They need to ask the government to legislate higher taxes? That's absurd! All they have to do is write a check!
Or, Germany only has 44 "rich people" left, as the rest have already been taxed into the middle-class.
Neither one. I don't consider it giving money away, I consider it a common investment in society. And I vote for me AND others to do so. I'm not trying to exempt myself from contributing my fair share, nor am I volunteering to contribute more than my fair share. barfo
And there is a major difference between you and me. I give my money without expecting others to do so to charities and causes I believe serve the common good. You only want to give money if everyone else has to. I would also wager my charities use their money more efficiently than does the Federal Government.
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett sure are hoarding their wealth. My bad, they're giving it all away (their choice). Your bad, they're not giving it to the government - likely they don't trust it to use the money fruitfully. Even your favorite, Ken Lay, donated huge sums to charity (like enough to build opera houses in Dallas). Stanford University is the recipient of huge charitable grants. Like David Packard donating (literally) $billions. That'd be THE Packard of Hewlett-Packard. Not only do these super rich guys give to charity, so do people Obama likes to target ($250K+).
There's a lot of corruption with the money that Gates and Buffett give, Denny. If they were to be taxed instead with a higher percentage, and then that money turned around to help the poor here rather than have it go to through charity organizations (which are all corrupted IMHO, half the time they don't know where they money went).
That unlike many of the American rich (or Chinese rich or Mexican rich, etc. etc.) at least some Germans seem to have some strong ideals about how much money they need to live and how it can best be used. I wasn't asking anybody here to give anything. That would make me a socialist fascist communist scum apparently...
And what several of us are saying is why don't you give more yourself before asking others to bear a greater burden?
I would also wager that government and charities serve different purposes. I haven't noticed charities invading Iraq or sending up space probes or building bridges. barfo
And some of those things I'm willing to pay for. "Provide for the common defence" is in the Consitution. Plenty of private companies send things into space. Infrastructure should be funded with tolls. There are all sorts of things we can choose that are better done collectively. Paying for someone else's health insurance or prescriptions because they don't want to sacrifice their standard of living isn't one of them. What I don't think we should pay for are programs that reward bad behavior. If you wish to continue to punish the achievers in this society, you will eventually create a situation where there is no one left to tax. Incentives matter.
Well you did a terrible job proving your point. Because I don't see any evidence showing that the American rich don't give a lot of money away. Just because the American rich aren't asking to be taxed more doesn't mean they don't give a lot to those that need it. You are making quite a leap in logic there.
But giving money to charity is illegitmate, according to Yakbladder. Only money that the government takes is considered to be right and fair. He just wants those who makes more than he does to pay for all of his programs.
And why is it that you want to see people beaten to death in the streets for being poor? You never answered my original question, so what if I give more money?
