Marc Perkel Rantz

Are you kidding, Marc? The super rich do not donate money to churches

You got to love this:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=703&e=1&u=/ap/20040814/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_hurricane

Mark is constantly bitching about the "republican controlled press". Here's a great one. Headline reads "Kerry helping with Florida Recovery"

Keep in mind he's a billionaire.

How is he helping you might ask, given he is capable of launching a REAL effort is he so desires?

He's decided to avoid visiting Florida until next week in order not to get in the way of recovery. Thanks a lot.

Oh yea, he did suggest to his staff to help out if they can. Thanks again John!

What an ass! But the reporter tries to sell it as a noble and patriotic effort.

Right wing Press, hardly! OK, Mark's turn. I'm sure he's got some spin on why this really is Kerry shining at his best!

The elimination of the unfair death tax was just for the super rich???

I think you might have that wrong. Here is a bit of information directly from the white house with out any reporter spin on it.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/legislative/sap/108-1/hr8sap-h.pdf

without any reporter spin. the whitehouse can say what ever it wants. do you, jes, think that anyone at this time of history would question the whitehouse? my thoughts, no caps, jus 4 u...

So we can't trust the media and what it says because it's too conservative. We can't trust the government because it won't give us the facts, either? Who the fuck do you listen do? Marc? You are really a tool, then.

mance got his ass handed back to him for correcting someones spelling, now he's resorting to name calling. so am i now.. mance, your a moron... go somewhere else now. i will no longer respond to your posts. i hope marc deletes them.. ass..

Mance has a point.

If you dismiss news out of hand if it comes from sources that you disagree with politically or says something you don't want to hear - but readily accept news from sources that agree with your political views or say what you want to hear - you're not only not getting the whole picture, you're getting a skewed version of half of it.

"Keep in mind he's a billionaire"
no its actually millionaire, and bush has more.
and you also forgot to state that kerry also said that it would just divert attention from the helping effort in florida if a name came rolling down there. It worked for clinton in 92', kerry is just goin to wait to see if florda invites him.

GimmethatDemocratReligion writes: "Right wing Press, hardly!"

I agree--"the press" as a whole is neither liberal nor conservative. It depends the particular network. CBS, ABC, and NBC are decidedly liberal, Fox is of course conservative, and CNN is probably middle-of-the-road.

I think most press is slanted torwards the middle/liberial, they just dont express it because they are being ass raped by the Greasy Old Pubes

Chimmy Changa, nobody has called more names on this site than you. Pointing out someone else's name calling is ridiculous, coming from you. There was a poll done in 2000 that showed that nearly 78% of ALL commentators and editors voted Democrat. Where is the Republican slant?

Enough with the this is straight from the White House! Remember the WOMD? That came from the White House too.

chimi changa.. funny.. how original. anyhow, i think many here have valid points. now, who's to say which works better, dems or repubs? society has not falling apart from neither one, until now... the current administration are not repubs... i went to the gop site to check it out and looked at what they stood for: bush has gone against have of that dodument! i think that is what gets everyones goat going. whether you're a dem or a repub, i think most of us know where this country is headed. those who adamantly support bush are either hypo-christians, men, sheep or a combination. and i am not a clinton support either.. he blemished the white house with that sex scandal. but that scandal did not kill our moms, fathers, brothers, sisters who are overseas just following orders...

Here is what conservative stands for

state over federal(Has bush done anything there? well besides for texas)

family falues/tradition(Like the fundamentalist terrorist we are fighting)

business over enviroment (bush also wants business over life, hmm supporting ken lay is not a good thing)

strong econemy and huge surplus (yay we have a 7 trillion dollar surplus, wait opps i mean deficit)

Seriously, if i were a republican I would have voted for mccain in 2000. but no people have to vote on a president not by wether he could ever run office but how 'charming' he is.

"but no people have to vote on a president not by wether he could ever run office but how 'charming' he is."

Its sad that people do vote on looks, which is very shallow and no where near relevant comparred to how they would or have run the government. We're talking about a decision that can and will affect the world given the influence of America on the affairs of major nations.

Listen guys, the reason that I am no longer on the free republic is because i got kicked off three different times for telling them the truth. you see they cannot handle the truth when it is about their own. you guys kind of have the same problem. chimi (spelled correctly?) you are wrong. clinton did cause moms dads brothers and sisters to be killed. those were real people in the two embasies in africa, those were real people on the uss cole, those were real people in the murray building in oklahoma ... all while clinton was getting a hummer.

when johnson's great society began ... our great society ended. we have slowly rotted away.

in illinois congressman bill lipinski has just anounced his retirement. but, not before putting a patsy on the republican ballot to run against his son who he intends to hand the seat off to. the democratic congressman has an agreement with the republican state leaders not to run the patsy hard so his son can win. there is no two party system in DC. it is a one party system with two ugly heads. the only reason that they pretend to have two parties there is so that we do not figure out that there is only one. for, if we ever figured out that there were only one we just might go and start the second one.

we work, and the beltway boys take our money. dems and repubs alike. which one is different? thank you. they spend our social security money, yet have a solvent plan for themselves.

here is the scary thing about ALL people who argue about politics today ... they really believe that there crook is better than your crook. let's just admit that they are ALL crooks.

hey, x i KNOW they are all crooks. just cuz i said clintons blow didn't kill anyone does not mean i suport him.. if you have read my other posts, i do not like domesticrats or repubic-cans... plus, clinton was busy trying to get the repub fuck fest off his ass... and using your logic, i guess bush first killed a lot of folks too. so did regean... ford? nixon? washington? why do you hate clinton so much? do like bush better? just questions. kinda curious..

Basically, every president in the last 100 years has fallen into the same category. they are beholden to the arms-onomics. The military complex runs this country, not the puppet chumps that they allow us to vote for. I might take off of that list Kennedy and Reagan. Both of these Presidents were going to warn us of the globalist military complex. Kennedy got killed, and Reagan got shot. We talk about all of the regimes that are puppets for the US government, hell, the US government is a puppet regime. We just have not admitted it.

Kennedy took steps to stop this and even announced that a great attrocity had taken place in American government. He also said that before he left office he would tell the American people of this great attrocity. Four weeks later he was dead.

Reagan asked why we were beholden to some other power. The other power put a bullet in his belly. After they did that Reagan said ... "I am stuck here, they will not let me do what I want to do"

America is the GREATEST country in the history of man. But, we, as citizens, do a horrible job of keeping its greatness in place by getting caught up in the argument of whos puppet crook is better than whos. When they all serve the same master after the election ... and that master is not us.

I will no longer use the X-FREEPER moniker. In the beginning I used it to introduce the idea of an open minded conservative (not many of them at the free republic). From now on the moniker that I will use will be THE TRUTH.

every politition has skeletons in the closet. Wether it be sexual scandal, money deals, or assassinations. Even nadar is guilty at some point. Nadar 20 years ago could have run the country great, nadar is now close to 80 and he could fall apart at any seconed. Kerry is a millionare, and he grew up lucky, he made bad choices in senate but he made alot of good ones to. Bush has lead the country into a hole that might just cause this countries downfall. He has stoped any sort of helpful technology and he has started unwanted wars. canada is looking better and better everyday.

freeper you keep on talking about the USS cole, that happened in december of 2000, clinton was going out of office, that attack I can't blame on any administration, because the repub's were to busy sqweezing out willies over monica l. and the dem's were too upset over florida.

Wow. Disinfotainment city on this comment thread...

Clinton did not kill anybody in the African embassies, or on the Cole, or anything like that - it was terrorists who did that, remember? Unless you're arguing that the Chimperor killed everybody in the twin towers, too. Which, IMHO, is not what is argued here either. Bush the Stupider allowed 9-11 to happen, but he didn't do the dirty work himself.

As for the snarky comment on Clinton getting a hummer while bad things like embassy bombings and blowing up ships were happening, what was Ray-Gun, Bush the Stupid, and Bush the Stupider doing when they lost people on THEIR watch? It's long past time to keep on blaming all of the evils in the world on a few incidents of oral sex between consenting, but unmarried, adults.

The government link sent to us by Jes points to a PARTISAN government document written by a PARTISAN Republic congressman. It refers repeatedly to the 'Death Tax' - which does not exist. It's officially known as the INHERITANCE TAX and it only effects estates worth more than $2 million. All the Cheneying Republic spin in the world can't change that...

Another lie put into place by the Republics: ABC, NBC, and CBS are all liberal, CNN is moderate, and Faux is conservative. they're redrawing the middle of the road with this, people. ABC, NBC, and CBS are MODERATE networks, and everybody else is over on the right, with Faux News sitting squarely in the neocon right side of the map. When we let the Republics draw the lines and make the rules, there ain't no way we can win...

I have also heard, unofficially from some people who look at church donations, that they are down significantly these days. I wouldn't worry so much about the contributions of the rich, though - the average worker has less to give to the church these days as well.

Call it a death tax or an inheritance tax. the money belongs to anyone the owner of the money wants it to belong to without the government raping the estate first. I make over $300,000 per year. I pay more in taxes than most people earn. The government is not entitled to a final payment at the time of my death, no matter who I leave the money to.

If a make 300,000 and pay the government 100,000 (IRS). Then with the remaining 200,000 I pay property tax, sales tax, and every other fee/tax they can get me with. If in the end I manage to save some small portion and want to leave it my children or grandchildren (if I ever have any). That should be my choice. And anyone who does not agree with that, has NEVER EARNED any money.

i can se now how THE (so-called) TRUTH insists that he is right: he makes really good money! how do you eat? or pay mortgage? or bills? since with the remaining money you pay taxes? do you live in a carboard box? anyhow, on theory on why people are no longer donating to the churches are all the scandals that are going around, specifically in the catholic church. why anyone is still catholic is beyond me. also, i think people are starting to get a whiff on my churches don't have to provide public records of their finances. do people really think that a few hundred people who give a few cents every sunday cover the churches expenses, especially if there is education involved? why do most higher ups in the vatican live lavish lifestyles?

Chimi, I'll have you know that I went to high school for five years (blew out my second year being a meathead) but stayed and finished. I never attended college. I have had more jobs in my lifetime than most people. At a very early age I decided that I wanted to make more of my life than just being a working stiff, killing myself for some other guys profit. I set out and started a business that each of the first three years netted me 18,000 income while in a 40% tax bracket. I did not buckle under. I hunkered down, choosing the persevere. From 1982 until now I have gradually made more each year. For the first 10 years I NEVER had a day off (with the exception of three days when my father died, 1984). I went from making 18,000 to 36,000 to 66,000 to 72,000 to 96,000 to 111,000 to 127,000 to 140,000 to 186,000 to 218,000 to making 300,000 each of the last three years. And I am 42 years old. WITH NO HELP from the government. I am not ashamed of this fact, this is what the AMERICAN DREAM is all about. You can be anything that you want to be in this country, and if you are the best at what you want to be, you can make a lot of money. The ONLY thing that the government will do is cut that amount in half. And you think that I am privledged because some lazy fucks that you know failed because they were more interested in stopping at the saloon on their way home everyday pissing away their minimum wage on alcohol. You have no clue Lil' Man what it takes to succeed, so you stand on your soapbox asking your poor excuse for a government to cut down those of us who have figured a little bit of it out.

That job that pays me 300,000 per year ... you would have quit in the first three years because at 18,000 it did not pay enough. Your short sightedness would have pushed you out because some guy in your life FAILED to show you what the words PRIDE, ACCOMPLISHMENT, and SUCCESS meant. Sorry that Mr. Changa failed you, but my government should not pick up where your daddy left off. My advice ... "Make something of YOURSELF."

umm, and your point? lol, yes you can strive for the goals in life if you have enough self lust.

We all strive for our goals, and it is all based on self lust. A trader who takes $20,000 and turns it into a million is no different than an artist who turns his art into $20,000 and lives in a old warehouse loft with five other artist than a welfare receipient who turns their $425 into 42 vials of crack. Where your bar is in life is based on the quality that you aspire to, not how much you get for it once you achieve it. You can raise your bar without raising your self-lust.

True, but you can't raise the bar to your full desire if you don't feel happy with your self in the work or life you are dealing with.

I am sorry, are any of us in a line of work that we did not choose? I grew up in Chicago. Dad drove a truck 70 hours a week. Died at 48 (GOD rest his soul). My father and mother taught us all to work hard at what we attempted. Failure was okay if you tried your best. I am 42 and married to my first girlfriend who I started dating at 15. Do you want to know something else? My 47 year old brother is married to his second girlfriend who he started dating at 17, my sister 46, married to the same guy she has been with since 19. Why all that success? Because we are not quiters. We try to be the best spouses that we can be, and we succeed.

I said that I had more jobs than most people. I was always inspired to work. I always like the idea of providing for my own wants and desires ( what a wierdo I am). I had my first job the summer after sixth grade and I have been employed everyday since that time. I had figured out at the time I was 26 I had already had 26 jobs. Go figure, I changed jobs 26 times in my life. Not happy with what you are doing? Change it. This computer that you are sitting on is a gold mine. You spend all day on blogs that do not pay you. I started a new company on 6/11/04 that grossed $16,000 in the month of June and $54,000 in the month of July. August I have spent more time on expansion work than business because I have a set a goal that come labor day I want to start grossing $620,000 per month. OH! by the way I created 6 new jobs on 6/11/04 with each employee netting $1,000 per week in the month of July. I hope to expand that to twelve employees after Labor Day. And how did you spend your summer vacation, Gilly? This from a guy who turned his first computer on in 1997 at the age of 35.

Your lot in life is just that ... YOUR LOT. Someone may have put you there, but at some point you decided to stay there.

hey truth, i was being sarcastic about your income and your math! i'm happy for you that your perserveerance paid off. i too own my own business that i give my energy to part time, i work full time, married for 10 years, two kids, just bought a brand new custom built house. my main poing was about the churches and there money. sorry bout your father... lost my mother four years ago. it's amazing how little by little you get to know the people around here...

Charlie, you can call me Tom. You made a statement back there that I so totally agree with. How could some still call themselves Catholics? I do not want to tell people what conclusion they should come, just my conclusions and experiences. But, what went on in the Catholic church in the last 50 years is dispicable. I am sure it has gone on since the beginning of time, but the knowledge that they had over the last 35 years, and the large scale cover up is disgraceful. I was raised Catholic. My mother goes to church every Sunday and holy days of obligation. She reminds of the Holy Days. She calls me on Good Friday to remind me not to eat meat. The thought that the institution participated in the moral damage scares me. But, that is just my thought.

tom, i totally agree with you. may be the reason why church donations are down. i too was raised catholic, but rebelled against at a very young age. at catacism i pissed off the teacher by asking some simple questions: what about the dinosaurs? so it was ok to have sex with your two sons in order to procreate? thinks like that. didn't go to well. if were currently catholic and saw all that occurred, i would have cancellec my subscription to the revolution. the face in the mirror won't stop. sorry, flahsback. anyhow, back to the thread at hand: church donations may be down because of what's going on. as for the death tax cut, don't know too much about it, but the less taxes the super rich pay, the safer we are?

I work on a farm, because Im made to, thats how I spend my summer, I wish I could work somewere else but Grandparents and parents need help so they make me do farm work and tiddy chores. Of course I do get paid.. $25 a week. Like I said I prolly could get paid more, It's just that I don't like this job and I dont 'desire' it so I don't push myself that little step. call me lazy I guess.

Well Joshua, when you are eighteen you can make yor own decisions, at which time you can the folks that you do not wish to work on a farm. You can leave for the bigger world and make your lot in life. I had to do what mommy and daddy said until I was eighteen as well.

sounds like no matter how old you are, your a 3 year old on the inside, by refering to me as farmer boy, and by labeling me a complete moron you make yourself look like the bullies who picked on you at school. My advice is if your trying to be so truthful try to prove to someone your speaking the truth not be a complete asswipe to them.

Who called you a moron? Listen, you talk about my self lust, because I chose my profession and I am successful at it. And then you tell me that you have no chosen your lot in life, because your grandparents and parents MAKE you work there. It sounds like I am having an argument with a child. Moron? No. Adolescent? Sounds like it. How long after your Grandparents and parents are gone will you still be blaming them for your lot in life?

FARMBOY? I checked with the ACLU and the Marines, and it is not a racial slur. FARMBOY is a youth of the male persuasion who lives on a farm. Anything not truthful about that. Jes, do you want to help Joshua here?

let's not get jes in here.. i think moron is racial slur too. more racial slurs: cowboy, mailman, firefighter, american, puerto rican...

Just keep white republican off that list or I will have you charged with a hate crime.

lol. also forgot liberal. lmao

damn, to bad I didn't say it was a 'racial slur', and im not blaming my grandparents for what I do in school, I'm talking about the 3 months in summer. woop-d-doo you started a business and worked hard to get were you are today, I really don't care. Thousends of people in the united states do it all the time its called the american dream, and freedom, and owning a small business. The difference between you and me, is that I'm going to college and I seek knowledge over money. I desire to learn, not to make money at a job that I don't see fit to.

Joshua, you make it sound like Tom worships money, and that increasing one's knowledge and having a financially-rewarding career are mutually exclusive goals.

Achieving the American dream is not an easy thing to do. Maybe thousands of people in the USA have the dedication and vision it takes to do it "all the time", but millions succumb to complacency and sloth. I wish I had the kind of dedication and vision that Tom has. And he's creating jobs for others too - there's nothing more American than that. :)

Of course that goes for furthering one's education as well. What are you going to study in college? Do you know what you want to do after you graduate (I sure didn't when I was your age). I studied Psychology in college and got a Masters in Education. I wish I had had a better idea of what I wanted to do with my life earlier on.

I'm now living in Japan teaching English. It doesn't pay a whole lot (probably more than it would in the States, though), but I really enjoy it. I feel like it's what I was meant for. I started a bit late, though (I was in marketing and operations for 10 years before that). Moved here when I was 32. I've been living and working in a small city (Kochi) for the past 6 years, but I'm planning on moving to a bigger city (maybe Tokyo or Hiroshima) when the new school year starts in the spring. There are more jobs that call for my kind of qualifications and experience there.

but we all no what it's like to be 16. i think after joshua grows up a bit, he will make a fine hunam being. it takes a while for the real world to kick in and maturity to set. then again, how many kids his age are into politics? but as truth and mad, and i think myself, have shown, hard work really pays off.. find your nich, follow your dream until it becomes areality

I will admit I have alot of work and growing up to do. I really don't know what I want in college maybe journalism, Its hard to think about the future at my age but I try. Mad how did you get that job that sounds hard, I would hate to be a english or lang. teacher, especially with kids who didnt grow up around english.

Josh, I think that is great that you are in college, and furthering your education is really important. Especially if the field you intend to enter requires you to have that education. The field that I chose to enter did not require it.

But, let me tell you something. You WILL NOT make a house payment with a degree, a car payment with a degree, you will not put clothes on your kids back with a degree. Nor will you be able to put food in their mouths. ALL of these things require ... MONEY. Hate money if you will, but at some point you are going to need it. When you start making that money there will KIDS with NO CLUE who will criticize you for making that money.

Mad, it sounds different to be over in Japan teaching english. Tell me, are the Japanese kids better at spelling in English than their American counterparts?

Josh, here is a quote from you ...

"The difference between you and me, is that I'm going to college and I seek knowledge over money. I desire to learn, not to make money at a job that I don't see fit to."

I seek knowledge as much as I seek money. I read for nearly three hours a day. Various subject matter. I try to find out all of the FACTS about any subject matter that strikes my interest. The difference between the school thing and the no school thing is that at an early age I was taught to learn, and you are learning to be taught. Teaching is something that is done TO you. Learning is something that is done BY you.
Focus on learning, instead of being taught by some professor who never had the balls to leave school and venture out into the real world. Going to a profeesor to get his view on the outside world is not different than when the Catholic church made me go see a priest to learn about marriage, when he never experienced the institution. I will cut you some slack because you still have a lot to learn, but you have a lot to learn.

It wasn't so tough getting the job in Japan. The requirement is being a native English speaker with a college degree. A lot of people come to Japan on the JET program or with a chain English school (like Nova or Aeon). I posted my credentials on a web site and got a job offer from an independent English school the next day. I worked at a few English schools and teach at a private junior high school and university now. I teach private lessons too, and I was able to sponsor myself the last time I renewed my visa.

Regarding English, compared to students in other non-native English speaking countries who study English as a foreign language as a school subject, Japanese high school students are notoriously bad at spelling and pronunciation. Every high school graduate in Japan has studied English for 6 years, but the way English is taught in Japan is in serious need of an overhaul. I could go into it more, but it would take this thread off into more of a tangent than it's on already. ;)

and so in conclusion, as long as the churches do not have to report their finances, it won't matter if donations are down. who know how they are able to fund all their churches, the vatican, temples, etc. i know that the few people who donate won't even cover a years worth of bills, etc...

Charlie, the money donated at this time pales in comparison to the money that they have in investments. The largest land owner in Manhattan is the queen of England. The second largest is Prudential (the largest share holder of Prudential is the Queen of England). The third largest land owner in Manhattan is the Catholic church. Just as the third largest land holder in Manhattan they could fund a God awful lot. I believe that there are the largest land owner in the world. The weekly donation probably cover the cost of the wine. Make no mistake, many Christians believe that the money is going right to God ... and they give all they can.

really? damn, truth, i did not know. i wouldn't even know where to begin to look for that info. very interesting. i was raised catholic, but never bought into the you must fear god, burn in hell, give or die rhetoric. then again, that's how i saw things. anyhow, that's good info to know. i know they had investemens somewhere in order to generate that much wealth. now, if the catholic church is the third largest land owner in manhattan, imagine the property taxes that can be collected! i always thought that the japanese and saudis owned most of the land here... again, greait info!

god PWNS manhattan

Here is something that I do not know, but imagine if all of the land that is owned by the church is tax exempt. Here in the Chicago area there is a golf course called Cog Hill It has four courses, which one is Dubsdread (home of the Western Open). Those courses are built on land owned by the Catholic church. If the land is exempt from taxation it greatly increase the profitablity of said land.

The Helmsly hotel at the bottom of Park Avenue is built on church land (notice the little church behind it). imagine the church leasing that land to the Helmsley and not paying any taxes on. Can you say ... BIG BUCKS?

Again, I am not sure that they are exempt from those types of taxes, but they pay a whole of a lot LESS than I do.

Josh, what is PWNS?

that's for sure. i'm curious to know how much wealth they accumalate yearly...

You will never know.

Just another article on taxation. This is from a paper written by Maurice P. McTigue who is a former member of the New Zealand Parliment.

When we in New Zealand looked at out revenue gathering process, we found the system extremely complicated in a way that distorted business as well as private decisions. So we asked ourselves some questions: 1) Was our tax system concerned with collecting revenue? 2) Was it concerned with collecting revenue, and delivering social services? 3) Or was it concerned with collecting revenue, delivering social service and changing behavior, all three? We decided that the social services and behavioral components didn't have any place in a rational system of taxation. So we resolved that we would have only two mechanisms for gathering revenue, a tax on income and a tax on consumption, and that we would simplify those mechanisms and lower the rates as much as we possibly could.

We lowered the high income tax rate from 66% to 33%, and set that flat rate for high-income earners. In addition, we brought the low end down from 38% to 19%, which became the flat rate for low-income earners. We then set a consumption rate of 10% and eliminated all other taxes, capital gains taxes, property taxes, etc. We carefully designed this system to produce exactly the same revenue as we were getting before and presented it as a zero some game. But what actually happened was that we received 20% more revenue than before. Why? We hadn't allowed for the increase in voluntary compliance. If tax rates are low, taxpayers won't employ high priced lawyers and accountants to find loopholes.

Indeed, every country that I've looked at in the world that has dramatically simplified and lowered its tax rates has ended up with more revenue, not less.

CHEW ON THAT!

kinda sticks to the roof of my mouth, like peanut butter. interesting article. but if the taxes are lowered, how will the governemt be able to 'fund' certain sections of the government? personally, i like the idea of lower taxes.

He told you, compliance. Charlie, drug dealers make millions, and they do not pay income taxes. But they buy things. High end priced nice things. If you cannot get them to pay taxes let's get them when they are out buying $60,000 SUVs, and buying 26 inch rims at $6,000, and buying seven TV screens for the back each head rest at $8,000. MORE people would actaully pay LESS taxes and you would make the difference up in VOLUME

PLUS, some sections of the government should not be funded. The US Constitution says that the only thing that the US Government is legally allowed to provide is freedom and defense. ALL other things are to be provided for at the state level. And we all know that the more local this stuff gets the better it is to manage.

yeap, it sure is. but we, as people, have become so complacent that we have quietly allowed the goverment to managae almost every part of our lives. less gonvernment at the federal level. then some people would say that the feds needs to have guidelines for certain things, i.e. pollution, land management, etc. then we go again with the government managing our lives. it's a vicious circle that we need to get ourselves out of.

Wills, I went back and read my post again. It says that they set the consumption tax rate at 10%, I think that answers your question. And believe it or not a consumption rate set at 10% is progressive. Here is how, if you buy a Ford for $30,000 you pay 10%, or $3,000. If I buy a $70,000 BMW, I pay $7,000. WALLA ... progressive. A flat rate would be if they said the tax was $3,000 on ALL cars, regardless of the price.