I can't believe they did it (part deux)

[goeduck]

The vast majority of the government's "income" comes from society's stupidity

Society is stupid because they support stupid socialistic government programs like wealth taxes, I will give you that. You made MY point.

 

[goeduck]

It's the Capitalist way. We participate in it every day.

I am not sure you have a point to make. In captialism people and companies own assets, the government plays a secondary role.

Why should something that anyone owns be taxed every year by the government if individuals own it? Where does that stop? Big smothering government is the opposite of Capitalism. A wealth tax is basically the government owning part of your assets, the amount of the wealth tax. Tax my income, tax my capital gains but taxing what has already been taxed is socialism.

 

[Diggin It]

Donated canned goods are fine to an extent. But there's an issue of scale. The food banks buy in quantity, sometimes in very large quantity. . Donated canned goods people bought for $500 amounts to just that. A cash donation of $500 can buy $1,000 or more in goods due to the large discounts they get when buying. They can buy whole semi truck loads of overstock product direct from canners/packagers or produce from farm distributors for pennies on the dollar.


USDA has been buying millions of dollars in meat that was destined for Asia, but blocked by the trade war rather than let it go to waste or have the producers take the financial loss. That has been a boon for the food banks, but has also cost them money because they've had to buy or lease more storage and refrigeration capacity. They need cash for those facilities costs, not donated cans.

 

[Jstpssng]

Donated canned goods are fine to an extent. But there's an issue of scale. The food banks buy in quantity, sometimes in very large quantity. . Donated canned goods people bought for $500 amounts to just that. A cash donation of $500 can buy $1,000 or more in goods due to the large discounts they get when buying. They can buy whole semi truck loads of overstock product direct from canners/packagers or produce from farm distributors for pennies on the dollar.


USDA has been buying millions of dollars in meat that was destined for Asia, but blocked by the trade war rather than let it go to waste or have the producers take the financial loss. That has been a boon for the food banks, but has also cost them money because they've had to buy or lease more storage and refrigeration capacity. They need cash for those facilities costs, not donated cans.

I understand what you're saying. However, for the individual who actually buys that item and holds it in their hand; or, in the case of a Christmas gift, puts thought and time into buying it; it gives that person a little more of a connection vs writing a check to the Red Cross, or to the IRS every three months. That's not to sat that I don't write checks; the two I support are Salvation Army and Lutheran Ministries, and I get occasional news letters telling where my money went and how the recipients used it.

 

[the old grind]

Canned food can be more difficult to embezzle in large quantities than cash.

My neighbor wrote quarterly checks to the Shriners org until he heard that 8 cnets on the dollar went to the cause, and the rest went to clown suits, go-karts, and parades. Salvation Army has long been said the most efficient in turning donations into real help for those who need it.

Some of us would rather be more sure that our contributions don't disappear into pockets or cooked books. Our local food banks are not 'macro', and we like to help folks close to home. That reminds me, I have to go to Flint soon and sponsor my kids with the Old Newsboys group. Home | Old Newsboys of Flint Don't need to live there to help out.

Kids don't choose to be poor. Entitled attitudes and reluctance to pay taxes are role modeled by their parents and eventually by their peers. We're not all saints or sinners, and it's to our loss as a society to believe that too few are in-between those shoddy labels, or that we're as morally above the unfortunates as we are physically or financially better off.

If the middle class were to send the lower class 'back where they came from', guess who'd replace them on the bottom of the heap. Count you blessings, boys and girls. :2cents:

Edited: just I used PayPal to donate a hun to onbflint. It feels pretty good to have done so.

 

[CobyRupert]

Some are stupid. Some properties are just too far gone for the owners to care anymore. Or it's not cost effective to put any money into the place, so they abandon it.

Anyhow, it is what it is. Anyone that owns a home should know that you have to pay property taxes on a regular basis. If you don't get a tax bill, you should probably have enough sense to go down to the county office and inquire what's up with that? The error is on you, not them, for not checking.

Yep, people should pay their taxes and follow the law. -No one is arguing otherwise.
Yep, owners get notified multiple times that taxes are due, that property is going to be seized to pay taxes; or they should investigate if they don't get a tax bill. - No one is arguing otherwise.

....but how does any of that change the fact that if the Gov't is owed $8.95, they confiscate $300,000, take their $8.95 and then steal the other $299,991.05?

 

[the old grind]

Yep, people should pay their taxes and follow the law. -No one is arguing otherwise. ...but how does any of that change the fact that if the Gov't is owed $8.95, they confiscate $300,000, take their $8.95 and then steal the other $299,991.05?

It doesn't one bit, unless tax collectors just 'pick low hanging fruit' to make up for delinquents they can't squeeze from a desk.

Btw, why are you bringing up the original topic of the thread now? Haven't we moved beyond that to judgement and social engineering?

 

[Gator6x4]

Yep, people should pay their taxes and follow the law. -No one is arguing otherwise.
Yep, owners get notified multiple times that taxes are due, that property is going to be seized to pay taxes; or they should investigate if they don't get a tax bill. - No one is arguing otherwise.

....but how does any of that change the fact that if the Gov't is owed $8.95, they confiscate $300,000, take their $8.95 and then steal the other $299,991.05?

but how does any of that change the fact that if the Gov't is owed $8.95, they confiscate $300,000, take their $8.95 and then steal the other $299,991.05?

I don’t think that would stand up in Court. If the lawful owner of a property sues for the unlawful taking of their property they would probably recover. I am sure there are a host of Lawyers willing to take the case for the usual 35% fee.

Now if the owner is deceased, no will or heirs the county could probably get away will keeping the money and holding it in a escrow account.

The question that also has not been answered is the County using the seized assets law used by Law Enforcement to seize property gained by criminal enterprise.

Citizens might assume that once they demonstrated the seized property wasn’t involved in or connected with a crime, the government would return it expeditiously. But not necessarily, and one explanation is that states and the federal government have a strong financial interest in keeping that property.

The Institute for Justice reports:

The Justice Department’s Assets Forfeiture Fund took in $93.7 million in 1986, but grew to $4.5 billion in 2014.
Between 2001 and 2014, the Justice Department reported nearly $29 billion worth of seized assets, not counting assets taken and kept by the states.
Between 1997 and 2013, 13 percent of forfeitures were for criminal activities, while 87 percent were civil.
Seized assets have become a major part of governments' budgets at the federal, state and local levels. Seizures are funding new buildings, salaries, bonuses, equipment, department expansions, and that's just the legal expenditures.

 

[shooterdon]

Yep, people should pay their taxes and follow the law. -No one is arguing otherwise.
Yep, owners get notified multiple times that taxes are due, that property is going to be seized to pay taxes; or they should investigate if they don't get a tax bill. - No one is arguing otherwise.

....but how does any of that change the fact that if the Gov't is owed $8.95, they confiscate $300,000, take their $8.95 and then steal the other $299,991.05?

Getting Your Home Back After a Property Tax Sale in Michigan | Nolo

This is the procedure in MI...where this event occurred. This person had plenty of time to reclaim his property AFTER foreclosure. Like I said earlier, do not believe what the media reports as having all the facts.

I do not trust the government. I do not trust the media or lawyers either.

 

[ovrszd]

Now hold on. Steppenwolfe promoted giving back when good fortune smiled upon people, so those Kubotas should not be kept. There are many members of society that could use them more than he. He should give one Kubota to charity every year as the wealth tax he supports. After the Kubotas he should start with whatever else he has to give.

Nice dodge.