On Jan 24, 2008 12:26 PM, Michael L Torrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Wow. That's amazing. You want to pay for things twice, eh? First of
No. But I do want the federal government to raise taxes constitutionally. There are provisions for tariffs -- income tax is unconstitutional. I want government programs eliminated and the raw need for high tax revenues reduced. But the fact is that some taxes must be paid. These taxes should be paid partly via tariffs and not just domestic taxation. Pay twice for things? No, I pay far more than twice for things via high domestic taxation. I'm not an economist. But it simply seems unfair that we all pay taxes to support this great market place, and yet some of those who gain the most benefit from our country aren't required to help support it. > all, the reason that foreign countries can sell their goods to us is > because we the collective people want those goods. I mean are you for > or against the free market? Seems ironic to me that the country that Honestly, I'm not well educated in economics and the virtues of a global free market. I am for reduced government, but I'm not for the elimination of all government (anarchy). Modest tariffs on products coming into this country to help support it seems reasonable to me. I don't want to have sole responsibility of paying for the public infrastructure of this country so that China can get rich. > espouses freedom and the idea that the government should get out of the > business of running peoples lives could be so protectionist. On this > point Ron Paul is totally contradicting his own position on the role of > government. I think this point of view completely contradicts the > intent of the founding fathers. I don't think he contradicts himself. Government should get out of people's lives. But it also must raise some (small) tax revenue. If you must tax, do so fairly. Make Chinese importers pay some taxes as well as myself. > Also I think you (Ron Paul perhaps?) grossly overestimate America's > future impact on the world economy. The moment OPEC starts trading oil > in Euros instead of dollars, we are in serious, serious trouble. To say > nothing of the looming food crisis (two bad years in a row will cause > food prices here in america to go up dramatically because the supply is > now zero-sum). Yes, but don't we have a weak dollar in the first place because of our trade imbalance? Too much coming in (hey it's free!), not much going out. Because companies are making product outside of America (because it is cheap) and then selling it here (because it is free). They share none of the burden of supporting America, yet they get all of the benefits of selling within it. It would be like you and I paying for the mall with our tax dollars and then let all of the vendors can come use the store fronts for free -- not help support the burden of paying for the construction and maintenance of the mall. > Protectionism destroys competition and stifles innovation, leading to > higher costs and ultimately inflation, all of which affect us here > domestically, not globally. I can see where you're going with this. Without a broad base of competition, I can see unions applying the death grip to American companies and making us completely uncompetitive. Businesses fail, and America's economy takes the dirt nap. > Now as for the subject line, given Ron Paul's position, he *has* to > oppose linux. After all, large parts of linux itself were developed > *outside america* and they can come in and compete without paying a > single dime to the American government (or people, it's unclear what > you're talking about here) in the so-called "American Shopping Mall." > What about our poor, beleaguered, home-grown Microsoft? How can they > possibly stay in business? Yes, if a software product were sold for a profit here in America, I would expect a modest tariff against it. Wait a minute! Linux is not sold for a profit! Ok, no tariff. Tariffs aren't arbitrary. They are based on the sale value of the product. -Bryan /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
