OK, we live in a free democracy. Socialism is the devil, Capitalism reigns. GOOD.

But who makes the laws? A bunch of attorneys. And who do they make the laws for? Not you and me. Nooooo. They make laws for themselves, the wealthy attorneys, politicians, and their contributors for the most part. (democrats try, republicand don’t care in my view)

The latest round of “balance the budget” is an attempt by the wealthy to strip the poor of their safety net. In the words of Marie Antionet, “Let them eat cake”. (I’ll save this for another rant)

Each piece of legislation that passes congress has riders attached. What’s a rider? It is a series of special case laws enacted to grant priviledges to those who asked (read, can pay) for them. Some riders are so specific as to single out a particuar company in a particular county in a particular state for a reduction in the taxes that specific company has to pay. Corruption?? No, it’s our “new” democracy.

Right, I’d love to pay less taxes. We all would. But would we actually pervert the law to exempt ourselves as a “special case”, when our neighbors have to pay that tax? I leave the answer up to you. Are you one of the greedy “mothers” who would say yes? Apparently there are many wealthy people who have no compunction signing up.

I do believe that our grand experiment in representation for all has been pre-empted by unscrupuolus attorneys who are both greedy, self serving, or looking for renound and a paycheck. The poor in this country have no representation. The middle class is being squeezed out. I have no idea how to remedy the situation. I sure hope we are not the next Mexico or Bolivia, with the wealthy and the poor and nothing in between.

In California, prop 13 was intended to reduce real estate taxes; to avoid having grandma taxed out of her home. In actuality it was the very rich who saw taxes on their multi-million dollar estates going up to the point they were not sustainable. They pushed for prop 13 and the taxpayer rewarded them by passing the measure.

Prop 13 created an unequal playing field. The longer you have owned your home (or estate), the less you pay in taxes. The tax base of a home changes when it is sold. Move your home ownership into a trust and the trust owns the home. The trust can be passed on to children and grand children and the tax basis of the home is not adjusted. It increases at a very low rate.

This is what happens when attorneys control the government. It is no longer government by the people for the people. It becomes a circus, government by the wealthy for the wealthy ( or those who study the tax law, or any law for that matter).

I’m rambling.

I expect a ground swell of opposition to prop 13 in the next decade as young families realize just how much they have been screwed by the wealthy. My manager once said that he was paying more on his 3br Eichler in Palo Alto than John Paul Getty was paying on his mansion in San Francisco.

We all should pay taxes based on the current value of our property, PERIOD.

Don’t get me wrong. I have benefited from prop 13. My taxes are far less than new home buyers in my neighborhood. But I belive that is WRONG and should be corrected.

End of rant.

Ron