Text 3256, 107 rader
Skriven 2006-07-04 12:47:00 av Robert E Starr JR (3729.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Atheists: America's m
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* * * This message was from Josh Hill to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.m * * *
         * * * and has been forwarded to you by Lord Time * * *         
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@MSGID: <45gja297ga1b2dhftc5dhjha0bhviejqa6@4ax.com>
@REPLY: <kurtullman-54586A.23282630062006@news.west.earthlink.net>
On Mon, 03 Jul 2006 12:09:57 -0700, Charlie Edmondson
<edmondson@ieee.org> wrote:

>Josh Hill wrote:
>>>actually letting keep some of it.
>>=20
>>=20
>> Dude, it the government's the moment our fellow citizen gave his life
>> for us.
>>=20
>Ok, Josh, now you are scaring me.  I really, really, REALLY hope you are=
=20
>just trolling here, that this is not what you really believe.
>
>Do you really, SERIOUSLY believe that OUR GOVERNMENT should be trusted=20
>with EVERYONE'S estate when they die?  That widows and orphans should be=
=20
>totally, absolutely dependent on the government for their support when=20
>the bread winner in a family passes, or just that they must fend for=20
>themselves, since if you are looking at the same, inefficient government=
=20
>I am looking at, I would never assume they could accomplish so important=
=20
>a task.
>
>Or do you believe that there should be some sort of sliding scale, where=
=20
>the REALLY rich (i.e they have more than you do) should be soaked, but=20
>you and other right-thinking individuals should be allowed to keep and=20
>pass on their hard earned money.

And do you still beat your wife?=20

Let's see what the wealthy Republican president who proposed the
estate tax, Teddy Roosevelt, had this to say:

"It is most desirable to encourage thrift and ambition, and a potent
source of thrift and ambition is the desire on the part of the
breadwinner to leave his children well off. This object can be
attained by making the tax very small on moderate amounts of
property."

http://www.pgtoday.com/pgt/articles/mt_rushmore_and_a_history.htm

>You have even related how IN YOUR OWN FAMILY, they took land entrusted=20
>to them by a forefather, and SOLD IT (Oh MY!) and kept the proceeds when=
=20
>THEY THEMSELVES had not earned that money.  Oh, how you must be=20
>ashamed... ;-)

Actually, we didn't keep most of the proceeds -- we gave most of it
away to a charitable organization, which only a few weeks ago sold it
to the local town for use as a park. They're currently discussing some
sort of memorial to my Grandfather, who would have been gladdened to
see his property so used.

>Josh, the estate tax had very little to do about preventing an American=20
>Aristocracy, and everything to do about class envy. THEY had money, WE=20
>didn't, and we decided to take it.  Of course, we wanted to keep OUR=20
>money, so we put in loopholes, and then, HORRORS! THEY used the same=20
>loopholes.  Real purpose of estate tax, to keep those rambuncious middle=
=20
>classes from gaining too much wealth, and not being middle class=20
>anymore.  The PTB just didn't spin it that way to the masses, such as yo=
u...

Er, as I said, the estate was introduced by the very upper class
Theodore Roosevelt:

"Roosevelt formally proposed a federal inheritance tax in a message to
Congress on December 4, 1906. His reasoning is quite different from
Carnegie=92s. Carnegie thought that the wealthy had a particular
obligation to the poor. Roosevelt thought that the wealthy had a
special obligation to the government itself. 'The man of great wealth
owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special
advantages from the mere existence of government.' The wealthy
individual needs to pay for the 'protection' that the State provides
for his or her property, a military force that defends private
property from foreign threat and a legal system/police force that
protects private property from domestic theft. Roosevelt is echoing
Adam Smith=92s observation in the Wealth of Nations: 'It is only under
the shelter of the civil magistrate that the owner of valuable
property can sleep a single night in security'."

Ibid.

--=20
Josh

"I love it when I'm around the country club, and I hear people talking ab=
out the debilitating
effects of a welfare society. At the same time, they leave their kids a l=
ifetime and beyond
of food stamps. Instead of having a welfare officer, they have a trust of=
ficer. And instead
of food stamps, they have stocks and bonds."

- Warren Buffett
                                                           
--- SBBSecho 2.11-Win32
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