One of the problems with the ‘make the billionaires pay’ theme is that an awful lot of people like their smartphones, electronic shopping, EVs, Social Media, Personal computers, and SQL databases and think that rockets that land vertically are way cool. Many of the billionaires you complain about have given us stuff that we like. Who benefits more from smartphones? You and I or the person who gets to look at a piece of paper that has more than nine digits on it.
I agree that we should be more generous to those who need help. I that you weaken your point when you complain about people who’ve made substantial contributions to our standard of living.
I think it’s comical that you credit billionaires for that stuff. Literally every single thing you mentioned was subsidized by federal tax grants and subsidies, and was invented far cheaper by government funded projects rather than private equity.
Billionaires are good at socializing the risk and privatizing the profit. That’s not innovation. That’s exploitation. Stop defending it. Start preventing it.
Certainly, Tesla and SpaceX made use of government subsidies, but those subsidies had a policy objective. The government got what it paid for. It doesn't sound credible that the Government created Amazon and just handed it over to Jeff Bezos. Certainly, many wealthy business owners have taken advantage of publicly funded research. People get hung up on who came up with the idea, but the idea is nothing while execution is everything.
It sounds like you are proposing a centrally planned economy. This has been tried many times and hasn't worked well in the past.
I'm sorry Howard and I say this in the most polite way possible - your ignorance to how heavily every single billionaire relies on federal subsidies, federal infrastructure, federal tax benefits, and federal socialized support, is blinding you from realizing no one becomes a billionaire on their own and without exploiting countless people. Who built the roads Bezos delivers his products on? Who built the electrical, gas, plumbing, sewage infrastructure Bezos uses to build his warehouses? Who funded the Rural Electrification Act to ensure Bezos could reach his customers? I mean the list is endless and its silly to even argue about it. What's wild is that as recently as 2018, Amazon took advantage of all those things given to it for free, and paid $0 in Federal income taxes. ZERO.
That's not the government getting what it paid for. That's exploitation of the highest order. And if you can't see that, there's not much to debate.
I'm not sure where the "corporations pay no tax" comes from. There just aren't that many ways for a profit-earning corporation to avoid paying taxes. The most common is the corporation lost more money in previous years and those losses this year's profit.
You are right that Bezos uses all the infrastructure provided by the public and Amazon's employees deserve credit as well. The thing is, the infrastructure and employees didn't just self-organize, and suddenly, there was Amazon. Bezos was the catalyst. He brought all these things together, raised the money to start Amazon, and then managed Amazon for many years. He proved himself a good steward of that portion of the economy.
According to Amazon's financial reports, Amazon paid $7 billion in tax in 2023.
"I'm not sure where the "corporations pay no tax" comes from. "
I appreciate you admitting your ignorance, which is what makes this conversation difficult. I recommend you educate yourself on basic facts first. Thanks.
As I said, Amazon paid $7 Billion in tax in 2023. This idea that corporations pay no tax is wrong. There are a couple of legitimate ways a corporation could avoid tax, but the usual is they are losing money or have lost money in previous years. In 2022, Amazon lost money, so they didn't pay taxes (actually, they probably received a refund). The idea that we don't benefit from the goods and services provided by corporations is silly. When you take an extreme position rather than one that is more nuanced a lot of people simply stop listening to you.
But of course. And my reply was inclusive to American humor. Did you know Will Roger's statue is in the halls of Congress? His most famous joke 100 years old and he was the biggest of stars on stage, screen, radio etc. His most famous joke "I'm not a member of an organized political party. I'm a Democrat." My fave joke "You ought to lead you life so you can sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
You need to develop a sense of humor. Mel Brooks famously said, "Your most powerful weapon again Satan is to mock him." Get it? I wrote a little funny joke.
One of the problems with the ‘make the billionaires pay’ theme is that an awful lot of people like their smartphones, electronic shopping, EVs, Social Media, Personal computers, and SQL databases and think that rockets that land vertically are way cool. Many of the billionaires you complain about have given us stuff that we like. Who benefits more from smartphones? You and I or the person who gets to look at a piece of paper that has more than nine digits on it.
I agree that we should be more generous to those who need help. I that you weaken your point when you complain about people who’ve made substantial contributions to our standard of living.
I think it’s comical that you credit billionaires for that stuff. Literally every single thing you mentioned was subsidized by federal tax grants and subsidies, and was invented far cheaper by government funded projects rather than private equity.
Billionaires are good at socializing the risk and privatizing the profit. That’s not innovation. That’s exploitation. Stop defending it. Start preventing it.
Certainly, Tesla and SpaceX made use of government subsidies, but those subsidies had a policy objective. The government got what it paid for. It doesn't sound credible that the Government created Amazon and just handed it over to Jeff Bezos. Certainly, many wealthy business owners have taken advantage of publicly funded research. People get hung up on who came up with the idea, but the idea is nothing while execution is everything.
It sounds like you are proposing a centrally planned economy. This has been tried many times and hasn't worked well in the past.
I'm sorry Howard and I say this in the most polite way possible - your ignorance to how heavily every single billionaire relies on federal subsidies, federal infrastructure, federal tax benefits, and federal socialized support, is blinding you from realizing no one becomes a billionaire on their own and without exploiting countless people. Who built the roads Bezos delivers his products on? Who built the electrical, gas, plumbing, sewage infrastructure Bezos uses to build his warehouses? Who funded the Rural Electrification Act to ensure Bezos could reach his customers? I mean the list is endless and its silly to even argue about it. What's wild is that as recently as 2018, Amazon took advantage of all those things given to it for free, and paid $0 in Federal income taxes. ZERO.
That's not the government getting what it paid for. That's exploitation of the highest order. And if you can't see that, there's not much to debate.
I'm not sure where the "corporations pay no tax" comes from. There just aren't that many ways for a profit-earning corporation to avoid paying taxes. The most common is the corporation lost more money in previous years and those losses this year's profit.
You are right that Bezos uses all the infrastructure provided by the public and Amazon's employees deserve credit as well. The thing is, the infrastructure and employees didn't just self-organize, and suddenly, there was Amazon. Bezos was the catalyst. He brought all these things together, raised the money to start Amazon, and then managed Amazon for many years. He proved himself a good steward of that portion of the economy.
According to Amazon's financial reports, Amazon paid $7 billion in tax in 2023.
"I'm not sure where the "corporations pay no tax" comes from. "
I appreciate you admitting your ignorance, which is what makes this conversation difficult. I recommend you educate yourself on basic facts first. Thanks.
As I said, Amazon paid $7 Billion in tax in 2023. This idea that corporations pay no tax is wrong. There are a couple of legitimate ways a corporation could avoid tax, but the usual is they are losing money or have lost money in previous years. In 2022, Amazon lost money, so they didn't pay taxes (actually, they probably received a refund). The idea that we don't benefit from the goods and services provided by corporations is silly. When you take an extreme position rather than one that is more nuanced a lot of people simply stop listening to you.
"Dad Jokes" is sexist. That joke was pure American Corn.
I’m a dad. I make jokes! Hence dad jokes. :)
Southerners call this "Hokum."
But of course. And my reply was inclusive to American humor. Did you know Will Roger's statue is in the halls of Congress? His most famous joke 100 years old and he was the biggest of stars on stage, screen, radio etc. His most famous joke "I'm not a member of an organized political party. I'm a Democrat." My fave joke "You ought to lead you life so you can sell the family parrot to the town gossip."
⚕️𝗔𝗡 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗔 𝗗𝗢𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔'𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦
𝗔 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗗𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗗𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🩺
https://patricemersault.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-from-a-doctor-to-americas
You need to develop a sense of humor. Mel Brooks famously said, "Your most powerful weapon again Satan is to mock him." Get it? I wrote a little funny joke.
Solid dad joke, it made me chuckle.
Mission accomplished 😎