As of midnight on January 1st the estate tax, enfranchised in law basically in it's recent form since 1934, was eliminated. I'm sure that news will be greeted with jubilation by many on this board who have railed against it in the past.
I too opposed the estate tax, but not for the reasons most do here. I oppose it because it's double-taxation and I don't think that's the right way to treat Americans who threw out the British for similar excesses. Most here oppose it simply because it's a Republican talking point.
To illustrate that idiocy, I'll bet few here have any idea how few Americans this tax actually impacted. How many do you think? Perhaps 10 million farmers and ranchers, as the legend goes? Perhaps 1 million? Perhaps 100,000? For all the noise this issue has created you'd surely think the number was absolutely huge.
Well, it's not.
2.5 million Americans die each year. In it's most recent incarnation, the tax only fell upon those whose estates exceeded 3.5 million.
Why you'd think that, surely, those with that sort of estate have the money to hire legions of lawyers and accountants to protect their money through clever tax dodges, right? I certainly think so.
The number bear this out. There were only 6,000 people of the 2.5 million last year who paid a cent of estate tax. That seems like paultry number to me for all the damned noise that this issue seems to generate.
I imagine their estates were the size of Rockefellers or something equally unseemly and I suspect those estates were accumulated through either inheritance of vast riches by spoiled rich brats (come on, you know the type) or recently acquired by "Fat Cat Bankers" through the institutional rape of the average American's 401K.
I don't like double taxation on principle. But I am finding it hard to feel either sympathetic towards those rare few who likely by virtue of their birthright or greed accumulated ill-gotten riches or jubilation that they can now grow from unseemly to ludicrously wealthy without the tax.
Just another example where innane, politicized, non-issues are manufactured by the ruling class to pit us against one another in a faux political battle so as to distract us from more meaningful democratic ails.
LongFisher
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Yeah but it's also coming back which people don't realize.
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ignore listed shitbird.
Mike
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LOL i didn't even read the whole post. I just stated a fact that it's coming back.Originally Posted by Captain Michael Buffington
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The estate tax is flat out criminal... I think of my Dad... He paid 70 cents of every dollar he made in income tax. Yes that was the high end cap not so long ago. Then for every dollar he spent he got whacked 7% for sales tax. That doesn't include all the other taxes like on gas or even cigarettes. Nor does it take into account property taxes. Then if he was abale to put some away and make profit on it there was 20%capitol gains tax. Then on his passing, Uncle Sam took HALF of what was left!
Oh wait we're not done yet. When my mom passes they're gonna take half again. But we're not done. The properties she has in her estate will also be whacked for capital gains on what they have appreciated over a life time.
I saw the "feel sorry" and "ill gotten gains" above? I havn't laid a hand on a person in a quarter century but I'd love to bitch slap that bullshit out of the thought process of who wrote it!
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Uncle Sam takes a lot from us. There is no doubt. Look at some of these individuals in higher tax brackets getting whacked for 40%-50%. Then the number of these people who own their own business getting whacked again. Etc. etc.The estate tax is flat out criminal... I think of my Dad... He paid 70 cents of every dollar he made in income tax. Yes that was the high end cap not so long ago. Then for every dollar he spent he got whacked 7% for sales tax. That doesn't include all the other taxes like on gas or even cigarettes. Nor does it take into account property taxes. Then if he was abale to put some away and make profit on it there was 20%capitol gains tax. Then on his passing, Uncle Sam took HALF of what was left!
Oh wait we're not done yet. When my mom passes they're gonna take half again. But we're not done. The properties she has in her estate will also be whacked for capital gains on what they have appreciated over a life time.
I saw the "feel sorry" and "ill gotten gains" above? I havn't laid a hand on a person in a quarter century but I'd love to bitch slap that bullshit out of the thought process of who wrote it!
The thing of it is though, whether you agree with it or not you can't deny what we're given.
Now I don't love taxes. I don't know a person who does. And yes, there's corruption. However, these taxes go to keep the country we live in running right.
Let's take a Favela in Brazil for example. Do you think the residents pay taxes? Nope. Or how about a slum in India? Nope.
However, what do they have? No running water, shanties, crime, and all sorts of problems. There's whole countries like this.
Even in our poorest of areas we have:
Law enforcement
Running water
Electricity
Medical facilities
etc.
Yeah it's a shitty thing to think that the only thing certain in life is death and taxes...and then more taxes. However, I'd really hate to live in a country where I had to worry about whether or not my toilet flushed or if I could watch Versus network in the morning after eating my eggs cooked on my gas stove
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until they spend trillions to stay elected. Why do you think they have only spent a quarter of the stimulus? The answer is they are going to use it this summer to prop up the economy preceding midterm elections.
Mike
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I don't doubt under handed dealings. Let me state that I hardly consider myself a moderate and definitely NOT a Liberal. However, you have to take some sort of face value assessment of the situation.
We have it much better than Serbia and we pay taxes. That's a broad statement. It's true.
I do believe a lot of our taxes are wasted. I do believe this health care reform is chock full of waste. I do believe that our government could be doing a WAY better job than it's doing.
I don't believe that our taxes are for nothing and unwarranted.
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Take your money, take your liberty, and take your livlihood. Give you regulation, give you regulation, and give you regulation.
Serbia? Give me a break Jay!
Mike
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Dude listen, I am not saying I agree with what's going on.
Does this look like fun?
Or this?
No it really doesn't lol. That's why we pay taxes.
I mean if shit got sporty and we had to survive in a society without infrastructure I am pretty sure you and I would do quite well with the tools we have and the skills we've acquired. However, I'd like to think I didn't have to worry about throwing the ol AR on the back every time I wanted to go get a coffee at the 24 hour Dunkin Donuts (Starbucks is for Libs and Dems).
And in the grand scheme of things we're not looking that bad. Pretty sure the UK pays taxes and they aren't allowed to own handguns. Same with Canada.
I live in the People's Republic of NJ bro. C'mon now lol.
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