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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Freedom Fighter who wrote (110032)	11/25/2007 3:51:35 PM
From: Skeeter Bug	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

Wayne, you assume that there is a direct correlation between hard work and wealth. IT AIN'T SO. the VAST contributor to wealth is blind, dumb luck. picture bill gates born a black kid in south central going to public school instead of being born to two rich attorney parents and sent to the best high school in seattle. what effort did bill put in to deserve where he was born? giving money to charity is consistent with his ultimate goal of helping out society (either through charity or through other taxes). you misstated his position in an attempt to make him look hypocritical. that's not true! he gave to three different charities. again, there is no inconsistency. buffet NEVER said parents can't leave money for their kids! i'd also wager that buffett's real concern are the uncaring, selfish, arrogant uber rich that make their money off of society and don't kick back to the society that made them wealthy due to their initial good fortune. i'll bet he has no problem with a graduated death tax rate that would spare some of those less fortunate. i'm all for less corporate welfare. i'm all for less tax breaks to billionaires (the middle class shouldn't have to support their stuff) while the bill to fight wars is sent the middle class in the form of higher gas prices (due to the dollar being worth less than the looney) and to the grandchildren of the middle class. less corporate welfare + less billionaire welfare could probably equal a reasonable and balanced budget. let's not kid ourselves, though. luck is the biggest factor in a person being uber wealthy. hell, i'm not even uber wealthy and i know i'm one fortunate sob! warren buffet realizes this. he knows he's lucky to have the talent that has made him so successful in this society. he knows he was lucky to be born in this society. charity, charity, charity. he gives back. in another society, he'd be nothing more than a farm hand. good thing he wasn't unlucky! i'm doing my best to give my kid an edge, too. does that mean the billionaires pass their billions on down to those lucky enough to be born to them while the unfortunate poppers go without with a heavy tax burden to pay for corporate welfare, subsidies and billionaire tax breaks? i don't think so. i'm for a graduated tax system, too. those that own the most of america should at least pay the percent of the tax bill equal to how much of america they own. the group that owns 5% of america ought to pay 5% of the tax bill. THEY DON'T. this is never mentioned for the same reason trickle up is never mentioned - the POWERFUL don't want you to know about it. they want talk tv to whine and cry about the absolute dollar value they in taxes or the absolute percentage they pay in taxes WITHOUT PROVIDING THE NECESSARY CONTEXT. they are not above lying and misleading to try and get a few more bucks to go along with their 100s of millions. remember, we live a society that gives billionaires 100s of millions in tax breaks while housing our crippled warriors in rat infested housing. now, given the values of many people, this obviously isn't a problem. it should be.