Due to estate tax loophole, Texas oil tycoon passes $9b to his children tax-free - Polidicks

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;22516220]Founding fathers were absolutely in favor of social freedom, economic? Eh, not so much. They wanted the federal government to have substantial power (given the whole fact that each individual state had it's own form of currency, they started to regulate more and more and take more and more)[/QUOTE] The funny part is, that's exactly the opposite of what the Founding Fathers thought.

[QUOTE=that1dude24;22517352]You can't be serious.[/QUOTE] I'm not.

Good. They deserve every cent, government doesn't deserve any of your money when you die.

[QUOTE=Perfumly;22508978]This is reasonable, but I'm sure a lot of idiots in this thread are going to think I'm arguing that there should be absolutely no tax.[/QUOTE] If you want to argue for a lower estate tax on large amounts like this I completely understand and respect that, but I just disagree. That's all.

[QUOTE=evilweazel;22519440]Good. They deserve every cent, government doesn't deserve any of your money when you die.[/QUOTE] This is idiotic. Government keeps the society you live in safe. You would not be wealthy without either. You owe government. You owe them taxes. Wait, go to an anarchic society because thats what your line of thought implies you want.

More than HALF? I'm on the left but not that left. [editline]08:57PM[/editline] But yeah it's not my money so I wouldn't care nearly as much.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;22520742]This is idiotic. Government keeps the society you live in safe. You would not be wealthy without either. You owe government. You owe them taxes. Wait, go to an anarchic society because thats what your line of thought implies you want.[/QUOTE] It seems like you missed the last 3 words of that post: [b]when you die[/b].

[QUOTE=Darkcoder;22523146]It seems like you missed the last 3 words of that post: [b]when you die[/b].[/QUOTE] So your death negates the fact they did all this for you?(And the people around you?), 55% is too much. I'm not arguing that. But estate taxes exist for a reason, and there is a huge monetary gap people are abusing.

[QUOTE=Uberman77883;22514974]Ok, hows about we have the government have all the money and have the government give everybody equal amounts of everything, so there is no rich or poor class. Oh wait. Seriously, one side of the argument is comprised of people who have never handled money before, and the other is comprised of people who have actually lived outside their parent's house. To the people saying the tax should be higher or it is deserved, go live on your own. See how much 55% is when you make any amount of money. Thats the government taking more than half of what you earned to irresponsibly spend, especially here in the US where the government spends money it doesn't have.[/QUOTE] How does one go about earning an inheritance?

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;22523608]How does one go about earning an inheritance?[/QUOTE] Suck your rich dads dick?

Let the guy do whatever he wants with his money.

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;22523716]Let the guy do whatever he wants with his money.[/QUOTE] He is dead. He doesn't want to do anything with it, he is dead. Estates get taxed. This is a lucky break for his kids.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;22523725]He is dead. He doesn't want to do anything with it, he is dead. Estates get taxed. This is a lucky break for his kids.[/QUOTE] Is it right for our government to pester rich people for their money, even after they're actually dead?

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;22523772]Is it right for our government to pester rich people for their money, even after they're actually dead?[/QUOTE] Why is it wrong? As I already said, you owe part of your wealth to the society you live in.

[QUOTE=BrickInHead;22514494]To all of the people going around saying "hurf 55% is huge on this type of money" it's designed to be. The estate tax is in place to prevent the evolution of an aristocracy in America; we take that money back in order to prevent a new family like the Rockefellers (who largely influenced our politics for generations, controlling huge portions of both the oil and transportation industries) from coming up. The estate tax is absolutely necessary to prevent us from becoming like European nations; we've historically got better national cohesiveness because we've got considerably fewer social boundaries in America, allowing people to move through social strata. aka people in Europe tend to stay in their economic and social strata, people in America often change their social strata (usually up) it's in place to prevent our social boundaries from becoming rigid so quiet down and give big brother your money [editline]03:43PM[/editline] i say that last bit facetiously, this estate tax effects about .01 percent of the goddamn population[/QUOTE] I could not have stated it better myself.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;22523819]Why is it wrong? As I already said, you owe part of your wealth to the society you live in.[/QUOTE] Still 55% is way too high.

[QUOTE=Winslow;22505187]Reinforcing my previous point like a pitiful child. You lose. [/QUOTE] Everyone knows everyone on the internet right? You had my card the moment you saw my avatar right? Your absolutism is appalling. Not everything is black and white. And honestly the whole "Silly/pitiful/(insert negative adjective here) child" shtick is bullshit. Your false sense of maturity is clearly displayed by the lack of respect you show for the person you are debating with. If you can even call what you are doing debating, throwing around insults and disrespecting the opposition.

In the past few years I have noticed facepunch has gone from a liberal stance to a far more conservative stance. How bout, tax evasion is bad period. [editline]12:02AM[/editline] I am personally in favor of graduated taxes.. but not over half of what you make, no matter how much you make. I think that people who make insane amounts are obliged to give a little more, just not that much more. Still though, the evasion is just as worse as the tax itself.

[QUOTE=Funcoot;22525717]In the past few years I have noticed facepunch has gone from a liberal stance to a far more conservative stance. How bout, tax evasion is bad period.[/QUOTE] Well the conservatives feel they need to speak up now that their Anti-Christ is in office. The prior 8 years were money for them, they didn't need to say anything.

[QUOTE=bugfix;22525603]Still 55% is way too high.[/QUOTE] I agree, it really is. I would say no more than 20% tax on an inheritance of that size makes sense, but I won't defend a 55% tax rate, I'll leave that one to zeke.

[QUOTE=Led Zeppelin;22503070]While I am certainly not a fan of airhead heirs and heiresses who contribute nothing to society and live off of their hardworking parent's money, estate taxes that high are absolutely ridiculous.[/QUOTE] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Paris_Hilton_at_Sundance_Film_Festival_2008.jpg[/img]

Taxation is theft.

[QUOTE=Theater;22526365]Taxation is theft.[/QUOTE] Living in a society that protects your rights, and lets you gain that money is theft. You are an idiot if you honestly believe this.

[QUOTE=HumanAbyss;22526375]Living in a society that protects your rights, and lets you gain that money is theft. You are an idiot if you honestly believe this.[/QUOTE] Well technically it is theft because you have no choice whether to pay or not, but it isn't wrong (unlike in this case, you shouldn't be taxed even when you die.)

[QUOTE=Jenkem;22510097]Do you have a problem with inheritance? The guy earned billions. He should be entitled to do what he wants with it. If the government had their way, they would probably take the whole thing. "Sorry, junior, we need this for our White House parties and paying for free healthcare you won't even see for four years."[/QUOTE] oh jenkem, you so silly with your blatant lies [editline]06:40AM[/editline] [QUOTE=Theater;22526365]Taxation is theft.[/QUOTE] go to a country with no taxes like Somalia for instance.

Half of 9 billion is still more money than I could ever dream of spending.

Imagine your Dad giving you $10 dollars allowance to buy a toy. Then a Government man comes in "Excuse me, yeah I'll just take more than half of that." [editline]06:09AM[/editline] Okay yes, tax is [B]good.[/B] But it's fuck ridiculous that they want[B] more than half[/B] oh what you have.

[QUOTE=General J;22553083]Imagine your Dad giving you $10 dollars allowance to buy a toy. Then a Government man comes in "Excuse me, yeah I'll just take more than half of that." [editline]06:09AM[/editline][/QUOTE] Ahem. Imagine your dad growing up, working at a factory. One day he falls asleep with a cigarette in his hand, and his carpet catches fire. A neighbour smells the smoke and calls the fire department. Your dad survives and there were only minor damages to the floor. A few years later your dad now runs aforementioned factory, and is making quite a buck off of it. One day a bunch of criminals decide to rob this factory of all the expensive equipment. The police is called in and locate the robbers before they manage to sell off any of the equipment. Now your dad is 60, and on his way back from work at the factory that he now owns and is making millions of dollars off of. He suffers a seizure behind the wheel and crashes into a lamp post, in a crowded street. The police and ambulances are called and your dad is taken to the hospital. Your dad is well, and suffers no permanent damage because of the speed of the ambulance service. Your dad is now 95, and having lived a full life, dies in his sleep. Your dad was able do this because of the roads the government put down between his the factory, because he didn't have to swim through oceans of garbage going from his house to his car, among a million other things that made your dads lifestyle possible. Yeah, he doesn't owe the government [I]shit![/I]

Damn, that's pretty ridiculous of a sum of money. It really should have gone to a better place like my wallet.

[QUOTE=Mr. Scorpio;22518402]My parents don't give me billions of dollars and control of international corporations that shape the face of the country. :colbert:[/QUOTE] It's not the fact that it's 9 billion dollars, it's the fact that half of the hard earned money he wanted to go to his family, is being taken away. Its not the amount that matters, half of this mans life works is being taken away, when he just wants to give the best to his children and grandchildren, much like your parents got everything for you.