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From: roy@eisx.UUCP (Steve Rojak)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: "Majority" rule
Message-ID: <812@eisx.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Oct-84 18:14:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: eisx.812
Posted: Tue Oct 16 18:14:32 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Oct-84 08:03:59 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Info. Sys. Labs, South Plainfield NJ
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Having dispensed with amateur strategy, lets give the income tax a go.

I am willing to assert that, if you could ask 230M people and get a response,
you would find that the income tax is very popular.  Seriously.  Its the only
way to make sure everybody else pays his fair share. Me? Hell, I'm getting
screwed, but all we need is a little tax reform, cut out some of these
damned loopholes...

And so it goes.  John Q Public, [and his cousins in all the other countries]
are always looking at their betters when a subject like this comes up.
They think about how much those above them are going to pay for their entitle-
ments, and forget how many are worse off than they and will get the benefits
of all their hard-earned dollars.  When is the last time somebody mentioned
income tax and welfare (or social security) at the same time.

Another biggie at election time is Corporate Taxes.  Some politicians start
up about taxing the Corporations, and the crowd swoons.  Look, folks, you
can't tax corporations in real terms, because, since corporations only
don't die when the brain stops (no comments please) but when cash out
exceeds cash in, they pass the taxes on:

1) They cut it out of payroll.  And not out of the CEO's salary either,
don't kid yourself.

2) They show less net operating profit, and pay less dividends.  But nobody
wants to piss the stockholders off, because then you can't raise capital.
Penn Central was losing a million $ a day in 70 and paid a dividend.  You
can pull the wool over the shareholders' eyes, but don't get them mad.

3) Small businesses just go and get a bigger small business loan.  And
now the government has the hot potato back again.

4) Or, if you're really unimaginitive, raise prices.  Now the consumers are
paying for your taxes.  So the guy who wanted the corporations taxed ends
up paying the tax after all.

The point is that its so easy to fool so many people so much of the time
when it comes to money.  So if you're offering the argument that the income
tax is supported by majority rule, maybe thats not an argument for the
income tax, but against majority rule?
		Steve Rojak, South Plainfield NJ