MEGAMANTROTSKY said:Your views regarding the American tax system do not correspond with reality. The federal income tax does not tell the whole story. I would suggest that you take a look at this document: http://www.ctj.org/pdf/taxday2011.pdfHanafuda said:The wealthiest 1% of the US population already pays 38% of the total income taxes collected by the Federal government.
The wealthiest 10% of the US population already pays 70% of the total income taxes collected by the Federal government.
I agree with this. "Money Talks".DeMoN said:Too bad the rich are those who have the larger voice in political matters.
The income tax, as I implied before, is only a part of the American tax system. The numbers you cite are thus selective and misleading. They are constantly utilized by the right wing in order to demonize the poor, much in the same way that you did earlier. Furthermore, Obama's proposal is completely inadequate--even if by some miracle it was passed, it would not even bring the tax rates for the wealthy back up to the levels that prevailed in the first years of the Reagan administration.Hanafuda said:MEGAMANTROTSKY said:Your views regarding the American tax system do not correspond with reality. The federal income tax does not tell the whole story. I would suggest that you take a look at this document: http://www.ctj.org/pdf/taxday2011.pdfHanafuda said:The wealthiest 1% of the US population already pays 38% of the total income taxes collected by the Federal government.
The wealthiest 10% of the US population already pays 70% of the total income taxes collected by the Federal government.
My views regarding the American income tax system are accurate. The president's proposal is targeted at increasing the tax burden on 'wealthy earners' ... sadly I am not one of them ... but this will do nothing to change the other types of taxes in the chart you linked to.
The problem is not how much money is being taken in, its in how its being spent. Also, consider this ... why do we tax income? Why not tax wealth??? The really wealthy people are sitting on billions in the bank, but they only have to pay taxes on their annual income. You want to hit the wealthy and generate some real revenue? Just tax everyone for a percentage of their net worth.
And I've never heard businesses say their main customer base is people with no money.The Living Shadow said:you know, I've never heard anyone brag about being hired by a poor individual, I think someone's got the wrong idea....
BlueStar said:And I've never heard businesses say their main customer base is people with no money.The Living Shadow said:you know, I've never heard anyone brag about being hired by a poor individual, I think someone's got the wrong idea....
riposte said:BlueStar said:And I've never heard businesses say their main customer base is people with no money.The Living Shadow said:you know, I've never heard anyone brag about being hired by a poor individual, I think someone's got the wrong idea....
How many jobs were created as a result of the "Bush Tax Cuts" again? Lower taxes on the wealthy =/= more jobs created...
blahkamehameha said:A girl asks to use her father's credit card, and he gives her permission to do so. She then goes wild and uses the living hell out of the credit card, charging right and left, maxing it out. The father finds out and is outraged beyond belief.
The girl then asks her dad to buy her college books. She needs them for school, for her education and future. If the dad declines, he is a mean, uncaring dad who doesn't want his daughter to have a good education and good future. Right?
riposte said:BlueStar said:And I've never heard businesses say their main customer base is people with no money.The Living Shadow said:you know, I've never heard anyone brag about being hired by a poor individual, I think someone's got the wrong idea....
How many jobs were created as a result of the "Bush Tax Cuts" again? Lower taxes on the wealthy =/= more jobs created...
BlueStar said:riposte said:BlueStar said:And I've never heard businesses say their main customer base is people with no money.The Living Shadow said:you know, I've never heard anyone brag about being hired by a poor individual, I think someone's got the wrong idea....
How many jobs were created as a result of the "Bush Tax Cuts" again? Lower taxes on the wealthy =/= more jobs created...
Well that's my point, it's not as simple as tax burden on rich = bad for business and tax burden on poor = good for business. Most small businesses start by selling lots of low value items at a small margin to people who aren't rich. If your neighbourhood consists of two millionaires and 300 people who are too poor to afford even the slightest luxury and even some necessities, that is not good for your business.
If you start a company and spending cuts mean the roads are shit and your employees cars keep breaking down, that's not good for business. Or if unsubsidised public transport is so expensive that its not worth their while to work for the money you can pay them because most of it goes on their commute. Or if they're too ill to come to work because there's no healthcare provision for people on their income. Or if there's not enough emergency service personel to stop your warehouse being looted or burning to the ground.
Likewise, people act like when the government spends money, it vanishes into thin air. If the government pays someone $100 to paint the lifts (edit: sorry, 'elevators') in a government building, its unlikely he's going to take that money on a boat and row to Cuba with it. Some of it will go to the hotdog seller on his lunch break, he'll pay some in taxes, he might give some to a plumber... And at the same time he's not claiming welfare etc.
There has to be a balance, its not just "But if you tax the rich then no-one will bother becoming a millionaire because they'll only get to keep 5 million instead of 7 million, and they won't make any jobs". There's much more to it than that.