Thread: Tax the Rich

I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around this one. Both sides are again trying to divide the population with the old 'we against them' game. They're undoubtedly using this strategy to gain something. But what is it? and how badly are we going to get screwed this time??

Originally Posted by Johnus

I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around this one. Both sides are again trying to divide the population with the old 'we against them' game. They're undoubtedly using this strategy to gain something. But what is it? and how badly are we going to get screwed this time??

We ARE gonna get Wooed, SCREWED, and TATTOOED before this mess is over.

My feeling is that the "tax the rich" BS is nothing more than a smoke screen to TAX THE PISS OUT EVERYONE!

I have a feeling that when the tax revenues are tallied up in April, they are going to be WAY short of what they expected and then a whole dump truck of "other" shoes are gonna drop to "help" make up the difference.

The tax the rich idea is easy to throw to the masses because it plays on one of man's baser feelings, envy. Now, I don't understand hardly any of the finer points of this whole mess. But one thing I can say is, when you get people to cave to envy, you have them. Now they are basing their actions on emotion and feelings, and are more apt to ignore mumbo jumbo like facts. So sayeth me.

If we could get the whole country to send in 25% of there earnings and NO MORE, what is the IRS gonna do ,lock up the whole country?
Then they might act like the rest of us have to..live within our means !
just saying............

Originally Posted by Grizzley1

If we could get the whole country to send in 25% of there earnings and NO MORE, what is the IRS gonna do ,lock up the whole country?
Then they might act like the rest of us have to..live within our means !
just saying............

As much as that sounds good - it's not fair. If the poverty line was $100 a year, and you make $1,000... giving $250 might not be so bad. You'll still have enough to live well. The Dude with two kids who's working two jobs and is only raking in $100 a year, is left with $75!

The $250 you give might be a allot... but the $25 the poor guy gives might be food out of his kids mouth.

Originally Posted by earcutter

As much as that sounds good - it's not fair. If the poverty line was $100 a year, and you make $1,000... giving $250 might not be so bad. You'll still have enough to live well. The Dude with two kids who's working two jobs and is only raking in $100 a year, is left with $75!

The $250 you give might be a allot... but the $25 the poor guy gives might be food out of his kids mouth.

NOBODY in this country is making $100/yr.

What isn't fair about everyone paying the same percentage? Why is it fair to take more private property from someone else? Where this this mindset get started. Why does the government have the right to take private property from anyone?

The vast majority of this countries poor have cell phones and internet connections. The kind of poverty you are talking about doesn't exist unless the person has completely dropped out and is living in a cardboard box.

Yesterday a man was begging in front of the local Walgreens. I saw a woman give him a $10 gift card. What did he buy with it? A Spiderman toy.

Then hit me up for money as I left the store.

All the evils in this country including the current tax system can be blamed on the war of northern agression! which was about state's rights and taxation.
state's rights came about through the revolution, which was caused by the tax schemes of the british government.

perhaps it is time to renew the tree of liberty.

Originally Posted by Crotalus

NOBODY in this country is making $100/yr.

What isn't fair about everyone paying the same percentage? Why is it fair to take more private property from someone else? Where this this mindset get started. Why does the government have the right to take private property from anyone?

Well I think regardless of our positions on today's tax battle, most of us would agree that a complete overhaul of the tax system would be a good idea; FairTax or something else, for sure. Warren Buffett has been vocal about taxing the ultrarich, and I think his opinion carries much more weight than most of the people arguing against it.

We had a tax system and some taxes were cut for people. If we end those cuts and bring those taxes back to normal, is that really the same as just raising taxes? Go to the bar and your favorite beer is normally $5, but during happy hour it's $2.50; when happy hour ends do you have a legitimate complaint that the bar is raising its price on that beer?

Originally Posted by Crotalus

The vast majority of this countries poor have cell phones and internet connections.

Do you have any source for this and can you expand as to what exactly you mean? Correct me if I'm wrong, but the implication here sounds like "Poor people would rather spend their money on fancy phones than food." Feature phones and internet access are now ubiquitous so I don't think this comment has any relevance to the discussion. You need a phone and an email address to keep in touch and probably to get a job. Here in the US, pay-as-you-go feature phones are cheaper than land lines, and there are plenty of places to get free or cheap internet access (e.g. the library). Read up on how cell phones are increasingly being used in developing countries: here's an infographic with a short article, and note that as of 2010, 77% of cell phone subscriptions were from developing countries.

Originally Posted by Crotalus

Yesterday a man was begging in front of the local Walgreens. I saw a woman give him a $10 gift card. What did he buy with it? A Spiderman toy. Then hit me up for money as I left the store.

No idea what you're trying to say here with personal anecdotes: Did you speak with this man? Did you ask him why he was begging? Did you ask what he intended to do with the Spiderman toy? Maybe he just wanted a toy for free. Maybe he's in between jobs and just wants to get his kid a toy for Christmas. Maybe he needed money for something else and since a gift card was given, he got a toy that he'd later donate.

Originally Posted by Crotalus

NOBODY in this country is making $100/yr.

What isn't fair about everyone paying the same percentage? Why is it fair to take more private property from someone else? Where this this mindset get started. Why does the government have the right to take private property from anyone?

The vast majority of this countries poor have cell phones and internet connections. The kind of poverty you are talking about doesn't exist unless the person has completely dropped out and is living in a cardboard box.

Yesterday a man was begging in front of the local Walgreens. I saw a woman give him a $10 gift card. What did he buy with it? A Spiderman toy.

Then hit me up for money as I left the store.

Having people all pay the same percentage in income tax always sounds like the fair way to do it however it's not. The idea is the tax burden should be fair to everyone. My pain should be equal to your pain. So just saying if we all had to pay 15% of our income, no deductions allowed of any kind for anyone the guy making 10 million a year, what would be his pain? Maybe he would have to settle for a loaded Mercedes instead of the Ferrari or maybe buy a turbo prop instead of a twin engine jet or not buy that third vacation home. Now what would be the pain to the gal working at Wally World raising two kids? Maybe skip the medication? Buy lower quality food? Not have the surgery she needs? Additionally no matter what the law says about deductions I will guarantee some smart attorney will find some loophole to have the rich guy not pay taxes on most of his income. That's the way it always works.

So whats fair?

Originally Posted by Crotalus

NOBODY in this country is making $100/yr.

What isn't fair about everyone paying the same percentage? Why is it fair to take more private property from someone else? Where this this mindset get started. Why does the government have the right to take private property from anyone?

The $1000 and $100 was an example.

As for why the government has the right to "take private property from anyone" - well I guess that all started when they started subsidizing/regulating the price YOU pay for electricity to type away on SRP, for food, for your freedom as it formed a military/police force to protect you from others and allow you to say whatever it is you want to say! You didn't really think your freedom is free do you... or did you?!

I guess it started when it began to build infrastructure so you could take your products to market and provide you with a common currency so that you wouldn't have to trade and barter...

When you find a society that's free and truly libertarian... then and only then, can you really ask why America or any civilized nation has taxes, and why redistribution of wealth is a bad thing!