I saw this at another forum that I read and thought y'all would appreciate it. I don't know who the author is.

HG

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is too true to be very funny!

The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" in a casual manner, think about whether you want the "politicians" spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number, what does it mean?

A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.

B. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.C .. HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken??


Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
If he cries,
Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax him until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
"Taxes drove me to my doom!"

And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
F ood License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax),
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax),
Liquor Tax,
Luxury Tax,
Marriage License Tax,
Medicare Tax,
Property Tax,
Real Estate Tax,
Service charge taxes,
Social Security Tax,
Road Usage Tax (Truckers),
Sales Taxes,
Recreational Vehicle Tax,
School Tax,
State Income Tax,
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA),
Telephone Federal Excise Tax,
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago,
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to "press 1" for English.

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times

What the heck happened?????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've seen it all before, some of it is decades old.

Most people can't comprehend scale, that's why so many politicians get away with such interesting gaffes without being held accountable.

Ms. Landrieu will probably be re-elected without opposition.

What happened?


we advanced as a nation. no longer riding horse and buggies. we made highways, bridges and was soon able to travel further on a daily basis then ever imagined. we started using indoor plumbing and electric lights. Air travel came about letting us travel across oceans in less time then even the biggest dreamer ever dreamed. we became a society rather then struggling by ourselves. we saw advances in medicines which lengthened our lives...note that prior to WW1 business's paid taxes..people didn't. maybe we should go back huh????? that'ld make repubs scream!!!!!!!!!

And who owns these businesses you would be so happy to tax?

American citizens.

Besides we already have been over this, the United States pays the second highest corporate income tax of any industrialized nation.

Don't you retain anything you read in your head? Or are you too blinded by your hatred of Corporations-Bush-Republicans?

Not all business's are owned by Americans.

Corporate Tax Dodgers

April, 2003
by [LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.
It is unseemly that in a time of war and budget deficits, a swelling tide of corporations has decided to dodge taxes by relocating in tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Tax avoidance of this sort takes two forms. In one, called "inversion", a U.S. corporation reincorporates so that its headquarters legally are located in a foreign jurisdiction. By placing itself below a newly established overseas shell, the corporation reduces its taxes by shifting profits to that shell. A second and similar ploy concerns patents. Firms place patents in tax havens and then have their subsidiaries charge the parent firm for their use. Nothing is lost for the firm, but the parent company gets to declare lower profits, and thereby reduces its tax liability.

You may have noticed that the prominent columnist, Arianna Huffington, has taken up the struggle against this subversion of our tax base. It is a fight worth waging.

Not surprisingly The Wall Street Journal has come to the defense of corporate tax avoiders. It argues that corporate taxes in the United States are too high, writing "when companies are fleeing the U.S. tax code to stay competitive abroad, there's something wrong with the tax code, not with the companies." In defending its position the WSJ cites a 35% tax rate on US corporate income which, it says, is the fifth highest rate among 26 comparably developed countries.

However, merely citing the tax rate as the WSJ does, fails to accurately measure whether United States corporations are in fact over-taxed. Anyone who has filed tax returns knows that the rules concerning exemptions, exceptions, deductions, and credits significantly affect the actual level of taxation. The tax rate, taken alone, can be seriously misleading.

The data reveal that it is more nearly the truth that corporations in the United States are under-taxed rather than over-taxed. Of the 29 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United States was among the countries with the lowest corporate taxes as a percentage of total taxes collected, and the lowest corporate taxes as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product. Clearly United States corporations do not seek tax havens because American taxation is excessive.

Indeed in a report issued in May 2002 the Bush Administration's own Office of Tax Policy admitted as much. As the tax analyst Martin A. Sullivan puts it in commenting on that report, the current rules to protect the tax base in the United States "don't work."

The problem of tax havens reflects the conflict of interest involved in corporations' possessing a disproportionately large role in writing the rules governing their own behavior. Corporations should serve the public's interest. That can only be accomplished if members of the public -- not the corporations themselves-- establish the regulatory context in which firms operate. Unfortunately in a political system funded by private wealth, the opposite is more likely to be true. Corporations, through the private contributions of their representatives to political campaigns, are able to dominate the shape of the legislation that affects their immediate interests.

Sullivan acknowledges this problem. After reviewing data on tax shelters and the problems caused by the shifting of corporate resources overseas, he asks "will [the Department of the] Treasury take action to counter this trend and protect the fisc?" He answers pessimistically. The Treasury, he writes, will probably not be under pressure to reform because "the taxwriting committees in Congress give no indication that they wish to exercise oversight" on this issue. That complacency by members of Congress, Sullivan writes, "is consistent with the interests of their corporate benefactors?."

As with so many of the problems that confront our society, solutions can be devised. Corporate overseas tax avoidance can be prevented. But doing so in all likelihood will require a prior first step. We will need to elect political decision-makers who are responsive to the broad public desire to protect the tax base. But such politicians will only be elected if we establish a political system in which private donors do not dominate. Only in such a political setting will it be possible to end corporate overseas tax evasion.


So much for your 2nd highest tax chart....

your article is from 2003.

Table 1: U.S. Corporate Tax Rate Rises to Second-Highest in OECD Ranking 2000-2006
Country
Japan
United States8
Germany
Canada
France
Spain
Belgium
Italy
New Zealand
Greece
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Mexico
Australia
Turkey
United Kingdom
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Portugal
Korea
Czech Republic
Finland
Austria
Switzerland
Poland
Slovak Republic
Iceland
Hungary
Ireland
OECD Average9
Note: Small changes are usually attributable to changes in sub-national rates.
[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

next argument you need me to shoot down.

Tax avoidance for one is not illegal. Do you not avoid paying taxes ? I do all the time. I will bet you do also.

Corporations do not pay taxes. They must pass that cost to the consumer thus if you tax them you tax yourself. If you tax them enough you will force them to avoid paying them or force them to move operations out of the country. We have been driving jobs away for decades this way.

__________________
Neoconservatism is the political philosophy that emerged in rejection of liberalism and the New Left counter-culture of the 1960s.

As a term, neoconservative first was used derisively by democrat socialist Michael Harrington to identify a group of people (who called themselves liberal) as newly conservative ex-liberals. The term stuck, because it is accurate and because neoconservatives accepted that they are conservative.

I'll be darned; we've found something that we are in complete agreement about. I guess Hell can freeze over after all...
rx

I have proof.

__________________
Neoconservatism is the political philosophy that emerged in rejection of liberalism and the New Left counter-culture of the 1960s.

As a term, neoconservative first was used derisively by democrat socialist Michael Harrington to identify a group of people (who called themselves liberal) as newly conservative ex-liberals. The term stuck, because it is accurate and because neoconservatives accepted that they are conservative.

And the reasons for all these taxes are laid out in the laws in which they were created, voted on, passed, and signed into law.
I like Ron Pauls idea of the flat tax. As in almost "No-tax". Unlike Hucklberry's 30% sales tax on everything.
We pay taxes on taxes. Thats messed up. I think this country would do alot better without funding the federal government.