Cheney breaks tie

[sarettah]

I was watching the tube the other night. News report was about removing the tax on stock dividends... The reasoning there is that the corporation has already paid taxes on it's profits and when it distributes a dividend, if the receiver of the dividend is taxed, that is double taxation.

Got me to thinking. Since March 2000, most of us small guys, who are pretty much invested only through 401K plans and IRAs and such have watched our savings shrink dramatically. If we try to rescue what we have, we get nailed by the double whammy of having to pay the tax on the withdrawal plus a 10% penalty for the early withdrawal.

Why doesn't Congress offer some relief where it is really needed. Allow us to grab our money before it's gone without having to pay the penalty. Allowing us to grab it tax free would be cool too, but just removing the penalty would be enough to allow me to grab it.

I think many of us would move our money out of our savings plans and use it to pay down the debts we have been accumulating along the way. This alone would help to stimulate the economy.

One other thought, if they remove the tax on dividends, I foresee many smaller companies selling out to their employees. This way, all employees are owners who receive zero in salary but receive instead "dividends" that just happen to be the same amount as their salary... But non taxable... Wouldn't that be funny to watch the powers that be try to fix...

Our infrastructure needs a lot of attention. Our interstate highways are crumbling. Our aviation industry is in the pits, Our railroad industry is virtually nonexistent. Our urban downtowns areas are vacant and crumbling. This is not a time for the government to make tax cuts. This is a time for the government to take the tax money that we pay and invest it wisely in the domestic infrastructure. You want to stimulate the economy, build roads, build railroads, build airports, rebuild cities... Putting people to work will do a whole hell of a lot more good then putting 300-400 bucks in peoples pockets.

IMHO of course.