State run public shooting ranges now require a permit

[MasterBlaster]

$30 annually for a use permit to shoot on the PUBLIC range - really?

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=937842&mode=2

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I have to pay for a permit to drive on public roads.

If we would go back to taxing rich people like we should then we wouldn't need all these fees.

[SunnyDaze]

The few "rich" as well as the majority of "well to do" folks that I do know personally either work or have worked like a dog to earn what they have. Taxing those who achieve simply because they achieve isn't the answer.

 
 

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

Evereyone needs to do their fair share.   What we have now is the rich stealing from the poor.

[NATOE]

I have to pay for a permit to drive on public roads.

If we would go back to taxing rich people like we should then we wouldn't need all these fees.

you got the first part of your name right you just have to add the sisizm to it.

[SunnyDaze]

Where is the fairness in taking wealth and assets off of a person who has worked hard and earned what they have so that they and their families may enjoy a brighter future and giving it to those who are not nearly as productive?

One would hope that those who are in a position to help the less fortunate would do so based upon the desire to help their fellow citizens. It's an issue of morality, not politics.

[MasterBlaster]

wow, this thread has completely gone off the rails.

[SunnyDaze]

I do that.

 

[OldiesButGoodies]

I agree w SD,  the beauty of this country is that you can if you work hard enough and want it bad enough accumulate wealth and success.  I find it hard to empathize to those who want to cast the rich as evil just because they are rich.  That said,  the tax system needs an overhaul.  It is a complicated mess of laws that unfairly burdens some and not others,  depending on your ability to pay tax attorneys and CPAs to help you game the rules.  That is not right.  Get a flat VAT tax or something similar so everyone pays.

[OCCD]

I agree with OBG.

[SunnyDaze]

I haven't made enough cash to worry about tax brackets or a flat tax or any of that jazz...

...yet.

Remember Ross Perot's flat tax proposal in '92? I was only 12 years old, but I remember how much of a stir it created.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I have to pay for a permit to drive on public roads.

If we would go back to taxing rich people like we should then we wouldn't need all these fees.

you got the first part of your name right you just have to add the sisizm to it.

Funny stuff.   The fact is that the top tax rates are lower than they have been in over fifty years (and that isn't even counting loopholes).   It is also a fact that our overall tax rate is the lowest of any industrialized country.   It is also a fact that many "multi-national" corporations do business here and funnel their money overseas to avoid taxes.   Finally, I'll note as one example that a couple years back GE made six billion dollars in profit and paid zero in taxes.

The problem isn't that I'm a Marxist (I'm not), the problem is that this country is in the throes of a fascist shift which most people can't even recognize.   

(Should I still come to the next get together or do you all hate me now?)

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

I find it hard to empathize to those who want to cast the rich as evil just because they are rich. 

Please show me where I cast anyone as evil.   Asking for fairness is not casting people as evil.   If we are going for empty rhetoric, how's this...

You seem to be rich (granted, it is a matter of definition) and based on our brief encounter you seem like a really nice guy to me.

(BTW, you do seem like a nice guy, that part isn't rhetoric.)

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

if you work hard enough and want it bad enough accumulate wealth and success

Look, I'm not rich compared to most here, but I am rich compared to my parents.   I certainly have worked hard to get where I am today.   I have nothing but admiration for those who work hard and play by the rules.

However, I also recognize that quotes like the one above fail to account for luck and ability (or lack thereof).   I have a son who goes to the Day School at Children's Institute, and he will never have the ability to hold down a meaningful job.   Should we just throw him and those like him into the gutter?   I think that as a society we can do better.

[OldiesButGoodies]

It is hard to fully describe my perspective here in a few characters,  but after reading more I think I am closer to your point of view than I first thought.  I am saying that the (1) it is a good thing that anyone [generally speaking] can achieve success here and (2) that the tax system appears to me to be broken - some pay little others pay a lot and man times there is no rhyme or reason other than some legislator created a crazy law that allows it and the house approved it.

I also believe that if we really are the economic powerhouse we claim to want to be (we are losing that title quickly to China and Brazil, etc.), we should be able to afford to have a safety net to take care of the those that cannot take care of themselves.  It is sad that we can not afford to do that even with all the money we pump into healthcare every year.  But that is easier said (or written here) than done - it is easy to start designing a fair safety net and end up creating an incentive for some people to become entitled and get lazy.  But the pendulum could sure swing a bit more in that direction,  which is the point I think you are making, or part of it anyway.

(and no disrespect intended,  BTW,  just having fun in the forum)

OBG