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I wonder where all those who complain about "endless wars" were when George Bush invaded Iraq and ultimately cost this country a $1 trillion?? Of all the bone-headed ideas this country has seen in the last decade or so that has got to be the worst. The invasion of Afghanistan was different and justified by the links the Taliban had with Osama Bin Laden and Al Quaeda. I think anyone else would have done about the same thing. Before anyone whines about the money spent on the fiscal stimulus or on TARP, remember that those ideas were actually designed to help Americans and get the economy rolling again.
Anyway, back to the main subject. Should we raise taxes on the rich? Yes, we should. The only way we are going to get the deficit down in this country is to take some pretty drastic action. That action should include:
1. Cuts in all government spending including defense, social security, medicare, and elsewhere. Social security cuts could be avoided though by raising the mandatory retirement age which I actually prefer to cutting benefits.
2. Raising the top tax bracket on the wealthy to about 40%. No one can claim this is "confiscatory" or "class warfare" because it leaves them with 60% of what they earn.
3. Requiring everyone in the country (except those truly without an income) to pay at least some small percentage of their income as tax. There should be no "free riders" in this country. The tax code should never have been changed to allow so many people to get out of pay for anything other than social security. People who have no financial stake in the outcome of a decision tend to make the poorest decisions.
4. A committee should be created to identify waste and fraud in government and make specific targeted recommendations to cut spending in certain areas.
5. Stop rambling about flat taxes and balanced budget amendments. Until we undertake the first 4 steps its just nonsense and moonshine to talk about either one.
im all for making a minimum tax as well on that 49% of america that pay no income taxes at all as well.
no one should live in this country and pay zero. even if its a minimum of .50 cents a day. i worked in one of the lowest income areas of nyc and see the locals daily with beer, lottery tickets, cell phones and smoking.
no one should pay zero.
This is one area where I agree with the conservatives to a great extent. I have no problem with the various social programs and saftey nets, BUT, I also think that everyone should have to contribute something to the system.
A country in which nearly half of it's citizens pay no taxes at all is going to have a tough time funding much of anything at all.
I'm always amazed at the number of people who think that raising taxes is the panacea. Yet nobody really looks back to lessons of the other catastrophic economic event of the past 100 years--The Great Depression.
Roosevelt's New Deal wasn't getting the traction he wanted so, by 1936, he decided to crank up taxes on the rich.
Guess what happened? The economy went back into a tailspin and the employment numbers were almost as dismal as the darkest days of 1932. In fact, the only thing that salvaged the economy was World War II. And let's hope history doesn't repeat itself in that fashion.
Definitely not. It has been proven when taxes are lowered revenue increases.
So tax revenue should be highest than when tax rates are 0%?
How about 1% or 2%?
This is simplistic thinking and anyone who takes the time will realize it doesn't work that way.
There is some "optimal tax rate" that will produce the highest tax revenues. Who knows exactly where that is? My suspicion is that if the wealthy pay a rate of 40% and 60% is left over that won't be a disincentive to anyone to work or produce. So, tax rates should be raised--within reason.
So tax revenue should be highest than when tax rates are 0%?
How about 1% or 2%?
This is simplistic thinking and anyone who takes the time will realize it doesn't work that way.
There is some "optimal tax rate" that will produce the highest tax revenues. Who knows exactly where that is? My suspicion is that if the wealthy pay a rate of 40% and 60% is left over that won't be a disincentive to anyone to work or produce. So, tax rates should be raised--within reason.
Well, you're right about the "optimal tax rate." But there's a classic fallacy in Keynesian thinking that assumes that people will spend, save, and invest in precisely the same way regardless of the tax rates. Because if we get $1 trillion with the tax rate at 20%, then we'll get $2 trillion at 40%. Right? Right?
Not really. I'll give you a classic example. Capital gains taxes in 1998 were lowered from 28% to 20%. The Keynesians howled saying that it was a tax break for the rich, how revenues would plummet, etc. etc. A similar effect happened once again when capital gains were once again reduced from 20% to 15% in 2002. Now, the peak in revenues after the post-2002 capital gains tax cut was slighly lower than the 2000 peak, but I'd attribute that to the 1990s enormous run-up in stocks, along with the subsequent profit-taking.
The reason for this is simple. People look at what the government bite will be on a given transaction, and then decide how it will affect overall profit and loss. Then they decide whether or not to go through with the transaction. So a higher tax rate actually inhibits commerce.
With this in mind, the question becomes this: Are the calls for increasing taxes to the rich born from a desire to increase revenue or simple envy? Because if it's the first, then the desire is misplaced. If it's the second, it's tantamount to theft.
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I wonder how much really gets sent in??
