>Stossel simulated activities he could have spent the money on instead, including eating steak at a fancy restaurant and riding a motorcycle.

Simulating? These are daily activities for Stossel, the quintessential upper-class snob elite.

“Think of all the creative energy and time we loose obeying the laws”
O my goodness! :|

couple of grants for his tax guy.. is this segment for a millionaire club made by o’reilly and stossel?

I wish I had been able to catch this segment, but I was flossing over and under my numerous bridges. If I get distracted, I could cut into the gum, so multi-tasking is just not an option.

Did either of the three posters above actually read the story? Anyone pay attention… or did you just see “Stossel,” “O’Reilly,” and “FOX,” and assume you didn’t like it?

Yeesh.

Stossel is on the money (pun) on this one. Why should I have to pay someone so that I can comply with the law? I’m not “buying” a privilege… I’m complying with the law, but to do so, I can’t simply do it myself. To me, that screams scam.

I’mNotBlue – Stossel is an idiot, and this article is absolutely terrible. Using that logic, why should we pay doctors to solve complicated health issues? Why didn’t God make our bodies easy enough to figure out for ourselves? Or for that matter, why do we pay mechanics to fix our complicated cars? Or contractors to build our complicated houses? Life is complicated, and when you live in a huge country like the United States, one does have to comply with some things that are difficult to support the greater infrastructure. I’m personally sick and tired of these arguments always attacking everything. I’m a veteran and a former Peace Corps volunteer, and now I own an accounting firm with my brother. We employ intelligent, hardworking people who have to put up with idiot articles like this attacking our profession, and that attack a good way life in a good country. I’m honestly not proud of the direction this country and the media are heading.

Another reason we should move to a flat tax! Of course that would mean that everyone pays a fair share, and of course that is racist, so that will never happen.

Poor m, stop blaming successful people for your failure. We don’t all want to be the same like you want us to be.

DWendroff says:
April 14, 2010 at 2:11 pm

I’mNotBlue – Stossel is an idiot,

Ugh… this reply is starting on a good note…

…and this article is absolutely terrible.

Why?

Using that logic, why should we pay doctors to solve complicated health issues?

Really? You’re equating citizenship with your health? Really? That’s not apples to apples… heck, it’s not even apples to oranges. It’s apples to soccer balls!

Why didn’t God make our bodies easy enough to figure out for ourselves?

So you’re equating the government with God? Yikes.

Or for that matter, why do we pay mechanics to fix our complicated cars? Or contractors to build our complicated houses?

I cannot, and refuse to believe you really think this way. Nobody can not get it this much.

Life is complicated, and when you live in a huge country like the United States, one does have to comply with some things that are difficult to support the greater infrastructure. I’m personally sick and tired of these arguments always attacking everything.

Always attacking everything? What the heck are you talking about?!

I’m a veteran and a former Peace Corps volunteer, and now I own an accounting firm with my brother. We employ intelligent, hardworking people who have to put up with idiot articles like this attacking our profession, and that attack a good way life in a good country. I’m honestly not proud of the direction this country and the media are heading.

Ah, self preservation. Got it.

Clearly, this is more about your way of life, than it is about the American tax code. The point being, why should a single person or a married couple need to hire someone else, simply to abide by the common law? Shouldn’t and couldn’t the tax code be simple enough for everyone to understand, without forking $200 over yearly? And yet, it’s not.

In your comparisons, you’re putting the “accountant” in the wrong position. For example, the “doctor” isn’t the accountant, the “doctor” is the government… and you’re the patient. To make the analogy work, you’d need to have a third person (the accountant) in to figure out how to pay the doctor’s bill. Is that how things work? Do people pay you to figure out how to pay the contractor? To pay the auto-mechanic? No… not as such.

In some instances, an accountant is necessary (companies with employees, and certain regulations, etc.) but your average worker shouldn’t need you or anyone else to figure this out. Fact is, “doing your taxes” has become an industry, so the government has no desire to clean up the code, for fear that they’ll put people out of work.

But anyway… your analogies are bogus, and your argument is about self-preservation, not the greater good. And now we see that.

@DWendroff: Seriously. Accounting and tax preparation are both large industries which employ hundreds of thousands of people. If you add in all of the landlords, publishers, software firms and helpline employees, basically Stossel is arguing that because his finances are so complicated, we should eliminate a huge segment of our economy.

The Real Royal King says:
April 14, 2010 at 1:06 pm

“I wish I had been able to catch this segment, but I was flossing over and under my numerous bridges. ”

King, you could make keys with your teeth.

@ImNotBlue: …and Stossel is arguing that he should pay fewer taxes and not employ outside contractors to squeeze every loophole, which I assume would benefit him.

I’d wager Frances and most of the posters here bashing Stossel didn’t do so until after he joined Fox, did you? He’s had the same “schtick” for 25 years, but when he was at ABC you didn’t give it a second thought.

@timzank: Speaking only for myself, if it makes you feel any better, I’ve been railing against Stossel’s simplicity for years, both online and in real life.

“Simplicity” is a good term in this context.

Magister says:
April 14, 2010 at 2:52 pm

Just because it would benefit him, it doesn’t mean he has to agree with it. There is this mentality (especially of recent), that just because it puts more money in my pocket, I have to like it. Frankly, I think that’s overly simplistic… and you do too, although you may not realize it.

If I said I was going to give you 100 dollars, you’d say, “Sweet!” If you then saw me run across the street, rob some old woman, and come back and give you the promised money, you’d probably be less excited. Sure, you’d be $100 richer… but just because it’s in your pocket, doesn’t mean you want it, or you think it’s right.

The same thing applies here. Just because the government is giving me a few hundred bucks, doesn’t mean I think it’s the right thing to do. Sure, it makes my take payment easier, but at what cost (no pun indented).

Furthermore, the American tax code has become so mangled, that we need an entire industry to simply figure it out for us. As I said earlier, for a corporation it makes sense… but for little ol’ me, why do I need to give H&R Block $200? Shouldn’t it be easy enough to figure out on my own?

After all, when money people (like Tim Geithner) can’t quite figure it out, and are getting caught not paying their owed amount… isn’t that a sign that perhaps things are a little backwards? Paying taxes shouldn’t be this complicated for the average American… and I think that was Stossel’s point.

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