KaphenDePriest
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@PatrickRichard @Parley @_Zero30_ @Revkeyes
LOL Patrick... sorry to laugh, but I really feel your pain. When I was reading your comment, I felt like I had written it myself.
In Texas, we have a constitutional admendment the prohibits an income tax... so what do they do? The pass a law implementing a Franchise Fee on every business... They have fiddled with it, but basically it is 1% of revenue... even if you lose money!
Now, they say it is NOT an income tax, even though it is based on business income.
My next door neighbor works for a large corporation and he pays zero tax on his income, but because I own my own business and provide jobs for 10 families in North Texas... by the way, our lowest paid employee earn more than $50k per year, and I pay 100% of their health insurance premiums out of my own pocket... I have to give the government 1% of my revenue and in addition, I have to pay personal property taxes on business assets that amount to 3% of the value of my inventory and assets every year.
Recently we needed to expand our warehouse space so I rented space and started through the process of getting a certificate of occupancy that is required by the county. That was in January... it is now May and I still don't have the CO. I turns out the county doesn't have a person on staff to do the inspections that they require me to have. Sigh... I have been down to the county offices 5 times and pay nearly $400 in fees, but still no CO.
Last year, the US Department of Labor wanted to check my records to make sure I wasn't trying to avoid payroll taxes by hiring people under the table. They actually sent me a form 2 pages long with all of the documents that I would be required to show them, including every check I have ever written. Preparation for the audit took 2 days and the audit took 1 day. Again, even though they had no suspicion that I had done anything wrong, they said they just wanted to check to be sure.
Whatever happened to the 4th amendment? No search warrant needed, and if I refused... jail time baby!
In my career, I have served in upper management of some very large technology companies. Frankly, I most ignored government regulations to the extent that I was able by shuffling them off onto various support organizations, HR, Safety, Legal, etc.
Now I own and manage my own much smaller business in the same industry and I directly feel the impact of government regulation. I would like to tell you about a recent example:
We were selected by the Department of the Census to fill out some reports. When I say selected, I mean ordered under htreat of jail time. The Census people wanted me to fill out forms on a quarterly basis to fully describe ALL shipment of any kind from my facility for a specific week.
They sent me a 50 page book with instruction on how to classify various kinds of items. I am to tell them every item shipped, how it was shipped, who it was shipped to, how much did it weigh, air, boat, truck,etc.
The report takes about 8 manhours to complete, once per quarter. This equates to about 1.5% of a standard manyear of working. I am a slave for the government. They can order me to do anything they want and I must obey or go to jail.
This regulation was not written by any of our elected officials, it was determined by functionaries in the Census department.
Yep, I am now more slave than free. My tax burden, sales tax, income tax, property tax, excise taxes, personal business property taxes, franchise fees, etc. Now account for more than half of my annual income.
Now, they don't just demand my money... they are directly taking my time... or else!
The main reason I respond to posts from guys like Revkeyes is to present the other side of the argument for other people who are reading the comments. Revkeyes will not be persuaded, but many other people will take the time to embrace the fruits and responsibilities of Liberty.
Patrick, I'm sorry you feel I am coming off a bit dickish. Perhaps I do come off that way. However, I get sick of guys like him who spout off crap and them claim their statements are "common sense", which implies that the other guy has none.
I believe I was simply responding to the "Dickish behavior" exhibited by Revkeyes.
Go back and read the hyper tensive wording in his comments. His comments are almost entirely without basis in fact. He is insulting and condescending.He is wrong and he is a dick.
By the way, I am not trying to win Revkeyes over. I don't think that is possible. I am trying to present an alternative to his drivel.
@Revkeyes I honestly don't understand your insulting attitude. I have been polite in all my discourse with you. On the otherhand, you have been dismissive of my opinions with zero intellectual reasoning. You do this by throwing out an opinion and then claiming that opinion is "common sense".
You seem to be intent on missing my point everytime.It doesn't matter if you are fat or not. My point is if someone thinks you are, then the government can force you to do something about it.
You want to be a slave to the government and I do not. You may just get your way as there are a large number of people like you who want security over liberty.
If your sole goal was to further convince yourself how much of a smartass you can be, congratulations.
I am sorry we are unable to have a fruitful conversation about this as I am usually very convincing in my arguments. In your analogy about the pig, are you that hard to convince because you think I lack skill, or because you refuse to listen to and consider the opinions of others?I think you understand the "what" of my view, but I doubt you understand the "why" of my view. Otherwise you would agree with my view completely and more... you would be lifted to a new height in intellectual thought. You would literally be freed.People who follow Ron Paul's ideas are not fanatics, they are people who have had their eyes opened by the truth.The only way that the government can accomplish what it does is by force and the threat of force. Their principle is, "Do what I say or I will hurt you."As an example, you said earlier that you wanted the government to force companies to properly label their products. Your premise is properly labeled products will only occur if the government uses the force of regulations to accomplish it.
This premise is nonsense. The market would accomplish the same thing without the gigantic increased cost inccurred by the government. However, the key question to me, is should you be able to force your desires on other people who do NOT desire the same things you do. To me, everything else is secondary. Food labels are NOT free. My customers do NOT care about labels. Should they be forced to pay extra for their food just because you think it is a good idea? You already have the "market" option of buying food that is labeled to suit you. If more people want labels, and are willing to pay for labels, then I will begin to label my products.When "you" use the government to force me to do what you want, just remember... I may become politically active and use the government to force "You" to do what I want. Frankly, from your picture, I think you could stand to lose a little weight. Maybe we should have the government force you to exercise and eat less. After all, why should I pay more for the cost of Obamacare because you refuse to get yourself into good shape.
The MARKET should be the regulation on business with very few exceptions. If you want products that are properly labled, then buy those products and the market will make more. Do you think the government currently prevents fraudulent claims by business? Look at any weigh loss product and tell me if you still believe it.
The government should protect me from people who want to use force to control my non-violent and non-criminal behavior.
What you claim to be "common sense" is anything but. In fact it is tyranny.
You suggested people learn some history. One of the primary jobs of the Federal Government is to protect the rights and liberty of American citizens. This includes preventing the state governments from trampling on our rights.Jim Crow laws were bad. These laws should have been overturned. However, they should have been overturned in a constitutional manner by the courts.The Civil Rights Act, overturned the Jim Crow laws by taking rights away from one group of people in order to provide them to other people.The Jim Crow laws took away rights from black people and from white people. Black people could not shop in my store and as a white businessman, I could not serve black people. I am not rying to equate the two situations, but I am trying to point out that anytime the government gets involved in resticting the rights of the people, we all suffer.Just because we support Liberty, does NOT mean we endorse bad behavior.
@Revkeyes - YOU should learn some history. It was GOVERNMENT that passed and enforced the Jim Crow laws, not business. As always, government is the root of all evil.
Yes he is insane. His initials explain this. F U. The "U" stands for up. You can guess what the "F" stands for.
1. Voting is by secret ballet, so you do NOT know who she voted for.
2. You claim that Ron Paul supporters resort to name calling and personal atacks, and then you do exactly that: "you are the worst example of why America is going backwards."3. If you read the many comments on this page, you will find that we have defended him with actual facts and not just opinions.
What are you talking about? Of course she has a way to defend herself. She could easily come onto this website and write something. If she doesn't have a defense, it is because what she wrote is indefensible.
1. An opinion is just that. It usually starts with, "I think... followed by what the writer thinks." This artcle did some of that, but then went on the make statements of facts that were not supported or supportable. Just because it is published in the opinion section, doesn't change that fact.2. Scandinavia is NOT a country. It is a cultural entity usually considered to be made up of 3 countries, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Your use of it as an example is intellectually dishonest. These three countries are very homogenous to the point of being more than 95% Germanic in make up. They have no immigrant subclass.3. Scanadinavian countries have very tiny militaries. By the way, Sweden’s position in the early 1990s had some striking parallels with that of the United States today. It had experienced a sharp recession following the collapse of a housing bubble. Its banking system had nearly collapsed and required a costly government rescue. The deficit reached 11 percent of GDP and debt was around 70 percent, close to today’s U.S. numbers. They corrected many of their problems by applying some very right wing economics. Mainly they stopped spending money they didn't have. By law they must NOT run a deficit.4. By the way, the suicide rate in all Scandinavian countries is higher, much higher than that in the USA. I guess all that great standard of living makes them want to kill themselves.
Tricia, Your article is very, very bad. I don't have the time to explain how wrong you are on nearly every single thing you say, but I will take the time to examine one error.You say, "If elected, Ron Paul would seek to eliminate minimum wage. He claims that this would be good for the economy and that eliminating minimum wage would make it possible for businesses to hire more employees. But at what cost?
Let’s say minimum wage is abolished and everyone is employed for $4 an hour. Will people be able to pay for rent, food, healthcare and other costs of living on that kind of wage even if they work full-time?"
Sorry, that's not the way it works. People should earn what their labor is worth in economic terms. It is no different than trying to legislate the price of carrots at the grocery store. The price will be determined by how much people are willing to pay, no more and no less. Should the government force you to pay $10 per carrot just to make sure the farmer makes enough money for growing carrots? If the cost of a carrot is $1, do you naturally want to pay the store $2 just because you think it's good to pay a farmer more? Price controls never work. Never!Wages work the same way. If my competition is paying $8 per hour and I want their people, I will pay more for that person or people with those same skills. If there are alot of people with those same skills and they all need jobs, I will pay less. It has nothing to do with charity or good intentions or altruism. Just like you wouldn't want to pay more than a carrot is worth, as a businessman, I don't want to pay more than labor is worth.Bottom line is if I pay more for labor, YOU will pay more for carrots. Guaranteed!
Here is a complete video comparison of the Herman Cain 999 plan vrs the RON PAUL 000 plan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izjd-oDj-Sw