An Answer On Taxes?
Since I just recently did a blog about the lack of a good source to compare the two presidential candidates' tax cut proposals,*** I wanted to follow up, as I heard a good simplified version today (11/2) on MSNBC. The person giving the "assessment" (I couldn't resist that) was Janet Novack of none other than Forbes Magazine, hardly a left wing publication, and of course, Steve Forbes was himself a Republican candidate for president in past elections. Ms. Novack was asked to give the basics about the two candidates' tax proposals and how they relate to Americans in various income groups. First she said, Americans earning less than $100,000 a year will benefit most from Barack Obama's plan; for those making between $100,000 and $200,000 it will basically be a wash, and for those earning more than $250,000 a year, they will "definitely" (her word) benefit more from John McCain's proposal. I hope this ends the debate about who benefits most from the respective tax cut plans.
Word History:
First, when I did "fare" the other day, I accidentally left out a compound that is very appropriate and still very much in use; that being "thoroughfare," a "passage, or major road." (See ***link below)
And speaking of "appropriate," the word for this blog is... Tax-This word seems to have entered English in the 13th Century (some say more specifically circa 1290) and came from Old French "taxer," which meant "impose a tax or levy." This went back to Latin "taxare," which meant "to assess, appraise or estimate." The Latin word may have come from Greek "tassein," which meant "fix," with the notion being "to fix an amount," or it could have come from a form of the Latin word "tangere," which meant "touch." (If that's the case, the government is going to reach out and "touch" you!) Later, in the 1600s, the idea of putting a tax burden on people brought about the notion of something "taxing" a person's physical or mental faculties, as in, "The cross word puzzle 'taxed' my brain." A related word is "taxi," which is an abbreviated form of "taximeter cab," which meant a vehicle equipped with a meter to assess your fare; there's that word again! This came from London in about the 1890s from horse drawn cabs. "Taximeter" was borrowed from French "taximetre," and some say French got it from German "Taxameter," with German originally acquiring the basic word forms from Latin.
*** See: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2008/10/taxing-question.html
Word History:
First, when I did "fare" the other day, I accidentally left out a compound that is very appropriate and still very much in use; that being "thoroughfare," a "passage, or major road." (See ***link below)
And speaking of "appropriate," the word for this blog is... Tax-This word seems to have entered English in the 13th Century (some say more specifically circa 1290) and came from Old French "taxer," which meant "impose a tax or levy." This went back to Latin "taxare," which meant "to assess, appraise or estimate." The Latin word may have come from Greek "tassein," which meant "fix," with the notion being "to fix an amount," or it could have come from a form of the Latin word "tangere," which meant "touch." (If that's the case, the government is going to reach out and "touch" you!) Later, in the 1600s, the idea of putting a tax burden on people brought about the notion of something "taxing" a person's physical or mental faculties, as in, "The cross word puzzle 'taxed' my brain." A related word is "taxi," which is an abbreviated form of "taximeter cab," which meant a vehicle equipped with a meter to assess your fare; there's that word again! This came from London in about the 1890s from horse drawn cabs. "Taximeter" was borrowed from French "taximetre," and some say French got it from German "Taxameter," with German originally acquiring the basic word forms from Latin.
*** See: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2008/10/taxing-question.html
Labels: Barack Obama, English, etymology, John McCain, taxes
posted by Randy at 12:10 PM
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