You buy your cars new. You take it to the dealer for your service. You paid more than an adoption fee for your dog. You not only have cable, you have internet, you have HBO, and you have a data plan on your cell phone. You eat out for lunch many times a week – and especially like going to fancy dinners. You have a laptop, an Ipad, and / or a Smartphone that are less than 2 years old.

Yet, you think that a consumption tax will be more fair – and make everybody pay their fair share.

Here’s the news – you are the peak of consumerism. You will effectively be in the top tax bracket.

You think upperclass earners will be paying more of their fair share – but there is no cable tier above HBO, the costs of owning a swimming pool are much more fixed than paying for a gym swimming membership (also more likely to earn a home exemption).  The tires for your Toyota SUV from a dealer are not that much cheaper than the tires for that Porsche.  Having that cook on staff certainly means that food can be bought at a low tax rate versus your eating out.

Beyond that, the lower class is likely to suffer more – even with an initial exemption – there is an effect where large discount chain stores operate less in lower class urban environments – even in New York and San Francisco, Delis and Fast food chains are much easier to find than grocers (this is also why the lower class are less healthy, more overweight, etc)

The consumption tax solves many loopholes (but most plans have many ways to get out). It helps ensure that the lower class pays for their enjoyments; But, it also makes sure that the middle class continues to take on the tax burden.

If you want to lower your taxes and increase your earnings – learn about the bush tax cuts (and the long term capital gains rates and dividend rates that existed and are guaranteed to exist for years to come.) [though the double taxation argument exists] – This is one way the middle class that I know are missing out – they think that their best and easiest to understand investments are in direct real estate investment.

[ I buy my cars used (private party) and am able to perform most of my own basic maintenance; - and there are various other reasons why I would be ahead of many other with a consumption tax.]

When Google Plus went into Beta, everybody RUSHED to get an invite.

Oh, wait, I waited a week to get into the action – and the only reason I think I did was to check it out. It certainly didn’t get my attention – I’d been using lists on Facebook since 2008.

Today, in my mind, Google Plus is dead – all it is is an annoying red box on my gmail and google finance page telling me about people I’ve never talked to – but who are friends of my Twitter followers – adding me to circles.

I think that a lot of the reason is that it’s feature poor. Having my bio and info about me is neat – I want people to see my clubs and activities, what and who I am interested in. I want a wall, I want simple messages (and group messages.)

Two of every 3 people that I’ve talked to feel the same way.

My Google plus wall gets full of Scoble posting about things. My friends seem to never post (and neither do I.) I don’t even know what I can post without taking several seconds to figure out who all is following me through various circles and super specifying content – in effect, I already have 2 circles – Facebook is for friends that I want to know their favorites, relate to them; Twitter is where I want to have educated short discussions.

This last weekend, I got to attend Atlanta Startup Camper, a “Startup Weekend” style event put on by Semantic Seed. I pitched, joined a project that I thought would be fun, and even achieved a little something. Unfortunately, I missed the first brain storming session where they demonstrated the advancement of an idea into a business.

A different vibe from the start

There seemed to be a “less realist” and less about the joys of running your own business tune from the playing of the “Glengary Glen Ross” Always be closing clip off of youtube. Frankly, there is a piece to creating something on your own and directing it more than, “Always be closing”, “make the sale”, “make lots of money”; In fact the other view of this clip is how we can either hate our jobs or love our jobs – which is a much better vibe in my opinion.

All Star Leaders and Judges

The leaders and judges of the event were far ahead of what I’ve seen at either startup weekend or start atlanta. From the founders of Zaarly to CitizenSpace in San Francisco. The judges were also great at helping teams figure out business models. The judges ranged from web development shops, game creation studios, and capital market funds.

Lack of Developers

There was a noticeable lack of developers in attendance. Working with only one developer can quickly stress out a team and breaks the typical attitude of a team of two relatively technical people. My team was two technical people and 3 business people.

Cash Prizes and Seed Funding

The winners of 3 different tiers won different cash prizes based on the judges perspectives of the startups. First place, was $1000, which really rewards somebody for a weekend and encourages them to keep running the project (that pays for a lot of hosting, and a few man hours.) My team won 2nd place, which provided a nice $75/person winnings. Other groups also won Kindles or credits based on what api interfaces that they used.

The big differentiator was that there were investors willing to throw FU money at teams. Seed stage funding of $10,000 would be great to any team willing to have some full time workers (technical talent staying on is key)  and is similar to an instant flashpoint or Shotput approval – and angels – or companies splitting a couple of thousand dollars to try some new projects is an inexpensive investment.

I was talking with the founder of a Startup earlier this year who was looking to have his beta application out quickly. Based on his product, I suggested setting mobile as a number one priority; unfortunately, his response was that only about 30% of cell phone users have smart phones.

• People Who Spend money
  
  One reason to target mobile is that they’ve already demonstrated a willingness to spend money. They are already in a store where most things cost $1 or come with ads. You know that the other 70% DON’T consider technology a need or expose themselves to it – and willingly miss out on other mobile apps – you don’t want to target these people.
• Design is Simple
  A mobile app doesn’t require extensive design to work and be useful while a standalone website does. A mobile app is almost best with the basic iWebKit style interface. If your product has nothing to do with design, this is a great way to worry about functionality first.
• Tools are available
  WordPress has a mobile plugin. Iwebkit is easy. There are a few easy to use tools Appcelerator.

This weekend, I had a great time giving a few hours to a Random Hacks of Kindness project, Message Carrier.

Message Carrier is designed to help people communicate to the world (that they have survived) when their typical outside connections (3g / 4g / Internet / phone) may not be available by sharing the messages amongst the local bluetooth crowd and sending them when the first internet connection becomes available to any single user.

The team that I got to work with was great! I’d met a few before at the Microsoft Azure Incubation Week, and worked with some before at Atlanta Startup Weekend. For only being a 24 hour conference, getting to a working concept with a demo was amazing! Some of the guys didn’t sleep at all!

Message Carrier on Github

Our official Solution Posting

The other projects made amazing progress too.

Kit Track helps track aid kits across the globe with a very nice looking google apps integration.

Good Samaritan Helps connect people who need help with those in their area willing to help.

Tornado Track helps report emergency weather in your area before you might otherwise know.