patrick.net

DinOR

Sadly, I can't agree that the Aryan nations are overhyped. I've run into at least one shaved head, goateed young man with the "A" tattoo there. Oddly, I've also known a lot of cops in California who retired to Sand Point (where Mark Furman is). No joke.

Even if you arrrested all the right wing nuts, the general populace is lilly white and ultra right. Politically, I'm closer to most Idahoers than to most Californiac's, but not much. My darling wife is Armenian. I imagine some of them wonder what a good white boy is doing with that "mesican" from California.

DinOR Says:
The last thing I want to be labeled as is the “I like Capital Gains Guy”.

astrid Says:
DinOR,
I’ll be more extreme and say that this country’s tax policy is quite horrible, in that it taxes work much more than it taxes capital. Housing deductions and exemptions are the extreme manifestation of that unfairness, where the most unproductive capital received the most advantageous tax treatment of all.

hey, O-O loves low capital gains tax, he's annoyed that it used to be taxed at your top marginal rate in Oz. If you flipped an investment property. Then they halved it in 1997. Still not good enough for O-O.

The Labor state govt in the most inflated state then put on an 'investor's exit stamp duty' of 2% for properties which sold at over 12% of buying price. This was a hamfisted attempt to do I don't know what to the overheated market. It would only give 2% to the greedy govt, would not make properties any cheaper, unless they lowered their prices just to avoid the tax. It only served to annoy people, so they govt took it off a year later. I think it was the stupidest idea of all time as an attempt to make housing 'affordable' through the simple application of a magic tax.

My blog has an article "How tax system egged on property speculation" - http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/28/1088392603764.html :

Five years ago Treasurer Peter Costello told Australians: "Work for a living and we'll tax you at close to 50 cents in the dollar; speculate and we'll only take 25 cents.

"Not only that but, as a special deal - while stocks last - we'll pay half your speculating costs."

DS,

Owneroccupier was considering his home address in terms of what's best for Owneroccupier. I'm considering the normative requirements of a good government tax scheme. What's good for one person and what's good for the collective are two different things.

If I had substantial assets like the wealthier participants of this blog, I would consider the tax question very seriously too. Then I'd consider government amenities, political rights, overall pleasantness, cost of living, etc. Nothing wrong with that.

Hey DS,

I grew up in a place where you have ZERO capital gains tax, ZERO dividend and interest tax, 15% flat income tax. US is already horrible enough for me.

If you ask someone growing up in Sweden, I am sure he will have a different perspective. Btw, in case you are not aware, the founders of this country called the US of A are a bunch of rich folks who didn't want to pay tax.