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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday July 09 2019, @05:14PM   Printer-friendly
from the R.I.P. dept.

Ross Perot, Billionaire Former Presidential Candidate, has Died at age 89:

Billionaire, philanthropist and former presidential candidate Ross Perot has died, CBS News has confirmed. He was 89.

Perot died in Texas, the state where he was born, surrounded by family.

[...] In 1992, Perot made a name for himself when he became the most successful non-major party presidential candidate in 80 years, amassing 19 percent of the popular vote, running against President George H.W. Bush and Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton.

As a boy in Texarkana, Texas, Perot delivered newspapers from the back of a pony. He earned his billions in a more modern way, however — by building Electronic Data Systems Corp., which helped other companies manage their computer networks.

Yet the most famous event in his career didn't involve sales and earnings; he financed a private commando raid in 1979 to free two EDS employees who were being held in a prison in Iran. The tale was turned into a book and a movie.

Perot first became known to Americans outside of business circles by claiming that the U.S. government left behind hundreds of American soldiers who were missing or imprisoned at the end of the Vietnam War. Perot fanned the issue at home and discussed it privately with Vietnamese officials in the 1980s, angering the Reagan administration, which was formally negotiating with Vietnam's government.


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @06:19PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @06:19PM (#865089)

    According to the governments definitions we are all "rich". We all pay income tax now, which was only meant for the rich.

    This return shall be made by every citizen of the United States, whether residing at home or abroad, and by every person residing in the United States, though not a citizen thereof, having a net income of $3,000 or over for the taxable year, and also by every nonresident alien deriving income from property owned and business, trade, or profession carried on in the United States by him.

    http://www.bradfordtaxinstitute.com/Endnotes/IRS_Form_1040_1913.pdf [bradfordtaxinstitute.com]

    The price of gold was ~$20 per oz in 1913[1], so the lowest tax bracket ($3,000) was for people with income corresponding to ~145 oz of gold.

    Today the price of gold is ~$1400.

    So the value of the dollar has decreased by 1400/20 = 70x since then. But the lowest tax bracket has only increased ~3-4x to $9,525[2]

    Likewise, look at price per acre of land[3]:
    1913: ~$43
    2018: ~$3,140

    Ratio: ~70x

    No one making under ~$200k per year should be paying any taxes according to the original definition of "rich".

    [1] https://onlygold.com/gold-prices/historical-gold-prices/ [onlygold.com]
    [2] https://www.creditkarma.com/tax/i/2018-tax-brackets/ [creditkarma.com]
    [3] https://extension2.missouri.edu/g404 [missouri.edu]

    Starting Score:    0  points
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @07:01PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 09 2019, @07:01PM (#865103)

    You mean the chinese slowly purchase the government?