Shoot The Breeze

[Shikaka]

So go become a CEO. But be one of the ethical ones.

This is a horrible arguement, I also think pandas should breed more, would you suggest I go to China and start fucking the lazy bears til they squeeze out whatever abomination I might possible plant in one?

Demanding a basic level of morality and ethics isn't so alien a concept to our society.

 

[Acquired Taste]

You're acting like I don't do things that I preach? I'm glad you know what I do with my money in the off time or the causes I contribute to. Instead you sit here and don't offer solutions to questions I ask. Pretending that automated driving and robots that can already do the things you're talking about are far away is pointless. They will happen and your wants offer zero solutions. You think the government is so damn stupid with the things they work on yet you work for them and gladly take the money they pay you.

If you house someone for free and cover their expenses that isn't your girlfriend or someone you're related to, I will delete my account and concede that you are right. But I have a pretty strong hunch that you don't. I'm guessing you aren't spending your Saturdays volunteering at the soup kitchen either. That's how liberals are. Laws and rules for thee but not for me.

 

[AB19]

This is a horrible arguement, I also think pandas should breed more, would you suggest I go to China and start fucking the lazy bears til they squeeze out whatever abomination I might possible plant in one?

Demanding a basic level of morality and ethics isn't so alien a concept to our society.

He doesn't care about other people that aren't him, taxes are the worst thing he can imagine. Anyone having to pay taxes is horrible, let the poor suffer they did it to themselves. You can't fix someone who lacks empathy

 

[Peter Gibbons]

This is a horrible arguement, I also think pandas should breed more, would you suggest I go to China and start fucking the lazy bears til they squeeze out whatever abomination I might possible plant in one?

Demanding a basic level of morality and ethics isn't so alien a concept to our society.

I mean I'm not demanding it, but I'd definitely hit up that only fans

 

[AB19]

If you house someone for free and cover their expenses that isn't your girlfriend or someone you're related to, I will delete my account and concede that you are right. But I have a pretty strong hunch that you don't. I'm guessing you aren't spending your Saturdays volunteering at the soup kitchen either. That's how liberals are. Laws and rules for thee but not for me.

Because I don't do everything that you covered I'm a hypocrite? I guess I should stop donating to charity now because you got me

 

[Acquired Taste]

Because I don't do everything that you covered I'm a hypocrite? I guess I should stop donating to charity now because you got me

Donating your old clothes to goodwill doesn't count.

 

[AB19]

Donating your old clothes to goodwill doesn't count.

What about donating money to charity?

Like what do you want me to say, you'll never have empathy for the people that got it rough in this country and can't change their situation and you think taxation is the worst thing to exist, I can't change your mind about any of those. I can only just feel bad that you can't understand or just don't care about the struggles of other people.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

If you house someone for free and cover their expenses that isn't your girlfriend or someone you're related to, I will delete my account and concede that you are right. But I have a pretty strong hunch that you don't. I'm guessing you aren't spending your Saturdays volunteering at the soup kitchen either. That's how liberals are. Laws and rules for thee but not for me.

I mean you say that..... But the "billionaire" head of your apparent political party paid 750 dollars in federal taxes for a couple of years. So taxes for me and none for thee is okay I guess?

And the you as an individual should be doing all the lifting argument is disengenous. You live in a society. One that's afforded you a great many things, and for some much much more than you. It's on that society to help lift up the less fortunate contained in it, and the government is the embodiment of society, so it absolutely should play a large role in social welfare, and the way that's done is thru taxation and social programs.

 

[AnyTrafficPleaseAdvise]

I mean you say that..... But the "billionaire" head of your apparent political party paid 750 dollars in federal taxes for a couple of years. So taxes for me and none for thee is okay I guess?

And the you as an individual should be doing all the lifting argument is disengenous. You live in a society. One that's afforded you a great many things, and for some much much more than you. It's on that society to help lift up the less fortunate contained in it, and the government is the embodiment of society, so it absolutely should play a large role in social welfare, and the way that's done is thru taxation and social programs.

I think there are definitely problems with our tax code, but I’m not sure how to correct the problem. I think we would be naive if we thought the mega rich were ever going to pay their fair share of taxes. They can utilize depreciation, unrealized capital gains, and real estate to show no income or a loss. I’m certain that even if we raised taxes on those making $400k+, like Biden wants to, it would only hurt doctors, lawyers, etc. Ultra billionaires like Bezos and Elon aren’t going to give it away and are going to find loopholes to show no income.

 

[Acquired Taste]

He doesn't care about other people that aren't him, taxes are the worst thing he can imagine. Anyone having to pay taxes is horrible, let the poor suffer they did it to themselves. You can't fix someone who lacks empathy

It's not that I don't care. Sure, I'll admit that I do have a hard time empathizing with people that are in shitty situations due to their own poor life choices. I do recognize some people are brought up in shitty situations and I recognize not everyone grew up with the same support system or parents who cared about them like myself but you have to understand that not everyone is created equal. It isn't the job for the government to try to level the playing field. Not everyone can be an NFL athlete or a model or a rocket scientist. The sad truth is some people were born to dig ditches. I had shitty jobs I hated before this one but I made choices that put me in a position to have an opportunity at this job. I do this job because I enjoy. I am smart enough to go to school and get a STEM degree but this made the most sense for me. Everyone has choices and yes, a lot of times the poors did do it to themselves. You donating money isn't going to change their outcomes, and neither is the government giving them welfare. If the war on poverty was winnable, it would be over by now but instead we have an ever increasing wealth gap.

What about donating money to charity?

I would be legitimately shocked if you donated anywhere close to 1% of your income to charity.

I mean you say that..... But the "billionaire" head of your apparent political party paid 750 dollars in federal taxes for a couple of years. So taxes for me and none for thee is okay I guess?

And the you as an individual should be doing all the lifting argument is disengenous. You live in a society. One that's afforded you a great many things, and for some much much more than you. It's on that society to help lift up the less fortunate contained in it, and the government is the embodiment of society, so it absolutely should play a large role in social welfare, and the way that's done is thru taxation and social programs.

I'm a libertarian free thinker who hates the R's just a little less than I hate the D's, but Trump is a RINO so he's right up there with the D's for me. Also I just think that if you guys really believe this causes are so worthy, you guys are in such fortunate positions that you can contribute to the cause instead of just advocating that we all contribute. The hard truth for you guys is that you wouldn't actually put your money where your mouth is, but you want the almighty government to do the dirty work of stealing someone else's income and allocating as you see fit because in the end, you don't think it would actually cost that much to you. As long as it costs someone else more, than by all means, you're in favor of it but if it came directly out of your own pocket, then it isn't as appealing for you.

 

[32andBelow]

I think there are definitely problems with our tax code, but I’m not sure how to correct the problem. I think we would be naive if we thought the mega rich were ever going to pay their fair share of taxes. They can utilize depreciation, unrealized capital gains, and real estate to show no income or a loss. I’m certain that even if we raised taxes on those making $400k+, like Biden wants to, it would only hurt doctors, lawyers, etc. Ultra billionaires like Bezos and Elon aren’t going to give it away and are going to find loopholes to show no income.

They can only do that crap cus we let them. Stop fucking letting them

 

[AB19]

It's not that I don't care. Sure, I'll admit that I do have a hard time empathizing with people that are in shitty situations due to their own poor life choices. I do recognize some people are brought up in shitty situations and I recognize not everyone grew up with the same support system or parents who cared about them like myself but you have to understand that not everyone is created equal. It isn't the job for the government to try to level the playing field. Not everyone can be an NFL athlete or a model or a rocket scientist. The sad truth is some people were born to dig ditches. I had shitty jobs I hated before this one but I made choices that put me in a position to have an opportunity at this job. I do this job because I enjoy. I am smart enough to go to school and get a STEM degree but this made the most sense for me. Everyone has choices and yes, a lot of times the poors did do it to themselves. You donating money isn't going to change their outcomes, and neither is the government giving them welfare. If the war on poverty was winnable, it would be over by now but instead we have an ever increasing wealth gap.

I would be legitimately shocked if you donated anywhere close to 1% of your income to charity.

I'm a libertarian free thinker who hates the R's just a little less than I hate the D's, but Trump is a RINO so he's right up there with the D's for me. Also I just think that if you guys really believe this causes are so worthy, you guys are in such fortunate positions that you can contribute to the cause instead of just advocating that we all contribute. The hard truth for you guys is that you wouldn't actually put your money where your mouth is, but you want the almighty government to do the dirty work of stealing someone else's income and allocating as you see fit because in the end, you don't think it would actually cost that much to you. As long as it costs someone else more, than by all means, you're in favor of it but if it came directly out of your own pocket, then it isn't as appealing for you.

I’m not going to sit here and say how much I donate because it’ll only come off as being a pompous ass, just know some people will give an amount to causes they think are just and worth fighting for, whether for people, animals, or the environment. I wish I could do more to help those in need.

 

[Acquired Taste]

I’m not going to sit here and say how much I donate because it’ll only come off as being a pompous ass, just know some people will give an amount to causes they think are just and worth fighting for, whether for people, animals, or the environment. I wish I could do more to help those in need.

That's great man. Donate to whatever causes you think are great, I'm all for it. All I ask is that you don't use the government to force me to do the same so that you can feel good about yourself.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

I think there are definitely problems with our tax code, but I’m not sure how to correct the problem. I think we would be naive if we thought the mega rich were ever going to pay their fair share of taxes. They can utilize depreciation, unrealized capital gains, and real estate to show no income or a loss. I’m certain that even if we raised taxes on those making $400k+, like Biden wants to, it would only hurt doctors, lawyers, etc. Ultra billionaires like Bezos and Elon aren’t going to give it away and are going to find loopholes to show no income.

I mean no, you are never going to eliminate human nature, being greedy, power hungry and individualistic being a part of that for some.

You can absolutely make changes to how the super rich's assets are evaluated for taxation though and make it harder for them to hide money. How you do that.... Well I'm not an economist or a tax expert, I'm just so dude that sees shit is fucked up.

It's not that I don't care. Sure, I'll admit that I do have a hard time empathizing with people that are in shitty situations due to their own poor life choices. I do recognize some people are brought up in shitty situations and I recognize not everyone grew up with the same support system or parents who cared about them like myself but you have to understand that not everyone is created equal. It isn't the job for the government to try to level the playing field. Not everyone can be an NFL athlete or a model or a rocket scientist. The sad truth is some people were born to dig ditches. I had shitty jobs I hated before this one but I made choices that put me in a position to have an opportunity at this job. I do this job because I enjoy. I am smart enough to go to school and get a STEM degree but this made the most sense for me. Everyone has choices and yes, a lot of times the poors did do it to themselves. You donating money isn't going to change their outcomes, and neither is the government giving them welfare. If the war on poverty was winnable, it would be over by now but instead we have an ever increasing wealth gap.

I would be legitimately shocked if you donated anywhere close to 1% of your income to charity.

I'm a libertarian free thinker who hates the R's just a little less than I hate the D's, but Trump is a RINO so he's right up there with the D's for me. Also I just think that if you guys really believe this causes are so worthy, you guys are in such fortunate positions that you can contribute to the cause instead of just advocating that we all contribute. The hard truth for you guys is that you wouldn't actually put your money where your mouth is, but you want the almighty government to do the dirty work of stealing someone else's income and allocating as you see fit because in the end, you don't think it would actually cost that much to you. As long as it costs someone else more, than by all means, you're in favor of it but if it came directly out of your own pocket, then it isn't as appealing for you.

I mean.... I pay my taxes, I dont hire a cpa to find me loopholes, and I'm certainly not stashing it offshore, I'm not taking advantage of economic downturns due to national events to reinvest and buy low and make myself millions, etc. So ya, I take my paltry every man's salary, and put my money where my mouth is with taxes, I donate to charities I find worthwhile, and I'm not above giving a neighbor a hand when they need it.

Asking others to do the same according to their means isn't a hard ask, and if you think it is, ya you lack empathy and strike me as a self serving individual who doesn't deserve the opportunity afforded to you, because you obviously don't appreciate it.

Libertarianism is hot garbage. It's self centered nonsense for people with the selfish brains of children, and those with some misguided notion that one day they will actually benefit from it, and you only have to look back to the gilded age to see how well libertarian style economic and social policy works for people. Shocker here.... not well unless you are a Rockefeller.

 

[AB19]

That's great man. Donate to whatever causes you think are great, I'm all for it. All I ask is that you don't use the government to force me to do the same so that you can feel good about yourself.

I would never expect the government to make someone’s life worse, only someone else’s life better. I truly don’t think that we will ever have people in business voluntarily give more money up, and I do believe it is the job of the government to look after its citizens. I know that I will never change your mind over this, nor do I want to try to, I just ask that when you get angry about people who make millions every year with their business, and that they DO create countless jobs for the economy, I just want you to think that if they were taxed even 1% higher that a 1,000 can be used in so many ways to positively affect someone who’s struggling life.

 

[Acquired Taste]

I would never expect the government to make someone’s life worse, only someone else’s life better. I truly don’t think that we will ever have people in business voluntarily give more money up, and I do believe it is the job of the government to look after its citizens. I know that I will never change your mind over this, nor do I want to try to, I just ask that when you get angry about people who make millions every year with their business, and that they DO create countless jobs for the economy, I just want you to think that if they were taxed even 1% higher that a 1,000 can be used in so many ways to positively affect someone who’s struggling life.

Taxing one person to give to another makes the life of person who is paying the tax worse in an attempt to ineffectively try to make someone else's life better. The problem with raising taxes to pay for things is that you see all the "good" things that result but you don't see what was destroyed in the process. Maybe the extra taxes slowed down a businesses growth and prevented them from expanding and creating jobs that would benefit twice as many people as the tax increase did. There is so much production that is unrealized because it got destroyed before it had a chance to be created.

I mean no, you are never going to eliminate human nature, being greedy, power hungry and individualistic being a part of that for some.

You can absolutely make changes to how the super rich's assets are evaluated for taxation though and make it harder for them to hide money. How you do that.... Well I'm not an economist or a tax expert, I'm just so dude that sees shit is fucked up.


I mean.... I pay my taxes, I dont hire a cpa to find me loopholes, and I'm certainly not stashing it offshore, I'm not taking advantage of economic downturns due to national events to reinvest and buy low and make myself millions, etc. So ya, I take my paltry every man's salary, and put my money where my mouth is with taxes, I donate to charities I find worthwhile, and I'm not above giving a neighbor a hand when they need it.

Asking others to do the same according to their means isn't a hard ask, and if you think it is, ya you lack empathy and strike me as a self serving individual who doesn't deserve the opportunity afforded to you, because you obviously don't appreciate it.

Libertarianism is hot garbage. It's self centered nonsense for people with the selfish brains of children, and those with some misguided notion that one day they will actually benefit from it, and you only have to look back to the gilded age to see how well libertarian style economic and social policy works for people. Shocker here.... not well unless you are a Rockefeller.

I pay my taxes too. I'm just an average joe and I pay taxes out the ass. I rent modest apartment. I drive a pretty decent, reliable vehicle. I'm not exactly living it up. Do you even realize how much money you pay in taxes every year?

Sorry that wanting to have maximum individual freedom and choices and the ability to keep as much of what I earn is so selfish. My money would be much better spent if I just handed it over to the elected elites who know how to solve all the problems that only thing they lack is enough money to fix the world. I'm sure they know what is best for me. I don't have to be a Rockefeller to want to keep more of my income and retain more personal liberty. I'll go ahead and break down my taxes here in the next post and then go to bed.

 

[Peter Gibbons]

Taxing one person to give to another makes the life of person who is paying the tax worse in an attempt to ineffectively try to make someone else's life better. The problem with raising taxes to pay for things is that you see all the "good" things that result but you don't see what was destroyed in the process. Maybe the extra taxes slowed down a businesses growth and prevented them from expanding and creating jobs that would benefit twice as many people as the tax increase did. There is so much production that is unrealized because it got destroyed before it had a chance to be created.

I pay my taxes too. I'm just an average joe and I pay taxes out the ass. I rent modest apartment. I drive a pretty decent, reliable vehicle. I'm not exactly living it up. Do you even realize how much money you pay in taxes every year?

Sorry that wanting to have maximum individual freedom and choices and the ability to keep as much of what I earn is so selfish. My money would be much better spent if I just handed it over to the elected elites who know how to solve all the problems that only thing they lack enough money to fix the world. I'm sure they know what is best for me. I don't have to be a Rockefeller to want to keep more of my income and retain more personal liberty. I'll go ahead and break down my taxes here in the next post and then go to bed.

I'm all for the individual liberty portion of the platform. Plenty of countries share most, if not all of our rights and none of those rights preclude society from bettering itself, so that's a cop out, you can absolutely have both.

As for the rest of it, Don't waste your time breaking down your taxes, and it's on us to elect better officials, we elect them, they aren't gifted the positions.

If you think deregulation is somehow magically going to eliminate greed on behalf of those in a position to take advantage well before you get in a position to do so and capitalize enough to make your life substantially better and allow you to be more "free".... Well I got nothing for that, that's something you are going to have to figure out on your own.

 

[32andBelow]

Taxing one person to give to another makes the life of person who is paying the tax worse in an attempt to ineffectively try to make someone else's life better. The problem with raising taxes to pay for things is that you see all the "good" things that result but you don't see what was destroyed in the process. Maybe the extra taxes slowed down a businesses growth and prevented them from expanding and creating jobs that would benefit twice as many people as the tax increase did. There is so much production that is unrealized because it got destroyed before it had a chance to be created.

I pay my taxes too. I'm just an average joe and I pay taxes out the ass. I rent modest apartment. I drive a pretty decent, reliable vehicle. I'm not exactly living it up. Do you even realize how much money you pay in taxes every year?

Sorry that wanting to have maximum individual freedom and choices and the ability to keep as much of what I earn is so selfish. My money would be much better spent if I just handed it over to the elected elites who know how to solve all the problems that only thing they lack is enough money to fix the world. I'm sure they know what is best for me. I don't have to be a Rockefeller to want to keep more of my income and retain more personal liberty. I'll go ahead and break down my taxes here in the next post and then go to bed.

We only got so much money man. They can’t make 700 billion during a pandemic.

 

[BigEggplant]

Just to add to this shit show, I’ll definitely pay more in taxes (no more FICA limit) under Biden’s plan, but if that alone can keep social security solvent for another 100 years I’m totally okay with it.

I hope one day I’m liquidating assets to have more than 1m in income in a single year, and if I do? I’ll grumble about the taxes for sure. But what did me buying and holding on to AMZN or BTC really do to help society? Not very much.

I would like to see Warren Buffet head up a commission on how to properly tax wealthy people though, in a way that‘s fair and still allows them to maintain their position on the Forbes 500 list or whatever.

Lest we all forget, paying your income tax is patriotic! It’s to support America!

Last of all, as a Californian who made a nice chunk of change last year, my spouse and I are extremely comfortable, live a very good life, save and invest a large portion of our income, and are perfectly happy to pay a shitload in taxes. It’s nice that our kids can go to decent public schools, the roads are paved, the air is clean, the ocean too.

I understand the frustration of seeing the government use your money inefficiently, but the way to solve that problem is to vote.

 

[Acquired Taste]

Nhstadt
So gross income after diffs is about 80k.

Using the smart asset income tax calculator, for 2019 we're looking at $10,775 for federal income tax, and additional $6120 in FICA taxes, and $4184 in NY state income tax. That's $21,079 or 26.35% just in income taxes. Not to mention the FAA matches the FICA tax so that's another $6120 that it costs my employer to employ me. You might as well count that as tax paid by me being that it is simply a cost of employing someone that the employer would otherwise be able to pay to the employee. I know you'll throw a fit though so we won't count that.

Next up, we have sales tax. That comes in at a whopping 8% every time I want to spend my money that I was already taxed on, so that's pretty cool.

I don't own a house but a decent house around here will run you about 170k and it was built in the 60s and comes with a $5k property tax bill. The income tax calculator actually put my property tax bill up at about $7k so $5k would be pretty cheap.

NY taxes every gallon of gas at 45.6 cents. That's like a 23% tax on gas. Awesome.

Then you have your typical vehicle registration fees and annual inspection (chump change coming in at a measily $125ish)

Don't forget your bottle deposit that costs .05 for every can or bottle of water you buy.

I'm sure I am forgetting some things but all in all, the smart asset thing estimates I'm probably paying about 37% of my gross income in taxes. (add that 7.65% employer paid FICA taxes if you dare). At what point is enough, enough?

On top of that, we have all these other wonderful laws up here like how restrictive it is to own a gun and the fees associated with that. I'm not allowed to have any tint on my car windows. They're not allowed to give me plastic bags at the grocery store.

We also have cool laws like a push to get to $15/hr min wage within the next few years with gradual steps. As a result, everything is more expensive. That $1 taco bell value item in OKC? $1.39 up here. My chick fil a order is at least $20% higher up here as well. My grocery bill? Man I miss those Publix BOGO's because they do not exist up here. The best sale they got is like save .30 on oreos when you buy 2 packs. But hey, at least maybe one day everyone will have a living wage, even if that Big Mac meal costs $14.99.

That's just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are countless more dumb laws I'm missing. But you call that freedom? I'm not even on LI. I guess our ideas of a utopian society are just a little different. Maybe some day I'll be lucky enough to pay more than 50% of my income on taxes, but until then, I'd rather just have a little higher standard of living. On that note, I'm going to bed.