Yes, I saw that, and it really astounded me. Not so much the $40, it's a nice windfall - hope he declares it ;) - but that he was moved to say that it would make a difference because money is so tight.
On the Samizdata blog there's a regular called Paul Marks who was bemoaning his tax and incredulous that I didn't feel badly taxed. We established that, at the time, I was actually paying more in tax than he was earning. He could have paid no tax, and they could have doubled mine and I'd still have had bucket loads more than he had.
As I tried to point out to him. The issue isn't that he's over taxed but that he doesn't earn enough.
If I was really wanting to pour kerosene on the already troubled waters that are Rand's blog I'd point out that his real problem is that he's a grown man in his late 40s or early 50s (I'm not 100% sure which) and he needs to give up on his Heinlein induced fantasies and earn a living for his family and save enough for his retirement. Space isn't going to open up in time and the reality is his consulting company isn't really likely to do anything except be a vehicle for doing work for the companies large enough to be able to afford to pay real contract rates.
Again, the issue there is that it sounds to me like he's probably going to end up being a beneficiary of government money for healthcare and his old age and I still don't begrudge him that, even though he's been fighting against it. And again, like with the NASA and Big Aerospace contracts, I bet he won't be turning it down :(
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-05-03 10:10 pm (UTC)On the Samizdata blog there's a regular called Paul Marks who was bemoaning his tax and incredulous that I didn't feel badly taxed. We established that, at the time, I was actually paying more in tax than he was earning. He could have paid no tax, and they could have doubled mine and I'd still have had bucket loads more than he had.
As I tried to point out to him. The issue isn't that he's over taxed but that he doesn't earn enough.
If I was really wanting to pour kerosene on the already troubled waters that are Rand's blog I'd point out that his real problem is that he's a grown man in his late 40s or early 50s (I'm not 100% sure which) and he needs to give up on his Heinlein induced fantasies and earn a living for his family and save enough for his retirement. Space isn't going to open up in time and the reality is his consulting company isn't really likely to do anything except be a vehicle for doing work for the companies large enough to be able to afford to pay real contract rates.
Again, the issue there is that it sounds to me like he's probably going to end up being a beneficiary of government money for healthcare and his old age and I still don't begrudge him that, even though he's been fighting against it. And again, like with the NASA and Big Aerospace contracts, I bet he won't be turning it down :(