State run public shooting ranges now require a permit

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

When the government offers something for "free", they stole the money from someone else in the form of a tax to pay for it.

So then, are you "stealing" your use of the highway system or your public education or your police protection or your...

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

As for who pays what in federal income taxes, people who make less than $33,000 pay less than 2.7% of what is collected by the IRS.  Don't take my word for it.  I did a quick Goggle search and came up with hundreds of web sites that all say the same thing.  5% of the population pay over about 60% of the taxes collected by the IRS and the bottom 50% pay less than 3%.

That is because the top 5% of the population has 72% of the country's wealth.   Yes, that is right.   So your link does a wonderful job of showing how the deck is stacked in favor of the rich.   For things to be fair, that 5% should be paying 12% more.   But even that is an incomplete picture.   See, we have been moving from a tax based system to a fee based system so that the rich are even less impacted.   Take the drivers license example discussed earlier.   Lets say a license costs $50 (I don't remember what it cost so I'm pulling a number out of the air for an example).   That $50 would represent about three hours of productivity for me.   For a guy on minimum wage that would be about six hours of productivity.   For the very wealthy the fee represents seconds of their time.   Fees are regressive, percentage based taxes are progressive.   That is one reason things are moving to fees.   The middle class is shrinking and the poor are getting screwed.

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

This only represents individual wealth and taxes.   It doesn't include corporate taxes (or lack thereof).   See the GE example given earlier.

[bmwr75]

Tomorrow?   I didn't realize there was one tomorrow.   I'll be seeing Tedeschi/Trucks.   Is the August one scheduled yet?

Me too!!

You too "didn't realize there was one tomorrow" or you too "Tedeschi/Trucks"?

The T/T band at Hartwood Acres.

[OconeeOrange]

I would look for that $30 fee to go up.
Using $$ is the newest way to control guns.
I see just this week where a city is going to start a high tax on each bullet.

[MasterBlaster]

That is because the top 5% of the population has 72% of the country's wealth.

They have the wealth for a reason - They've earned it. Penalizing someone for their success is absolute rubbish. It's easy for one to say "tax the rich" if they're not in that class because it doesn't affect them.

Did you know that more than 75% of all multi-million dollar lottery winners go broke within 5 years? Why do you think that is?

Hmm lets see.... oh what's this? http://consumerist.com/2010/05/poor-people-spend-9-of-income-on-lottery-tickets.html Seems quite foolish to spend 9% of your income on the lottery don't you think? Yet, they continue to make these same bad decisions even after they win until their millions dry up.

Poverty is a way of life for some. There is no outside cure for it. The drive to succeed must come from within ones self. It cannot be given away, it must be earned.

[Sir Thrift-a-Lot]

They have the wealth for a reason - They've earned it. Penalizing someone for their success is absolute rubbish.

I'm not looking to penalize anyone.   I don't see paying taxes as "penalty", I think it is part of the cost of society.   Do not the rich make more use of the infrastructure than the poor?   All I advocate is that they do their fair share.   I'm not saying the should pay more, but they certainly shouldn't pay less.

As far as "they earned it" goes, some did, some didn't.   I already said that I have nothing but respect for a man who works hard, plays by the rules and makes a success of himself.   For every one of those there is an investment banker who made a fortune on selling bonds he knew were designed to fail because he also knew that the government would eventually mop up behind him.   That is absolutely true.