Sherry Shaw wrote:
> "Wealth" (2) is also called "privilege" because that's what it is--a 
> privilege.

I know a fair number of wealthy people. If you took away all their money 
today, they'd all be wealthy again in a few years or less.

>  If Bill Gates had been born in Kenya, he'd be outstanding in his 
> field--actually out standing in his field, leaning on a spear, and 
> counting his cows.  

And that's why Kenya is a poor country.

> _privilege_ of being born in a place where they could amass wealth and 
> power and _privilege_ and I'm damned if I can see why they shouldn't pay 
> for that privilege. (4)  There ain't no such thing as a free lunch for 
> rich folks, either.

No, there isn't. They pay huge amounts of taxes. The top 1% of the 
taxpayers in the USA pay something like 50% of the taxes.

> (4)  Yep, poor example; both Bill and Oprah give a lot of their money 
> away. 

Actually, I read an interesting article that basically argued that 
without people who are so rich they couldn't possibly spend all their 
money, you wouldn't have anyone who would be forced to invest, so you'd 
get very little improvements in the lives of those with only enough to 
live on. Basically, everyone's hand-to-mouth, until you get people rich 
enough they can't use it all, at which point that has to flow back into 
the economy as investment.

> (5)  By the way, the part most people miss is that it's n% of Adjusted 
> Gross Income, not just income.  You have to look at the exemptions, 
> deductions, credits, etc. 

And you have to look at AMT.

Why do you think there are all those deductions? Because congress can't 
resist taking bribes to make up deductions for their friends.

-- 
   Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
     "That's pretty. Where's that?"
          "It's the Age of Channelwood."
     "We should go there on vacation some time."

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