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from the wish-we-were-in-the-one-percent dept.
Due to completely messed up U.S. tax policies, some even got a rebate check. Only small businesses pay taxes. Big companies often pay nothing at all.
Look at a new report from Citizens for Tax Justice ( http://ctj.org/ctjreports/2015/04/fifteen_of_many_reasons_why_we_need_corporate_tax_reform.php#.VSbihhPF8QY ), a Washington, D.C. group. It finds that some of nation's most famous brands have paid remarkably little to the government over the last five years. In fact, many actually enjoyed a negative tax rate: They received a nice rebate check from the U.S. Treasury.
The 15 giants highlighted by CTJ were chosen to represent a wide range of industries among Fortune 500 companies. They include CBS, Mattel, Prudential, and the California utility PG&E. Together, they paid no federal income tax in 2014, despite profits totaling $23 billion. CTJ's point is that these companies are not anomalies, they are examples.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2015, @05:15AM
There are more choices available to a person who doesn't like your "social contract" than those you present.
In the USA, the only authority that any "social contract" can have is that which does not exceed the authority used to create the USA. As the current version of the USA was created via the Philadelphia Convention's production of the US Constitution, and the source of the Convention's authority was delegated to it by the individual voter, the authority of the US fedgov cannot legitimately exceed anything that any random individual can do.
I cannot use my individual authority to justifiably force you to give me money for any purpose whatsoever; neither does the US fedgov have that authority as fedgov authority is a derivative of my own!
(Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Wednesday April 15 2015, @09:08AM
and the source of the Convention's authority was delegated to it by the individual voter, the authority of the US fedgov cannot legitimately exceed anything that any random individual can do.
I don't see how the latter follows from the former.
Even if it does, an individual could - in a pre-constitution lawless land - do exactly what you say. He could "force" someone to give him money by threatening to imprison him, or hit him, with no legal ramifications. Of course, he'd have no protection from the (non-existent) law if the "client" decided to fight back...
So, there's your delegated authority.
I cannot use my individual authority to justifiably force you to give me money for any purpose whatsoever; neither does the US fedgov have that authority as fedgov authority is a derivative of my own!
You can't use your individual authority to "justifiably" (whatever that means) detain someone for any purpose whatsoever, either, so I guess that means you think no-one should be in prison.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 1) by Fauxlosopher on Wednesday April 15 2015, @06:41PM
I've written about two pages' worth of directly-related material in two journal [soylentnews.org] entries [soylentnews.org]. Such is my attempt to distill the core concepts of individual self-ownership, delegated authority, and the consequences of violating such principles from the perspective of a modern-day USian into a form that can be quickly read and attacked by critics. If the ideas I present fall to scrutiny, that is a good thing, as the ideas I presented were wrong. I will then see if there appears to be any truth remaining in the rubble, and attempt to extract it from the failure and try again to test the idea for weakness.
If instead the ideas are found to be sound after a critical examination, then I challenge the examiners to use them to test their own premises.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2015, @10:02AM
Except for, you know, those powers specifically granted to the US Federal Government by the Constitution. Like taxation (Article I, Section 8).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 15 2015, @05:37PM
...and also official sanction of slavery via the 3/5ths recognition clause. Oh, I'm sorry - were you under the impression that I hold the Constitution out as an example of perfection? I do not, as the Constitution is obviously flawed as you yourself pointed out.
Slavery cannot be justly imposed by the authority of an individual, regardless of whether the chosen vector is skin coloration, economic capacity, or any other manner that claims to exert ownership of one human by another.