7 ms·

At what level should we expect "finDox'ing" vs "personal privacy"? i.e. ; Should we expect full transparency of billionaires, but not minimum wage workers? US

At what level should we expect "finDox'ing" vs "personal privacy"? i.e. ; Should we expect full transparency of billionaires, but not minimum wage workers? US Tax Code is horrific, and corrupt. But, what do?

phs318u 4y ago
How about full transparency for companies? Companies are not people. The only way billionaires are able to evade taxes is through complex networks of companies.
- euroderf 4y ago
  My suggestion has always been, companies may not own companies. Only a real, live human being may own a portion of a company. Combine this with public records of company officers and large shareholders. Problem solved.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > companies may not own companies. Only a real, live human being may own a portion of a company Wall Street would love this. No bargaining advantage for retail investors via funds. Every need for liquidity and rebalancing requiring a cascade of trades. And the introduction of a chops-like system to enable M&A.
systemvoltage 4y ago
TBH, I am equally worried about the other side of the tax party. How my tax funds are spent and how efficiently they are allocated.
- themitigating 4y ago
  Do you have information that it's not spent effectively?
  - libssareanimals 4y ago
    [flagged]
  - WalterBright 4y ago
    $20,000 for a plastic sink: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/seattle-set-aside-100k-for-street-sinks-two-years-later-where-are-they/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/seattle-s...
    - systemvoltage 4y ago
      It's not just glaring stuff like this. We should measure government productivity/$ and amount of waste we have. Our nation would be like 3000% better if Gov was run at the efficiency of a SV startup. Source: I am a Gov employee.
      - WalterBright 4y ago
        The interesting thing is nobody is held to account for how the sinks cost so much. It's just "eh". Seattle has done other things like buying port-a-potties for $250,000 each, and spending $12 million to paint bike stripes on a mile of street. Simply nobody cares about it.
        ticviking 4y ago
        No one is actually accountable for it. Those are slightly different things
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
        euroderf 4y ago
        If that 12M$ paint job had been accessible via an easy-to-use city web UI, probably some political gadfly would have spotted it at an early enough stage ?
- oceanplexian 4y ago
  So many people rushing to defend the government. It’s not enough that they tax your income, but they tax every dollar you spend, then they tax the assets. Then if you sell those assets the same dollar is taxed a fourth time. It’s theft, no different than being a medieval serf. I bet serfs had lots of good arguments why the king needed to steal the products of their labor too.
themitigating 4y ago
Enforcement
- dsfyu404ed 4y ago
  That only fixes things in a perverse "work to rule strike" sort of way.
sacnoradhq 4y ago
It's regulatory/legislative capture by the very rich of the US gov. Change the political operating system from the top. It cannot be reformed from within. The perpetual failures of campaign finance reform proves this. The only path forward is nonviolent mass mobilization. Never give in to learned helplessness.
- WalterBright 4y ago
  > It's regulatory/legislative capture by the very rich of the US gov. I'm not sure how the recent Washington State capital gains tax is the result of capture by the very rich.
  - undersuit 4y ago
    Simple. The Washington State Senate is currently led by the Democratic Party. But back in 2017 it was Republican-led: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-prohibiting-washington-state-income-tax-fails-in-senate/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-proh...

phs318u 4y ago

How about full transparency for companies? Companies are not people. The only way billionaires are able to evade taxes is through complex networks of companies.

euroderf 4y ago
My suggestion has always been, companies may not own companies. Only a real, live human being may own a portion of a company. Combine this with public records of company officers and large shareholders. Problem solved.
- JumpCrisscross 4y ago
  > companies may not own companies. Only a real, live human being may own a portion of a company Wall Street would love this. No bargaining advantage for retail investors via funds. Every need for liquidity and rebalancing requiring a cascade of trades. And the introduction of a chops-like system to enable M&A.

systemvoltage 4y ago

TBH, I am equally worried about the other side of the tax party. How my tax funds are spent and how efficiently they are allocated.

themitigating 4y ago
Do you have information that it's not spent effectively?
- libssareanimals 4y ago
  [flagged]
- WalterBright 4y ago
  $20,000 for a plastic sink: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/seattle-set-aside-100k-for-street-sinks-two-years-later-where-are-they/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/homeless/seattle-s...
  - systemvoltage 4y ago
    It's not just glaring stuff like this. We should measure government productivity/$ and amount of waste we have. Our nation would be like 3000% better if Gov was run at the efficiency of a SV startup. Source: I am a Gov employee.
    - WalterBright 4y ago
      The interesting thing is nobody is held to account for how the sinks cost so much. It's just "eh". Seattle has done other things like buying port-a-potties for $250,000 each, and spending $12 million to paint bike stripes on a mile of street. Simply nobody cares about it.
      - ticviking 4y ago
        No one is actually accountable for it. Those are slightly different things
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - euroderf 4y ago
        If that 12M$ paint job had been accessible via an easy-to-use city web UI, probably some political gadfly would have spotted it at an early enough stage ?
oceanplexian 4y ago
So many people rushing to defend the government. It’s not enough that they tax your income, but they tax every dollar you spend, then they tax the assets. Then if you sell those assets the same dollar is taxed a fourth time. It’s theft, no different than being a medieval serf. I bet serfs had lots of good arguments why the king needed to steal the products of their labor too.

themitigating 4y ago

Enforcement

dsfyu404ed 4y ago
That only fixes things in a perverse "work to rule strike" sort of way.

sacnoradhq 4y ago

It's regulatory/legislative capture by the very rich of the US gov. Change the political operating system from the top. It cannot be reformed from within. The perpetual failures of campaign finance reform proves this. The only path forward is nonviolent mass mobilization. Never give in to learned helplessness.

WalterBright 4y ago
> It's regulatory/legislative capture by the very rich of the US gov. I'm not sure how the recent Washington State capital gains tax is the result of capture by the very rich.
- undersuit 4y ago
  Simple. The Washington State Senate is currently led by the Democratic Party. But back in 2017 it was Republican-led: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-prohibiting-washington-state-income-tax-fails-in-senate/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/bill-proh...