Paula,
The Sparts are a small organization of ultra-left munchkins who life in caves and chew wild grass for sustenance. Whenever there is any kind of left event, they come out and chant in strange tongues, bewildering left and right alike, much like the three amigoes on this list -- Carroll, Louis, and Mark.
>
> Max-Granted I pretty much make this stuff up off the top of my head, but I
> don't get your point. Take my case. I move to an area of town not many
> people want to live in for some reason(can you say black majority). My
> house costs $50,000.
> Then a bunch of folks decide they do want to live there after all. I could
> sell my house for$125,000. But, in the plan I'm proposing, if this is my
> primary residence, my taxes are based on original purchase price, maybe
> adjusted for inflation or something.(BTW I stole this idea from Nancy
> Molton, but she won't mind)
> I don't see how this would keep people from moving up. Well maybe it would
> prevent people from buying houses by the skin of their teeth. But if you
> can afford $125,000 home, you can afford the taxes. You want to take your
> now repeatedly tax-exempt capital-gain and move to a better neighborhood,
> you move up to higher taxes. So?
I wasn't proposing this as some major idea. In any case, you're right that it would have no effect on people's buying decision. The house costs the same upon transfer whether there are yearly assessments or just the one on transfer. It could affect the decision to sell, however. If you're living in a house where you pay property taxes on a $50K assessment which has appreciated in value to $125K, if you trade up to a new $125K house, you are suddenly jumping up your property tax by 150% (e.g., 2.5 x $50K). You might be more reluctant to move on that account, than if your tax liability appreciated along with the house.
> Like long-term capital-gains tax advantages, you get a break for truly
> long-term investment in your community.
Since capital gains on the house are not taxed, and since houses get other tax breaks, you already have a significant incentives to invest in home ownership. If anything, housing is over-subsidized.
>
> "the replacement of the property
> tax with one on the site value of land."
> What is that?
It's a tax on the assessed value of the land, ignoring whatever is on the land. If the tax does not fall on improvements to the land, such as structures, there is more incentive to improve vacant land and make housing cheaper, it is hoped. The tax would be progressive, by and large, since land ownership is concentrated among those with relatively more wealth, and there is no way to escape the tax by moving, since the land is immobile.
> .. .
> As for the SS cap. I hear those who deny there's a real crisis propose
> raising the cap. So in that context I say forget the cap. You make $127mil
> you pay SS and Medicare taxes on $127mil. If you get stock options as
> compensation, somehow when you exercise those options, you pay FICA.
> I read an interesting paper at the Cato site about how SS privatization
> empowers woman. It was a good sounding story and it hit all the right hot
> buttons. The Cato's of this world don't waste time on the finer points.
> They put out the stories.
I addressed this in some other posts, so I won't bore everyone with rehashing.
> . . .
> Hey Max. If you know Lester Thurow, ask him if he remembers some waitress
> calling EPI to ask him a question and he sent her the State of Working
> America. That was me and I loved the book. This was many years ago and I
> had no idea LT was sort of a big-shot. He'd been quoted in ITT, one of
> the mags I eventually found, and I was confused. I figure he's left, I'm
> left, were pals, right? So I called to ask a question. Naive? Solidarity?
> The way I see it, "WE'RE ALL BOZOS ON THIS BUS"
>
> Sweet dreams-paula
I'm amazed LT was ever sitting around at EPI answering the phone. Like all big-shots he is not easy to reach or chat up. If so, it was before my time there. He's not on the staff, so you can't ring him up at EPI, but the rest of us are happy to answer questions or chat. And there's always e-mail.
Since you mentioned it, there will be a new State of Working America released next week (Labor Day), with the final printed version available in January. Check our web site for details -- http://epinet.org
Regards, Max