Ray, Selma's Times' article was interesting, but it missed the mark.
There is no doubt that the estate tax is bad - along with all the other taxes. Yet again we seem to have adopted the Palliative Policies of the modern left. These are not to attack the privileges that give great wealth to people and great size to corporations - but to accept them, so long as they compensate the underprivileged with government taxation, or private philanthropy. The highly paid CEO's go along with the over-large corporations. Here, we are into the area of "premium wages". When a particular talent is not often found, premium wages are likely to be high. So, the people involved with the gargantuans are prepared to pay high to get someone who is supposed to be talented enough to run them. If one is tempted to wonder why these CEO's get so much, imagine you need a top brain surgeon. He demands your house, your car, all your savings, and your shorts. Do you pay? Or, do you get Charlie the mechanic to handle the job? The people enjoying these giant cash cows resting on a mountain of privilege, will do anything to keep the udders flowing. Money isn't an object. And where there is great wealth, there is likely to be great corruption. So, let's tax them. Sure, we will be indirectly taxing the underprivileged, but heck, after the government is paid for, there'll be a bit left for hoi polloi. Ray, don't go after the great wealth. Go after the privileges that fuel it. Harry Ray wrote: >Facts are always inconvenient. When the facts are provided by the other >side because even they are afraid of the implications of their greed then it >begins to get truly scary. Today Congress wants to continue to give the >super rich a free ride on their estates. You may say "Its their money" or >"They will just jump through tax loop holes" but they live in this country >and benefit from it. If it wasn't a good deal for them they would simply >take up residence somewhere else where they have a house. As for the tax >loopholes, most of those benefit each of us in some way i.e. they are a >tradeoff to get the super rich to support something that we all agree is for >the common good. If they don't support it then it will have to come out >of taxes on the middle and poor classes instead or it will just not be paid >for. We are talking things like government programs for charities, etc. >that are now supported by private contributions from the wealthy. In a >kind of twisted way they now give back some of what they owe. Of course >we all give to those same things relative to what our incomes are. Taxes >are not so easy and cannot be avoided in bad years as tax deductible >contributions can. So don't kid yourself. If given the choice between tax >loopholes and taxes set in stone, no wealthy person would choose the latter. >The Estate tax is what has given communities like Tulsa, their great museums >and public edifaces. Otherwise the poor would be shut out completely and >even the appearance of equality would be a lie. > >Ray Evans Harrell ****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 *******************************
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