Hypocrisy in the Market Place

[nicomachus]

Two interesting stories this weekend.

First, the House GOP would (once again) like to privatize Medicare:

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_medicare_republicans

And in another, the Grandmother of Privatizing Everything Under the Sun (and Preferably the Sun, too), Ayn Rand, was a recipient of Medicare and Social Security after she was proved wrong about her "tobacco is safe and science is a conspiracy" theory.

www.alternet.org/story/149721/ayn_rand_railed_against_government_benefits,_but_grabbed_social_security_and_medicare_when_she_needed_them?page=entire


Sort of reminds me of that Tea Party Guy who got elected and demanded his government health care plan without delay.

Of course, that Ayn Rand was a hypocrite does not make the Republicans wrong. But I do think we are starting to see a trend, especially among Republicans, of "Free Markets for the Workers, Socialism for the Wealthy."

This thread may be used from time to time to point out instances of market place hypocrisy.

[itstippy]

I think we should eliminate 90% of income tax deductions (personal AND corporate) and return the tax rates to where they were in the 1950's and 1960's, adjusted for inflation. That, in conjunction with fiscal austerity measures, might actually get a handle on the Federal deficits and eventually the Federal debt.

Meanwhile, I take advantage of every tax break I qualify for.

Cutting the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes was the height of stupidity. The vast majority of Americans want those programs to continue. The programs are basically insolvent due to underfunding. But if the fools in Washington decide to cut the payroll taxes by 2%, I guess I'll take it.

Maybe I can buy a new boat!

[itstippy]

I'm open to any alternative tax structures that take us in the direction of sustainability. Regan-era policies of running enormous deficits are not acceptable since they are not sustainable. Not to pick on Regan; he's certainly not alone.

We the people need to pay for whatever services we derive from our government. Pushing payment into the future is like a household boosting its disposable income now by borrowing against future earnings. You can keep it up for years, but when the bill finally comes due you're in a world of hurt and could lose everything.

Starwars space umbrellas of laser-beam-shooting satellites. Medicare prescription drug coverage. High speed rail. Wars. Clean water. Interstate highways. Unemployment benefits. Clean air. No child left behind eduction systems. Safe food. Promoting home ownership. Broad and targeted tax reductions. Hazmat suits and bomb-sniffing K9 units for local sheriffs departments. Cruise missiles and stealth bombers. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (food stamps). Cost Of Living Adjustments for Social Security recipients. Aid for higher education. Etc. etc. etc.

These are all great ideas, and people vote "yes, yes, yes!". If we had to pay for all this we might spend more time prioritizing. As it is, politicians can literally promise the moon and deliver. For now. The only way I see to turn things around is to make today's voters pay for today's services, plus start paying for everything we've put on the charge card for the past 30 years. Start with much higher taxes and much less spending. Make it hurt like Hell. That'll get peoples' attention.

Note: this would not make a winning campaign platform.

[silverguy25]

Jan 30, 2011 17:38:03 GMT -5 @wxyz said:

Or as an alternative lets eliminate the income tax totally and put in it's place a national sales tax in order to capture all the income from the underground economy, and to fairly get some tax money from all the illegal aliens in the country. At least we would no longer be in a situation where only 50% or less of the working population is paying all the taxes and supporting the other 50%.

I like this idea. It would simplify taxes to your individual consumption. Too simple means less corruption, so it will never happen.

[itstippy]

I'm curious as to how cutting corporate tax rates promotes investment in plants, equipment, new hires, etc. Don't corporations get tax breaks for doing that stuff? I thought that if they kept the dough they had to pay income tax on it, but if they reinvest the dough they don't?

It seems that given a choice between:

1) Putting 65% of profits into the corporate coffers and paying Uncle Sam 35% in taxes
or
2) Investing 100% of profits back into plants, equipment, and new hires and paying Uncle Sam 0% in taxes

Corporations would tend to chose #2, wouldn't they? I don't know much about how corporate taxes work, but I do know they don't like paying them if there's a way around them. Where is my logic flawed?

[Deleted]

I never knew that Texas put the heavy lifting on the property tax. Here in Arkansas they just tax every thing. At least I'm not in Illinois anymore were they just received a substantial increase in income tax.

[itstippy]

wxyz, some "touch up" work is called for the next time the tax assessor is scheduled to do a walk-through.

* Put tea in a Windex bottle and spray the wall corners of a guest room you plan on repainting, up by the ceiling. Instant visible water damage; an unmistakable sign of serious problems in the attic above.
* Spackle a bunch of non-existent cracks in the basement foundation walls. Do a crappy job.
* Fill an old Parmesan cheese can with sawdust & dirt and sprinkle strategic rafter tops in the basement. Termites!
* Use double-strength Weed-Be-Gone in a tank sprayer to make meandering paths around your lawn. They'll turn brown and look like absolute Hell for two weeks. God only knows what kind of grub infestation you have going on.
* Collaborate with your neighbors to park borrowed old beater cars in driveways, arrange broken-down lawn chairs around makeshift fire pits, fling fast-food wrappers and Thunderbird bottles in the bushes, etc. With just a little ingenuity the neighborhood will look like shit.
* Graffiti your fence with some "Latin King" crowns. It needs painting soon anyway.
* Get your kids and neices and nephews to stand around smoking cigarettes and looking menacing on the street corner the day the assessor is scheduled. They should ask him for spare change and extra smokes.

You'll be declared a "depressed area" worthy of Tax Incremental Financing. Make it a neighborhood project and everyone can join in the fun. Later, have a big neighborhood Bar-B-Q and cleanup party.

[itstippy]

You are in the minority. Many folks were overjoyed to find out their property was "worth more". During the real estate bubble they ran to the nearest bank to get cash-out refinance packages so they could "cash in some equity and put their money to work". Others were excited to find that their parents' house was now "worth" a small fortune, and some day they'd be "heirs to a fortune". Let's buy a boat!

The local government coffers overflowed with newfound bounty. They didn't lower the mill rates any, instead they increased spending. It did not end well. Actually, it's far from over.

Now we've got a neat-o new municipal swimming pool but we can't afford to hire lifeguards.