patrick.net

A person’s home is their castle, and you shouldn’t be kicked out of it because abstract notions of land value increase. Rather, you should be charged a predictable amount for services your house requires.

Yes, Prat, but why should one group be charged *a lot* less for those same services than anyone else by sole virtue of fortunate birth (i.e., those "wonderful" baby-boomers Srufer-X loves to blow kisses to)?

What bugs me most about MC's arguments is he starts out making an emotional appeal about poor grandmothers being kicked out of their homes by big property tax. Then it turns out those "poor" grandmas are more like Grandma Rockefellers. Then away goes the moral fluff, and we get to the heart of the matter. MC supports prop 13 & other NIMBY laws out of pure self interest --nothing more. He doesn't give a $hit about anyone else.

astrid, I do think that Canada has a good future though because it is a country rich in natural resources. In particular, Alberta has tar sands which can someday be economically extracted as oil.

I do have some faith in Canada.

Ever since I went to school in Japan, I have had a much greater love of the U.S. Is it perfect? Hell no. But being American I am much more comfortable with the social environment I was brought up with. I also did not appreciate being treated as a second class citizen because of my gender and race. Would Canada have the same issues as Japan? Probably not, but I think it is so easy to lose one's appreciation for the benefits we have living in the U.S. I love the fact that I can debate about issues and seek to change things I don't like. I'm not trying to be rah rah or overly patriotic. But I do appreciate where I live, warts and all.

astrid, how about portable property tax limit?

We can allow people over certain age to "port" their property tax limit when they move. This allows them to free up houses and encourages them to stay in California to support the local economies.

SactoQt, you went to school in Japan? How was the housing environment there (philosophy, buy vs rent, affordability...)?

MerrillClient, will you just calm down please?

I was there at the earlier stages of the decline (about 3-4 years in). No one thought the market was going to do what it did, and everyone was still pretty optimistic. At the time Japan was much stronger economically, and still looked poised to be a much more influential player in the world economy, which is why I went to school there. I hate to say it, but I didn't fall in love with the culture because it was very repressive to women (at that time) so I didn't stick with any earlier intentions to try to work or live there. Truly, the housing market was not a big issue at the time. If I had gone there maybe 2 or 3 years later, I bet I would have seen a very different environment.

How so?

Just sit down, have a nice glass of iced tea, and relax.

I think the debate is overheated. It can use some cooling. :)

QT, you are so brave. Japan can be quite intimidating for foreigners, especially females.

Please tell me the food was good.

Mostly, the food was great. Spoiled me for Americanized sushi.

Methinks you should direct your cooling enthusiasms elsewhere.

Let's all have iced tea.

astrid, calm down. ;)

On the good side (if there is one), property taxes are 100 per cent tax deductable (at least in California) just like mortgage interest.

One important difference: property tax is not deductible under AMT, which is hitting more and more people every year.

(Not tax advice)

Jack, in "Threaded Discussion" or before, I was just "P". I changed my name to avoid confusion. :)