re: Agreed

Robert — 6/28/2006 8:44:42 PM (archived)

I agree with both your suggested changes to the ET. The definition of wealth is creeping up with inflation, and a million dollars isn't a fortune anymore. Hell, it's just a tract home in an area of inflated real estate prices. Too low a threshold for the ET is just as bad as the failure to index the AMT, and that one's about to blow up big time.

I can't deny that Bill Gates has been a shark in business, but I think his ruthlessness is seriously hyped. My theory is that his Asberger's Syndrome compels him to obsess over his goals and apply his considerable genius to maximum effect; but his goals have always been proportionately narrow: Ensuring that Microsoft wins and keeps on winning. He's never been out to conquer the world. And now he's being gracious in victory--he won like nobody's ever won before, and so he's content to give back the chips to the other players so that the game can go on without him. Capitalism played like a friendly poker game--I can dig it.

The whole thread (57 posts)

Buffet's $$$$ and Gates Foundations MOTIVES? - carl - 6/27/2006 5:34:27 PM
- I don't get it... - Scott Evil - 6/28/2006 5:32:50 PM
  - For a FAIR WAGE and $$$$$$ - carl - 6/28/2006 5:51:18 PM
    - re: For a FAIR WAGE and $$$$$$ - Scott Evil - 6/28/2006 8:16:38 PM
      - Are people from Dufar called Dufuses? (n/t) - alcaray - 6/28/2006 10:24:03 PM
- Who cares about motives? It's their money. - Tom Brosz - 6/28/2006 4:13:12 AM
  - Should anyone be taxed, ever, then? - alcaray - 6/28/2006 9:49:43 PM
    - re: Should anyone be taxed, ever, then? - Tom Brosz - 6/29/2006 12:45:05 AM
      - How much is maintaining diplomatic relations with other nations worth in dollars? - alcaray - 6/29/2006 7:32:35 PM
        
        You're missing the point. - Tom Brosz - 6/30/2006 5:21:52 PM
        
        That would have been the point if we had been talking about tax progressivity. - alcaray - 6/30/2006 6:10:51 PM
        
        "Liberals believe that the income should come from the citizens who benefit from the services provided." - Tom Brosz - 6/30/2006 7:54:19 PM
        
        Sounds like you are advocating the H.L. Hunt progam of proportional voting....... - Publius - 6/30/2006 10:33:42 PM
        
        had I used the word "proportional" somewhere in that sentence... - alcaray - 6/30/2006 8:22:27 PM
        
        Do you ever get weirded-out.... - Robert - 6/30/2006 9:15:15 PM
        
        Let's not get too high on the horse. - Tom Brosz - 6/30/2006 11:23:32 PM
  - the estate tax - Robert - 6/28/2006 6:06:41 PM
    - re: Agreed - Scott Evil - 6/28/2006 8:22:53 PM
      - re: Agreed - Robert - 6/28/2006 8:44:42 PM
    - Who are the rest of us to argue? - Tom Brosz - 6/28/2006 6:45:07 PM
      - re: Who are the rest of us to argue? - Robert - 6/28/2006 8:28:33 PM
        
        You might want to get your research money refunded. - Tom Brosz - 6/29/2006 12:29:27 AM
        
        But seriously... - Robert - 6/29/2006 2:29:00 AM
        
        Am I gonna have to get Disraeli on ya? - Robert - 6/29/2006 1:14:01 AM
        
        Charity - Tom Brosz - 6/29/2006 7:36:24 AM
        
        Religious contributions - Robert - 6/29/2006 7:45:26 PM
        
        You really have no clue what you're talking about. - Tom Brosz - 6/29/2006 11:01:33 PM
        
        The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, and Compassionate Conservatives - Robert - 6/30/2006 3:04:14 AM
        
        Another load of bull exhaust. - Tom Brosz - 6/30/2006 5:07:51 PM
        
        Another load of exhausting bull. - Robert - 6/30/2006 9:06:54 PM
        
        I think I made my point. - Tom Brosz - 6/30/2006 11:45:10 PM
        
        I hesitated to enter this fray... - SDAI-Tech1 - 7/1/2006 5:07:06 AM
        
        There you go again - Robert - 6/30/2006 12:20:59 AM
        
        You are saying that everything I put in a basket at church goes to charity? - alcaray - 6/29/2006 11:30:02 PM
  - Ahhhhh, do the RICH pay TAXES???? - carl - 6/28/2006 5:56:23 PM
    - Why yes, now that you mention it. - Tom Brosz - 6/28/2006 6:33:44 PM
      - There was a time when it was enough... - Robert - 6/28/2006 9:06:39 PM
        
        You can dance around it as much as you like. - Tom Brosz - 6/29/2006 12:41:42 AM
        
        Not a good day for statistics - Robert - 6/29/2006 1:41:04 AM
        
        re: Not a good day - Tom Brosz - 6/29/2006 7:39:24 AM
        
        paying no income tax - Robert - 6/29/2006 8:06:49 PM
- I only wish... - FrankC - 6/28/2006 2:09:27 AM
  - Try Paul Allen..... (n/t) - tony - 6/28/2006 2:35:38 AM
- Basic facts - Robert - 6/27/2006 9:16:38 PM
  - How predictable... - SDAI-Tech1 - 6/28/2006 12:34:40 AM
    - re: "a life of wholesale exploitation"??? - alcaray - 6/28/2006 1:21:17 AM
    - How incomprehensible - Robert - 6/28/2006 12:49:24 AM
      - Giving can be selfish... - SDAI-Tech1 - 6/28/2006 1:31:25 AM
        
        re: Giving can be selfish... - Robert - 6/28/2006 9:15:25 PM
        
        See you still haven't pegged capitalists. - SDAI-Tech1 - 6/28/2006 10:16:13 PM
- Try some research first - Tony - 6/27/2006 6:50:12 PM
  - Personal benefit - Fox - 6/28/2006 12:22:41 AM
  - SO Johnny can't read, BIG Deal - carl - 6/27/2006 8:11:56 PM
    - If enough Johnnies can't read, the West goes down the toilet (n/t) - Laurie Street - 6/28/2006 6:17:26 AM
      - All Speak Different Languages - carl - 6/28/2006 2:54:27 PM
    - Johnny *equals* Carl? (n/t) - alcaray - 6/27/2006 9:39:08 PM
- People start getting nice when the Abyss approaches - LJK - 6/27/2006 6:23:47 PM

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