tax it away

[GMN]

i may butcher some of the details, and don't know some of the details but the story is true and you all will probably agree with my sentiment...

recently in cherry county nebraska the cross ranch - in the same family over 100 years - was recently sold at a COURT ORDERED auction to ted turner. apparently the heirs were having some trouble dividing it and paying TAXES etc etc. so our wonderful legal system stepped in - always with the citizens best interests at heart :roll: - and a judge ordered the family to sell. so mr. socialist ted himself can come in and take over the blood sweat and tears of 6 generations.

this is so aggrivating and wrong on so many levels i can't even get started - cause i'll never get stopped. i just have to say, i do not hate rich people, i wouldn't mind being one myself! however, i hate the attitude that someone like turner and today's politicians have. do as i say not as i do, i want a socialist society, yet i have the exclusive right to throw my weight around and own everything my little heart desires. i'll be the first to say that ted made his money, he can spend it anyway he wants, and he'll pay more in taxes this year than i will in my entire life - but he can afford it, i CAN'T, so don't tell me that i should pay more in taxes and preach your social agenda to those of us who actually live in the real world. and the politicians have the same attitude, they don't have to obey the laws they pass (they DON'T, look up how many times they skirt laws), they suck off the t*t of the rest of america and place themselves above us while we pay the piper.

sorry if this rambles, i could go on for days and things would be in more bullet point fashion but i'll spare you.

The sad thing is that Ted Turner owns alot of land, raises bison, or should I say he hires people to work his land, to him it is just a tax write off, I hardly doubt he has once broken a sweat on any land he owns.

GMN

 

[circlet]

true...but i don't mean to attack ted personally (although i'm not a fan of his by any means) i am attacking a system that is set up to encourage and enhance this type of thing. in fact, where i live in iowa, we're back to the european middle ages - we've become a feudal society where wealthy absentee landowners rent out their land. the same people who's parents EARNED their land either just sell it as soon as they can get their hands on it so they can buy their brat kids the new sony playstation, or in some cases they are forced to sell it simply to pay to their parents medical bills (DON'T get me started on insurance and medical industries!) all this has been created by our current social/political climate.

politicians have always been politicians, no sense fooling yourself into thinking that they are different now than they were 100 years ago. the problem is that over the years a line was drawn in the sand, and the american people let the politicians cross it, then they drew a line two inches farther, and as a people we figured "what's the difference it's only 2 more inches" then they crossed another and another and another, after awhile, you look back and you can't even see where you started. look at the constitution in it's original form, it was one of mankind's greatest creations, i would almost say it was Divinely inspired it was so beautiful and progressive. have there been positive additions to it that have benefited the country - yes. have the negative additions destroyed this country - we're getting there.

sorry...i really try to keep a pretty low profile on this board, for the most part i just read, most of you don't know me at all, and probably don't care what i think! so i'll try to stop the ranting. :cboy:

 

[Jogeephus]

Circlet, I'll have to say I share your sentiments but I imagine the farm your talking about was lost because of the death tax and not ad valorem tax. To tax someone cause he dies, now that is a novel idea. The shame of it is, with a good attorney and accountant, people like Ted will not be paying the right to die tax when they punch their ticket. That fee will be reserved for folks like you and me - unless of course we refuse to die. ;-) :lol:

 

[xbred]

i started this thread not to condem paying taxes, i pay mine and actually don't think i pay too much...however i am concerned that my farm could be taken away someday if it is appraised/zoned/taxed in the same way property is appraised/zoned/taxed that joins my farm...i am being encroached upon from all sides...my property has become more valuble as subdivision land than farm land to everybody but me...if the majority of my new neighbors vote to tax.appraise/zone me out it doesn't seem fair..i was hear first...cow $h-t and all!

 

[Txwalt]

Not to hijack the thread but I saw a show (long time ago probably more than five years) that pointed out that Ted Turner was in the top 10 recipients for farm aid from the Government. It was a 20/20 or 60 minutes show. A lot of politicians had their hand in it too. Seems all you need to do is own land and by government standards your a farmer. Hopefully the laws have changed since then. I seem to recall a thread that pointed out a lot of farm aid was still going out to corporations though.

Walt

 

[GMN]

i started this thread not to condem paying taxes, i pay mine and actually don't think i pay too much...however i am concerned that my farm could be taken away someday if it is appraised/zoned/taxed in the same way property is appraised/zoned/taxed that joins my farm...i am being encroached upon from all sides...my property has become more valuble as subdivision land than farm land to everybody but me...if the majority of my new neighbors vote to tax.appraise/zone me out it doesn't seem fair..i was hear first...cow $h-t and all!

yep, and that is exactly the problem. They may change your taxes, but if you wanted to now, could you sell it for millions to a developer?

GMN

 

[3MR]

i may butcher some of the details, and don't know some of the details but the story is true and you all will probably agree with my sentiment...

recently in cherry county nebraska the cross ranch - in the same family over 100 years - was recently sold at a COURT ORDERED auction to ted turner. apparently the heirs were having some trouble dividing it and paying TAXES etc etc. so our wonderful legal system stepped in - always with the citizens best interests at heart :roll: - and a judge ordered the family to sell. so mr. socialist ted himself can come in and take over the blood sweat and tears of 6 generations.

this is so aggrivating and wrong on so many levels i can't even get started - cause i'll never get stopped. i just have to say, i do not hate rich people, i wouldn't mind being one myself! however, i hate the attitude that someone like turner and today's politicians have. do as i say not as i do, i want a socialist society, yet i have the exclusive right to throw my weight around and own everything my little heart desires. i'll be the first to say that ted made his money, he can spend it anyway he wants, and he'll pay more in taxes this year than i will in my entire life - but he can afford it, i CAN'T, so don't tell me that i should pay more in taxes and preach your social agenda to those of us who actually live in the real world. and the politicians have the same attitude, they don't have to obey the laws they pass (they DON'T, look up how many times they skirt laws), they suck off the t*t of the rest of america and place themselves above us while we pay the piper.

sorry if this rambles, i could go on for days and things would be in more bullet point fashion but i'll spare you.

Seems to me this is the kind of story you need to know all the details and not butcher any of them before you repeat it.

I dont see how them loosing their farm; the one they didnt seem to want enough to work out their differences themselves anyway; has anything to do with Ted Turner, socialist, or the politicians.

I seriously doubt the judge odered them to sell it to Ted Turner. Ted Turner just happened ot be the highest bidder. I guess they should have said "No, your Ted Turner" and sold it to the second highest bidder.

I also doubt the tax they couldnt pay was the death tax. I know it varies by state, but around here at least, you dont have to pay an inheritence tax on property until you sell it. The tax is then based upon what you actually recieve for it. Its still ridiculous though.

 

[circlet]

what i mean about not knowing all the details is that i was not privvy to the inner-workings amongst the family, i don't know why or what they were fighting about. the fact remains this was a court ordered auction. and i would guess (again, not privvy to all the details) that they did have some death tax issues, this was a 26,000 acre ranch - ted's winning bid was 9.5 million, he now owns over 2 million acres in south dakota, nebraska, montana.

i also stated that i don't have an axe to grind against ted for him having the means to buy this land - i clearly said he made his money and he can spend it how he see's fit. but when i hear his political rhetoric it drives me insane how he can see one set of rules for himself and one for the rest of us - as do most (all?) politicians at about every level.

and the set of circumstances that this thread is talking about IS about the social and political climate in this country. how else can you explain these government programs that pay a Ted Turner or an Iowa State University millions of OUR hard earned dollars, and then force sale of land for the little guy. if it isn't politicians (socialists) forcing sales of land, then who exactly is it? when's the last time you heard of the govt. passing any law or instituting a program that actually increased a common person's opportunity to succeed? Bush's tax cuts are about all that come to mind, and the dems are gonna squash those soon.

 

[3MR]

Im sorry, I know I started out addressing you, but I sort of made a collage of responding to a bunch of post that were along the same lines. I realize your original post was not all my response might lead some people think I thought it was.

 

[Jogeephus]

when's the last time you heard of the govt. passing any law or instituting a program that actually increased a common person's opportunity to succeed?

Probably going to catch some flack over this, but I think the death tax was created for this purpose. This tax prevented families like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts from owning all the land at one time thus allowing us to have a piece of the american dream. Problem, as I see it, the exemption has not kept up with inflation. When you own land, it doesn't take long to tally up a million or two in assets even though you are not cash rich. Hence is the problem. In Georgia, you also have to tally the timber as a seperate asset. This can easily make owning over a hundred acres of land subject to the death tax.(Just think if the gov't taxed the oil under your feet in Texas before it was pumped? To me, there is no difference and I can't see their reasoning in treating us differently)

In my opinion, I think the death tax limit should be increased to 5 or 10 million. This would serve the intent of the law while save countless numbers of family farms. IMO

If you disagree with the death tax completely, just look at Paris Hilton. She is a good reason we should have it.

I am not against taxes. I am just against the wasteful habits all governments have grown accustomed to and citizens who think the government owes them something. This mentality has to be curbed somehow.

 

[circlet]

Im sorry, I know I started out addressing you, but I sort of made a collage of responding to a bunch of post that were along the same lines. I realize your original post was not all my response might lead some people think I thought it was.

i didn't take offense 3MR, and my reply wasn't trying to be combative either. i've seen enough of your posts to come up with the theory that if you and i met in person we'd probably have enough in common that we'd get along just fine. i was just trying to clarify a little bit so the board could make some sense of my rambling.

i shouldn't have even started in on this thread, the subject is too maddening for most of us. i was mowing hay and listening to michael savage the day before and i was too riled up i guess! :cboy:

 

[3MR]

Comes under the heading "A wise man once said!"