Joe Louis, did America let him down?

Did the IRS bankrupt him or did he bankrupt himself? His tax bill was a drop in the bucket compared to his total earnings where did everything else go? If you make 1mil and you are in a 20% percent tax bracket so you owe $200,000, and you DONT PAY WHAT YOU OWE, then end up broke, why blame the government for going broke because you neglected your responsibility? What about the other 80% of your income that the government WASNT owed that you blew on wine women and song? Is that the IRS' fault? And is it really their fault you went bankrupt? Hardly.


Lets say the government forgave his tax bill, is anyone here really stupid enough to believe that would keep him from blowing that money as well?

 

No, it wasn't.

His total earnings, after expenses and 'handler fees' amounted to around $800,000.

His tax bill was around $500,000, and grew to over a million with penalties and interest.




And he was paying 90%, not 20 %.


And besides, his donation of services to the country far exceeded any outstanding tax debts.

It would have been a decent gesture that acknowledged a great man's contributions.

Like I said, even Nixon got better treatment.

And he was a crook !

 

Steal a little and they throw you in jail.
Steal a lot and they make you king.

 

It is not bull****. You are saying that based on this person maybe having more experience made him more qualified. That may have been the way it was packaged to you when you were informed, but you can be sure that if he won the case he proved to a court that he was equally qualified with the white candidate.

You can not be less qualified than another person and get a job under affirmative action. And you think it would hold up in court and be found in the less qualified person's favor? I know affirmative action and I am not buying what you're selling. Sounds like you're reciting a hear-say fairy tale that was spread by word of mouth that by the time it got to you there was only a small bit of truth and it's lost somewhere in the middle of all the nonsense.

 

And once again: what happened to all of louis' other money? How is that the governments fault? He didn't pay those taxes so you can't blame the government for that money dissappearing. Furthermore, it may sound cruel but if louis gives away allhis money, whether its to charity or friends, why is that anybody elses fault other than his and why does that get rid of his tax burden its silly.

 

Two people here involved in higher education alone have said the same thing. You can pretend affirmative action is equal rights for equal pay but it isn't anybody not benefitting from it in this work place will tell you the same.

 

You completely miss the point.

The government was technically correct in its tax assessment and collection.

Otherwise it couldn't have collected.

The point is, given his earlier contributions (far in excess of any tax bill he owed), they could have wiped the slate clean as a mark of gratitude.

It would have been a nice gesture, given his contributions.


Instead, they hounded him into bankruptcy.


Pretty shameful treatment.

 

I think you miss the point. Its not in the governments ability to be nice, or make decisions regarding the tax standing of a single individual. Furthermore, I still fail to see how the government hounded louis into bankruptcy anymore than louis spent himself into bankruptcy.

 

Similar to the way that many whites benefit from the foundation laid by ancestors using slave labor? I am just thankful to be white in this day and age, even if affirmative action is not in my favor. I would hate to be a black person trying to get a job or even get by. All is not fair and equal and there is still a great injustice and racism toward blacks in this country. It's very sad actually. I would feel petty to be in your position complaining about something like affirmative action.

 

Even aside from the shittiness of why Louis got into tax trouble and whatnot, men far less deserving than Louis have been pardoned or had their deeds forgiven.

Yes, he was crap with money. Odds are would always have found a way to get into trouble one way or another. However it would have taken the barest ounce of compassion or decency for anyone involved in the process in the IRS or government throughout the years to take his service into account and forgive all or part of his debt.

A nation should remember and honor those who have done it service, whether it's someone in the public eye like Louis, or someone relatively obscure, like a soldier who distinguished themself. I'm not implying that they should get a blank check or anything, but what they did for their country should count for something.

 

Even if they had of been decent with him, Joe would of probably ****ed up with his money another way. Joe was extremely vulnerable to Vultures of this life. He had addictions to drugs and alchol

Imn sorry to say this but he has only himself to blame. he should of got all the best attorneys and accountants who could help him beat the tax

Staying rich and Wealthy can be as hard as staying world champion for some

The IRS / Goverment in every country treat anyone and everyone like ****s. Why should he expect to be treated any different

In this life You can only rely on yer self to do well money. The reason Nixon got a pardon is cos he had the right connections or was given the right advice.

 

You know who I feel sorry for? The minorities who get money and education and jobs thrown at them for being minorities and nothing else and up pissing it away all the while blaming racism for not being able to get ahead. Here's another example you'll claim is fairy tale: in high school one my friends who was african american got a free ride college, his room and board paid for AND got paid wages just for attending school (all of this despite the fact that he was a very poor student in high school). He recueved all of these perks and opportunities because he was a ' disadvantaged minority'. Guess how kong that lasted: one month before he dropped out for no reason other than he didn't like school. Since then he has been in and out of prison more times than I can count. I wont be foolish and argue that racism is dead but to say minorities can't achieve today is a load of hogwash. Don't use racism or the specter of slavery as crutch or disguise lazy or loutish behavior.

 

There are miscarriages of justice, one came fairly recently, where a youth with learning difficulties was put away in the late 70s, and served 20 odd years for murder he did not do.

There are also plenty of people in our prisons who should not be there, as they have a mental illness. But as a rule the way Britain works as a Society is far different from the States.

Our Society is more organic than the States, in that it has developed over a much longer time period. The States seems to have more rules, hence the lack of grey areas. In Britain a lot more is done on trust and tradition rather than done because it is written down.

I do not know if you have anything similar in the States, but in Britain we have the PAYE tax system, that involves the employer, not the employee paying the employee's Income Tax.

This seems to work pretty well, as it a great benefit to those of a remedial understanding of Tax. And it would seem Louis (like many other boxers) could of benefited from such a system...

 

Sounds like hogwash to me. You're right, I do believe that's a fairy tale.

Your frame of mind makes me believe that you do not know what it's like to be near disadvantaged. Your struggles in comparison with that of a legit struggle of another person is probably so miniscule but you will never realize that because you have not been there.

I would recommend taking a college level course on ethics. I would defy you to try and take up this debate with an ethics instructor, or even a highly educated professor who protests it. It's a difficult debate to win.

I would recommend you do some readings from professor John Rawls as he always intrigued me, not so much with affirmative action, but justice in our economic system in it's entirety.

Whether you realize it or not your comments are borderline racist.