Tax the Rich: Fix Jobs and Deficits

[georgephillip]

I am curious...

Exactly how did I become corrupt by grabbing onto a dream of being my own boss....putting together a business plan....incorporating myself....struggling for the first year as I marketed my services without earning an income.....worked as many as 7 days a week for that year...acheived mild success in my second year....but still had to work 7 days a week....grew my company as the demand for my services required the continued hiring of employees AT SALARIES THEY WERE EAGER TO ACCEPT....still worked 7 days a week as I entered my 4th year...hired more employees....took my first week vacation after the end of my 5th year while offering all of my employees 2 weeks vacation during their first year....3 weeks at the end of 5 years....re-invested my profits into the growth of my company so that by the ned of my 6th year, I was able to cut back to 6 days a week working...and now I am working 5 days a week...my employees are earning a living at salaries THEY ARE EAGER TO EARN....and I am socking away money for my retirement...with the exception of last year where SOME OF MY EMPLOYEES MADE MORE MONEY THAN I DID as the profits were thin.

Exactly what did I do that was corrupt? Not make my employees work 7 days a week as I did?
Or maybe it was the fact that I should not make a profit after risking my future by starting on my own?

Exactly what made me corrupt?

Small business owners are the hardest workers I've met during my six decades in the work force.

Are you curious about why government puts you in the same tax bracket as parasites "earning" a thousand times or more what you do?

Possibly it's the same reason government used your tax money to fund a $13 trillion bailout of many of the same parasites who are using your labor for cover in our great tax debate?

You may think you've earned enough and you've work hard enough and you're smart enough to hold on to the fruits of your labor.

Think again.
You're just another hard working slave to Wall Street.
And they will take everything you own and laugh all the way to the bank.

Especially if you're not corrupt.
That makes you a threat to capitalism.

Tax money did not fund a $13 trillion bailout. Your math is weak.

Not weak enough to believe abolishing capital gains taxes will repay the bailout.

Or prevent another one.

 

[georgephillip]

Since DC Democrats and Republicans are tone deaf to anything that doesn't ring of corporate cash, it falls on workers to demand a massive public works program which can be funded by taxing corporations and the richest Americans at pre-Reagan levels.

"And it makes complete sense because the growing inequalities in wealth over the past three decades has meant a spectacular concentration of wealth at the top.

"The rich have plenty of money to spare."

Spare me the brain-dead conservative vomit about how hard the rich have "worked" for all their money.

The rich have the money because Republicans AND Democrats threw money at Wall Street banks and hedge funds instead of prosecuting the executives responsible for the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

The rich have the money because their chief enabler, The Federal Reserve, has fueled a major commodity bubble "that may be in the midst of bursting, possibly triggering a double dip recession."

Throw in high unemployment which allows the rich to work remaining employees harder and thus increase profits and combine it with commodity speculation and you have the entire basis for a corporate recovery which both major parties tout as "proof" of economic "recovery."

It's another lie the rich tell.

When the Fed stops purchasing 60% of US Treasury bonds, a new creditor will have to step up. One that will probably demand significantly higher interest rates before loaning anymore money to the US Government.

Surprise, surprise - the rich win again!

They got all that free bail-out money which increased the deficit.
None of them went to prison for their crimes.
Their bottom lines are being enhanced by commodity speculation and high unemployment.
And now the rich want higher interest rates for investing in US Treasury Bonds.

"In (all) instances working people pay the bills."

The Rich Are Destroying the Economy | Common Dreams

There are 18,000 babyboomers entering social security/medicare DAILY and this will continue for another 15 years--resulting in another 64 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities on top of the 14.3 trillion in red ink we're at today. This results in $534,000.00 per household owed to the Federal Government.

I don't know how many TRILLIONAIRES you know--but frankly you could take all the WEALTH in this country--including your pay-check and not come up with enough money to pay this tab. Who is NOT addressing this issue and hasn't come up with a plan before this country goes BANKRUPT? Democrats.

View attachment 13792

1 billion dollars--$100.00 bills stacked on palets.

View attachment 13793

1 trillion dollars--$100.00 bills stacked on palets--NOTE how small the man is in this chart.

"The problem with socialism is that government eventually runs out of other peoples money to spend"-- Margaret Thatcher

The Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted around the late 2030s, but even at that point its revenues from the payroll tax will pay about 75% of scheduled benefits for several decades more.

Here are a couple of relatively simple fixes:

#1. We could cut benefits by 25% starting in the late 2030s or impose a 25% tax on Social Security benefits. Call this the "conservative" solution.

#2. We could increase the payroll tax by 33 percent, from 12.4 to ~16.5%. Call this the "liberal" plan.

Both plans keep currently scheduled benefits intact and increase somebody's taxes.

What's your choice?

 

[Charles_Main]

Since DC Democrats and Republicans are tone deaf to anything that doesn't ring of corporate cash, it falls on workers to demand a massive public works program which can be funded by taxing corporations and the richest Americans at pre-Reagan levels.

"And it makes complete sense because the growing inequalities in wealth over the past three decades has meant a spectacular concentration of wealth at the top.

"The rich have plenty of money to spare."

Spare me the brain-dead conservative vomit about how hard the rich have "worked" for all their money.

The rich have the money because Republicans AND Democrats threw money at Wall Street banks and hedge funds instead of prosecuting the executives responsible for the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression.

The rich have the money because their chief enabler, The Federal Reserve, has fueled a major commodity bubble "that may be in the midst of bursting, possibly triggering a double dip recession."

Throw in high unemployment which allows the rich to work remaining employees harder and thus increase profits and combine it with commodity speculation and you have the entire basis for a corporate recovery which both major parties tout as "proof" of economic "recovery."

It's another lie the rich tell.

When the Fed stops purchasing 60% of US Treasury bonds, a new creditor will have to step up. One that will probably demand significantly higher interest rates before loaning anymore money to the US Government.

Surprise, surprise - the rich win again!

They got all that free bail-out money which increased the deficit.
None of them went to prison for their crimes.
Their bottom lines are being enhanced by commodity speculation and high unemployment.
And now the rich want higher interest rates for investing in US Treasury Bonds.

"In (all) instances working people pay the bills."

The Rich Are Destroying the Economy | Common Dreams

There are 18,000 babyboomers entering social security/medicare DAILY and this will continue for another 15 years--resulting in another 64 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities on top of the 14.3 trillion in red ink we're at today. This results in $534,000.00 per household owed to the Federal Government.

I don't know how many TRILLIONAIRES you know--but frankly you could take all the WEALTH in this country--including your pay-check and not come up with enough money to pay this tab. Who is NOT addressing this issue and hasn't come up with a plan before this country goes BANKRUPT? Democrats.

View attachment 13792

1 billion dollars--$100.00 bills stacked on palets.

View attachment 13793

1 trillion dollars--$100.00 bills stacked on palets--NOTE how small the man is in this chart.

"The problem with socialism is that government eventually runs out of other peoples money to spend"-- Margaret Thatcher

The Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted around the late 2030s, but even at that point its revenues from the payroll tax will pay about 75% of scheduled benefits for several decades more.

Here are a couple of relatively simple fixes:

#1. We could cut benefits by 25% starting in the late 2030s or impose a 25% tax on Social Security benefits. Call this the "conservative" solution.

#2. We could increase the payroll tax by 33 percent, from 12.4 to ~16.5%. Call this the "liberal" plan.

Both plans keep currently scheduled benefits intact and increase somebody's taxes.

What's your choice?

None of the Above.

SS was originally meant to be a pay as you go retirement plan.

separate that out from what the Rest of SS has become. Which is Welfare. Money given to people who never paid in. Period.

Americans who work all their lives, Should not have their Retirements put in jeopardy because the SS plan we were sold, morphed into Nothing but another Welfare entitlement where working peoples money is taken in, and given out to those who can not, or will not work.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Small business owners are the hardest workers I've met during my six decades in the work force.

Are you curious about why government puts you in the same tax bracket as parasites "earning" a thousand times or more what you do?

Possibly it's the same reason government used your tax money to fund a $13 trillion bailout of many of the same parasites who are using your labor for cover in our great tax debate?

You may think you've earned enough and you've work hard enough and you're smart enough to hold on to the fruits of your labor.

Think again.
You're just another hard working slave to Wall Street.
And they will take everything you own and laugh all the way to the bank.

Especially if you're not corrupt.
That makes you a threat to capitalism.

Tax money did not fund a $13 trillion bailout. Your math is weak.

Not weak enough to believe abolishing capital gains taxes will repay the bailout.

Or prevent another one.

The bank portion of the bailout has been repaid and then some.
I don't know anyone who has claimed abolishing capital gains taxes would prevent another crash, but it would be a good idea.

 

[georgephillip]

If you folks do not know that with this President the business capital motto is "wait, hold and see" then you do NOT KNOW SHIT about business and capital investing.
No offense to anyone but that means NO $$$ is being sought after for capital investing thus no $$$ is being invested in capital investments. A la 1% CD rates and nothing being built.
And guess why?

What was business capital's motto between 2001 and 2010 when the US lost more jobs in 10 years than any other state in history except for the USSR during the last decade of its existence?

Have you considered the possibility that technology as rendered capitalism as obsolete as communism?

And as self-destructive?

 

[georgephillip]

Tell you what? The economy can be fixed if government gets out of the way, lifts restrictions, lessens taxation, and ceases spending more than it takes in. Watch it take off. You Statists won't have to worry of the so-called rich

Wall Street need less regulation?

Why?

So the richest 1% of Americans can claim an even bigger share of the pie?

 

[FiscalSanity]

Todd,

The banks HAVEN'T paid it all back yet. What they have paid back is the cash they were lent directly. However, the government is still sitting on all the shares of their stocks that were also part of the deal, and those are about half the level they need to be to sell off and break even. A few of the banks are totally out of debt to the government, but not anywhere near as many as people seem to think.

 

[georgephillip]

Tax money did not fund a $13 trillion bailout. Your math is weak.

Not weak enough to believe abolishing capital gains taxes will repay the bailout.

Or prevent another one.

The bank portion of the bailout has been repaid and then some.
I don't know anyone who has claimed abolishing capital gains taxes would prevent another crash, but it would be a good idea.

A good idea if you think giving parasites more money to gamble with in Wall Street's casino is likely to turn out differently than last time.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Todd,

The banks HAVEN'T paid it all back yet. What they have paid back is the cash they was lent directly. However, the government is still sitting on all the shares of their stocks that were also part of the deal, and those are about half the level they need to be to sell off and break even. A few of the banks are totally out of debt to the government, but not anywhere near as many as people seem to think.

Total bank repayments to date are more than total bank loans made. Some banks still owe, but even if they default, the bank portion of TARP is profitable.

Here's an old link, still looking for a more recent one.....

The Bailout Yearbook: The Stars and the Slackers - ProPublica

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Not weak enough to believe abolishing capital gains taxes will repay the bailout.

Or prevent another one.

The bank portion of the bailout has been repaid and then some.
I don't know anyone who has claimed abolishing capital gains taxes would prevent another crash, but it would be a good idea.

A good idea if you think giving parasites more money to gamble with in Wall Street's casino is likely to turn out differently than last time.

Allowing people to keep their own money makes them parasites but confiscating their money makes you a patriot. You're funny.

 

[georgephillip]

The bank portion of the bailout has been repaid and then some.
I don't know anyone who has claimed abolishing capital gains taxes would prevent another crash, but it would be a good idea.

A good idea if you think giving parasites more money to gamble with in Wall Street's casino is likely to turn out differently than last time.

Allowing people to keep their own money makes them parasites but confiscating their money makes you a patriot. You're funny.

You're predictable.

"parasite (plural parasites)

(biology) A (generally undesirable) living organism that exists by stealing the resources produced/collected by another living organism.

(pejorative) A person who relies on other people's efforts and gives little back (originally a sycophant).

parasite - Wiktionary

Speaking of Warren Buffett:

"Now we are (or used to be) a pretty rich country and the median income of the 118M people who earn enough money to pay income taxes is about $50,000 but the cost of living in the same country as people who earn an average of 976 times more than that is pretty high as well (see 'The Dooh Nibor Economy').

"Even worse, The 10,000 paid just $112Bn in taxes last year – that’s just over 20% of their income, while the rest of the country, of course, paid a much higher percentage of their income to make up for the shortfall.

"Warren Buffett, the third richest man in the world (behind Gates and Slim) paid 17.7% tax and made a point of checking and found out his employees paid an average of 32.9%."

Does that make Warren a patriotic parasite?

America is 234 Years Old Today – Is It Finished? | Phil

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Todd,

The banks HAVEN'T paid it all back yet. What they have paid back is the cash they were lent directly. However, the government is still sitting on all the shares of their stocks that were also part of the deal, and those are about half the level they need to be to sell off and break even. A few of the banks are totally out of debt to the government, but not anywhere near as many as people seem to think.

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury's bank bailout program will move into a profit for the first time on Wednesday with the expected repayment of $7.4 billion in taxpayer funds, Treasury officials said.

The transfers to the Troubled Asset Relief Program will push recoveries from banks to $251 billion in repayments of capital, dividends, interest and other income. It invested $245 billion in banks during the financial crisis to help avert a U.S. financial system collapse. The officials did not identify the banks expected to repay funds. But SunTrust Banks Inc and Key Corp said on March 18 that they planned to repay $4.9 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. The repayment from the third bank would likely be much smaller.

The Treasury has estimated it will earn about $20 billion in profits from the bank portion of TARP.

Repayments to push US bank bailout into profit

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

A good idea if you think giving parasites more money to gamble with in Wall Street's casino is likely to turn out differently than last time.

Allowing people to keep their own money makes them parasites but confiscating their money makes you a patriot. You're funny.

You're predictable.

"parasite (plural parasites)

(biology) A (generally undesirable) living organism that exists by stealing the resources produced/collected by another living organism.

(pejorative) A person who relies on other people's efforts and gives little back (originally a sycophant).

parasite - Wiktionary

Speaking of Warren Buffett:

"Now we are (or used to be) a pretty rich country and the median income of the 118M people who earn enough money to pay income taxes is about $50,000 but the cost of living in the same country as people who earn an average of 976 times more than that is pretty high as well (see 'The Dooh Nibor Economy').

"Even worse, The 10,000 paid just $112Bn in taxes last year – that’s just over 20% of their income, while the rest of the country, of course, paid a much higher percentage of their income to make up for the shortfall.

"Warren Buffett, the third richest man in the world (behind Gates and Slim) paid 17.7% tax and made a point of checking and found out his employees paid an average of 32.9%."

Does that make Warren a patriotic parasite?

America is 234 Years Old Today – Is It Finished? | Phil

You're also predictable. But thanks for admitting the government is a parasite.

Warren isn't a parasite, he makes his own money, he doesn't have to steal it.
He is a clown for calling for higher tax rates.

 

[Urkie]

You're also predictable. But thanks for admitting the government is a parasite.

Warren isn't a parasite, he makes his own money, he doesn't have to steal it.
He is a clown for calling for higher tax rates.

So it's fair that a person who makes say $60,000 a year has to pay more percentage wise in taxes then millionaires and billionaires?

I'd rather see a system where everybody paid the same percentage then a "regressive" tax system. Hell, we're supposed to be using a progressive tax system I thought...

 

[Steelplate]

You're also predictable. But thanks for admitting the government is a parasite.

Warren isn't a parasite, he makes his own money, he doesn't have to steal it.
He is a clown for calling for higher tax rates.

So it's fair that a person who makes say $60,000 a year has to pay more percentage wise in taxes then millionaires and billionaires?

I'd rather see a system where everybody paid the same percentage then a "regressive" tax system. Hell, we're supposed to be using a progressive tax system I thought...

I say let's go back to Ronald Reagan's tax rates. Everyone loves Reagan, right?

Oh... yeah.... Reagan's top rate was 50%. Now it is 35% and people SCREAMED Socialism when asked for a 4% bump back to the Clinton rates of 39%.

 

[georgephillip]

Todd,

The banks HAVEN'T paid it all back yet. What they have paid back is the cash they were lent directly. However, the government is still sitting on all the shares of their stocks that were also part of the deal, and those are about half the level they need to be to sell off and break even. A few of the banks are totally out of debt to the government, but not anywhere near as many as people seem to think.

WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury's bank bailout program will move into a profit for the first time on Wednesday with the expected repayment of $7.4 billion in taxpayer funds, Treasury officials said.

The transfers to the Troubled Asset Relief Program will push recoveries from banks to $251 billion in repayments of capital, dividends, interest and other income. It invested $245 billion in banks during the financial crisis to help avert a U.S. financial system collapse. The officials did not identify the banks expected to repay funds. But SunTrust Banks Inc and Key Corp said on March 18 that they planned to repay $4.9 billion and $2.5 billion, respectively. The repayment from the third bank would likely be much smaller.

The Treasury has estimated it will earn about $20 billion in profits from the bank portion of TARP.

Repayments to push US bank bailout into profit

$245 billion is a small fraction of the total bail out package received by US parasites since 2008"

"A separate report by TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky raises similar questions, pointing out that TARP is only a small part of the financial rescue and that the government’s total debts for that effort have actually been growing sharply."

Elizabeth Warren: TARP is not a victory yet - John Maggs - POLITICO.com

 

[Urkie]

I say let's go back to Ronald Reagan's tax rates. Everyone loves Reagan, right?

Oh... yeah.... Reagan's top rate was 50%. Now it is 35% and people SCREAMED Socialism when asked for a 4% bump back to the Clinton rates of 39%.

Which is the way it was supposed to be after the Bush tax cuts expired. It's amazing to me how hard the Republicans are fighting to keep the top tax rate from being raised when doing so would not hurt them all that much. It would actually encourage more REAL small businesses to actually grow and create more jobs.

 

[georgephillip]

The bank portion of the bailout has been repaid and then some.
I don't know anyone who has claimed abolishing capital gains taxes would prevent another crash, but it would be a good idea.

A good idea if you think giving parasites more money to gamble with in Wall Street's casino is likely to turn out differently than last time.

Allowing people to keep their own money makes them parasites but confiscating their money makes you a patriot. You're funny.

How much of their "own" money were AIG parasites "entitled" to?

"No part of that bailout caused more outrage than the $185 billion rescue of AIG, the Connecticut-based insurance giant that helped create a bubble in mortgage-backed securities that nearly wrecked the financial system when it burst.

"But Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who was heavily criticized for failing to stop AIG executives from paying themselves more than $180 million in bonuses after the huge bailout, insisted Thursday, when the plan to end the AIG bailout was announced, that a happy ending was in sight for taxpayers.

Elizabeth Warren: TARP is not a victory yet - John Maggs - POLITICO.com

 

[FA_Q2]

You're also predictable. But thanks for admitting the government is a parasite.

Warren isn't a parasite, he makes his own money, he doesn't have to steal it.
He is a clown for calling for higher tax rates.

So it's fair that a person who makes say $60,000 a year has to pay more percentage wise in taxes then millionaires and billionaires?

I'd rather see a system where everybody paid the same percentage then a "regressive" tax system. Hell, we're supposed to be using a progressive tax system I thought...

Yet raising the tax rate on the rich does nothing to alleviate this particular problem. We need to fix the tax SYSTEM, not play the social warfare that we are playing today.

 

[editec]

You're also predictable. But thanks for admitting the government is a parasite.

Warren isn't a parasite, he makes his own money, he doesn't have to steal it.
He is a clown for calling for higher tax rates.

So it's fair that a person who makes say $60,000 a year has to pay more percentage wise in taxes then millionaires and billionaires?

I'd rather see a system where everybody paid the same percentage then a "regressive" tax system. Hell, we're supposed to be using a progressive tax system I thought...

Yet raising the tax rate on the rich does nothing to alleviate this particular problem. We need to fix the tax SYSTEM, not play the social warfare that we are playing today.

Now the the pigs are in corn we need to close the gate and just accept the fact?