It's 2018 bro.
Yeesh, you're right. That last thing I want to do is put more time back on the clock.
It's 2018 bro.
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
That was a regrettably vague statement on my part. I was trying to say something halfway clever about the political philosophies of the forum in general manifesting against another political philosophy with which two forum users seem to identify, yet probably don't really represent, but I got really lazy with that and it came out totally wrong. Sorry about that.
No shit, right?Okay, so, anarchist confirmed then. Moving on.
Two things - maybe I'm being unfair by taking him at face value, but if UtF says "there was no income tax before the early 1900s," to me, that sounds like he believes there was no income tax before the 1900s. That's categorically untrue.I think he's referring to the personal federal income tax during peacetime, and by fully implemented, he means fully implemented without the courts knocking it down.
I'm kind of shocked that this would be considered a rational demand, as worded. It'd be like reading the ten commandments in the Bible: "thou shalt not this and thou shalt not that, oh, and also make sure you keep the Sabbath," and Moses said "I cannot accept those rules, because it wasn't descriptive enough about what I can do."
Also, the bigger change IMO between ther 1800s and the 1900/2000s is probably the mix of taxation. In the 1800s we did have periodic income taxes levied, but we relied much more heavily on trade tarrifs, excise taxes, duty taxes, stamp taxes, etc, and other forms of taxation on economic activity. In tthe 1900s and onwards we moved from taxing activity to taxing the gains from activity, which from a pure market standpoint I'm a fair amount more comfortable with, because it discourages economic activity less than a gains-based approach to taxation (if you're taxed on the income you gain from engaging in a particular transaction, then high volume, low profit transactions still make economic sense, whereas in a transaction-based taxing structure, the tax costs of transaction quickly make the activity uneconomical. Income tax is essentially a taxation on outcomes, rather than on process, and places the highest taxes (in dollar terms) on the best outcomes, rather than the most attempts. It's a little more pro-growth than a transaction-based tax, which is what we relied on before income tax became more broadbased.Not to totally sidestep the rest of your argument but the minutae doesn't matter a whole lot when this is a large enough fallacy on it's own.
Stating the obvious but you've pointed out that a government in a world entirely different from now, 100+ years ago was able to exist without a "peacetime person income tax", which is an entirely different argument from saying it's practical in 2017. ALSO stating the obvious, they had it that way and obviously decided it was in their best interest to implement the tax; which I'm sure was a hard sell, so they must've had good reason why the current system was necessary.
Also, you're both starting to REALLY piss me off with "OMG, this is too OT, these arguments are unfair" stuff. We're actually down to talking tax in a tax thread and you're still pulling this shit. You're not the fucking moderators and you don't decide what's too far off-topic, I do and if you don't like it,don't fucking come in here.
Well THIS is an entirely different kettle of fish than frontloading your arguments about the federal government by calling into question "peactime personal income tax" as a whole.
My position, I don't think our tax system is insanely, wildly out of whack. There's not much I want to do with my life that's entirely out of reach on a fair income in the current system, or like I'd be living like a king if there were no taxes at all. My biggest issue is that, for WHAT we pay, the quality of services we get in return is piss poor. I don't mind paying $10 for a cheeseburger at a decent restaurant, but I'm not going to pay $10 for a McDonald's cheeseburger. Once that comes into focus, you have a choice of deciding if the quality of the service is too low, or the tax burden for it is too high; to me, that's decided on rationally arriving at the importance of the service that's in question and objectively analyzing what's a fair level of service for all who participate.
The only difference between me and Libertarians in that regard is that I don't think the solution is slashing the budget and tax system to zero; its to audit the departments top to bottom, eliminate what's necessary to shrink some (or a lot) of them back to realistic size and place an increased focus on results and on stability.
Two things - maybe I'm being unfair by taking him at face value, but if UtF says "there was no income tax before the early 1900s," to me, that sounds like he believes there was no income tax before the 1900s. That's categorically untrue.
And, your second question, put it back in context - "I'm not an anarchist, I think there should be some limited government." "Ok, sure. What do you think that government should exist to do?" "I think it shouldn't do this, this, and this." It's a totally fair question to someone who claims they believe there should be a government and they're not actually an anarchist, because, well, I don't think it's wildly unfair to argue that anything you think should exist should exist for a reason, you know?
I don't think there's dog-piling going on, per se, so much as a broad attempt to get UtF to commit to what he actually believes in, if not anarchy. But, if this is dogpiling, it's certainly not aimed at you nor is it aimed at libertarianism.
I did answer your question. You must have missed it.No shit, right?
Two things - maybe I'm being unfair by taking him at face value, but if UtF says "there was no income tax before the early 1900s," to me, that sounds like he believes there was no income tax before the 1900s. That's categorically untrue.
And, your second question, put it back in context - "I'm not an anarchist, I think there should be some limited government." "Ok, sure. What do you think that government should exist to do?" "I think it shouldn't do this, this, and this." It's a totally fair question to someone who claims they believe there should be a government and they're not actually an anarchist, because, well, I don't think it's wildly unfair to argue that anything you think should exist should exist for a reason, you know?
I don't think there's dog-piling going on, per se, so much as a broad attempt to get UtF to commit to what he actually believes in, if not anarchy. But, if this is dogpiling, it's certainly not aimed at you nor is it aimed at libertarianism.
EDIT - and just saw your apology for the vagueness there. That makes my explanation less necessary, but whatever - carry on.
...and this is why, while I think you're completely and utterly wrong, I'd still happily grab a beer with you if the opportunity ever presented itself.I was putting a hell of a lot of words into another person's mouth, regrettably. The "infographic" provided after the fact pretty much served me those words I said on a plate with a little ketchup on the side to eat them.
I used to be a card-carrying Libertarian, with a capital L, and since the Bob Barr era, I've forgotten, on occasion, that I've drifted far away from the party's current platform, and especially from some of the other idealists who identify with the party.
6.
To, ahem, go briefly back on topic, Gov. Cuomo just released his FY19 state budget, which includes 1) the creation of a new employer-based payroll tax to alleviate the impact of the state tax cap, and 2) the creation of two charitable funds New Yorkers can donate to in order to fund the state's education and health care needs, respectively, and in return can receive a state tax credit. Charitable deductions are of course still federally tax deductible.
On topic...
California, it seems, is going to try a tax loophole where you can donate your state tax and they'll match it dollar for dollar, such that you can deduct it from your federal tax. New York has said they might do the same. It'd be a way for Blue states to get back at the TOP for raising taxes on them, but it'll probably face a court battle.
Your property taxes are high enough that this could have an outsized impact on you. I know a few other states, CA most notably, are exploring similar avenues.I hope Vermont follows that path as well, but knowing how VT is about taxes, they probably won't.