<Tom and Derek are in perfect tune with the present administration that is helping out the economy by removing the luxury tax on autos. Now the average consumer will not be forced to pay this unfair tax on the $650,000. Ferrari F-60 his hard earned dollars are buying. This gives incentive to those saying"welcome to McDonald's".

That's right, don't look at me for sympathy - I live like Lex Luthor in Smallville, a different exotic car for every day of the week. Raised among the elite I cringe at the suffering masses and adjust my rose-colored Guarnet

Actually the luxury tax is a hefty "soak the rich" tax, that has hurt luxury auto sales across the board. This means that when Joe & Jane taxpayer want to buy a more expensive car - they opt out and suddenly we see Daimler-Chrysler with a quarterly earnings loss.

This means Daimler-Chrysler lays off workers, which means more people in the unemployment lines filing to collect benefits or looking for work. Which means more people looking for government handouts which means more power in the hands of those who promise the handout.

I have never met someone who was prepared to purchase an F60 who was seriously discouraged by the luxury tax. In fact, many exotic dealerships already absorb the luxury tax on those stratospheric priced cars or work around it with creative import and financing maneuvers. Many of those exotic dealers are out in Florida where they have the nouveau wealthy south beach customer or the immigrant drug kingpin customer who buys ten pounds of gold chains and a diamond studded gold Rolex President to complete the set.

Here's the important part to remember - If the luxury tax stalls more luxury sales than the revenue it exorbitantly excises from the purchaser - the government LOSES money on the tax. Normal taxes bring in a steady flow of income off of top-end purchases. The luxury buyer is a savvy beast who will avoid paying that tax and either put off a purchase, purchase out of country and pay an import and licensing fee, or any number of creative ways around that hefty surcharge.

So, contrary to popular belief, soaking the rich does not always bring more money to hand out to Ms. Hannigan's Orphanage.

If one is in business one knows that selling two widgets at high prices with high profit packed in is often less profitable than selling two dozen widgets at discounted rates. When taxing consumer purchases one should heed this business wisdom.

Look at Wal-Mart for an example of the power of lower prices; moving more merchandise, building a larger customer base and become one of the most powerful businesses in the world. Then, once they have the customer base anchored in a region and crushed their competition, they slowly roll up those prices so that their profit margins increase humongously!

I'm amazed that you can't see that many of the folks who at one point in their life may say "Welcome to McDonald's" are at another point trying to buy that Lexus or upper end SUV?

Yes, stiffing the rich makes great PR for the politicians who rely on the hordes of the working poor, but it doesn't really help those working poor and for some reason - they always remain poor!? Why is that?

Why is it that my ninety-something grandmother in Germany has been told that her paid healthcare in the socialized system now only covers a certain amount of visits to a doctor per year - and that if she exceeds this amount she will need PRIVATE COVERAGE?

What's this? The failure of socialized medicine in Germany?

How can this be!

What has the world come to!

What's this.... the hordes of immigrants and parasites are crushing the system?

Just imagine what would happen in America! Goverment paid medicine like Bowser craves, would make HMOs appear like they are the UCLA medical center and Mayo Clinic all rolled into one!

Yes socialism is a failure. FDR got away with pooping over the constitution.

Social Security, Medicaire have single handedly driven medical costs through the stratosphere - hurting all Americans - but the working poor, who don't quite qualify for handouts, and the middle class who can't afford more than their employer's healthcare plane are hurt the most of all.

Last I heard, Tom donated his time and money at a church homeless shelter. This year, at Christmas, I only gave away some bags of toys and furniture to the Salvation Army and dropped off some canned goods for a drive. No one put a gun to my head, and I doubt they did Tom's either. I suspect we are not alone in our reasons and desires for charitable giving. There were lots of folks giving - rich and working poor alike. We all probably exceeded Al Gore's 2000 gift-giving.

Taxes are not a magical elixir - often they can be a poison which harms the folks they are meant to save.

Glad you're back Publius - hope you had a happy, warm Florida holiday season!

;-)

SDAI-Tech1