Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for March 17, 2009

That really takes euphemisms to a new level.

Spare us such suffering and anguish! Having to pay marginally more tax? Woe is us!

That’s as bad as the faithful tither who complained because he had to donate so much money each year. He went to his pastor and asked if he could, in conscience, not give the full 10%. After all, when he was young, that was only a dollar or two per week, but now it was hundreds of dollars.

The Pastor thought for a bit and replied, “No, there’s really no alternative given for the tithe. On the other hand, if the burden is too great, we can always ask God to reduce your income to more manageable levels.”

The man never brought up the question again after that.

I actually had a manager try to give me the line that one of the benefits of not getting a very big raise that year (it was < 1%) was that it wouldn’t push me into a higher income tax bracket - and she was serious!

Thats just sad.

Except, LameRandomName, I have a graduate degree, never smoked pot or did other illegal drugs, heck, never even smoked a cigarette.

In my opinion, the very worst aspect of the income tax is its wretched complexity: how much extra “tax” is extracted from persons every year just to prepare their taxes? And don’t bother going to the government experts for help. What was their error rate the last few years? 25%? But you can be sure, if you got the wrong advice, it’s not their fault. And then, since it’s so easy to extract money from taxpayers, why not take a third or more? All the more to spend on others.

No, my first line was totally sarcastic.

It is surely a kinder and gentler world we live in.

is this where the “you really don’t want to know” button takes you?

Poor little lame, is your underwear to tight or are just constipated?

Well, as they said on Futurama - “Heck, the underprivileged get all the breaks!”

Well, let’s see, LameRandomName. My college degree was in Chemistry and Mathematics. Yes, I did more than quadratic equations. Do Group Theory, Calculus, Differential Equations count? My grad school was in Theology. So, I suppose that qualifies, in many minds, as “unmarketable nonsense … only useful for lording it over the undergrads”. I have other measures of its value. However, I did spend 25 years working in a printshop, both layout and preparation, and pressrunning. I still currently help on our ranch-farm and with other work as able. Does that count as hard work? Further, there is no lack of jobs in my specialty, or of work. We have to be do administration, counseling, forming persons for living well and responsibly, helping prepare couples for marriage, maintain the physical plant, oversee charitable works, among other responsibilities. I sometimes think, with some exaggeration, that the only people with more varied work are parents taking care of kids.

One year my father got a raise that put him into the next tax bracket, ending up with less take home pay.

Having to pay more tax is a sign you’re making more money. Why complain about making more money than other people? People who make large amounts of money rarely get their hands dirty and never get calluses. Anything else is just thinking. I don’t mind paying taxes. But then, I love my country and I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.

Hi, LameRandomName.

I have a degree in Nuclear Engineering (UW, class of 78) and a MBA (UW, class of 88). I am a retired Navy Lieutenant Commander, and currently work in public health as a Radiation Health Physicist. I have been designed simulations (war games) and have on occasions done probability calculations and calculus for fun. I make fair coin, and because my family lives within our means (like Conservatives should), our assets substantially exceed our liabilities, even with the drop in real estate and the stock market.

I have no problem with people who get more money (not necessarily “earn” more money) paying higher taxes, especially as people in the highest income groups seldom put their butts or those of their children on the line to protect our country (Some do: John McCain and Joe Biden, for example. Prescott Bush had his son serve, George H. W. Bush let his sons slack off). If there is any group that I think should get a tax break, it is disabled veterans. Oh, and wanting the Capital Gains tax rate to be set at less than the tax rate for wages is a declaration that you think wealth is more important than the people who make the wealth.

Personally, I would like to see the compensation packages of all managers in publicly owned companies be expressed as multiples of the average non-management employee of the company, with all the pay levels documented in the Annual Report, and justified in terms of benefit to the stockholders. I would like to see half to that compensation package in salary, and the other half in bonuses, with no bonuses paid in years that there are strikes, layoffs, or no dividend paid. After all, if Management lets any of these things happen, then they were not serving the stockholders as well as they could have.

Did I ever say that you owe the fruits of your productivity to anyone? No, a reasonable tax is acceptable, as part of the support we all must give the common tasks that keep our nation going. However, in too many ways, our tax structure is anything but equitable.

bmonk: I believe you live in a monastery, and that you ran the press for various things that the monastery was called upon to print. I think that’s very admirable. There was a monestery in St. Meinrad, IN, I believe that sold stationary and greeting cards that they produced in their workshops.

@margueritem, I know the place: Abbey Press, at St. Meinrad Archabbey. Nice place. (Got my BS there.) I considered joining there, but eventually decided elsewhere. Our shop was not nearly so big, but we did do lots of assorted stuff.

bmonk: Thanks, I couldn’t remember the name, Abbey Press. I ordered many things from them back in the 70s.

Of course, as college students, we usually referred to it as “Shabby Mess” ;-)

LameRandomName, I have made an effort to be reasonable, to answer your aspersions as they arise. Have I ever accused you, or anyone, of thinking something, or being anything, such as a pot-smoking loser, or a lazy, idle, coffee drinking student? What makes you think that people like me are paying no attention, or support President Obama’s policies? (forgive if the images are not exact. I cannot seem to find most of the original comments you made anymore.) I ask you, respectfully, to quit telling me what I am and what I think, and let me speak for myself!

One reason that the Republicans did so poorly in recent elections, in my opinion, is that they stopped being the party of fiscal responsibility as soon as they took full control. They stopped standing for conservative values, and had little to replace them. They presided over apparently failed policies and actions, such as the long-running wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even when things began to improve, the media ignored the signs, since they didn’t want to admit that the Bush administration could do anything right, and so many Americans had no clue that anything had changed. Is it any wonder that Obama, who campaigned masterfully on a platform of smoke and mirrors and “change” brought his party to victory? I only hope we will not regret it deeply in the long run.

lame and most other ppl on this site need to get off their soapboxes and prejudices

LameRandomName:

Tell me… Why should I make an investment in opening up a new company or expanding an existing one, and hiring more people, when a larger and larger chunk of the rewards for my efforts (Profit) is going to get swallowed up? I mean… who the heck do you think provides jobs?

Well, while I think the best companies are started by people who have some interest in what the company does, I would think that making a lot of money would be enough of a motivation. I suppose, though, if you are the kind of person who thinks that it is reasonable that a pro athlete who is being paid a couple million dollars per year can say that if he doesn’t get another couple million more, he can’t do his best, then only making a lot of money rather than a whole heck of a lot of money wouldn’t trip your trigger. On the other hand, money from retirement programs and similar sources, which make up a large and growing portion of the market, doesn’t have the motivation problem that you envision.

You may not know this, but there are a lot of small business owners who, who employ a lot of people, who don’t make $350,000+. Neither my wife nor I did when we owned separate businesses. By the time someone is taking that much out of the business for their personal use, the business usually has been incorporated, and different rules apply.

Those companies are responsible ONLY to their stockholders.

And the people who run those companies for the stockholders have been doing a very bad job of it. They have also manipulated the rules to make it almost impossible for the stockholders (of which I am one in a number of companies) to have any say in how much money the top managers transfer into their own pockets. I believe that it is entirely appropriate for the government to regulate companies to prevent criminal activity, and to enforce the fiduciary responsibilities of the management when they decide to place their own interests first.

However, that doesn’t make your opinion CORRECT,…

Back at you, son.

just stop complaining and deal with it…and not just lame, all of u, its already done, and Lame just because u keep annoying ppl doesn’t make ur opinion right either….most people are resentful of those better off right now, and most people better off have different concerns, but to each their own, and everyone can just shut up and deal w/ their own problems….ps i just signed up on this site to tell u and others like u this