Posted on 02/13/2008 7:59:39 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Bologna! It's not in fine print. I just got a set of blank checks from a CC company with 0% rate until August, the date printed in fine BIG print, and am trying to figure out what to spend them on (and repay the suckers before August. Take the banks for a ride not the other way around. Sheesh!
Dude, you can make money off the credit card companies, borrowing at the 0% rate, while investing in whatever, even money market funds. Is it brain surgery to figure it out?
I, but income wise, I am middle class.
My money is, and has been for some time, safely abroad, earning quite a bit of income — abroad.
The more radical Dems have been pushing for a wealth tax on for years. As the demographics of the country sprint left and the entitlement promises come due, you’d better believe they’re going to get it.
Many European countries - France, Sweden, Norway, etc - already have a wealth tax. When your worth reaches some cutoff point that they decide is ripe enough for shearing - in France for example it’s 750K including the value of your home - they are going to send you a yearly bill for 2-5% of your worth.
The genuinely superwealthy will of course game their way out of liability with charitable trusts and phantom corporations and such just as they avoid the income and estate taxes now.
But middle class people who lived downscale and saved for a bad day like you (and me) are going to be taken to the cleaners.
When you make “minimum” payments you are NOT establishing your creditworthiness. I use a card but the interest rate doesn’t matter. I pay it off with every paycheck. I just find it more convenient to use than cash. When cash has been stolen from me I can’t get it back. When the card was stolen and when I lost it I canceled the card immediately and my only loss was having to carry cash for two weeks until I got a new card.
It seems to me a wealth tax should produce lots of conspicuous consumption like exotic vacations, things that do not count as “wealth.” When England had an income tax that reached 100% there were far more Rolls Royce cars on the street because there was no reason to keep assets in the bank or to put them to work to increase and produce income. That sort of taxation is satisfying to envious folks of lesser means but it is destructive of the economy and ultimately depresses wages, including the wages of the folks whose envy produced those taxes.
It seems to me a wealth tax should produce lots of conspicuous consumption like exotic vacations, things that do not count as “wealth.” When England had an income tax that reached 100% there were far more Rolls Royce cars on the street because there was no reason to keep assets in the bank or to put them to work to increase and produce income. That sort of taxation is satisfying to envious folks of lesser means but it is destructive of the economy and ultimately depresses wages, including the wages of the folks whose envy produced those taxes.
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