Ben Stein's 'Time to soak the rich' column in NYT

shows conservatives still play the 'sleight of hand' game. Stein says raise taxes on 'the rich' but fails to mention that since WWII corporations, a part of that group of rich 'persons', taxes have dropped considerably since that time.

The game the wealthy play is, since the bulk of their incomes aren't on reported payrolls but elusive interest statements, coupons, stock/bond matters, and offshored and outsourced as soon as they are realized, hiding their taxable wealth in order to have the lower and middle classes, whose earnings are exposed, left holding the tax bag.

Do you really think a Republican Congress will not carry on the tax cuts, even during 'wartime' ? Ben Stein is just giving away the game. His article says 'don't regulate corporations' or their windfall profits. Put everything off until next year's tax season.

More criminal delay, delay, delay...deny, deny, deny. Stein even goes so far as to mention his beloved Chicago School of economic apologists for the wealthy and corporations whose policies of supply side mumbo-jumbo led to this mess.

Basta Ya !

Other People's Money

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Win_Ben_Stein's_Money

(Hmmm. If Wikipedia puts in a slash in "Stein's" above, just google up Win Ben Stein's Money and you'll see the source of his cash isn't his personal $)

this is the usual tactic of the rich and (supposedly) the Bush family's motto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Stein

""In 1997 Stein was given his own game show by Comedy Central titled Win Ben Stein's Money along with co-host Jimmy Kimmel. True to its name, the money that contestants won on the show was subtracted from the $5000 Ben earned (in addition to his salary). If any contestant dared to respond to a question in the "What is…" style of Jeopardy!, Stein would force him or her to wear a dunce cap. The show won seven Emmy awards before ending its run in 2003. As of 2006, re-runs air on the American Game Show Network.""

He does collect royalties, I suppose, so any monies 'subtracted' are then re-added later, unless he's really stupid, which is a possiblity.

Anyone care to contact Comedy Central and clear this up ?

So they can blame the Democrats.

His dad was a Nobel Prize winner. He's an ex-game show host.

I read about two sentences and realized he was floating a concept that he has worked to kill in the past and would work to kill again in the future. He wants the credit for a fuzzy, support the troops type logic while he and his make sure that the rich get another tax cut. He could have opposed the Bush proposals for extensions of the current tax breaks, but no, that's too concrete and might actually make a difference.

oil scarcity using the old 'free market' shibboleth. Markets aren't free, they are controlled and gameable. He wants those little rich boys to keep creaming the masses. The masses are asses if they put up with this !

I was listentin to Thom Hartman on Sunday and he was talkin to a guy who says corporations are taxed already by having to pay shareholders, Social Security and then the employees pay taxes.

Anyway his arguement boiled down to corporations arent a person so they shouldn't have to pay taxes.

Meanwhile, Corporations are treated like a person when it helps them defend themselves and get prefrential treatment. That means that shareholders are not responsible for the corporation performing bad actions. So I can form a corporation, sell my stock, bankrupt the company and the shareholders are not responsible to bail the corporation out.

So corporations are a person when it suits them?

Sorry I don't buy that. If you are a corporation, your corporation is an individual and should have to pay as much taxes as an indivudual making, say, 12 billion dollars. Minus of course tax breaks for promoting a good environment and donations to valid charitable organizations.

Warren Buffett urges higher corporation taxes
www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0306-01.htm

""Corporate income taxes in fiscal 2003 accounted for 7.4% of all federal tax receipts, down from a post-war peak of 32% in 1952. With one exception (1983), last year’s percentage is the lowest recorded since data was first published in 1934. Even so, tax breaks for corporations (and their investors, particularly large ones) were a major part of the Administration’s 2002 and 2003 initiatives. If class warfare is being waged in America, my class is clearly winning.""

Also, around $250 billion was repatriated from offshore accounts this year (in a temporary program the Bush administration set up for this year only) in a Capital Repatriation Program. This is what is propping up our economy which is at present stagnant. The CRP has to be made permanent and rates eventually raised in light of the currency devaluation the dollar will inevitably sustain. see the ASA's weblink pdf at

http://www.americanshareholders.com/news/asa-repats-03-20-06.pdf

and be sure to read between the lines !