Comments on: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished – Charitable Giving

By: finance

finance — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 09:40:58 +0000

great post you have there, they’re doing it because it helps them to lower taxes even if they didn’t to but it’s a way of making their tax lower. LO I like these quote.

So, what’s my point? Rich people aren’t all that bad.They actually help a lot of people when they could be helping themselves.

By: Darwin's Finance

Darwin's Finance — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:30:47 +0000

Hi Oil,
There’s not really a speech or soundbit that goes by where I don’t hear him or his administration sounding off on “fatcat bankers”, “cadillac health plans” and other coined terms that seek to forment anger at the wealthy.

Regarding “revolution”, even though I didn’t use that word, that is actually what Obama’s agenda entails. It’s pretty obvious. If you look at virtually every policy enacted under his tenure from the bailouts to the proposed health care legislation, it has categorically always involved a redistribution of wealth from those with means to those who want what they have. And he has appointed several people who have been very sympathetic and vocal to a true revolution to overthrow capitalism as we know it in this country. This is not a political blog so I don’t focus on the administration per se, but if you research some of his czars, including the ones who resigned once some of their true intentions and prior statements came to light, you’ll have a better appreciation for where the sentiment is coming from.

By: oilandgarlic

oilandgarlic — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:00:48 +0000

Hi,
I just discovered your blog and enjoy your writing and posts. You made a lot of good points in this post. However, I don’t understand why you said this current administration is stirring up hatred against those with resources. Sure, the democrats tend to side with the poor (at least with rhetoric) but hatred is too strong of a word. I don’t think anyone in the government is pushing for a populist revolution against the rich!

By: Evan

Evan — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:13:12 +0000

Great Post. I remember being in Federal Income Tax class and the professor asking over and over, what is better a deduction or not paying the tax!

By: Reputo

Reputo — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:46:08 +0000

To answer your question somewhat about why people don’t understand that the rich are still giving money away even when they get a tax deduction, a lot of it probably goes to the complexity of our tax code and the fact that 50% of the people in this country pay no income tax. People buy bigger houses for the “tax deduction.” Many of the people who do pay income taxes don’t realize they do because they got a tax refund. Somehow, they miss the $10000 the government takes out of their paycheck and say that they didn’t pay taxes because Uncle Sam sent them a check for $2000. If we could get rid of paycheck withholding and have everyone pay on a quarterly basis, then we might actually get some changes to the tax code. Maybe.

By: Monevator

Monevator — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:01:10 +0000

Yes, people think the same thing with self-employed or small business expenses – as if you can just spend money freely out of some perpetual tax deducting machine that makes everything ‘free’. (I even know self-employed people who seem to think this, and have obviously never spoken properly to their accountant).

By: Revanche

Revanche — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:12:47 +0000

That staffer’s comment really burns my britches: what an ungracious thing to say! First off, he did assume that your dad was not paying out of pocket and he was wrong about that. But to grouse that he didn’t deserve thanks for taking time out of his day to do so, regardless of who paid the bill, is just plain rude. How did that staffer know what went into making that lunch happen? Even if the company paid, what if your dad really had to go to bat for the funds?

Not a single one of our bosses personally paid the bill for any of our meals out, but we always thanked them just the same for taking us.