Recent Comments

I am really proud to live in Florida with easily the best Gov. in the US. No vaccine mandates of any kind, giving the power back to the people in choice. Let us be adults and make our own decisions! I only worry about all of the liberal trash that wants to move here and mess up our community of adults.
I, and my family, will be voting for the abolition of property tax here, however. I really don't have a clue how a bill like that would not get the votes needed.

For years the misses was afraid of firearms, even to the point of asking me to sell mine.
That was (and still is) nonnegotiable.
One day, about a decade or so ago, something flipped a switch in her.
She asked me to take her to the range.
I had just bought a new long gun and hadn't sighted it in yet.
She held it, asked me to take a picture of her holding it.
The look on her face was not a smile, it was the Mama Bear look.
At the range, once we sighted it in, she was instantly at home with it.
Being an experienced photographer, she already had trigger control down pat.
I'm going to guess within a month, she was up to my level of accuracy, within six months, she was embarrassing me with her scores.
A Five round grouping I could cover with a quarter.
A year later, I could cover it with a dime.
The little lady became the next Annie Oakley before my eyes.
Never underestimate people's ability to change.
Sometimes in radical and unexpected ways.

No reason to shoot those who can be bought.

Oh yes, these are good, Dobrien!

Regarding some of these I had this thought: "Identity politics is segregation rebranded and it's working."

"How do we stop it?" Education in reality, truth, and common sense. Charlie Kirk showed us a way by bringing his words to academia, which ultimately is why he was stopped. IMHO, the perp was one of many radicals on the way. I hope "Turning Point" stays with us on campuses.

We've been playing a lot of old Charlie Kirk college campus debate clips at my house. My kids watch them. I'll sit once in a while and take it in. It has been on my mind a lot....they killed him because they couldn't beat his arguments. Then it hit me. This reminds me of Pol Pot killing people who were intelligent, people who read. They didn't want those types above ground. This really is the same... Don't think this bodes very well. How do we stop it?

Yes. I recently heard the actual yardage and a shlub like me could have made that shot.

These are excellent.

1 and more if I could

These are the fruits of Alex Soros's handiwork.
Who's the Facist now?
Had enough of this radical violent shit from the Left yet?

I've reached my own personal Turning Point:
No More Tolerance.
These people are freaks. Violent freaks. Which makes them freaks all-the-more.

I am so sorry for Charlie, he had the patience of a Saint, he was (and is) a Saint.
I, on the other hand, am not.
On the other side of the tracks, where I grew up, you don't get mad...

Thank you, DOB. 👍

I'm not so sure about that. Proposition 13 in California has allowed me to keep some land down there, and I have been out of California for the last 49 years. The tax rate has gone up, but the property value has remained the same on the tax bill. It's a much worse tax situatoin for me up here in Washington state.

"If I have to pay again and again to the gov, then I don't own it; they do." That's why I refer to property tax as the "royal rent". Not only that, but if you are a productive little serf and make property improvements you can count on a rent increase coming your way. Let no productivity go unpunished!

Thanks again, OUC! The scary thing is after such truth there are so many fools that will still vote (D).

Regarding #7, the murderers and criminals ARE the cancer the Ds want to feed.

The Deep State and their corrupt conspirators take every advantage they can, and the databases they have now make it possible
for them to drive people to the razor's edge without most rebelling for exactly the reason you mention. They count on it, imo.

"If I have to pay again and again to the gov, then I don't own it; they do." Absolutely true; don't disagree for one second.

I understand your point and agree with it. My difference is: my kids, grandkids and their kids are far more important to me than what I will ever have to pay in taxes. I didn't actually realize that until I moved away from what I consider "home," to this gawdforsaken place in the desert. I didn't realize what "being in exile" meant until I moved here.

Which makes me wonder how much of this williness to be exploited by the state is driven by people like me who will pay any price to be near those they love. Just a speculation.

This is why I've been studying places to live outside the US where residence taxation is much, much lower.
I see no point in paying government (more than rent) to never "own" the home I paid for.
If I have to pay again and again to the gov, then I don't own it; they do.
Bottom line in the US, either triple digit inflation or deflation is coming. Best to get out of the way.

I understand that but you will forgive me for not wanting to spend the entirely of my last years on an ice floe in Alaska, because the value of my house collapsed and there's nothing to do but get rid of me.

I mean, I totally love the my kids and their kids (and grandkids) in my family but I don't want to lose everything for them. Self-sacrifice is not exactly what I am about. I think most objectivists aren't either.

I agree, g.
My residence taxes in Tx were too high back in 1985 when I left there.
Ditto for the taxes on my condo in Tampa, FL back then.
I am happily house-less at present.

Am stuck in the same place as you John. El Pasco County taxes, fees, takes over and over. Even put kiosks to renew your vehicle registration many other even Boulder CO of all places do not charge. But money grubbing El Paso takes it and even increases property taxes in new communities calling it for infrastructure just stop building!! So many buy in CO from CA and rent is nauseating.

Yeah, I don't know about FL, but CaptainKirk does, as I see he answered. In Texas, the property is re-valued each year. We even had assessors come by and ask questions about additions, improvements, etc. THIS is why (not protection of the consumer) the state and various cities require PERMITS for improvements. They want in on the goodies. There is the Senior and Homestead exemptions but it's still tough, especially if you sell and buy another house.

Thanks for the explanation, CapnK. 👍
It does shed light on why the 'average' cited in the article is only $3,400 a year.
That's about $300 a month more support than the ejakashun system deserves (from this childless sole.)

FFA: Nope. We have homestead exemption. It limits the increase in Property Value to 2% per year.

Honestly, I think once you retire, it should not go up either.

But I think taxing unrealized gains is against the law. For obvious reasons. But somehow the STATE does it.

And I've been in this (my first house) for over 30 years. I could not move because I did not like quadrupling the property taxes. They only go up from there.

A collapse in the inflated prices is the only way that most young people have a chance to buy a home. Even with debt slavery, home purchase is now out of reach for most young people.
Like the stock market, real estate prices have been supported by government interference for decades, protecting the banking cartel and others who feed the parasites in D.C.
It has also had the effect of making home owners falsely feel wealthier and less likely to tar and feather the D.C. parasites.

I don't really disagree with you but if the tax is on the purchase price only, that will quickly shut down sales of homes.

If I lived all these years in the first home I bought as an adult in 1970, the tax on $13k would be negligible. But the tax on $400k with my latest purchase (and which I am paying $4k/year property taxes right now)...it would not help me to sell this property if the price were to go up, even enough for me to cover the real estate agent's commission. People would just stay where they were and the real estate market would collapse.