited assets until they are sold for cash. Thus, Blethen family members would not be taxed unless and until they sold their Seattle Times stock. And it should be taxed according to what it’s worth when sold, not what it was worth when it was inherited.
Third, if we decide not to treat inheritances as income of the heirs, and continue to tax estates, then I think we should lower the tax rates on estates. Once the estate gets above $2.5 million, you pretty quickly get into a 57% tax rate. I’d knock it down to the roughly 25% rate paid by middle class families on their earned income — in exchange for drastically lowering the exemption.
However, the idea that people should be able to inherit millions of dollars they did nothing to earn completely tax-free, on which the previous owner also paid no income or capital gains taxes or any other taxes, is completely unacceptable.
Some conservatives want to abolish income taxes entirely, and replace them with a national sales tax. I might be OK with that IF the sales tax is imposed on purchases of investments and businesses, not just consumer spending. However, under current proposals, their idea is to tax only consumer spending. That means the rich would never pay any taxes on money they use to buy stocks, bonds, other investments, or businesses — no income tax, no sales tax, no tax of any kind. This would lead to even more rapid concentration of wealth in fewer hands — and is grossly unfair to people who must spend all of their income on necessities and can’t afford to buy investments. This approach, too, is completely unacceptable.
By “completely unacceptable,” I mean not only “over my dead body” but also “this kind of social policy is what leads to revolutions and the violent overthrow of existing political and economic systems.”
88
See #91.
sgmmac @ 88:
I hate repeating this, but unless your grampa’s name is Boeing, Allen, Nordstrom, Piggot, Barbo, Blethen, Weyerhaeuser, or one of the other blue bloods of the Pacific Northwest, the inheritance tax is sooooo not your problem.
Keeping grandpa’s house out of the taxman’s hands is the simplest legal trick in the book. Put it into a living trust while he is alive and name the children as trustees.
Here is a book that explains how it is done using small, easy-to-understand words. No Latin required.
Make Your Own Living Trust Denis Clifford – NOLO Press, 2005
proud leftist drone…We can’t kill the terrorists as fast as we’re making them.
It sounds like most all of the lefties here are on the same “page”. Please take turns you Studds.
The idiots have been all of the presidents over the last 30 years that swept the threat aside, (even Reagan and Bush I), and now include the lefties who want to empower the killers. The recruiting started decades ago and accelerated in the 90’s. GW is flushing them out so that they are easy targets. Get a dem in the WH in 2008 and the US will again send a bunch of suits scurrying around with warrants for arrest.
It is no coincidence that the talking points are the same for the left in the US and the islamofacists of the world. Birds of a feather…..
I don’t know what the net worth of the Blethen family stock is, or what the market family of the Seattle Times company is. Their company owns more than just the Seattle Times; it owns several other newspapers. The only firm number I’ve seen is that a few years ago the Seattle Times spent $150 million on a printing plant. I would guess the total assets — real estate, other physical plant, equipment and vehicles, inventory, goodwill, working capital, etc., are much more than that. It’s equally reasonable to assume there are mortgages or bank loans outstanding on the $150 million printing plant and at least some of the other assets. I’m going to take a wild guess and suggest the Blethen family fortune totals somewhere between $50 and $100 million. I don’t know exactly how many family members hold stock, but I vaguely recall reading something long ago that there are at least a couple dozen.
In other words, I don’t believe Frank Blethen is a mega-millionaire, and certainly nothing close to a billionaire, but I’ll bet his personal worth is anyway at least $5 million to $10 million.
I will add that the rich are not taxed like you and me (or Mark or Puddy, no matter how much they beat their chests about being PRODUCERS and bellyache about how they pay the IRS).
There are numerous exemptions and loopholes available to company owners and people who derive most of their wealth from the value of their shares or options. This keeps most of the actual wealth creation process away from the taxman. This is not available to us schmucks whose wealth is declared at the end of the year on a W-2 or 1099.
The inheritance tax says if you got an above average pile accumulated, you have to share. After the better part of a lifetime paying so little, I would say it’s only fair.
94
Well, actually that’s not entirely true. There are lots of family businesses worth more than $2.5 million. It doesn’t take much. Owning the building your grocery store is located in will do it.
95
Please accept my gratitude for showing us in the reality-based world why beating the Republicans in this coming election is so important. Of course, you have companions out there in the lunatic fringe, so you are hardly the only one for whom we are grateful. Nonetheless, we have to appreciate any source of the fantastical nonsense you folks spew. It gets us all revved up. I know the world is a big, confusing, and scary place for guys like you; keep telling us how GW is taking care of business.
I’ve seen campaign literature that says on average 210 estates a year are subjected to the state inheritance tax. Out of over 49,000 estates annually. I’m not sure I’m remembering the figures exactly. But in any case, only a very small percentage of estates are worth enough to be taxed. It truly is not a middle-class problem. But I understand the concern about being able to pass family businesses on to successor generations without being forced to sell off assets for taxes. I do think my “going concern tax deferral” idea has merit.
Rog,
You can plug these two parcels into the King County parcel viewer to find out about Frank’s house. Pretty nice digs. Unless he’s a lot more heavily leveraged than I think he is, I’d say he’s worth more than you estimated.
0824059299
0824059298
95
The chest thumping Bushies have proven themselves far more efficient at arresting, libeling, torturing, and murdering innocents than catching actual terrorists. If you’ve got an important job that you want fucked up beyond all recognition (FUBAR), give it to a Reublican.
Republican record of accomplishment = FUBAR
Knight-Ridder closed up shop and sold their assets to McClatchie Newspapers, who in turn liquidated or sold off some of the K-R papers, but not the Times (at least so far). In a way, we dodged a bullet, in that the chain might have been picked up by Gannett or, worse yet, Rupert Murdoch (you know, the guy behind the Faux News channel). Seattle wasn’t so lucky a few years back when the broadcasting assets of Ackerly Communications were gobbled up by Clear Channel.
A while back, the local owners of the Los Angeles Times lost controlling interest in that paper to the Chicago Tribune. Last week, the Tribune fired the LAT’s publisher for not slashing the newsroom staff fast enough, and replaced him with their own manager. I’ve heard something similar has been happening to the once highly respected Philadelphia Inquirer.
Republican record in war on terror = FUBAR
102
According to Zillow.com, Frank Blethen’s Lake Washington waterfront digs have a market value of $3.9 million. I doubt he owes much, if anything, on it.
How about we tax all estates over $1,000,000 (or some other random figure) at 100% so that we start making our way toward a true meritocracy? We rebelled against the notion of an entrenched aristocracy when we broke from England, didn’t we? Why do those who want to get rid of the estate tax so want to favor those who can’t make it on their own abilities?
108
The counterargument is that some people work harder than others, take greater risks, invent things, produce more, and contribute more to the economy (e.g., creating jobs), so they should enjoy commensurately greater rewards — and, when they pass from this world, give it to whoever they want.
But in real-life, things don’t neatly work that way. The distribution of wealth is affected by factors like luck, accident, and power. The concept of promotion (and higher salary) based on merit has been imperfect and sometimes non-existent in all the organizations I’ve worked or served in.
Certainly, a gangster who makes millions from criminal activity, and pays no taxes on any of it, is not a meritorious owner of wealth. Ken Lay did not deserve his wealth. Richard Mellon Scaife did little to earn his billion dollars; it’s true he owns and actively manages (sort of) a newspaper, but he inherited his wealth — and has used it to finance a big part of the rightwing propaganda machine, which I consider to be a socially destructive use of the money his robber-baron ancestor looted from the general public in this nation’s freebootting pirate capitalism era.
But just listen to wingnuts piss and moan about concentrated wealth when somebody like George Soros or the Hollywood moguls use their money to support liberal activities and candidates. All of a sudden great wealth is not such a good thing anymore.
Roger,
That sounds too much like right!
proud leftist drone..Please accept my gratitude
This reminds me of a clever observation…
“I grow more and more convinced the Republican majority will end itself by 2006 if the Left will just shut up for five minutes.”
http://instapundit.com/archives/022551.php
Keep talking – and kiss a terrorist….
But just listen to wingnuts piss and moan about concentrated wealth when somebody like George Soros or the Hollywood moguls use their money to support liberal activities and candidates. All of a sudden great wealth is not such a good thing anymore.
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 10/16/06@ 6:10 pm
Soros sure blows a hole in the theory that the dems are for the little guy. I think it is great that Soros is throwing money at the democrats. He is an excellent spokes-kook for the dems.
Here is a quote from Postman’s article worth quoting:
“Stern talks about education in a chapter of his book called, ‘Don’t Let Them Fool You.’ He says Americans are being distracated by ‘The All-Purpose-Education Diversion.’
“Universal public education is a hallmark of American democracy — one of our great achievements — but claims that education alone is the remedy for America’s economic ills or the mechanism to distribute wealth more fairly is pabulum for the chattering classes.
“Stern said this morning that … college graduates over the last five years are making less in real wages ‘because the economy is not supporting college-educated graduates any more than it is supporting other workers in middle-class America.'”
Chattering classes. That’s what Mark the Redneck is — a chatterer. Pabulum. That’s what MTR’s self-justifying diatribe against people who didn’t have his opportunities is. But what really gives the lie to MTR’s flawed arguments and spurious ideology is the fact that “the economy is not supporting college-educated graduates” any more than it is supporting other average Americans. By “economy” I mean, of course, the Bush Economy, the Republican Economy, the Cheap Labor Conservative Economy, which sinks all boats except those of the very rich.
How about Bill Gates Roger? Did he earn his wealth?
Will Darcy and Hubby have to pay the Extra SS when she is in Office, OH WAIT, they don’t pay into the system now do they, Elected officals that is? Am I Right? It won’t affect her will it.
But other’s will, including alot of Gates employees. We should make Stock Options part of the deal too. Include your total wealth gained as part of SS. No Limit.
This way the poor welfare person who works PT at mcdonalds, and gets an EIC of $3000 + per year can suck the system when they turn 67……
Yep sounds real fair to me
113
You got something against successful capitalists, you fucking commie?
3
Next thing Sven will tell us is that peace kills babies.
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 10/16/06@ 1:21 pm
Rabbit is obviosly not a Jew who has dealt with terrorists. Of course everyone knows that dems care more about terrorists then Jews.
115
The case of Bill Gates Jr. is an interesting study. The guy didn’t invent BASIC; he bought it for $25,000. Almost nothing he “produced” was created by him. He looted intellectual property with the abandon of a 17th-century pirate. He was utterly ruthless in his business practices and dealings. But without Gates, there probably would not have been a standardized operating system for personal computers, and the world of computing would have remained a Tower of Babel filled with the unintelligible chatter of operating systems and computers that couldn’t communicate with each other, and the Information Age would either have been stillborn or delayed. By imposing his operating system on the world to the exclusion of others, he changed the world, and made possible the creation of countless businesses and vast numbers of jobs.
115
In response to your question, did Gates “earn” his wealth, I would say no one’s honest work is worth $50 billion. He amassed personal wealth on that scale because he was a successful monopolist, and wealth extracted from monopoly is not earned wealth.
BTW, MSFT stock has been a crappy investment for shareholders for several years now. Steve Balmer sure as hell isn’t worth his stock options. I’ll admit to two investing mistakes: I sold MSFT in 1989, and I bought it in 2005.
Good God man – this is the third Bush regime appointee to get convicted of a crime in as many days. Can’t you republican assholes find ANYONE who isn’t a fucking crook to work for you?
GOP = Crook!!
#122
We will find out when the Dem’s start appointing.
Rightsequalstupid – get your facts straight. Being charged is not the same as being convicted.
For all the braying about Delay, I haven’t seen his case move forward even a small step. Maybe it was because the charges were politically motivitated, in order to get him to step down. It worked. But he hasn’t been convicted of anything.
By the way, Harry Reid’s problems are more complicated than just a disclosure form. He has redefined nepotism to a new level. His children have reaped great profit from Reid’s business partners, who are also political donors. Ever wonder why that piece of property was so profitable? Reid had direct influence on the zoning.
Murtha has also lived large at the public trough, benefiting his brother.
Compared to these guys, Cantwell is in the minor leagues in the millions of taxpayer dollars she has funneled to her lover and keeper.
No damage here from the 6.3 earthquake off Kona. BTW, The security gate still works, so GBS and JDB can’t enter and loot. Could be big surf om the Kohala coast!!! [If I were a black Democrat I could blame George Bush, go loot a HDTV from Best Buy, get a free FEMA trailer, and a $2000 credit card from the Red Cross to buy Marlboros, Black Velvet, KFC, and King Cobra!!!!]
re 117: Is that you Puddy, posing as an Israeli Jew now? You know, it’s OK to be just another WASP.
Janet S aka Pam Roach. Can you read?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15291650/
You mean to tell me this guy is pleading guilty because he’s innocent? Do you even realize how much bullshit you spew out of that cum-drenched mouth of yours?
And what would Harry Reid have to do with the 89 republicans indicted, charged, arrested or convicted during the six years of the Bush regime? A record by the way.
By the way Janet S AKA Pam Roach if you’re such a big believer in due process we might note that Reid has not even been CHARGED whereas DeLay has been indicted. And his case HAS moved forward. In fact, most pundits agree he’ll plead guilty right after the election.
$250K mark
Cantwell (D-Mexico, voted against English as the national language, voted against building a fence on the Mexican border, voted for NAFTA and CAFTA, voted to give illegal aliens social security benefits)is a cheap labor corporate Dem; and the future according to middle-class hating, corporate cheap labor Dems like Cantwell is a third-world cheap labor America:
======================================
Will America Survive to 2050?
By Patrick J. Buchanan – August 25, 2006
“In 376 a large band of Gothic refugees arrived at the Empire’’s Danube frontier, asking for asylum. In a complete break with established Roman policy, they were allowed in, unsubdued. They revolted, and within two years had defeated and killed the emperor Valens –– the one who had received them –– along with two-thirds of his army, at the battle of Hadrianople”
So writes Oxford’’s Peter Heather in “Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians,” who is convinced that Valens’ welcoming of the Goths was the decision that sealed the fate of the empire.
As recent headlines tell us of 5 million more immigrants having arrived in America in the last five years, we see now, no longer as through a glass darkly, how America ends.
There are 36 million immigrants here, a number almost equal to all who ever came from Jamestown in 1607 to JFK. We are host to more illegal aliens, 12 million, than all the Jews, English and Irish who came over 400 years.
In George W. Bush’’s tenure, 6 million intruders have been caught on our southern border breaking in. One in 12 had a criminal record. Behind them, waiting to see if Bush will grant amnesty or secure the border, are the world’’s 4 billion to 5 billion people whose average income is less than that of Mexico.
Last year, 155,000 OTMs (””other than Mexicans””), triple the number of 2003, from Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, were caught. Four of five never appeared in court. They vanished into our midst.
These numbers are astronomical by any historical standard, and the mindset of many newcomers is not that of the Ellis Island generation. On May 1, almost a million Hispanics marched under Mexican flags through Los Angeles to demand the rights of U.S. citizenship for all illegals. Aerial shots revealed huge signs reading, ““This is Our Land”” and ““Chicano Power.”” In Mexico City, PAN party members marched beside communists and Subcommandante Marcos in solidarity with their kinsmen in America.
“With all due respect to Uncle Sam,” declaimed one Mexican TV reporter, “this shows that Los Angeles has never stopped being ours.”
Added the respected Mexican pundit Sergio Sarmiento, if Mexicans “have begun the reconquista of the territory that the United States took by force from Mexico between 1835 and 1848, they have been able to do this thanks to the fact that the Americans themselves have permitted it.”
source: http://buchanan.org/blog/?p=57
I made the mistake of only reading Roger’s account, which stated he was being charged. The final plea agreement is to two misdemeanors, for not reporting accurately. Sounds a lot like what Harry Reid has admitted to, by volunteering to amend his disclosure statements.
But, hey, it gave you the chance to make personal attacks. Nice that you have me pictured to be Pam Roach, so you can really get into the hate fest. BTTW, I am not Pam. I’ve told you this before, but you are really too dense to get it.
Stern said this morning that … college graduates over the last five years are making less in real wages ‘because the economy is not supporting college-educated graduates any more than it is supporting other workers in middle-class America.’”
Commentby Roger Rabbit— 10/16/06@ 6:48 pm
======================================================
Guess you think outsourcing jobs to the third world has nothing to do with it. Phoney cheap labor corporate Dems like Cantwell (D-Mexico, voted for NAFTA and CAFTA) sold America out.
re 133: Well, if cheap labor conservatives didn’t hire cheap Mexican labor they wouldn’t be here. What’s your solution? Kick the Mexicans out and make us work cheaper than they will. Besides, if capital is allowed to freely go where it wants, why not labor?
If Mexican employers (read “American Corporations”) paid them the same wage they could get here, they wouldn’t be here.
But you are a dunderhead, as is Patrick Buchanan, because you think the solution is to punish the desperate Mexicans who come here — at the invitation of our major employers– to work cheap. Why shoudn’t labor be able to move freely across borders? When Mexico has lost its work force they will be forced to pay higher wages. For “free marketers” you guys don’t seem to have much faith in the free market.
But you don’t really give a fuck about free markets, do you?
janet S AKA Pam Roach. If you’d just quit drinking and raising drug addicted children, you might be able to get your head out of your ass fast enough to watch the rest of your republican pals go to jail. And by the way, when we get the House, watch that number skyrocket!
I guess I could appeal to Goldy to actually moderate the site, and end this stupid line that I am Pam Roach, but that will never happen. You seem to have an unhealthy obsession with her.
A reasonable guest worker program would benefit us and the Mexican workers. They would be above board and legal, and therefore not subject to abusive labor practices. It would also make them subject to minimum wage laws. As it is, they are already getting above minimum wage because they are willing to do jobs either Americans won’t do or aren’t available to do.
Those of you against Nafta and Cafta – why do you hate central and south americans so much? They come here because they are forced to live in corrupt countries where they can’t feed their families. Or, American companies can locate there to give them a living wage in their economy. Japan used to be a supplier of cheap labor, that changed as their economy grew and they realized the benefits of free trade. Same thing will happen with those south of us. Freedom seems to work for everyone.
Here’s a bit of interesting information from the Rasmussen Reports polling:
“Sixty-one percent (61%) of American adults believe that Republican leaders have been “protecting [Mark] Foley for several years”
http://tinyurl.com/zxxrz
“I guess I could appeal to Goldy to actually moderate the site, and end this stupid line that I am Pam Roach, but that will never happen. You seem to have an unhealthy obsession with her.”
Commentby Janet S— 10/16/06@ 10:19 pm
Well, first, if you let RightEqualsStupid get your goat, then you need to develop a much thicker skin to post here, at least as a Republican. It’s not a friendly crowd to right-wingers, and everyone can smell Republican blood in the water.
You could also see if you can find the “Drinking Liberally” chapter and buy a pitcher of beer for the table. Unfortunately, my area doesn’t have one, and I’m not a heavy enough drinker to start my own. (Although if a few Gig Harbor locals want to get together over at the Tides or the Hy-IU-Hee-Hee, I might even spring for a pitcher myself.)
The real problem with doing that is that you find that those evil “libruls” really are people that care deeply about our country and feel that we’re headed in the wrong direction.
Many a right-winger has been moved left in this way. Be warned.
Thanks, John, for the advice. Rights doesn’t bother me, I just wonder if his actions would translate into stalking of Pam Roach, whom he seems to be obsessed with.
I’m not really worried about republican leaders “protecting” Foley. Did you hear the democrat leadership turn out for Gerry Studds funeral? They were idolizing a guy who preyed on minors, a real sexual deviant. If we had a truly honest press, the contradiction would be front and center.
Congrats Roger, 1/3 of the posts are yours, you really must not have a life…
Furball@1:Another case of the Bush administration putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop!!! For complete story and/or copyright info, see http://tinyurl.com/yd6ruj Commentby Roger Rabbit— 10/16/06@ 1:14 pm
Kind of blows apart the LEftyStillisStupid comment that the Bush Justice Department doesn’t investigate conservatives for wrong doing. If he lied get him. Plain and simple. But I wait until the case is done.
Since Janet S AKA Pam Roach spends so much time lying on this board, and since she says she’s NOT Pam Roach, that proves she’s lying. And why would she care that I’ve outed her if she weren’t really Pam Roach after all?
All you have to do is look at the public statements made by Roach and then see the same statements appear here word for fucking word.
So at BEST Janet S is stealing from Pam. At worst, Janet S is just another cowardly republican without the courage of her convictions.
I’d like to appeal to Goldy to stop allowing Janet S Pam Roach to post under a fake name.
Harry Reid has four sons, they are all paid lobbyist…… paid to lobby their father!
What a scam……….
Laura Bush killed a guy!
Who knows @ 115:
Your writing style looks very familiar. Mom? I told you not to touch the computer after you’ve been drinking! You remember what happened last time don’t you? I had to come down and clean 167 cock picks out of your mailbox after that posting on craigslist!
1) Composition 101. State a thesis, provide facts to back up your thesis, pull your facts together to a logical conclusion.
2)
Will Darcy and Hubby have to pay the Extra SS when she is in Office, OH WAIT, they don’t pay into the system now do they, Elected officals that is? Am I Right? It won’t affect her will it.
No. In fact, you’re dead wrong, and have been for 22 years.
Do you fact-check anything that comes into that brain of yours, or do you just swallow without digesting? “Open-minded” and “credulous” are different words. Study the meanings and get back to me next week.
WASHINGTON – Movie actor Wesley Snipes was indicted Tuesday on eight counts of tax fraud accusing him of trying to cheat the government of $12 million in false refund claims.
Snipes, 44, also failed to file tax returns for six years, according to an indictment unsealed in Tampa, Fla.
Federal prosecutors said that Snipes fraudulently claimed refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 on income taxes already paid. The indictment also charged him with failure to file returns between 1999 and 2004. [………………………………………………………………….…Do black Democrat have to pay taxes? I thought blacks were victims? “Dis is stealin from da brother!” Only white Republicans must pay!!! [Atlas has Shugged]]
74
Simple economics. When wages increase, two things happen.
The supply side increases prices because the market can now bear more. That is capitalism. charge what the market can bear.
Also, since production has now increased its costs in labor, the necessity to raise consumer price goods usually foolows as an offset, or jobs get cut to lower production.
Either way there is an impact.
76,
No one has yet found a coherent argument to not repeal the estate tax.
How many times will you allow your government to tax your earnings?
80,
This state and seattle in general suck at education.
Overall the US education system grossly sucks.
The reason is that public schools are more concerned with correctness then education.
Actually, the SIEA represents a resurgence of union organizing. You’ll see the payoff for the work they’re doing soon enough.
Yep, in higher prices and higher unemployment.
Well done.
The heirs are receiving money, which they didn’t earn, that has never been taxed.
Never taxed? How do you figure? If it came from investments, or profits, or gains or any other method, the government is there taxing it.
So the reward for accumulating wealth is to pay taxes on it when you earn it, then pay more taxes on it if you increase it through investment (which benefits the economy) and then more taxes when you give it to your family.
Sweet.
Grandpa buys as piece of commercial property for $275,000.
By the time grandpa dies, the property is worth $2,750,000.
Of course you ignore that all along in that time he paid property taxes on it, benefiting his local community.
Why the fuck should a family that owns 51% of a business worth well over $100 million get away with paying no taxes on transfer of that property, when people earning minimum wage have to pay income taxes?
Apples and oranges and completely irrelevent. Rich people still pay taxes
JCH @ 149:
Normally I don’t comment on your rantings, but…
South African passport holder Wesley Snipes (B-Johannesburg) is legendary in Hollywood (and here in Hollywood North) for his use of cutouts and other tricks to avoid paying the taxman. I was throwing back drinks with a production accountant the other day who was recounting this with some bemusement. The accountants hate it because they are of course required to keep their production’s books clean. On the other hand, big dogs in their organizations tell them “We need Wesley Snipes, here’s what he needs from you.”
JCH, black Democrat, Big Island, Hawaii: “Where’s ma mofo FEMA trailer? Where’s ma guvment credit card? Where’s ma guvment check? Bush made da earthquake!! He owes me!! Eyes gotsa gets ma KFC, ma Black Velvet, and ma King Cobra!! Eyes gots da 42 inch plasma SONY HDTV by lootin da Best Buy in Hilo!! But what about ma “surround sound”!! I bet votin Democrat, so I bees gettin da mofo check NOW!! You white devils owes me!!!” …………………………………………………………………………….. [Sorry, I’m a Republican. I take responsibility for myself. Insurance, sweat equity, and I’ll clean up myself!!! Fuck you Democrat “Victims”!!!! JCH]