Comments on: Illinois: hitting up the poor for their bottom dollar

By: emathias

emathias — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:12:18 +0000

Robin Hood may well have a nice mythological reputation, but as far as “rebranding” goes, choosing a thief to represent your cause is hardly going to make things an easier sell. Even a nice thief is still a thief.

By: scammaj

scammaj — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:18:52 +0000

Definitely. Basically the idea behind it is that people who think it’s the job of the government to take care of the poor will give less. That is the perception in Europe where taxes are very high.

Here is one of the places I have found the argument. Interesting stuff.
http://notyourdaddy.wordpress.com/2008/02/27/most-generous-nation/

By: Megan Cottrell

Megan Cottrell — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:29:23 +0000

So, I’m going to think about this for a little bit and get back to you – this idea that if people weren’t taxed so much they would be more generous.

My instinct is to disagree, but that’s largely based on my experience. I have no problem with paying taxes. I pay some every year, and used to do the payroll taxes for a small business, and I never felt angry about it. I think some government programs suck, though.

So, I’ll get back to you after I’ve thought it over and tell you what I think. Fair?

By: scammaj

scammaj — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:09:49 +0000

Not all taxes, just the income tax. They account for about 38% of the government’s income. I think if people weren’t forced to give as much money away, they would be much more charitable towards the poor. These private charities usually run much more efficiently than the government, as I’m sure you have been able to observe.

By: scammaj

scammaj — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:04:06 +0000

Sorry David, but I think you’re the one that needs to learn how the world works. In 2006 the top 20 percent of income earners paid 86.3 percent of all federal income taxes, and the top 1 percent of income earners pay 40 percent of all federal income taxes. And those numbers are only going up for the rich under Obama. I’m not saying if this is right or wrong, but some simple research would prove your statement wrong.

By: Megan Cottrell

Megan Cottrell — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:05:25 +0000

It’s so rare that we agree. I don’t know if I’m for abolishing all taxes, but I really like the TJ quote. I think a lot of the money we spend on the poor is wasted on programs that suck – like welfare. I think we could find smarter ways to use that money.

By: Megan Cottrell

Megan Cottrell — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:03:15 +0000

See, we need a new name for it. “Wealth redistribution” sounds terrible. We need to re-brand. Any ideas?

By: davidlosangeles

davidlosangeles — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:50:11 +0000

Ms. Cottrell,

You are obviously terribly naïve. Of course states are going to gouge the poor for tax money, who else are they going to gouge? They cannot gouge the rich! Hello! The rich can hire lawyers and accountants to fight back. That is why they are rich. It would take years to recover any gouged money from the rich and would cost a fortune. Besides, what would the poor do with that non-gouged money? They would just waste in on food, clothing, housing, you know, junk like that. How is that going help the economy? You see, when the rich get hand-outs from the government, they invest that money. Just look at AIG, they got billions of dollars in hand-outs and what did they do with it? Why they invested it in job creating bonuses and stock options. The rich are different from you and I, they know how money works and they make it work for them. In fact rather than tax the rich at all, what states should tax the poor even more, take all of their money, and just give it to the rich to help them create more jobs.

You really have to get out more so how the world really works.

By: scammaj

scammaj — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:49:07 +0000

I agree with you completely on this one Megan. (Except the part about needing a Robin Hood of course. Nobody should be robbing people for any reason.) It’s another example of how government holds back the poorest of this country. I myself would advocate for the abolition of all income taxes. Of course we would need to cut spending, and since that won’t be happening anytime soon, it isn’t very realistic. Oh well, we can always dream about the day government will become responsible again.

“I predict future happiness for Americans
if they can prevent the government
from wasting the labors of the people
under the pretense of taking care of them.” -Thomas Jefferson

By: Laura Heller

Laura Heller — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:42:24 +0000

I’ve been thinking a lot about Robin Hood lately myself. Halloween costume aside, we really could use one about now…