RB> all the honest hard work that goes with maintaining a quality of living 
 RB> for you
 RB> and your family, the working class are the ones that get stuck carrying 
 RB> the 
 RB> burden for society.
BR>    That's largely because there are so many of us.  The
But its not true.  If you check the numbers you will
see that the upper 20% of the money earners are paying
something like 80% of the taxes (federal, mostly income
tax).
BR> development tools, and new operating  suystems from which I
BR> learn what I need to learn to stay employed. The  occasional
BR> consulting job I get at my standard billing rate doesn't
BR> make me  that much - and social security gets the first 15%,
BR> the state gets another 5%,  the county gets another 3%, and
BR> the feds get 28% - doesn't leave much.  Unlike  some, I
BR> wasn't dependant on venture capital - but the nature of our
BR> businesses  is that we don't have employees, don't have
Wouldn't a nice simple flat tax be nice?  After all you
wouldn't expect to pay more for a loaf of bread then
your neighbor just because you make more money would
you?
BR>    When you attempt to take more from someone simply because
BR> he appears to  have more, you are remove from him any
BR> incentive to excel, and drive him into  offshore
BR> investments, and removing that capital from availability for
BR> startups  and ventures.  Does this make sense?
Most people don't see it like this.  They think "rich"
people get that way by winning a lottery or something
as easy.  I would have thought the debacle of the
luxury tax would have made some people realize this.
 RB> But you must understand that below the working class is the lower class 
- 
 RB> class of people that for whatever reason are caught in a dangerous 
 RB> culture of 
 RB> poverty, unemployable, maybe severely depressed, no insurance, maybe a 
 RB> place to
 RB> stay, etc. Just as you are trying your best, these people are no 
 RB> different. 
BR>    I know this.  But I also know that the 'poverty line' is
BR> determined by  statisticians making $100k or so on tax
BR> money, and doesn't necessarily reflect  reality. Poverty
There is something even bigger, when deciding if a
person, or family, is living below the 'poverty line'
any government assistance is not included.  IOW, if you
are making $500 a month with a family of 5 you are
below the poverty line.  But you could be getting $400+
in food stamps, $300 per month in SSI payments and $100
in ADIC, which would bring your real income up to $1300
a month or from $6000/yr to 15,600.  (note all numbers
are pulled from thin air)
 RB> scam they are trying to pull, why not see the constant rip-off and 
 RB> whitewash 
 RB> that is being pushed on us by the rich corporations? 
BR>    The rich corporations are a straw man.  Substitute
BR> stockholders, and maybe  you have something - but without
BR> profits, who'd invest in a venture?  I sure  as hell
BR> wouldn't and I'd bet you wouldn't either. 
With those "rich corporations" how many people would
have jobs?  That's the question I ask.
                      Remember:  Freedom isn't Free!
--- timEd-B11
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