[ImphClinton]

Well now we konw how Microsoft got such a cozy deal.

Unfortunately we will be paying for this through way to expensive software for years to come.

I totally disagree with a dividend tax cut that will only go to the rich. If dividends are to be cut they should be cut on the corporate side. They will help everyone. As proposed it would not help 95% of stock holders who hold stock through 401K IRA or other plans.

The double tax question is just smoke. Everything is double taxed. Social Security is double taxed eliminate that. Gas tax is double taxing. Sales tax is double taxing.

[Support Free Republic]

Keep Free Republic Rockin' 'Round The Clock!
	Donate Here By Secure Server Or mail checks to FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794 or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD

[Dog Gone]

Oh quit whining. If you have 50 bucks you can go buy a share of Microsoft and then listen to others accusing you of being rich.

[Cicero]

I'm not sure I get your point. Just because everything else is taxed and double taxed, we shouldn't cut this one? Nor is there any necessary connection between Microsoft paying a dividend and the price of Windows.

Finally, the real fix was when clinton sued Microsoft in the first place. He did so because Microsoft's rivals paid him big campaign contributions but Bill Gates didn't. Pure and simple.

At about the same time clinton showed how concerned he was to break up monopolies by letting Exxon merge with Mobil and AOL with Time/Warner.

[Mad Dawgg]

You and Willie Green should get together and start a Vaudeville act.

[Sofa King]

"Despite targeted cuts to lower income groups, the dividend exemption favors the wealthiest, as most stock holders are institutional investors or extremely loaded individuals,"

Try again. Most retirement plans include stocks, which WILL benefit people with 401ks. If companies decide to give dividends, they aren't going to exclude you just because you're in a 401k. Whoever is managing the 401k will use the money, which will not be taxed, to buy more stock

"The double tax question is just smoke. Everything is double taxed. Social Security is double taxed eliminate that. Gas tax is double taxing. Sales tax is double taxing."

How exactly is Sales tax doulbe taxing? Unless you can actually provide reasoning for that, it's nothing more than meaningless babble.

[dead]

at the eye-watering cost of $370 billion over ten years

Stealing less money from taxpayers is not a “cost.”

It’s a reduction in crime and it's always welcome.

[for-q-clinton]

Go to democraticunderground.com I think they have an opening for a socialist like you.

[NittanyLion]

As proposed it would not help 95% of stock holders who hold stock through 401K IRA or other plans.

Wrong. The 401k manager will invest the money received in dividend form into additional stocks/bonds. The stock market will almost certainly get a 500-point bump as well. It certainly helps 401k holders.

[Keith]

bulls**t....everyone who owns a mutual fund, yes, even in 401Ks, will benefit from this. The only reason people look for growth funds is that someday, it will pay a dividend. There was a time when IBM, GM, etc. all were growth stocks with little to no dividend.

Microsoft was overdue to do this. There are now large funds and pension plans who could not buy MSFT because of the no dividend policy who will begin to build positions when the stock settles down. Good move Bill, regardless of your motivation.

And now that the dividends can be tax-free, investors will start to seek out more dividend paying stocks and put them on the re-investment plan to build positions.

That means a lot of the money will come right back to the corporation...utilities have benefited from this for years.

MSFT's motive notwithstanding, this is great news. BTW, how do you think people build their wealth and become rich? I'm not rich, but I will gradually add more shares in a reinvestment plan if this passes Congress.

[CyberCowboy777]

The administration has already been preparing the public for a move away from progressive taxation, complaining that the poor don't pay enough.

A Lie

[antaresequity]

have spent billions on share purchase programs that effectively shrink the company. Scott McNealy told us it would be a cold day in hell before Sun ever paid a dividend, although in strict terms, both dividends and buy backs are equally money down the drain to a corporation.

What a total crock of crap this statment is. Buying back shares does not "shrink" a compnay, it just reduces the float. Stock buyback also is not money down the drain...because the stock can be resold on the market or used as compensation, or deal making...

PURE, UNADULTERATED BULLCRAP

[for-q-clinton]

I believe what Scott McNeely meant by saying it would be a cold day in hell before Sun ever paid a dividend was that Sun will never be profitable again. Therefore, it really will be a cold day in hell before they pay a dividend.

[defenderSD]

I seriously doubt that there was any "deal" made with Microsoft related to dividend payments. I think they declared a very small dividend (well below 1%) just as a statement that they support the proposed dividend tax cut. Where are you getting your statistics that 95% of stockholders only own stock through tax-deferred 401K and IRA accounts? Most people that I know also have stock in taxable accounts.

You're also falling victim to the old static economic analysis that liberals constantly used to attack tax cuts. You're assuming that nobody will change their behavior in response to the tax cut, which is totally false. When taxes on dividends are reduced, more companies will pay dividends and more individuals will choose to own dividend-paying stocks. The tax system as it stands now greatly favors debt financing over equity financing because interest payments are fully deductable by corporations. A dividend tax cut helps to even the benefits of equity financity relative to debt financing and thus will serve to reduce debt and strenghten balance sheets. Finally, relatively high dividend payments (above 3% yield) tend to stabilize stock prices and put a floor under stocks prices that prevents them from being anhilated by short sellers during weak economic conditions. This benefits stockholders, employees, and the economy.

[Imal]

But there you have it: the "Quid" to your "Pro Quo".

A textbook example of speculative fiction, which you seem to accept as gospel.

You may want to be more selective with your blind credulity. There is plenty of actual news out there, attributable to credible sources, you might hang your hat on instead.

[BfloGuy]

Curiously, there is a rational case to be made for encouraging dividends, it's just that the Bush Administration isn't making it. Encouraging long-term stockholding rather than speculative day trading ought to reward profitable companies and encourage long-term investment, taking much of the volatility out of capitalism.

Well, DUH. Interesting essay style: spend the entire piece attacking something and then conclude with the reason it's really good. What an effective tactic, he really had me going for a while.

It's like Jesse Jackson making an hour-long harangue against GWB's thoughts on reverse-discrimination and then finishing up with, "What Bush is missing is that it will show America that blacks are as capable as anyone else."

[NC Conservative]

The double tax question is just smoke.

As a CPA I am calling your BS on this one