> I think it stinks what happened to Microsoft, and whats going to become of Verison. Bill Gates pushed the computing world where it is today, and the only way for the government to show their thanks is to hack him to pieces.

Thanks for what? Crippling every desktop PC in the country by, via a monopoly achieved through illicit business practices, denying home users the viable option of purchasing an operating system that works?

> Just becuase he smoked the other companies. It also makes me mad when people crab about him getting a major brake, and getting some relife for his taxes. He pays more than everyone else, and why shouldn't he get back his moneys worth. Examples: Say he pays 2 million in taxes, and Bilbo Baggins pays 25,000 in taxes. Why should Bilbo gritch after only getting back 3,000, instead of the 100,000 that Bill Gates got. Bill paid more, so he should get more.

In principle, you are correct. The "that's just a tax break for the rich!" criticism of Republican tax plans are either a misunderstanding of this principle OR the misconception that giving tax relief to the rich doesn't in turn help the poor out indirectly. Of course you can go overboard by giving the rich too much relief and the poor not enough, but drawing that line requires more than just principle but an analysis of actual numbers.

> And besides, he worked his butt off to get where he was today, and isn't a greedy man. He gives away millions each year.

Millions? The guy is worth many BILLIONS of dollars. Bill Gates giving a million dollars away in a year would be like me giving like five bucks away in a year. A million dollars is about the same percentage of Bill Gates' net worth as five bucks is of mine. The difference is that I need the five dollars more than Bill Gates needs his million. So while I think it's a very good thing that Bill Gates gives money to charitable causes, he's not any more worthy of praise for it.