Tax Reform

[healey36]

...oh, wait, I'm retired,

Wait, what? You retired? Yippee...great happiness!

Congrats. Now don't be like a buddy of mine that called on Day 9 of retirement to announce he was bored.

[up148]

Business could use a break. We have the 3rd highest corporate tax rate in the world and it's stifling for small business. Really pisses you off when you're killing yourself to be successful and the government takes 38%. Try to sell it and retired and you could lose more than that to taxes.

Congrats on retirement Martin. You have to feel good and it sounds like your next job experience could be very interesting.

BH

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...oh, wait, I'm retired,

Wait, what? You retired? Yippee...great happiness!

Congrats. Now don't be like a buddy of mine that called on Day 9 of retirement to announce he was bored.

Bored? I've got 2 other jobs! And, I still have Emeritus status so I still have the office, access to all sorts of good stuff..........

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Congrats on retirement Martin. You have to feel good and it sounds like your next job experience could be very interesting.

Thanks!

I've been on both sides of the publish & perish fence for close to a decade as an author and an editor, but now I'm firmly on the Editorial side. Well, I do have 2-3 more research manuscripts to get into print.......

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Business could use a break. We have the 3rd highest corporate tax rate in the world and it's stifling for small business. Really pisses you off when you're killing yourself to be successful and the government takes 38%. Try to sell it and retired and you could lose more than that to taxes.

It's hard on the smaller ones for sure, but a lot of the larger ones don't pay anywhere near that 38%. I don;t mind dropping the rate, but let's get rid of write-offs that are exploited to avoid paying. Some are legitimate, but some are "creative".

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I had heard, decades ago, that some countries in Europe (like Sweden?) have a federal tax rate that exceeds even 50o/o (or higher) of income, but that such tax is mitigated by the citizens having all of their medical expenses taken care of by the national government.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I had heard, decades ago, that some countries in Europe (like Sweden?) have a federal tax rate that exceeds even 50o/o (or higher) of income, but that such tax is mitigated by the citizens having all of their medical expenses taken care of by the national government.

Some were higher at one time particularly for high income persons....................but then some also got what they paid for with their taxes.

[Mitch]

Do you guys remember back in '13 or '14 when President Obama's friend, CEO of General Electric, bragged that GE posted a 14.3 billion dollar profit, (billion with a B) and paid virtually no income taxes whatsoever? To me, that is obscene!!!!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.......... GE posted a 14.3 billion dollar profit, (billion with a B) and paid virtually no income taxes whatsoever? To me, that is obscene!!!!

That's what I was noting earlier -- lots of big companies skate.......of course, GE is floundering about now,

[MurphOnMillerAve]

.......... GE posted a 14.3 billion dollar profit, (billion with a B) and paid virtually no income taxes whatsoever? To me, that is obscene!!!!

That's what I was noting earlier -- lots of big companies skate.......of course, GE is floundering about now,

And what's happening to Sears? The demise of malls?

I theorize that FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue closed due to ever increasing high rent. That store was so swank, so beautiful (remember the movie, "Big"), that I cannot feature kids not being totally inebriated by being inside its red granite floored atmosphere. It had a candy boutique , too, right at one of the front doors, ready to get them sugar-spiked immediately .

There's something BIG going on , something too big to be able to stand back and get a proper perspective on it.

[Roy]

I had heard, decades ago, that some countries in Europe (like Sweden?) have a federal tax rate that exceeds even 50o/o (or higher) of income, but that such tax is mitigated by the citizens having all of their medical expenses taken care of by the national government.

Some were higher at one time particularly for high income persons....................but then some also got what they paid for with their taxes.

Here in the U.S., the tax rate on regular income of $200,000 and more was 94% in 1945 - no medical care included. That's not what the rich paid, of course, since the rich aren't wage slaves. In 1945, they paid 25% top rate, on capital gains.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.......... GE posted a 14.3 billion dollar profit, (billion with a B) and paid virtually no income taxes whatsoever? To me, that is obscene!!!!

That's what I was noting earlier -- lots of big companies skate.......of course, GE is floundering about now,

And what's happening to Sears?

A leftover from another time......on life support whose properties might be worth more than the company.

The demise of malls?

Some are fine; the rest are another leftover from another time........and they are being replaced by Outlet Malls

I theorize that FAO Schwarz on Fifth Avenue closed due to ever increasing high rent.

Got to pay that lease.........

There's something BIG going on , something too big to be able to stand back and get a proper perspective on it.

It's just change.

[robert.]

$2,980 a sq.ft. on 5th ave. Why pay that price ? Most shoppers now buy things online while they work. Why go into the city to shop? Sales tax is higher. Tolls are crazy high. Parking is high. If a family from New Jersey were to visit FAO. It would be $75.+ before they bought anything.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

$2,980 a sq.ft. on 5th ave. Why pay that price ? Most shoppers now buy things online while they work. Why go into the city to shop? Sales tax is higher. Tolls are crazy high. Parking is high. If a family from New Jersey were to visit FAO. It would be $75.+ before they bought anything.

You're totally right about those costs, Yet, some people enjoy the glamor of it all and being in such an interesting city and store.

A couple years ago, for my 70th birthday, my wife gave a party for me at a very popular restaurant in Manhattan, "Carmine's." She transported everybody into the city in a hired car, which had to be parked, and reserved a good-sized part of the front of the restaurant for us. Lots of expense, but I sure appreciated it all, including that my friends wanted to be there in the first place, of course, and that they were so charmed by the atmosphere and moment of it all (and , yes, the glamour, of it all, none of which can be explained.)

I remember, decades ago, when I first emigrated from the Midwest to NYC, some friends visited me in nyc. One of them said, in a bored tone, "What's there to do?" I knew, then, that the visit was over. If NYC has to be explained to somebody, there is no point to doing so. My philosophy was, just open your eyes and ears.

Those costs you mentioned are very real, though. Just to get into the city and park to do the work on Lionel's layout at FAO was a cost, though simply the cost-of-doing-business, IMO.

[robert.]

I made my first work trip into NYC at age 20. That was an eye opener. for several years I visited 3-4 a month. Now 3-4 times a year. Everything I deal in moved to Long Island city. That's one reason you see the graffiti building fight. Cheaper rental there. NYC is no longer working man Friendly. It's $42 to take my box truck in. $120. For a tractor trailer. Every time I go I get a parking ticket. Even if I paid to park. You can fight it by mail and win with a paid parking stub. But that's one more hassle I don't need.