[RTC List] Broadband op-ed in NYT

[JBilderback]

Pat Bitton wrote:

> Mr Krugman clearly did not take into account when assessing the French
> market development that France was way ahead of most countries back in the
> early 80s with Minitel, essentially an online yellow-pages-style community
> that delivered information over phone lines to TV screens. So it's hardly
> surprising that France is still ahead of most countries in the area of
> Internet TV. The French government has been in the business of delivering
> connectivity to all sectors of society, regardless of ability to pay, for
> more than 25 years. (But don't forget that French citizens pay for these
> initiatives, along with healthcare and other quality-of-life benefits,
> through higher personal taxation. Like everything else in life, it's a

I'd be curious to know ... higher than what as far as personal 
taxes go? Here in the so called "free market", no more taxes, land 
of opportunity, I find myself paying Fed income tax, State income 
tax, Social Security taxes (I assume in your case "self employment 
tax"), Medicare tax, State Disability tax, State sales tax, county 
property taxes, gasoline taxes, taxes on our telephone service, 
cell service and ??(can anyone list half a dozen more?)

As mentioned, I'm curious to know if the tax rate here is really 
any less than countries with universal health care, and other 
"un-affordable" necessities of life.

> tradeoff. Personally, I'd be happy to pay more taxes to improve many of
> these areas, but I am probably in a minority ...

I don't think you are. And perhaps we wouldn't have to pay more 
taxes if the money wasn't being *wasted* on wars, tax breaks for 
oil corporations, etc.

  - jim

> 
> Pat Bitton
> Partner, Euresto Partners Inc
> Sales & Marketing for Technology Startups
> Phone (707) 268 8968
> Cell (408) 464 0829
> Skype: pat.bitton
> www.eurestopartners.com