Is there a class in liberal economics somewhere that I could take? I ask because I'm obviously missing something, and when I ask people about it they just look at me like I'm speaking Croatian.
Phil Angelides is running for the Democratic slot in November's gubernatorial election, and his platform seems to consist in large part of "making the multi-millionaires and large corporations pay their fair share." I can see why that sings to voters, but I have no idea why anyone would give it any credence.
I try to point out that corporations do not pay taxes, that corporations are not people, that consumers pay the taxes levied on corporations. I point out that the last two airliners that will ever be built in California have just been flown out to their buyers. Corporations and their multi-millionaire corporate officers and investors can live anywhere while having their product (to the extent that we still create products) manufactured anywhere. If I win the Lotto I can buy a condo in Nevada for residency purposes and still enjoy the California lifestyle.
I'm also having an issue with the people whining about the "farmland" in South L.A. Los Angeles takes 14 acres to build a trash-to-energy plant, but the environmentalists blocked that. (Way to go, guys. Still have the trash and no new energy sources, but what the hey.) The courts tell L.A. to give the owner his land back, but now there are squatters gardening there. The owner agrees to sell to them, but they can't afford to buy so now we have Joan Baez, Daryl Hannah, and a couple of tree-sitters protesting. I am mindful of last year when we were all ready to tar and feather Justice Souter for ruling against propery rights. I still believe the Supreme Court was wrong then, and that the squatters have no legal claim now.
So... what am I missing?
5 comments:
You're missing the fact that California loses thirty cents of every dollar we pay in federal income taxes to red states, yet California Republican legislators keep supported legislation that fucks our state. Thus our schools and roads, which were once the pride of the world, are now a shambles. Further, our country has a nine trillion dollar deficit because we've been putting massive tax cuts for the upper eschalons of our city on a public credit card. Unfortunately, credit cards have to be paid back with interest, and are a horrible waste of money. If you actually looked at the history of taxes in this country you'd see the steady shift of taxes from the rich to the middle and lower class. Of course, you won't do that.
I'm sorry. Luke apparently thought I was speaking to giving millionaires a pass at the federal level, and I wasn't... or didn't mean to.
I was speaking to the futility of trying to cover our liabilities at the state level by going after those with the means to simply relocate to a tax-friendly environment. For example, we can't make Boeing McDonnell-Douglas pay their "fair share" because they left the state... and their jobs went with them. As a tax-paying working stiff myself, I would appreciate real alternatives from candidates instead of empty promises of better days to come.
That's just me though.
I think what you are missing is about the same as what I am missing. Some days I feel like Rip VanWinkle, waking from years of slumber through the good and easy times. Perhaps we were lulled into a false sense of security in the womb of that comfort zone. But this world I awaken to is alien. The values I was taught and have held dear all these years, the values of honesty , justice, equality, etc., have been corrupted and denigrated to a level that I no longer recognize them. I don't like it, but like you and millions of others, I don't know what to do about it. Those in control are completely out of control and do not care who they step on to achieve their greedy objectives.
There, I've had my rant for the day, and I feel better... kinda, sorta...
If you're interested you might want to see "The Corporation" in which, albeit with an agenda attached, one of the points that is made is that corporations do infact have the same rights as people (I believed at some point in time argued under the 13th amendment) and none of the responsibility...thereby causing some of the problems we see today.
I do appreciate that a corporations is legally considered as a person; however, in business all of the taxes, fees, etc., are considered in the cost of doing business. When they can't be included in the prices charged for goods or services and start to cut into the bottom line, the business is incentivized to relocate.
If I have a fixed income to live on and if my taxes or other costs of living are raised, I have to think about where else I could live on my fixed income.
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