Category: Politics

Estate taxes are the taxes the government places upon a person’s wealth after their death and before their decedents inherit it. I suggest that we increase estate taxes to 100%.

My grandparents are fairly wealthy and I stand to gain a substantial inheritance when they pass away. Why would someone like me who stands to gain significantly from lower estate taxes suggest abolishing inheritance and increasing estate taxes to 100%?

Many legal scholars, estate tax experts, and even Thomas Jefferson agree: inheritance of wealth beyond a few minimum areas is undemocratic and harms the free market economy. Inherited wealth tends to create oligarchies and aristocratic classes. Think of the nose in the air, uppity attitude about old money versus new money.

Old money is unearned and the people who get it generally do not contribute to society remotely as much as those who earn their own wealth.  It is common knowledge that inheriting wealth harms those who inherit as it tends to set them up for an easy life where they never work hard and often end up dissolute and unhappy.

There would be certain exemptions – a spouse can inherit without tax, as well as parents or grandparents. Disabled children could inherit a larger amount. You could donate to charity without tax.

I suggest that we follow the Bill Gates model – those who earn a fortune in their lifetimes can use it as they like while they are alive, but anything left beyond a basic amount after death is taxed at 100% to fund the federal government. This would encourage self made wealthy individuals to allocate their wealth in ways good for society before they die… they would set up charities that do things like cure malaria like Gates has done. To prevent people from passing wealth each person should have a limit of wealth that can be transferred to them from all inheritance sources during their lives. Perhaps something like half a million dollars. This would cover both gift taxes (live parents giving money to children) and estate taxes (dead parents passing money to children).

The wealthy would be very happy about this because they would be treated far better by those around them who know that they must give away all of their wealth.

The children of the wealthy would be happier because most things that came to them in life would be earned. I think that you appreciate what you earn far more than what you are given.

The poor would be happy as wealth would no longer be locked up with the rich generation after generation and new opportunities for people to rise on merit would be created.

The political right would be happy as it would turn our country into a true meritocracy, and also greatly reduce the amount of money needed to be collected via income taxes or other tax sources.

The political left would be happy as this would create a true democracy where all people start on a much more level playing field. The enormous wealth currently locked up in several generations of the same family like the Rockefellers would be unlocked for all of society to benefit.

 

Sentiments of nationalism are rising in America and it now seems to be cool again for young people to be pro-American. This is a bit surprising to see in a place like Los Angeles, and from what I can see on my Facebook feed it is stronger in more rural places.

It seems to be a global phenomenon that nationalism is rising strongly in other countries. Britain voted to exit the UK, Trump (an extreme nationalist) won the Republican nomination, and many other countries are showing stirrings of nationalism.

Nationalism is very dangerous as it also rose in the run-ups to major wars like WW1 and WW2. Life globally is much better when people can appreciate that folks in other countries are human beings with family, friends, and lives just like their own.

Why is nationalism rising? I think Islamic terrorism globally is working. It is putting fear into many countries. However, I think the result of that fear will not be to allow Islamic countries like ISIS or Saudi Arabia or Iran to grow and be left alone. I think it will cause military buildup and a growing anger in superpower countries that could lead to a global war to exterminate Islam. Trump and other extreme nationalist leaders seem to advocate this approach.

 

Governments usually extort money from their populace as a standard practice. However, the US government is now getting extreme about the practice. The federal government shut down for over two weeks and all employees stayed at home relaxing, watching TV, playing XBox, going on vacations, etc. Now that the shutdown is over, all of those employees are going to be paid JUST AS IF THEY WORKED THE ENTIRE TIME.

Can you tell me any job in the world where you don’t show up for work for two full weeks and then you still get paid?!? Ridiculous.

What could possibly cause a second American Civil War?

I think ACW2 (kind of an awkward acronym) would most likely be caused the US national debt. The national debt would start to push inflation rates higher and higher until dollars are virtually worthless. Texas would move onto either a gold backed currency or a virtual currency and secede from the United States, followed by all the angry Southern states that never got over ACW1. If Obama was still president, he would just let them go. If we had anyone else as president they would fight to retain the union.

That’s right. I said I want more terrorism… in the United States.

Confused, shocked, angry?

I want to make something perfectly clear: I want another event like the Boston bombings or even another 9/11.

Why?

I am SICK and TIRED of watching America lose its freedoms one by one in the name of security. I hate subsidizing a $860 billion defense complex and a $80 billion department of homeland security budget. I hate losing my constitutional rights to an ever growing big brother monstrosity.

Give me my damned rights back and bring on more terrorist attacks.

Almost half a million Americans died in World War Two protecting our freedom and our Constitution. 3,000 Americans died in the World Trade Center attacks and we have given away much of our freedoms and rights since then. We gave up 100x more lives to protect our unique freedoms and rights sixty years ago. Our politicians and by extension we as Americans are cowards now for preferring security over freedom.

This is not a political issue- both the Republicans (under George W) and the Democrats (under Obama) have sold our freedom for a pittance.

As Patrick Henry once stated, “Give me freedom or give me death!”

 

Below is an interesting guest post from my friend the Black Rooster discussing US immigration policy changes that are needed. I agree with him – we spend way too much money trying to deport people we educated! As a matter of fact, when I was roommates with the Black Rooster he was deported for overstaying his student visa.  America lost a wealthy, University of Washington educated businessman because of stupid draconian bureaucratic rules. Very frustrating.

Has it ever occurred to you why the US spends billions of dollars every year on deporting illegal immigrants? Then turning around and granting the same illegal immigrants green cards while at the same time denying green cards to highly skilled and American educated foreigners?

In 2011 the US spent 5 billion dollars of American taxpayer’s money on deporting illegal immigrants. The average cost of deporting one illegal immigrant is 23,480 dollars. ICE and US Customs and Borders Protection budgets have increased by 80% since 2005, amounting to $17.1 billion in FY2010. If US were to undertake a mass deportation campaign its cost over five years would be $285 billion. That would mean new taxes of $922 for every man, woman, and child in the US and $5,100 fewer dollars for the
education of every public and private school student from prekindergarten to the 12th grade.

On the other hand the US is easily giving out green cards to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants while at the same time rejecting green card applications for American educated foreigners who wish to live and work in the US? I mean this must be the stupidest thing ever because all that does is helping those foreign countries becoming more competitive. Let’s think about this for a second. Let’s say for
example a Chinese man is granted a student visa for the US. He spends 10 years educating himself in the US earning a PhD in computer science. He then applies for a green card because he wants to live and work in the US, contributing to its economy. However this man is rejected therefore he returns to China and with his hard earned American education starts the next big IT firm in China, making them richer, more competitive and more advanced.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to maybe give that illegal immigrants green card to the highly educated Chinese man?