Dolemite wrote:

] Define "millionaire" for me. Is that someone who *makes* a
] million dollars per year, or is this someone who *has* a
] million dollars? It's easy for people to hide their assets -
] especially by placing them off shore - so the litmus test of
] possession kinda falls by the wayside. If it's someone that
] makes a million dollars per year, that seems more fair to me,
] but then there are all these nice adjustments to income that
] can be made - regardless of income - that bring the number
] back down. $200K for an individual is a hella lot of money.
] Besides, there is no specific "millionaire tax" to apply as of
] this date.

For the purposes of our domestic issues relating to policies, I would define "millionaire" as one who earns over one million dollars in a fiscal year. It would approach the aires of comunism to tax back incomethat was not taxable at the time because of current laws at the time. Watch Dr. Zhivago to see the pain iherent in such a system of operation. We don't want to eat the rich, merely keep them honorable in terms of their contribution to society. The rich benefit from having less theives, traffic lights and running water as much as the poor. Hell, maybe moreso! I've lived in places where there was no lines painted on the road. It wasn't Westchester County, NY. It was West Virginia, come to think of it.

] Then how do you designate who is a small business? Is it
] based on the number of employees?

No. It is, rather, based on net profits, annually. Besides, Rupert Murdock is not, at the moment, filing the FOX empire under his personal taxes. My last boss did. That business went under because the boss was an idiot. If taxed further by the government, it would have been worse and it will be worse for any business. Separating the profit from the business is important, excepting big buiness income. It's that way for the workers! Why not the bosses? I believe a small business is one that is not a chain, or a multi-million dollar enterprise.

What if you own several
] small businesses? (A common tactic for avoiding the rules
] that apply to businesses with 20+ employees, like mandatory
] health coverage)

Each business should be treaated equally. The profit of a human being in America should not relate to "each personal income, but rather, their net profits for the year. What I am saying is, let's run taxes like and open business, not a religious scripture.

Do you penalize each business if any of the
] partners in that business own other businesses? That would
] keep Dubya from investing in a timber company that only nets
] him $84 a year.

No, you nail the personal income. The business is a separate entity.

Actually, he probably invested in a timber
] company to clear his own land so that he could claim a loss,
] but ended up making a profit. Nobody knows for sure,
] especially Dubya, since he seemed to not realize where his
] bread was being buttered.
]
That was a pointless attack on one man, not present or liekely to be here at all. I am not his apologist. You hole to the ideas of party line. I don't as you saw later in this post.

] So 1000+ US troops lost is nothing to worry about?

Comparatively? No. On an individual level of human lives lost That's a bad thing.When we have lost as many people in the war on terrr than we have TO terror, I will think about alternatives. Until then, let's explore the idea of making the world a place of people who will talk things out rather than blow people up. If that takes wars that CAN be won, then that is what it takes. Let's get together and be humans. Right?

What if
] you were one of those troops?

Than I would have an even greater understanding than EITHER of us, wouldn't I?

How about the between $100B and
] $200B spent so far (Bush says $120B, Kerry says $200B) on a
] war?

What about it? You were asking the question. Finish it.

I would think any conservative would be concerned about
] runaway expenses,

Yes. That is the problem with neocons.

plus the no-end-in-sight increase in
] casualties.

Maybe not. Refer to prior answer on the subject. We do have priorities and resources. The priorities are civilized nations. The resources are people who volunteered for service fully knowing what was potentially waiting. They reaped benefits. They are making not a sacrifice. They are making a trade. When it comes time for a draft, your argument will have more weight here.

Would your 50+ people, including 3 on
] memestreams, still miss you as much as if you'd died from the
] flu?

They wouldn't expect me to die from the flu. In fact, it would be unexpected. It would not be unthinkable for your brother in the marines to die at war during wartime. It would be, rather, regrettable.

Do we just need to fill the ranks of the armed forces
] with our "necessary poor"? Wait, that's already the majority
] of those in the armed forces...

Thank God it's not China or N. Korea, or most of south america where it is the best you can hope for. I am poor, and I would NEVER, ever join the services. You don't seem to have, either.

]
] For someone who claimed to be a conservative, you certainly
] have a liberal stance on this issue, mixed in with a bit of
] libertarian principles.

Congratulations. You are beginning to grow acquainted with a concept known as free thought. That occurs wherein the person dispenses with egos, slogans and symbols associated with a school of thought or a party line. I grew beyond that when I was two feet tall.

Many European Union countries have
] rules like this in effect already. If you give someone in
] France a notice of severance, you have to continue paying them
] until they find another job, up to some limit that numbers in
] the years. For the past 2 years at Sun I worked on a team
] with a guy in Grenoble that was technically laid off, but
] since he was close to retirement, anyway, he decided to just
] keep working at Sun.

Very good! If we MUST imitate Europe at all, then let's imitate the things that still work!

] ] to our nation. Benjamin Franklin once told us (were we to
] ] care, or have the balls to apply it to ourselves) that the
] ] foundation of our nation would become obsolete and devoid of
]
] ] benefits when the public becomes stupid and corrupt. At
] that
] ] point, we would no longer have the nation that our
] forefathers
] ] set up, but rather we would have a nation that a corrupt,
] ] apathetic, and ignorant people without true vision deserve.
]
] ] WE got it. Shoulda' studied your Franklin folks!
]
] Well, I can't really disagree with you there.

Then, Dolemite, it looks like we basically agree. Petey Wheatstraw was Dolemites best movie.

RE: Kill Your Brain!