Is the "carbon tax" the first step torwards a "life tax"

Ie a tax you pay for being alive?
Think about it, every animal in the world, including humans, exhale CO2 with every breath. Given that, and the EEPA's new found abillity to regulate carbon, how long untill the Fed (or one of the statres) decides to tax people for breathing?

reply to post by Shazam The Unbowed


That would be absolutely ridiculous as the CO2 emissions from natural breathing are extremely low and are balanced naturally with plants. The problems arise from burning fossil fuels which let an excess amount of CO2 as well as other pollutants.

Also they pretty much already do tax you for being alive, if you don't want to be homeless, that is.

reply to post by Shazam The Unbowed

While it is certainly food for thought, it remains highly unlikely. This scenario would entail everyone being taxed, rich and poor, alike. And we all know that the rich loathes paying taxes.

As far as taxes go, there always seems to be a few loopholes. I wonder what type of loophole they could conjure up for this?



[edit on 7/7/2008 by maria_stardust]

Originally posted by drwizardphd

That would be absolutely ridiculous as the CO2 emissions from natural breathing are extremely low and are balanced naturally with plants.

And that has affected government when?

Originally posted by maria_stardust
While it is certainly food for thought, it remains highly unlikely. This scenario would entail everyone being taxed, rich and poor, alike. And we all know that the rich loathes paying taxes.

Really? Is that why the rich pay the vast majority of all taxes?
somthing like 60-70% of all taxes collected?

reply to post by Shazam The Unbowed


My, my you're touchy today. I was merely introducing a touch of humor to a out-in-left-field premise. If you are truly intent on garnering genuine discussion on this topic, perhaps you would care to flesh out your point-of-view a bit more instead of taking an overly aggresive stance.

Originally posted by Shazam The Unbowed

Originally posted by drwizardphd

That would be absolutely ridiculous as the CO2 emissions from natural breathing are extremely low and are balanced naturally with plants.

And that has affected government when?

That's a good point. I'm certainly not saying the government is above ridiculous taxes, but such a tax would indeed be ridiculous.

Originally posted by maria_stardust
reply to post by Shazam The Unbowed

 

My, my you're touchy today. I was merely introducing a touch of humor to a out-in-left-field premise. If you are truly intent on garnering genuine discussion on this topic, perhaps you would care to flesh out your point-of-view a bit more instead of taking an overly aggresive stance.

Its hard to tell whether people are joking or not online. That aside, the attitude you were lampooning ( I assume) annoys the living crap outta me. Im a financial Planner by trade and I know exactly who pays most of the taxes in America. So when I start hearing people throwing out contra-factual stereotypes about the abuses of the rich, I tend to try and quash it quickly.

My point of view is simple. Now that CO2 is a federally controlled pollutant, the way has been opened, legally at least, for Government to literally tax each breath you take. Furthermore, being the right wing cynic that I am, I know that government virtually always ends up doing whatever it can, regardless of whether it should. Furthermore I know governments, unless closely controlled, tend to accumulate as power as they can, and I cant think of a pice of legislation that would confer more power unto government than this.
Think about it, if they can tax your exhalations, then by rights they can also demand you lose weight (as the obese use more oxygen and thus exhale more Co2) your diet, your exercise and activity level etc.

Originally posted by Shazam The Unbowed
Think about it, if they can tax your exhalations, then by rights they can also demand you lose weight (as the obese use more oxygen and thus exhale more Co2) your diet, your exercise and activity level etc.

How's that for an incentive to lose weight! I'd better get off my duff and lose that final ten pounds of baby weight I'm carrying around!

I'd never considered the fact the government could theoretically whip its citizens into shape and better health via threat of taxation. That is something to ponder, indeed.

Originally posted by maria_stardust

Originally posted by Shazam The Unbowed
Think about it, if they can tax your exhalations, then by rights they can also demand you lose weight (as the obese use more oxygen and thus exhale more Co2) your diet, your exercise and activity level etc.

How's that for an incentive to lose weight!

I'd better get off my duff and lose that final ten pounds of baby weight I'm carrying around!

I'd never considered the fact the government could theoretically whip its citizens into shape and better health via threat of taxation. That is something to ponder, indeed.

Call it "the conservatives curse" we cant help but see where government programs can and will go, eventually.

I think a "life tax" actually sounds like a GOOD idea, and I'm normally against taxes. But the 'catch' would be that the parents have to pay for their children's "life tax". Maybe it would cut down on all the idiots having so many babies.

First step was a head tax, which the Ottomans imposed on their subjects. If you did not pay, goodbye to your head. Next step was Thatcher's Poll Tax. Bless her little cottons, but that undid her. Basically, you pay a flat tax to exist or you go to prison (she did subsidise people on benefits, but it still played out coz they got poorer).
Carbon taxes can give allowances, like any other non-flat tax. Problem is Hillary Benn, our Something to do with carbon Minister has decided that it is computationally too difficult. Our military computer technology is ok by the way.

Originally posted by redled
First step was a head tax, which the Ottomans imposed on their subjects. If you did not pay, goodbye to your head. Next step was Thatcher's Poll Tax. Bless her little cottons, but that undid her. Basically, you pay a flat tax to exist or you go to prison (she did subsidise people on benefits, but it still played out coz they got poorer).
Carbon taxes can give allowances, like any other non-flat tax. Problem is Hillary Benn, our Something to do with carbon Minister has decided that it is computationally too difficult. Our military computer technology is ok by the way.

Huh. Id forgotten about the head tax. remeber reading about that. Similar to the jizya ya?
huh. Sounds like a perfect way for the statists to finally gain absolute power. Sacrifice sinners to the earth goddess.

reply to post by Shazam The Unbowed

so what happens to me if I don't pay this life tax? does the tax collector convert my carbon into diamonds and just out of interest, will I be cremated like a fossil fuel?

Originally posted by squizz
reply to post by Shazam The Unbowed

 

so what happens to me if I don't pay this life tax? does the tax collector convert my carbon into diamonds and just out of interest, will I be cremated like a fossil fuel?

Why not?