4 ms·

I find it amusing that the top-ranked comment describes the program as "fascist" For decades, big corporations and venture capitalists (and their lobbyists) ha

by credo 16y ago

I find it amusing that the top-ranked comment describes the program as "fascist" For decades, big corporations and venture capitalists (and their lobbyists) have used every trick in the book to get themselves special advantages. Huge loopholes mean that the effective US corporate is the fourth lowest rate in the OECD (though the official tax rate is the second highest in the OECD). This is a great example of dysfunctional government intervention, but one that won't go away (because cutting loopholes is demonized as "raising taxes") VC earnings (and for that matter long-term capital gains) are taxed at a much lower rate than W2 earnings of an employee. All of these things are due to government interventions (ostensibly to promote economic growth and create the "right" incentives) I'm not a fan of big government intervention and I don't know much about the "Obama endorsed VC program". So I'm open to legitimate criticism of the program. However, if folks are going to describe it as "fascist", I'd be interested to know why they haven't described the current system (with all of its tax loopholes and incentives) as fascist

anamax 16y ago
> Huge loopholes mean that the effective US corporate is the fourth lowest rate in the OECD (though the official tax rate is the second highest in the OECD). Many corps actually do pay the official rate. Advocates of higher taxes and higher US govt spending point to western european countries and say "look at all the great services they get from govt". The problem with that argument is that the US govt currently collects about the same amount of money per capita as those countries. (It collects more than Canada.) In other words, the US govt already has the revenue to provide those services. Since it doesn't ..... http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=4626 http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=4626
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
steveklabnik 16y ago
> I find it amusing that the top-ranked comment describes the program as "fascist" > For decades, big corporations and venture capitalists (and their lobbyists) have used every trick in the book to get themselves special advantages. Congratulations! You're on the way to understanding the viewpoint of the far left. (and I mean a generic 'you', I'd say your last sentence implies that you actually understand this.) The idea (which I'm partial to, but this is just my opinion, etc, I'm still reading a lot, yadda yadda yadda) is that that's the inherent way that these things trend, unchecked. You're watching it unfold before your very eyes. It's much harder to see historical events happening as they're happening. (disclaimer: I also think that describing this as 'facist,' while good intentioned and kinda correct, suffers too much from the emotional response to the term 'facism' to really be effective.)
smokeyj 16y ago
> However, if folks are going to describe it as "fascist", I'd be interested to know why they haven't described the current system (with all of its tax loopholes and incentives) as fascist How could you NOT consider the US a fascist state? If we're not fascist, then no one is.

by credo 16y ago

anamax 16y ago

> Huge loopholes mean that the effective US corporate is the fourth lowest rate in the OECD (though the official tax rate is the second highest in the OECD). Many corps actually do pay the official rate. Advocates of higher taxes and higher US govt spending point to western european countries and say "look at all the great services they get from govt". The problem with that argument is that the US govt currently collects about the same amount of money per capita as those countries. (It collects more than Canada.) In other words, the US govt already has the revenue to provide those services. Since it doesn't ..... http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=4626 http://www.themoneyillusion.com/?p=4626

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

steveklabnik 16y ago

> I find it amusing that the top-ranked comment describes the program as "fascist" > For decades, big corporations and venture capitalists (and their lobbyists) have used every trick in the book to get themselves special advantages. Congratulations! You're on the way to understanding the viewpoint of the far left. (and I mean a generic 'you', I'd say your last sentence implies that you actually understand this.) The idea (which I'm partial to, but this is just my opinion, etc, I'm still reading a lot, yadda yadda yadda) is that that's the inherent way that these things trend, unchecked. You're watching it unfold before your very eyes. It's much harder to see historical events happening as they're happening. (disclaimer: I also think that describing this as 'facist,' while good intentioned and kinda correct, suffers too much from the emotional response to the term 'facism' to really be effective.)

smokeyj 16y ago

> However, if folks are going to describe it as "fascist", I'd be interested to know why they haven't described the current system (with all of its tax loopholes and incentives) as fascist How could you NOT consider the US a fascist state? If we're not fascist, then no one is.