"If any person is willing to enfranchise his slave, let him ... deliver him free arms, to wit, a lance and a sword; thereupon he is a free man." -- Norman law code
"There is nothing more painful to me at this stage in my life than to walk down the street and hear footsteps and start thinking about robbery - then look around and see somebody white and feel relieved." -- Black activist Jesse Jackson, 1993
"...one would have to work hard to conceive of a more fundamentally unfair process ... than the fabrication of false data by the government, under oath by a government official, presented knowingly by the prosecutor in the courtroom with the express approval of his superiors in Washington" -- US District Judge Lynn Hughes while throwing out former CIA officer Edwin P. Wilson's conviction for on which he served 20 years in jail.
"Many in Washington are concerned about the loss of jobs in our nation’s manufacturing sector, but few seem to understand the role Federal Reserve currency manipulation plays in that loss. The economic problems currently facing this country are the direct result of a boom-and-bust cycle caused by inflationary Fed policies.
Congress should consider the sobering fact that the Chinese hold billions of dollars of U.S. debt. The dollars the Chinese acquire by selling us goods and services eventually must be returned to the United States. Since the Chinese are not buying an equivalent amount of American goods and services, they use dollars to finance our extravagant spending.
In fact, our ability to continue funding the welfare-warfare state without destroying the American economy depends on foreigners buying our debt." -- Congressman Ron Paul (R. Texas)
"But I also got angry at the Fourth Estate – including Jim Lehrer and his News Hour – for doing such a pitiful job in trying to understand why Ethiopians who only decades ago lived prosperous, happy lives are now at death’s door.
The top rate of 35% hits at an annual $6780, the 30% rate at $5000, the 25% rate at $3190, the 20% rate at $1900. Then I noticed that the rates are specified for monthly salaries, which means if you are only employed for one month out of 12 and are paid $500 for the month, you can’t average in the 11 months of zero income to arrive at your taxable income.
Then I looked for the exemptions to gross income, i.e., how much you are allowed for your spouse and for your children in arriving at taxable income. I found “ Personal allowances. No personal allowances are available for deduction against income.” Your taxable income is the same as your gross income.
Next I checked for Value Added Tax. Well, that too could have been worse. At 15%, this takes a sizeable bite out of what is left from the tax rates on personal incomes, but still leaves a morsel. If the morsel can be developed into a capital gain, that is taxed at 15% on buildings and 30% on shares.
Excise taxes are next in line. An 80% tax on soft drinks. 40% on mineral water. 150% on beer and stout and whiskey. 40% on wine. 75% on tobacco products. 100% on fuel, petrol, gasoline. 100% on perfume. 80% on dishwashers for domestic use. 30% on carpets. 20% on dolls and toys....
Okay, so these tax rates smother all investments in industrial activity in Ethiopia. But what about the starvation in the countryside. Is it all “drought”?
Taxable income (ETB) Rate (%)
Up to 600 ($68) 10%
Over 36000 ($4235) 89%
That’s right. A marginal tax rate on agricultural profits of 89% at $4,235. The tax system in Ethiopia is designed specifically to bring about the starvation of the entire population[/i] of 67 million." -- Jude Wanniski in Why Ethiopians Starve
