Sneaky new internet tax pushing through fast

A couple of weeks ago CBS of Canada aired a program about a leaked hard drive that purported to claim that there's about 32 TRILLION dollars sitting in off shore accounts (no names, naturally). About 21 TRILLION is supposed to be owned by about 4,000 "Americans" who don't want to pay taxes on 'their" money.

I'm pretty fair minded when it comes to taxes, as already stated, it's the price one pays for a democracy (Greece started it way back when). All this talk about internet taxes has been coming for years now and I guess the gig is up.

But, can all of us (not here but this country) just wake the hell up and realize the scam that's being perpetrated on us. If we were to get just 1/3 of that 21 TRILLION (taxes and penalties) we'd be in pretty good shape.

All the best,
Nonoise

"We don't pay taxes. Only little people pay taxes."
__Leona Hemsley

Who went on to spend 18 months in prison for tax evasion, but someone had to stand up to the 99%. :-)

All the best,
Nonoise

The tax code we use is how oligarchs in our country evade payment. That money in offshore accounts is pretax, not already earned and taxed. There's hundreds of law firms that cater to the the 1/10 of 1% and provide them with all the expertise they need to hide their money. It is the most civilized version of all nations. Others, like Indonesia and the Philippines, use deadly force on a wide scale basis, like the Mafia Commissions used to (before they went 'legit') and the America Appalachians. Heck, Rome used to crucify 20,000 at a pop to make a point.

All it takes is a Tax Letter submitted to the IRS and then all bets are off. The IRS simply weighs the costs of litigation against what they can collect and if it's a wash, that letter is added to the tax code, to be used by others at those law firms mentioned, to bend to their clients needs. That's why the tax code used to be around 400 pages and is now over many thousands, broken into volumes.

I guess we can be happy that they're not using coercive violence against us but instead, simply buying as many politicians as necessary to achieve their financial goals. Take a look at Max Baccus who is soon to retire. 28 former members of his staff are now lobbying for Wall Street.

Wake up people.

All the best,
Nonoise

Brownsfan, great points about "ascent to a social contract". That requires an honor system which most people feel doesn't apply to themselves, only others.

My point about Max Baccus former staffers going to work for Wall Street is that all these staffers do is prowl the halls of Congress lobbying for their clients who want nothing but to change the tax code. When people hear the word lobbyists, they think of roads, harbors, shopping malls and other mundane things but the lions share of lobbying is for tax breaks. There were only about 300 lobbyist in Reagans time and now there's over 3,000. They had to devote a street to them to accommodate their lives and access to seek out politicians. It's called K Street since that's where most of them live. K Street is always mentioned in the news as shorthand for lobbyists and the high and mighty they represent. These lobbyist and staffers go back and forth switching from public work to private work in their careers writing legislation that screws us to the benefit of their clients. They know the system inside out. Lots of times they don't even bother to wait to come back to public work as a staffer and just write the laws themselves and give to their friends in the Congressman or Senators office to have them sign it as if they wrote it themselves.

Until money is taken out of politics, Citizens United is overturned (corporations are not people and money is not the same thing as speech) and public financing is the ONLY way to fund elections, all bets are off. All discussion is academic. Any conclusion, moot.

Thank goodness we have this hobby to escape to. It's the only real solace I get nowadays, which, come to think of it, aptly describes an audiophile.
:-)

All the best,
Nonoise

With all the ways to skin a cat, it doesn't pay to be of the feline variety.

Since half of all Americans take home is less than $33K/year, it's safe to say that all their money is going to purchase something and a sales tax is regressive.

Getting high-end luxury items taxed is another matter. Here, in California, the budget was held up under the Governator all because luxury yachts and jets were to be taxed like all other purchases. The rich wanted an exclusion that permitted them to buy these high-end toys, park them outside of state lines for a few months, and exclude them from taxation. That was the only thing that held up the budget for a couple of months and guess what, they got their way. I don't remember whether it came to no tax at all or some profanely reduced tax that had nothing to do with the actual value of the toy.

All the best,
Nonoise