
Tom Perkins suggested that only taxpayers should have the right to vote - jitendra_
http://money.cnn.com/2014/02/14/investing/tom-perkins-vote/index.html
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ergoproxy
In Tom Perkin's neo-Feudalistic utopia, do I get votes for all the payroll
taxes, sales taxes, excise taxes, property taxes, and government fees (e.g.,
car registration) I pay? ("Fees" are taxes too. They're called "fees" by
politicians who want to lie about not raising taxes.) Or does Perkins only
count income taxes? Nearly 1/2 of gov't revenue comes from individual income
taxes. But 1/3 comes from payroll taxes. Estate taxes are only about 1%, half
of excise taxes.

I suppose "corporations" will get the vote too; about 10% of gov't revenue
comes from them. Not sure what they get out of it, since the Trans-Pacific
Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)
will put multi-national corporations above the law, and allow them to impose
new taxes on nations to recoup lost profits from laws that violate their
"rights" to pollute and defraud: [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/how-
can-nytimes-endors...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/how-can-nytimes-
endorse-agreement-public-cant-read)

Will votes be _commodified_? Can I buy and sell votes on a crappy website
built by CGI Federal? Won't Wall St find a way to securitize and infinitely
re-hypothecate the vote?

If I bring a big sack of money to the polls, can I purchase additional votes
on election day? Will they only take US dollars, or can I pay with Bitcoin?

Can I borrow money to buy more votes?

Can Ben Bernake simply print $15T to buy votes for The Fed? He could choose
the next government and monetize the entire public debt--killing two birds
with one stone!

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davidgerard
More than that: that votes should be in proportion to tax paid.

As a friend put it on Twitter: "Nowadays Mr. Burns is looking like a moderate
and sympathetic portrayal of US plutocracy."

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BigTuna
He's convinced the rich are under attack, and when pressed for an example he
brings up abstract fears and paranoia. A fine representative of the 1%.

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Casseres
This is like allowing only land-owners to vote. I think we tried that once.

I do think that there should be a change in the way we vote and the way we are
taxed though. This is the 21st century. I'm not saying everything should be
digital, but don't we have the knowledge and brainpower to make it more
simple? Is there anyone who has read all 75,000 pages of the tax code and law?
If we are supposed to be responsible citizens and perform our civic duties,
how can we when it would take a lifetime just to read everything we should
know about, much less take the time to understand it all?

