<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">On Mon, Oct 31, 2016 a spike </span><span dir="ltr" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><<a href="mailto:spike66@att.net" target="_blank">spike66@att.net</a>></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> wrote:</span><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><div lang="EN-US"><div class="gmail-m_-7976362575467349974gmail-m_-519895031537144592WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:calibri,sans-serif"><u></u> </span></p></div></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US"><div class="gmail-m_-7976362575467349974gmail-m_-519895031537144592WordSection1"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​> ​</div>The difference is that state and local governments have the authority to tax property rather than just earnings.</div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="display:inline">State</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ ​</div>and local governments have no power to tax that the Federal government does not<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>have, and they can<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>use<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>it whenever<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>they wish.<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>The poor and unemployed are NEVER going to vote for a candidate who says "as president I will do nothing to help the unemployed nor to narrow the gargantuan and increasing gap between the rich and the poor, I will leave that <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​problem ​</div>up to local governments to solve". Instead they will vote for some jackass who promises to throttle the free market, start international trade wars, decrease taxes on the rich and eliminate the <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​​</div><div class="gmail_default" style="display:inline">inheritance<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif">​ </font></div>tax.<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>True that will only make things worse, a lot worse, but the voters are angry and Trump is<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>angry<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>too, at leas<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​</div>t he's making angry noises<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>with his mouth that they find soothing<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​. T</div>hey want to see somebody do something, anything. It's not that the voters are stupid, it's just that under certain circumstances even very intelligent people can behave illogically. I've seen it happen.  </font><br> <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US"><div class="gmail-m_-7976362575467349974gmail-m_-519895031537144592WordSection1"><div><div><div><div><div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ ​> </div>The US Federal government cannot afford it<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ </div>It is already too deeply in debt and cannot even balance its budget</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​</div>As I've pointed out many times<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​,​</div> the<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ ​</div>US Federal government<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ hasn't balanced ​its budget since 1835 except for the last 2 years of the administration of the husband of the spawn of Satan, Hillary Clinton.</div></font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div lang="EN-US"><div class="gmail-m_-7976362575467349974gmail-m_-519895031537144592WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:calibri,sans-serif"> <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:14pt;font-family:calibri,sans-serif"></span></p><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​> ​</div>Should the Federal government try to institute a tax based on what we own, capital flees along with the owners of that capital,<p></p></div></div></blockquote><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​W</div>here would all that capital <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​go​</div> to?<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ ​</div>Other countries are going to <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​be ​</div>having the exact same problem of massive unemployment and a colossal and widening gap between the rich and the poor that the USA has<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​;​</div> and I know that Trump keeps saying "We're the highest taxed nation in the world"<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​ but repeating that ​claim doesn't make it true. </div><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">In a study of the 39 most economically developed countries in the world the USA had the 11th lowest taxes. </span></font><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><br></div></div><div><a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/11/among-developed-nations-americans-tax-bills-are-below-average/" target="_blank" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">http://www.pewresearch.org/<wbr>fact-tank/2016/04/11/among-<wbr>developed-nations-americans-<wbr>tax-bills-are-below-average/</a><br></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​> ​</div>Should the Federal government try to institute a tax based on what we own, capital flees along with the owners of that capital, it and they cannot even be traced.</blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">It works both ways, if the consumers in the USA can't find the capitalists to tax them then the capitalists won't be able to find the consumers in the USA to sell to them, and so the capitalists won't remain capitalists for long. ​</div> </font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><span style="font-family:calibri,sans-serif;font-size:18.6667px"> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​> ​</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​</div></span>Wealth disappears into forms which do not employ anyone or create new wealth.  </blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​If somebody wants to convert their wealth into a form of wealth that doesn't generate any new wealth that's OK, somebody else with a stronger desire to make money will pick up the slack and become the next Bill Gates. It's fine to have rich people but come on, 62 being equal to 3.6 <b>BILLION</b> people is a bit much.</div> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">​If I were one of those 62 I'd be calling for change louder than anyone because I like the fact that there is a connection between my head and my shoulders and would prefer to keep it that way.​</div></font></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><font size="4"><br></font></div></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><font size="4"> John K Clark</font></div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>