Cops!

[tywy_99]

 

I've got a Glock too, it makes me nobody.

 

Jim

 

Actually, it makes you SOMEBODY. That's the point of the 2nd Amendment, and that's why so many in power HATE it!!

 

Best Regards

 

And you wonder why:

 

Cops on the other hand occasionally shoot citizens to death for no apparent cause.

 

Pull a gun during a trafic stop and there is a very good chance someone will not be going home that day!

This is why!!! You all just don't get it!!

 

There is one thing for sure it will be me going home!!

Reading this post reminde me of something I saw on CNN yesterday.

This film shows a cop spraying mace in a car a suspect was in. The cop sprayed him through the driver side window and then he made a mistake; after spraying, he turned and walked away from the car. This mistake cost him his life. The man in the car held a pistol out of the window and shot the cop dead! It was the cop's fault. That is one thing they teach cops not to do! Never turn your back on a violater, even if it's an 88 year old lady. Never turn your back!

This is a classic mistake tht all to often ends in the death of the cop.

[rogerinca]

Federal (FBI) annual statistical reporting is generally several months behind the current date:

 

During CY 2005, 122 law enforcement officers lost their lives while on duty in the USA; each representing local, state and federal agencies. Fifty five were killed while conducting general law enforcement duties and an additional sixty seven officers were killed in accidents on duty during this period.

 

All but one of the slain officers were men, who on average were 37 years old with a decade of law enforcement service. More than half of them ¡ª 28 ¡ª were killed in a swath of southern states stretching from Delaware to Texas. Forty-seven of the officers were white; eight were black.

 

Traffic duty proved to be the most lethal assignment for the officers, the report shows. Fifteen officers were killed by felons during traffic stops, compared with eight slain while making arrests and another eight who were ambushed. The rest of the killings came while breaking up family disputes, investigating suspicious activity, transporting prisoners and other duties.

 

Another 57,546 police officers were assaulted while on the job in 2005.

 

The FBI's assault data were collected from 10,032 law enforcement agencies nationwide, serving 75% of the population.

 

I do not watch the ¡®COPS¡¯ show.

 

More comment to follow. Please stay tuned to this station.

[Carl]

Reading this post reminde me of something I saw on CNN yesterday.

This film shows a cop spraying mace in a car a suspect was in. The cop sprayed him through the driver side window and then he made a mistake; after spraying, he turned and walked away from the car. This mistake cost him his life. The man in the car held a pistol out of the window and shot the cop dead! It was the cop's fault. That is one thing they teach cops not to do! Never turn your back on a violater, even if it's an 88 year old lady. Never turn your back!

This is a classic mistake tht all to often ends in the death of the cop.

 

From what I understand the cop and the man in the video had a long history of bad blood between them. Evidently the circumstances escalated to the point that it became personal. CNN (and every other news organization for that matter) only showed the macing and the aftermath. We don't know the events proceeding the action, only the after effects.

 

Until we know the full story let's reserve judgement.

[Carl]

Federal (FBI) annual statistical reporting is generally several months behind the current date:

 

During CY 2005, 122 law enforcement officers lost their lives while on duty in the USA; each representing local, state and federal agencies. Fifty five were killed while conducting general law enforcement duties and an additional sixty seven officers were killed in accidents on duty during this period.

 

All but one of the slain officers were men, who on average were 37 years old with a decade of law enforcement service. More than half of them ¡ª 28 ¡ª were killed in a swath of southern states stretching from Delaware to Texas. Forty-seven of the officers were white; eight were black.

 

Traffic duty proved to be the most lethal assignment for the officers, the report shows. Fifteen officers were killed by felons during traffic stops, compared with eight slain while making arrests and another eight who were ambushed. The rest of the killings came while breaking up family disputes, investigating suspicious activity, transporting prisoners and other duties.

 

Another 57,546 police officers were assaulted while on the job in 2005.

 

The FBI's assault data were collected from 10,032 law enforcement agencies nationwide, serving 75% of the population.

 

I do not watch the ¡®COPS¡¯ show.

 

More comment to follow. Please stay tuned to this station.

 

I think this says it all

[DMikeS4321]

Here are at least six kids who will never again have respect for the police:

 

http://www.katv.com/news/stories/0607/434405.html

 

I'm not here to bash the police, but until you've been on the wrong side of them, you don't know what it's like.

 

In the past 4 months, there have been 2 fatal officer involved shootings in our semi-rural county, population 550,000, largest city population 150,000. None of the fatalities were police officers.

 

1. First shooting was a drug dealer who shot an officer who was serving a warrant for dealing meth. The officer's vest saved his life and he came through it with a big bruise and no other physical damage, but I'm sure he will be a wreck emotionally for a long time. The perp was shot somewhere between 12 and 27 times. We don't know because there is always a news blackout when there is a police shooting. Nobody is concerned about this shooting; it is obviously completely justified.

 

2. 16 year old straight "A" student, volunteer with Big Brothers, NEVER any trouble, won't come out of the family mini-van after aparently threatening his younger brother with a 1.5 inch pen knife. The boy was 5'6" and weighed about 110 pounds. Two sheriff's deputies arrive and try to forcibly remove the boy from the van. No mace, no spray. When the boy, plainly suffering from a psychotic episode, won't come out and resists (he is no longer in possession of the knife), one deputy climbs into the van after him. When the boy resists further by kicking the first officer in the face, the second officer reaches around his partner and shoots the boy eight times at point blank range. Investigation being handled by city police from the adjacent city. News blackout, nobody knows what is happening.

 

The second incident above is being investigated by the same department that is under investigation by the Sheriff's Department for an earlier shooting involving members of that city's police force. Once again, in the case involving the city police, there is a news blackout; nobody knows what is happening.

 

There have been other incidents as well. A homeless man is shot several times by three officers while he is locked in the lobby of the main police department's station. He was brandishing a metal pipe and wouldn't drop it. The man was alone with no way in or out of a 'hardened' lobby with bullet proof glass protecting officers and the public outside the room. Nobody knows what happened; another news blackout.

 

A family man (this guy happened to live three houses down from me) comes home drunk after a night on the town. Wife won't let him in because of his condition. Police arrive, 2 cars, 3 officers. The drunk man becomes belligerent, hits a squad car with a clothes hanger pole from a closet. The man is shot 5 times from a distance of 15 feet. Witnesses say the officer was at no time in danger. Investigation handled as above; officer retires and is now employed by another agency in our county. Oh, this incident took place in a upper-class neighborhood of $800,000 homes. The shooting victim was from Korea; officer said he was making threatening 'martial arts' moves with the stick.

 

This kind of thing is not good. Throw in some over-zealous traffic enforcement and you have an even more serious problem. Add a complete lack of news coverage, virtually NO civilian oversight and the now ubiquitous black 'SWAT' outfit, and people are starting to say "WTF?".

 

I sympathize with the issues that the police face, but the ninja costumes aren't necessary (when did the black jumpsuits and mirror sunglasses become 'uniform of the day' for civilian officers?) and a good dose of community relations would help, but they aren't interested. Police Departments are becoming 'closed societies', dominated by a kind of 'us or them' locker room mentality. When I see the old "Protect and Serve" slogan now, I wonder who the hell they are talking about.

[tywy_99]

Reading this post reminde me of something I saw on CNN yesterday.

This film shows a cop spraying mace in a car a suspect was in. The cop sprayed him through the driver side window and then he made a mistake; after spraying, he turned and walked away from the car. This mistake cost him his life. The man in the car held a pistol out of the window and shot the cop dead! It was the cop's fault. That is one thing they teach cops not to do! Never turn your back on a violater, even if it's an 88 year old lady. Never turn your back!

This is a classic mistake tht all to often ends in the death of the cop.

 

From what I understand the cop and the man in the video had a long history of bad blood between them. Evidently the circumstances escalated to the point that it became personal. CNN (and every other news organization for that matter) only showed the macing and the aftermath. We don't know the events proceeding the action, only the after effects.

 

Until we know the full story let's reserve judgement.

The cop made a costly mistake. He turned his back, pure and simple! And it cost him his life!

I remember a study that was done on police officers killed in the line of duty and the results show that they all were too trusting. They let their guard down.

The lesson learned here is -Do Not turn your back on anybody! Not even an 88 year old lady! She can fire a gun as well as anybody else.

[rogerinca]

.....My point is that, the police we all are giggly/romantic about doesn't exist.......

 

......And if American traffic needs so much policing, how come I see far more accidents in America than I do in the total chaos of Chinese traffic? Left to its own, traffic is self regulating and self instructing.

We should try it......

 

 

If one were taking a Propaganda and Debating Techniques class in college this would most likely fall under the category of: Unsupported Claims - Make any grand claims you wish, supported by no facts at all.

 

I am sure you are a fantastic and very successful business person. I am sure you are very good at what you do in the import-export business and most likely make more money than most of us here. Having said that, I would like to know what your credentials, expertise, and education is with respect to policing in America. I would like to know your background in highway traffic management and your knowledge of all the efforts that are being made to lower the mileage death rate in this country. I do not believe your point of view is the dominant one in this country, nor in this forum. I think many who are stridently anti-government and anti-regulation, are also those who are the most vocal. The majority opinion is most always more subdued.

 

Sure, everyone has their own personal ¡®bum-ticket¡¯ story to relate to one another; but having said that, without that thin blue line, as the clich¨¦ goes, there is nothing to protect any of us from carnage and road rage on the highways, and wholesale criminal activity and violence in our communities.

 

For every story you want to share with me about some ¡®bad cop¡¯, I can give you 100 more about good cops, whose good work and deed, every hour of every day, go mostly unreported. To the media, good news is no news !! List any occupation, and you can always find some very good people and some not so good. Clergy, doctors, lawyers, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, teachers, firemen, policemen, plumbers, carpenters, and yes, also businessmen -- most are good, and a few are bad, because all have an origin from the Human Race.

 

Speak to someone who has lost a spouse or child, or other loved one to the actions of a drunk driver; I promise you they will not share your thesis. Let me share with you, the pain of my 26 year old Los Angeles area LEO son, who cried as he had a young, recently immigrated [Chinese] woman, bleed-out and die in his arms, just moments after being struck by a hit and run driver as she and her new husband crossed a street, in the S/E San Gabriel Valley.

 

There are several of us members within this forum who are local, state and federal, law enforcement officers; and/or have close family members who serve daily in this capacity. I am not sure why you wish to mock or make light of their service, in a manner that is close to being insulting ??

 

 

NEWS ITEM: (Again note, statistical data such as this is always nearly a year behind in reporting)

 

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - The Manila Times

 

Nearly 42,000 Die in China Traffic in Six Month Period

 

BEIJING: Nearly 42,000 people were killed in traffic accidents on China¡¯s dangerous roads in the first six months of this year, the government said Tuesday. The toll equates to an average of 230 people dying on China¡¯s roads each day.

 

The Ministry of Public Security said at a press conference that there were nearly 42,000 traffic-related fatalities in the past six months.

 

Wang Jinbiao, the deputy director of the ministry¡¯s traffic supervision bureau, said a general lack of road safety awareness, speeding were to blame. ¡°Although we have seen some achievements, our country¡¯s road safety situation is still serious,¡± Wang told reporters.

 

According to recently announced official figures, in 2005 traffic accidents caused nearly 100,000 fatalities.

 

China¡¯s roads are seen as among the most dangerous in the world, with the World Health Organization saying there could be a massive under-reporting of road fatalities. It said there may be more than [twice] the official number of deaths, as official figures largely come only from police reports and not from hospitals or medical clinics.

--AFP

[toy_rn65]

[NUWORLD]

.....My point is that, the police we all are giggly/romantic about doesn't exist.......

 

......And if American traffic needs so much policing, how come I see far more accidents in America than I do in the total chaos of Chinese traffic? Left to its own, traffic is self regulating and self instructing.

We should try it......

 

 

If one were taking a Propaganda and Debating Techniques class in college this would most likely fall under the category of: Unsupported Claims - Make any grand claims you wish, supported by no facts at all.

 

I am sure you are a fantastic and very successful business person. I am sure you are very good at what you do in the import-export business and most likely make more money than most of us here. Having said that, I would like to know what your credentials, expertise, and education is with respect to policing in America. I would like to know your background in highway traffic management and your knowledge of all the efforts that are being made to lower the mileage death rate in this country. I do not believe your point of view is the dominant one in this country, nor in this forum. I think many who are stridently anti-government and anti-regulation, are also those who are the most vocal. The majority opinion is most always more subdued.

 

Sure, everyone has their own personal ¡®bum-ticket¡¯ story to relate to one another; but having said that, without that thin blue line, as the clich¨¦ goes, there is nothing to protect any of us from carnage and road rage on the highways, and wholesale criminal activity and violence in our communities.

 

For every story you want to share with me about some ¡®bad cop¡¯, I can give you 100 more about good cops, whose good work and deed, every hour of every day, go mostly unreported. To the media, good news is no news !! List any occupation, and you can always find some very good people and some not so good. Clergy, doctors, lawyers, Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, teachers, firemen, policemen, plumbers, carpenters, and yes, also businessmen -- most are good, and a few are bad, because all have an origin from the Human Race.

 

Speak to someone who has lost a spouse or child, or other loved one to the actions of a drunk driver; I promise you they will not share your thesis. Let me share with you, the pain of my 26 year old Los Angeles area LEO son, who cried as he had a young, recently immigrated [Chinese] woman, bleed-out and die in his arms, just moments after being struck by a hit and run driver as she and her new husband crossed a street, in the S/E San Gabriel Valley.

 

There are several of us members within this forum who are local, state and federal, law enforcement officers; and/or have close family members who serve daily in this capacity. I am not sure why you wish to mock or make light of their service, in a manner that is close to being insulting ??

 

 

NEWS ITEM: (Again note, statistical data such as this is always nearly a year behind in reporting)

 

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - The Manila Times

 

Nearly 42,000 Die in China Traffic in Six Month Period

 

BEIJING: Nearly 42,000 people were killed in traffic accidents on China¡¯s dangerous roads in the first six months of this year, the government said Tuesday. The toll equates to an average of 230 people dying on China¡¯s roads each day.

 

The Ministry of Public Security said at a press conference that there were nearly 42,000 traffic-related fatalities in the past six months.

 

Wang Jinbiao, the deputy director of the ministry¡¯s traffic supervision bureau, said a general lack of road safety awareness, speeding were to blame. ¡°Although we have seen some achievements, our country¡¯s road safety situation is still serious,¡± Wang told reporters.

 

According to recently announced official figures, in 2005 traffic accidents caused nearly 100,000 fatalities.

 

China¡¯s roads are seen as among the most dangerous in the world, with the World Health Organization saying there could be a massive under-reporting of road fatalities. It said there may be more than [twice] the official number of deaths, as official figures largely come only from police reports and not from hospitals or medical clinics.

--AFP

 

 

Well said roger!! And Yes i agree.

 

There are several of us members within this forum who are local, state and federal, law enforcement officers; and/or have close family members who serve daily in this capacity. I am not sure why you wish to mock or make light of their service, in a manner that is close to being insulting ??

 

I have many calls i could tell everyone here about but there is one that i will never forget.

 

It started out as a normal fender bender.

Car VS truck ( Big Rig ) In the car there is a famliy of three.

Mom, Dad and there 16 year old daughter.

I get the call ( 11-83 Traffic Accident - No Details )

 

When i went ( 10-97 Arrived at scence )

I fine the Dad and Mom laying in the road!!

Come to fine out after the accident happened the Dad gets out to look at the damage.

While he was looking at his car he was hit by another car driving by.

At this point Mom jumps out to check on her husband and was also hit by yet another car!!!

 

I was the first unit on seen.

I check on Dad, Two broken legs but stable!!

I then Check on Mom, one broken leg, one broken arm and minor cuts.

But stable.

 

Mom was yelling and screaming about her daughter.

At this time i thought there was only two injured.

 

I then look in there car and find there daughter NOT BREATHING!

 

I start CPR!!! Now i must tell you there is not even a scratch on this young girl.

 

Now from the time i arrived on seen to now it has been maybe 5 minutes at most. The longest 5 minutes of my life!

I could hear the sirens of the paramedics coming down the road.

By the time they arrived the 16 year old girl Died in my arms!!

 

An autopsy was done and found no injurys what so ever!

The cause of death was: She was scared to death seeing her Mom and dad

get hit by two different cars!! ( Heart attact )

The Medical examiner told me that i did well!!

In my mind i did not do enough!!

 

That was 10 years ago and i relive that day everyday of my life.

 

So the moral of this story Did i do my job well? or did i not?

 

Now after you have read this story How would you feel if in my shoes today???

 

We are police officers with the world toughest job in the would.

We may not be liked by many but who do you call when you need help??? or when you have been robbed or when your car has been stolen??

 

YOU CALL A COP!!

[toy_rn65]

Not to be redundant, I told this story before, but it fits here.

 

About a year and a half ago my 80 odd year old Chinese father was beat almost to death by three drunks. To this day, he continues to have headaches. But, no bones were broken. This was the criteria used by the ¡°superior Chinese police¡± to justify not getting involved with the pursuit, apprehension or arrest of the perpetrators. In other words, not a damn thing was done.

 

Two weeks ago my 16 year old son was jumped, beat, threatened with a knife and robbed by a gang of 6 other kids. He¡¯s pretty freaked out, but not really hurt. The police [sic] wouldn¡¯t do anything! This was not the first time this happened in the same school zone.

 

Now, you tell me that this is the way it would be handled in the States? I don¡¯t think so.

 

You wanna bitch about traffic tickets, or that it is a ¡®money racket¡¯? Well, maybe it is, but if you consider the gross under funding of social programs and the incalculable amount of money earmarked for, let¡¯s just say numerous involvements and funding in and for other countries, you just might be able to see what¡¯s really going on.

 

There were several felonies commited on each of the incidents that you have mentioned. I guess that was what one of the member meant by "Chinese cops don't sweat the small stuff".

[DMikeS4321]

The cop made a costly mistake. He turned his back, pure and simple! And it cost him his life!

I remember a study that was done on police officers killed in the line of duty and the results show that they all were too trusting. They let their guard down.

The lesson learned here is -Do Not turn your back on anybody! Not even an 88 year old lady! She can fire a gun as well as anybody else.

 

"Never take your eyes off your opponent." - Bruce Lee

[DMikeS4321]

You wanna bitch about traffic tickets, or that it is a 憁oney racket? Well, maybe it is, but if you consider the gross under funding of social programs and the incalculable amount of money earmarked for, let抯 just say numerous involvements and funding in and for other countries, you just might be able to see what抯 really going on.

 

Well... there is no underfunding in MY city of 6500. We just built the Department a brand new three million dollar station, this for 16 officers!!

 

Sorry, I get touchy whenever I hear about "underfunding". Where IS the money going? Fuel prices rise 300%, sales tax revenues on fuel rise 300%. Property values up 300 to 500% in the past 8 years, property tax revenues rise 300 to 500%.

 

I don't know what part of the States you used to live in, but the money is SOMEWHERE, and it sure as hell isn't in MY pocket!!

 

Best Regards

Edited July 1, 2007 by DMikeS4321 (see edit history)

[JimandSarha]

What? No seriously, what?

 

What does anything you have to say have to do with an over emphasise on traffic enforcement? What does it have to do with the basic premise that the justice system has basically set out to give everyone a semi-criminal police record and legacy of high insurance costs and possible lack of employment JUST to raise revenues?

 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insur...dingTicket.aspx

 

Go read it. I think it came out today.

 

 

 

What are my qualifications? I'm a US Citizen. THAT's my qualification and I've managed to live a long time to be able to see the changes from friendly approachable assets to our society to a paramilitary force that dresses and acts slightly above an occupying force. And I see that what they are really concerned with from a mission statement perspective is to collect as much mone as possible from traffic enforcement. They even admit it!

 

 

Are the US police generally better than Chinese police? Maybe. And so what? Water quality in America is better too. Should we stop improving it? Foolish arguments about we're better so lay off are just that. Foolish. When something is broken, you fix it. You don't say, its less broken than China's.

 

 

 

As for traffic fatalities in China.... Go dig deeper. Most of the fatalities are people hitting pedestrians and bicycle.scooter riders. Generally several at a time.

 

If you are going to quote statistics, then reada them.

 

So, what's your great qualifications to defend police? You left that out.

 

I'm just waiting for the next step, someone (it sounds like we have police on here) tracks down who I am and illegally runs my record so they can try to fry me with it. Good luck with that. Frying me I mean. I'm really amazingly easy to track down. When yyou manage it, and I knw you want too, then we can add violation of rights to my opinion of the STRUCTURE of policing activites.

 

Today, I just think we can be better served by moving cops out of cars on highways and speed traps and onto streets, both on foot and in patrol cars.

 

I know its tough to hear, but things can be improved.

 

Do you know why I'm successful? Do I make the world's greatest anything at all? No, I don't. Its because I look at problems. Things take too long to ship. Things are packaged stupidly. Things aren't fit to the application. Things are made with defects.

 

I spend my time trying to fix things. And I do very well at it. There are those in life who spend their time trying to make what is, even more so. Sometimes that's a good idea. Education should be reverted to the Eisenhower years, when it actually worked. That's change and its keeping things the same. I'd like to see the same big smiling faces I saw in cops when I was a kid, as well.

 

Cops used to be friends and teachers used to be feared. It seemed to all work so much better then. For all of us. Including the teachers and cops.

[NUWORLD]

What? No seriously, what?

 

What does anything you have to say have to do with an over emphasise on traffic enforcement? What does it have to do with the basic premise that the justice system has basically set out to give everyone a semi-criminal police record and legacy of high insurance costs and possible lack of employment JUST to raise revenues?

 

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insur...dingTicket.aspx

 

Go read it. I think it came out today.

 

 

 

What are my qualifications? I'm a US Citizen. THAT's my qualification and I've managed to live a long time to be able to see the changes from friendly approachable assets to our society to a paramilitary force that dresses and acts slightly above an occupying force. And I see that what they are really concerned with from a mission statement perspective is to collect as much mone as possible from traffic enforcement. They even admit it!

 

 

Are the US police generally better than Chinese police? Maybe. And so what? Water quality in America is better too. Should we stop improving it? Foolish arguments about we're better so lay off are just that. Foolish. When something is broken, you fix it. You don't say, its less broken than China's.

 

 

 

As for traffic fatalities in China.... Go dig deeper. Most of the fatalities are people hitting pedestrians and bicycle.scooter riders. Generally several at a time.

 

If you are going to quote statistics, then reada them.

 

So, what's your great qualifications to defend police? You left that out.

 

I'm just waiting for the next step, someone (it sounds like we have police on here) tracks down who I am and illegally runs my record so they can try to fry me with it. Good luck with that. Frying me I mean. I'm really amazingly easy to track down. When yyou manage it, and I knw you want too, then we can add violation of rights to my opinion of the STRUCTURE of policing activites.

 

Today, I just think we can be better served by moving cops out of cars on highways and speed traps and onto streets, both on foot and in patrol cars.

 

I know its tough to hear, but things can be improved.

 

Do you know why I'm successful? Do I make the world's greatest anything at all? No, I don't. Its because I look at problems. Things take too long to ship. Things are packaged stupidly. Things aren't fit to the application. Things are made with defects.

 

I spend my time trying to fix things. And I do very well at it. There are those in life who spend their time trying to make what is, even more so. Sometimes that's a good idea. Education should be reverted to the Eisenhower years, when it actually worked. That's change and its keeping things the same. I'd like to see the same big smiling faces I saw in cops when I was a kid, as well.

 

Cops used to be friends and teachers used to be feared. It seemed to all work so much better then. For all of us. Including the teachers and cops.

 

 

YES!!! You Do have police here, Many of us!!!

[JimandSarha]

Oh, I forgot, I'm a bad guy for avoiding taxes.

 

Do any of you take a home mortgage deduction? Why?

 

Seriously, I'd like all of you that think me avoiding taxes is bad to answer the question in print. WHY DO YOU TAKE A HOME MORTGAGE DEDUCTION?

 

I bet its to save money. But please, tell me why, in print.

 

 

 

 

Ok, I do the sme thing. I used to pay taxes by the boatload. Sometimes over a million a year. Then I started to ask myself a question. Is it right that I pay taxes and those that control our government don't? How do they not?

 

Well the answer to that question is that they manipulate the tax code through bribes aka donations to get breaks.

 

Well, it seemed like it would take a long time and maybe more resources than I controlled to buy myself some tax code. So I looked at the code. I had my then father in law look at it. And I decided that it didn't matter what I did in business if it was fun and I could make money. Preferrably even more of it than I currently did.

 

The revelation came when my father in law helped me completely skip out on 2.3M in stock income. Its been over 8 years and never an audit. It must be legal. My taxes amount to over 1000 pages a year. Warren Buffet the great advocate of liberal government (the one that wants all your money) spent 26 million dollars this year on tax preparation. Not in paying taxes, JUST TO PREPARE THEM.

 

I'm assuming he got some good dodges there. But how can we tolerate a tax system that would require 26 million dollars to prepare it.

 

I moved over 80 million dollars in money around last year. My profit margins are very low, I make money on turning it. It took me 32 minutes to do my taxes.

 

It took me a lot longer than that to print out my paper copy for backup.

 

 

 

Baxk on point. I avoid taxes and I actually BITCH about it on here. Go check. I'm just as weirded out by the ability to avoid taxes as I am happy to keep the money. Tax rates are high because of two things. First, the public's complete failure to hold their government's spending in check. Everyone wants everything and can't live without.

 

Second is that the tax law is skewed so that some people pay entirely too much and some entirely too little. This is needed bacause of the first reason. YOU the citizen want everything and second, you don't want to pay for it yourself.

 

 

People like me avoid taxes because they are unfair. And those of us that think about it logiccally and realize paying no tax is not fair can do exactly what about it?

 

We could just pay the taxes and try not to avoid them. I'm SURE that will make the government change its ways.

 

OR, we could not pay taxes and be public about it. Then maybe if enough people did it, they would finally have to so screw over the middle class to make it up (because that's where the REAL money is) tht the public will get the message that Washington is not your mommy and you can take care of yourself and don't need to pay all those taxes.

 

Now for a neconomics lesson on profits. I know this should not come as a suprise to any of you. But public education being what it is and all.......

 

A typical business makes about 6% profit at the absolute bottom line. That's what's left in the bank figuratively, at midnight on Dec 31st.

 

Ill do the math so you don't need to get a caculator.

 

So, let's make this simple. If a business does 100.00 in business in the year, they get to keep 6%. Amazingly, this equals $6. With me so far?

 

Now, we all like to get a 4% raise in income every year to offset inflation and make our lives a teeny bit better than last year.

 

A business and yor family are exactly the same.

 

So, let's say I made $6 last year (remember, I'm a business). If I want to make 4% more this year. That will equal $6.24. (6 x 1.04 for the math challenged).

 

Ok, how do we do that?

 

If our overhead structure says we can only clear 6% of what we sell, then in order to get an increase in our profit of $0.24 we have to sell an additional $4.00 per year. A 4% increase in sales. Now this seems easy. But its harder than you think if you have a lot of competitors. Just raise prices 4%? Yeah, I could try. But other people might be lowering prices. Plus there are two problems. This is like compound interest, you can't keep it up year after year. And its called inflation. Inflation hurts everyone, even the guy raising prices. What happens if everyone does this.

 

On top of that, to generate 4% more in sales will require expense and that means my costs and therefore the actual % of sales has to increase to 5% or more. Its a self feeding cycle.

 

Now on the other hand, I can cut costs. I could not give pay raises. Bad, bad idea.

 

I could squeeze suppliers more like Walmart. That works the first year or two, then the Chinese start making your product out of Playdough to save money themselves.

 

Etc, etc.

 

Now, where could I cut costs to get another 4 %.... Let me think.

 

Oh yeah, I'm paying something like half my income to the government. Can I with little effort just not PAY out 4% somewhere? Oh, I think that might be possible. In fact, the more you look, the more you can figure out how to pay nothing at all.

 

For the typical person, this isn't possible. I've divested myself of all property in the USA. I have several bank accounts there. But they all hold trust money that isn't paying taxes and I don't accept even a penny in income inthe USA anymore. Given a choice, I don't even accept payment denominated in US Dollars because our government is stupid. They think that a low value dollar might somehow give American manufacturers a chance to compete.

 

$27 for a 30" HDTV LCD television? I don't see Zenith coming back anytime soon.

 

Give it up. All a weak dollar does is drive up the prices even more. If it costs me 8% more to buy you something compared to a year ago, you think I'm eating it???

 

 

 

Its always amusing and entirely predictable to subtlely use class wrfare on an argument. I pay no taxes so I have no right to complain about police coverage?

 

I pay taxes and fees out the whazoo. Just not income tax. I pay property taxes through warehouse rentals. I pay for public schools through my ex-wife's taxes for schools I don't use. The government balance of payments on me has been in their favor for a long, long time.

 

I apy for all the government I need and use. Its my right like yours to gripe about it and try to influence the public to make it better. If you're happy with your government, your schools, your police, your roads, where we are in our wars, then good for you. Please, by all means, keep paying those taxes and never ask for better treatment.

 

Personally, I have seen things a lot better in this country.