Spend More, Tax the Rich Americans Say

[DiamondDave]

History shows that income tax was once touted as a method to end the federal debt which would only hit the rich. Funny how it ends up we owe more than ever and the rich has expanded to include the kid working minimum wage flipping burgers.

Care to even attempt and back that horse puckey up?

 

[Oldandtired]

[
I say it is more of an indication of how selfish many Americans are becoming.
We used to be a country where the people looked within themselves to find solutions to their hardships. It is what made this country so unique...and able to become the most free, generous and prosperous nation in the world

Now Americans are led to believe they are a victims and have a right for restitution.

Once upon a time, before the federal government took over the task, people took care of their families; when grandpa died and granny broke her hip family took her into their own home. Neighbors looked out for one another; barn-raising was a community endeavor to help the new couple get their life started.
Reaching out to help family is common throughout the globe, but has been reduced in America because the government will 'care' for the elderly. I've seen the sort of care the government provides and want no part of it, for myself or my elders.
Reaching out to strangers is something which occurred more in America than other nations. Perhaps because everyone (except natives) was an immigrant, old ethnic ties were reduced. But the number of 'good Samaritans' who routinely gave a hand was once huge in America and has declined since the advent of government care.

Americans have been victimized; by the politicians who know that an ignorant public makes for easier government control.

History shows that income tax was once touted as a method to end the federal debt which would only hit the rich. Funny how it ends up we owe more than ever and the rich has expanded to include the kid working minimum wage flipping burgers.

Sadly, our compassion as a country is still there as was evident by private donations to the tsunami victims. We, as a people (not including US government donations) donated more than most countries combined.

Yet our politicians are pushing such compassion out of us as a nation by calling all those that struggle "victims".

 

[Saladin]

I consider saving for retirement and working towards financial independence a basic necessity.

So do I. Most people agree, which is why there is support for more steeply progressive taxation alongside opposition to unjust inflictions upon middle class workers.

And that is simply dead wrong.

Your posts here are characterized by empty assertions without sound argument or empirical research to support them. I quickly lost interest after your reference to diminishing marginal utility as being "communistic."

 

[Ravi]

Let everyone feel the pain of paying 36% of your income to the government. It hurts.

And that's just income. Add in sales taxes, property taxes, carbon taxes, hell it won't be worth it to even work anymore when half your money is taken from you.

No one pays 36% of their income as tax.

 

[Bern80]

Well, even appealing to basic intuition, we're aware that money far in excess of what is needed for the purchase of essential necessities will be used on commodities or simply hoarded. This is particularly morally repugnant because of the fact that these usages provide far less happiness than a poorer person's usage of that same money on necessities would. For example, Ahuvia's If money doesn't make us happy, why do we act as if it does? notes that "[r]esearch on income and subjective well-being shows that among the non-poor, increased income has little or no lasting impact on happiness."

To call it morally repugnanat also requires one to assume many factors that simply aren't so. It assumes the one with excess income is doing the same amount of work as the poor person. Otherwise what is moral about thinking you have a right to what someone has worked for that you didn't? We are compensated monetarily based on an agreed upon value of our skills provided. It is not the obligation, moral or otherwise, of the person with excess to provide the poor person's happiness.

 

[Oldandtired]

Let everyone feel the pain of paying 36% of your income to the government. It hurts.

And that's just income. Add in sales taxes, property taxes, carbon taxes, hell it won't be worth it to even work anymore when half your money is taken from you.

No one pays 36% of their income as tax.

LMAO....you obviously do not live in NY.

I long for the day my tax liability was below 40%.

 

[Saladin]

To call it morally repugnanat also requires one to assume many factors that simply aren't so. It assumes the one with excess income is doing the same amount of work as the poor person.

That's probably our greatest error. Since capitalism involves remuneration based on the product of the combination of one's labor and one capital, those with access to much capital can be idle and not labor, while the poor can labor furiously and yet remain poor.

 

[uscitizen]

Let everyone feel the pain of paying 36% of your income to the government. It hurts.

And that's just income. Add in sales taxes, property taxes, carbon taxes, hell it won't be worth it to even work anymore when half your money is taken from you.

Well don't work go an welfare, medicaid and such that will be abolishied when the republicans regain power in 2012 or so I am told

 

[Bern80]

It seems fair to me as the rich receive more tax cuts than the rest of us. For example, they've enjoyed lower rates on investment income that most receive on actual employment income.

They've had a nice ride for years maybe it is time for them to put some money into the country that enabled them to thrive.

How can you even compare tax cuts on investment earning to tax cuts on income? What's your argument here? That because you can't afford to invest in something it is morally justified to tax the hell out of the investment earnings of those that can? How fucking ridiculous or you?

 

[DiamondDave]

Let everyone feel the pain of paying 36% of your income to the government. It hurts.

And that's just income. Add in sales taxes, property taxes, carbon taxes, hell it won't be worth it to even work anymore when half your money is taken from you.

No one pays 36% of their income as tax.

Highest INCOME tax bracket is 35% (if I am not mistaken and please correct me if I am wrong)... HOWEVER... more than 35% of my personal in come is taken in taxes.... federal tax, state tax, local tax, property tax, sales tax, gas tax, entertainment tax, hotel tax, social security tax, medicare tax, gift tax, transfer tax, and numerous other excise taxes....

 

[Ravi]

It seems fair to me as the rich receive more tax cuts than the rest of us. For example, they've enjoyed lower rates on investment income that most receive on actual employment income.

They've had a nice ride for years maybe it is time for them to put some money into the country that enabled them to thrive.

How can you even compare tax cuts on investment earning to tax cuts on income? What's your argument here? That because you can't afford to invest in something it is morally justified to tax the hell out of the investment earnings of those that can? How fucking ridiculous or you?

Quit being an ass. Income is income is income. It should all be taxed at the same rate.

 

[Ravi]

Let everyone feel the pain of paying 36% of your income to the government. It hurts.

And that's just income. Add in sales taxes, property taxes, carbon taxes, hell it won't be worth it to even work anymore when half your money is taken from you.

No one pays 36% of their income as tax.

Highest INCOME tax bracket is 35% (if I am not mistaken and please correct me if I am wrong)... HOWEVER... more than 35% of my personal in come is taken in taxes.... federal tax, state tax, local tax, property tax, sales tax, gas tax, entertainment tax, hotel tax, social security tax, medicare tax, gift tax, transfer tax, and numerous other excise taxes....

Tell you what. Tell us your income from last year and tell us how much in income taxes you paid and we will see that you did not pay 36% or even 35% in income tax.

 

[JWBooth]

http://forums.hannity.com/showthread.php?p=65270551#post65270551

Spend More, Tax the Rich Americans Say

Not terribly surprising, given that they have received a century of progressive/socialist education in economics when they received any training at all.

 

[Oldandtired]

It seems fair to me as the rich receive more tax cuts than the rest of us. For example, they've enjoyed lower rates on investment income that most receive on actual employment income.

They've had a nice ride for years maybe it is time for them to put some money into the country that enabled them to thrive.

How can you even compare tax cuts on investment earning to tax cuts on income? What's your argument here? That because you can't afford to invest in something it is morally justified to tax the hell out of the investment earnings of those that can? How fucking ridiculous or you?

Quit being an ass. Income is income is income. It should all be taxed at the same rate.

Uh....it is.
Are you serious with this statement of yours?

 

[Oldandtired]

No one pays 36% of their income as tax.

Highest INCOME tax bracket is 35% (if I am not mistaken and please correct me if I am wrong)... HOWEVER... more than 35% of my personal in come is taken in taxes.... federal tax, state tax, local tax, property tax, sales tax, gas tax, entertainment tax, hotel tax, social security tax, medicare tax, gift tax, transfer tax, and numerous other excise taxes....

Tell you what. Tell us your income from last year and tell us how much in income taxes you paid and we will see that you did not pay 36% or even 35% in income tax.

My income is not for public display....but if you are seruious with this question, then you are making it quite clear that you do not understand the tax codes...how they work, etc.

My take home income is well below 60% of my gross now that my mortage is paid off and my children are out of the house.

 

[Bern80]

I do support that. To me it is ridiculous that investment income is taxed at a lower rate.

Then why do you continue to sing the praises of increasing taxation on only some, all the while they share a higher % burden than the rest of the populous

Because the "some" have so many loopholes that they do not share the same tax burden as the rest of us.

Of course they do. Think about what you are complaining about for a second. The main source of income for the middle class is their job. Subsequently the income from their job is the only thing taxed. The rich due to their wealth have the ability to generate cash flow additional ways. Investments, owning property, their business, etc. All of those things get taxed as well. What are you complaining about? That they aren't taxed enough on those things? What is your moral justification for aggressively taxing these things? Because it sounds basically that you're saying they should be taxed exhorbitantly simply because they have the opporotunity to participate in those things and you don't.

 

[Bern80]

To call it morally repugnanat also requires one to assume many factors that simply aren't so. It assumes the one with excess income is doing the same amount of work as the poor person.

That's probably our greatest error. Since capitalism involves remuneration based on the product of the combination of one's labor and one capital, those with access to much capital can be idle and not labor, while the poor can labor furiously and yet remain poor.

It isn't an error at all. It's the difference between working hard and working smart.

 

[Ravi]

Highest INCOME tax bracket is 35% (if I am not mistaken and please correct me if I am wrong)... HOWEVER... more than 35% of my personal in come is taken in taxes.... federal tax, state tax, local tax, property tax, sales tax, gas tax, entertainment tax, hotel tax, social security tax, medicare tax, gift tax, transfer tax, and numerous other excise taxes....

Tell you what. Tell us your income from last year and tell us how much in income taxes you paid and we will see that you did not pay 36% or even 35% in income tax.

My income is not for public display....but if you are seruious with this question, then you are making it quite clear that you do not understand the tax codes...how they work, etc.

My take home income is well below 60% of my gross now that my mortage is paid off and my children are out of the house.

Then you're an idiot. Anyone that pays that kind of income tax doesn't take advantage of the numerous shelters and deductions available to them.

 

[Saladin]

It isn't an error at all. It's the difference between working hard and working smart.

It's more a matter of the difference between working and not working. There is nothing of value provided by an economic oligarchy, and no substantive labor contribution made by those who simply hoard wealth and access to productive resources to lend it out and benefit from usury as they will without doing anything else.

 

[The Rabbi]

Let everyone feel the pain of paying 36% of your income to the government. It hurts.

And that's just income. Add in sales taxes, property taxes, carbon taxes, hell it won't be worth it to even work anymore when half your money is taken from you.

No one pays 36% of their income as tax.

Well yeah actually they do. Higher than that in fact. If you have a high wage earner in CA or NYC he will be paying closer to 60% of his earnings in tax.