[Texdentist]

Tax inequality????? The top 5% already pay over 60% of income taxes. Yes, it's unequal. So you think it should be MORE unequal???? GMAFB:crazy:

 

[Texdentist]

Were the majority of them not common theives and crooks, I would agree with you.. :laughing: But, since we know that an extremely lopsided majority of the money is held by the top 5%, and the way they control the government it squeezes the little guys out of a chance to join the top 5%, I say tax em until they are in the top 25%. And leave everyone making less than $10 million a year the hell alone.

:cheers:

The last figures I saw, the top 5% made something like 32% of the income and paid 60%+ of the taxes. That is not selfishness or stinginess. It seems about right to me if you can't have a flat tax.

 

[Texdentist]

Sure, but what percentage of the wealth do they hold/control? And what are the odds of a current high school student of attaining that 5% status in his lifetime?

Since the top 5% starts at something around $300k/yr, the chances are far better than 1 in 50 million. If that kid works hard, gets a good education in the right field and has a little luck to boot, $300k/yr is totally attainable for anyone - assuming they start in their early teens working toward a serious goal. If you want to see the effect on the standard of living of eliminating the rich, just go look at any Communist country. People are being led to hate the rich by the Dems in this country. If they get their wish and all the rich people are brought down to size, be ready to drop your standard of living by a lot.

 

[Texdentist]

This graph gives us a very clear picture of what is happening in America. The right graph is the important one. The top 5% control 72% of the financial assets. The top 10% control 84% of the financial assets.

Middle class income is completely stagnent, middle class debt has been increasing for decades. I am all for equality in taxation, but right now its not equal at all.

Your statement shows how nothing ever changes. These were exactly the same points being made by the Trotskyites and Marxists in 1917 when the "proletariat" decided to confiscate everything the rich had and kill them. Something like 30 million people were killed by their own government in the next 50 years. This sinister hate for those who have accumulated wealth can lead to very bad things. It starts with the assumption that economics is a zero sum game, which it is not. The very rich can prosper greatly while the middle class also prospers. In fact, the middle class cannot prosper if the rich do not since most jobs are made by the rich. Like I said earlier, shove the rich down and see what happens to the middle class average lifestyle. It will go down.

 

[Texdentist]

For example, if someone makes $50k a year, they get taxed ~25%. If a rich guy makes $50k after the sale of stock, he pays ~15%. Both are forms of income, why are they taxed at different levels?

Because tax law is routinely used to encourage behavior that is good for the overall economy. Investment is extremely good for the economy, so the government has decided to encourage it with a lower tax rate. There have been eternal arguments over that and always will be. Same for mortgage interest deduction. Why do homeowners get off easy on that? Because government wants to encourage home ownership for the many good things (construction jobs, social stability, etc. ) it brings to society.

 

[Texdentist]

With overseas investors, sure.
Other than that, you only add wealth to the top 2 percent and tie up local money in paper in banks.

In normal times the rich don't plop their money in the banks - they invest it in businesses in order to maximize returns. The vast majority of these bad bank run investments were by the big pension plans and those types of investors that actually serve the middle class. How are you going to punish the rich investors without also punishing these middle class investments? You can't. Why not do what has always worked best and let everyone make as much money as they can? Times are hard but they will likely get better. Don't screw up future opportunities forwealth creation by regulating based on the worst of times.