On Wed, 21 Sep 2011 05:56:52 +0000 (UTC),
(Edward A. Falk) wrote:

snip
Tax the rich. Tax the corporations. Take their wealth. Give it to the
little people. Make life fair.

Are these people so foolish to think these people and companies will not
relocate and I mean RIGHT NOW to third world countries to keep their wealth?

Taxes on the rich used to be much, much higher than they are now and
there was no mass relocation to 3rd world countries back then.

Try this exercise: look up the countries with the lowest tax rates.
Post it here. Let's see what kind of utopias we're talking about.
snip
===============

The costs to operate and maintain a developed country are
high and projected to go higher.

Someone must pay for the infrastructure improvement and
maintenance, e.g. roads, bridges, canals, ports, airports,
sewers, water, etc. Someone must pay for "education,"
especially for free, universal compulsory education, which
is required to keep the whole thing running. Someone must
pay for the military force to defend the country. Someone
must pay for the emergency/public safety services we all
take for granted such as police, fire, and EMT. Someone
must pay for the courts, land registeries and prisons.
Someone must pay for clean food and effective drugs. Someone
must pay for the social services and "safety nets."

When individuals and organizations attempt to enjoy the
benefits and services of a developed country but are
unwilling to pay their share of the cost, it is called
"freeloading" or tax evasion, and what they don't pay, but
use *MUST BE PAID FOR BY EVERONE ELSE.*

Even when a corporation relocates their production out of
the country to reduce labor and regulatory costs, they still
make use of large numbers of benefits and services, for
example patent/trademark protection by the courts and law
enforcement. Their real property is protected by the
courts, land registry, and fire/police. They make extensive
use of the infrastructure such as roads, bridges, canals,
ports and airports to distribute their products. The
individuals running these corporations expect public safety
services for themselves and their families. They expect
their food to be safe and their drugs to be effective. They
want their schools to be effective. They just feel it is
unfair they or their companies have to pay for any of it.

Even if the other posters are correct with the old saw
"companies/corporations don't pay taxes, their customers do"
(which is highly questionable, as some of the cost is to the
owners in the form of lower dividends), it is still
worthwhile to tax the corporations their full and fair share
of the national operating costs, so their customers know the
actual cost of the product when the pay at the cash
register, rather than making only a partial payment at the
cash register and an addition *LARGE* payment on April 15th,
through the IRS.


Having said that, it is also apparent that huge amounts of
US governmental revenue, at all levels, are diverted and
wasted on obsolete, extraneous, and fraudulent schemes and
programs. However, the Greek solution of "do-it-yourself"
tax cuts and a large and growing informal or "black" Greek
economy, rather than undertaking the difficult but necessary
task of repurposing and reconstituting their government to
minimize waste while meeting current vital national
requirements, does not appear to be a viable solution.


--
Unka' George

"Gold is the money of kings,
silver is the money of gentlemen,
barter is the money of peasants,
but debt is the money of slaves"

-Norm Franz, "Money and Wealth in the New Millenium"