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Outside Wall Street, there isn't a sector more rife with fraud that is not only unpunished but so common as to be part of the fabric of the industry, and that's insurance - and by extension, American healthcare.
The margin of error grows dramatically the further the projection of the federal debt is made.
How many recessions will take place during those 36 years? How severe will those recessions be? What changes in the hundreds of laws governing expenditures will occur? What will be the actual growth of GDP over that time? How will employment/unemployment be impacted by shifting demographics, the growth of emerging- and developing-States, other global changes and other factors?
If the Wall Street Journal thinks it can do a better job, then let them.
It is certainly your prerogative to keep a tally of and speculate on President Trump's travel and other expenses, and please do report back at the end of his presidency possibly seven years from now what they totaled because I for one would like to know this information. And while you are keeping this expense tally you might want to keep one on former President Obama and his family because he and his family continue to receive taxpayer funded Secret Service, and since he left office he continues to travel extensively which has included trips to Palm Springs and French Polynesia which no doubt had a pricey Secret Service tab.
I would assume that all POTUS require in the realm of the same per trip or per day....
BUT, Trump set a new record on number of vacation days and number of Golf Outings.
AND, Obama didn't own the Resorts he went to, therefore he didn't pocket from both ends of the deal.
As they say on Sesame Street, one of these things is not like the other. One is normal (POTUS cost) and one is completely abnormal (Charging the gubment high rates in your own hotel, taking much more vacation, etc)....
Heck, Helmsley was thrown in jail for writing off underwear that she wore while doing TV commercials. Yet Trump profits to the tune of 10 (eventually 100's) of millions of dollars from charging the government...they pay HIS corporations, and you defend him???
Amazing.
No one can cut down the MPG of Air Force One. But didn't Trump say he wasn't going to Golf once he got in the WH? Do you think he would have been elected if he claimed "I am going to take more vacations that any recent POTUS and play more rounds of Golf - all at MY properties - and I am going to charge the Government vast sums paid to ME for use of my personal properties"???
I think that would have swung enough votes to make a diff.
This is in addition to possibly illegal acts...no one is supposed to profit from political office - it's against the law. Against the Constitution. Do you care about the US Constitution when it comes to Donald?
"“no person holding any office of profit or trust…shall, without the consent of Congress, accept…any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.”
It's fact that Russians bought property from Trump at vastly higher rates than it was worth. It's fact that any Trump buildings in Florida are being used for Russian Anchor Baby programs at very high rates. It's a fact that foreign Kings, Princes and others of influence hire his Hotel in DC for very high prices - putting money in his pocket. Like an Iceberg, there is much more below the surface related to this sort of things.
Is Jared getting money from foreigners soon after meetings in the WH a "present or emolument"? We KNOW he can't get loans for his building which - without selling influence to foreigners - he cannot pay for.
Don't be silly - it is pure semantics...of course, duh, it's all in the tax code so perfectly legal. However, some things are widely known about (deduction for mortgage interest) versus other things that are either not so widely known or can only be taken advantage of by those with quite specific income sources mostly available to those with more sources of money beyond just job income. People of ordinary means certainly wonder their tax rates are the same or higher than those with more money (due to investments, etc.). It may be legal but it is not perceived as fair by many who don't reap the benefits themselves.
It used to be legal to have non-consensual sex with your spouse...I guess that wasn't a loophole technically either but it sure did seem unfair others - and eventually the law was changed.
Everyone pays the same rate on the same type and quantity of income. There aren’t any special rates for rich people. To claim otherwise is either ignorant or disingenuous.
You are panic stricken at the suggestion that greed is not a moral justification for wealth, aren't you?
I am not panic stricken about anything. Wealth doesn’t need any kind of moral justification.
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No, rich people do not create jobs. Large corporations have never been job creators, and things are getting even worse with the rise of the robots and automation. Jobs are created by people who start businesses and run them. Think small cap to mid cap, the very businesses that are vulnerable to takeover by the vulture capitalists who destroy jobs.
Yes they do. Jobs are created by huge corporations and small start ups. Claiming otherwise is simply ridiculous.
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With great wealth comes great responsibility, Grasshopper.
Not really. The wealthy need not have more responsibility than anyone else.
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Society has no responsibility to maintain the lifestyles of the unproductive wealthy. The most peaceful way we have ever found to take money away from the unproductive is a high marginal income tax rate. Building a business is tax free. If you want to keep your money, get to work. It's easy to tell if income is being productive or not. The remnants of capitalism still exist within our tax code.
All we need to do for America to return to prosperity is to adopt the 1950 tax code. The weath of our nation has been siphoned off by a bunch of bean counters and leeches. Society has a vested interest in limiting their damage.
Ooh, let’s steal rich peoples money, they don’t deserve it!
I hope you are enjoying how irrelevant you have become with these posts.
Everyone pays the same rate on the same type and quantity of income. There aren’t any special rates for rich people. To claim otherwise is either ignorant or disingenuous.
If I make dividends of a million dollars a year, I pay 15% or 20% on them, right?
If I make capital gains of 500,000 a year, I pay the same...corect?
But if I make those numbers in regular income I pay:
39.6% Federal Tax (on amounts over X)
Plus Medicare and SS on the first 110K or so - employer matched so a total of 16% or so.
0.9% on ALL income over a certain amount....
In other words, two people making the same income...the one who works less (sit by the pool and drink cocktails and let dividends roll in) is paying vastly less in taxes than the employed Physician specialist who works 60 hours works saving lives...
This also does not include the vast amount of cheating. Those with salaries find it difficult to do so - while a Real Estate Investor might put a 50K roof on their own house and claim it was put on one of their investment properties. Of course, I'm thinking small here - stuff like this is done on a much larger scale.
Another example - One investor is very rich and has two million dollars in tax-free bonds paying 4%. He is getting 80K per year and paying zero in taxes.
A working person with less ability to invest (not a qualified investor) and without the money to hire investments specialists might be in CD's or regular bonds - which are often fully taxable.
I don't see your statement as true. Is Warren Buffet lying when he says his Sec. pays a higher rate than he does?
If I make dividends of a million dollars a year, I pay 15% or 20% on them, right?
If I make capital gains of 500,000 a year, I pay the same...corect?
But if I make those numbers in regular income I pay:
39.6% Federal Tax (on amounts over X)
Plus Medicare and SS on the first 110K or so - employer matched so a total of 16% or so.
0.9% on ALL income over a certain amount....
In other words, two people making the same income...the one who works less (sit by the pool and drink cocktails and let dividends roll in) is paying vastly less in taxes than the employed Physician specialist who works 60 hours works saving lives...
This also does not include the vast amount of cheating. Those with salaries find it difficult to do so - while a Real Estate Investor might put a 50K roof on their own house and claim it was put on one of their investment properties. Of course, I'm thinking small here - stuff like this is done on a much larger scale.
Another example - One investor is very rich and has two million dollars in tax-free bonds paying 4%. He is getting 80K per year and paying zero in taxes.
A working person with less ability to invest (not a qualified investor) and without the money to hire investments specialists might be in CD's or regular bonds - which are often fully taxable.
I don't see your statement as true. Is Warren Buffet lying when he says his Sec. pays a higher rate than he does?
Here is my post that you responded to. Pay particular attention to the highlighted portion:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TaxPhd View Post
Everyone pays the same rate on the same type and quantity of income. There aren’t any special rates for rich people. To claim otherwise is either ignorant or disingenuous.
Here is my post that you responded to. Pay particular attention to the highlighted portion:
My post stands as 100% correct.
Of course. But as has been well pointed out the income of the rich and of the working class are in fact different and taxed at significantly different rates. And there are a number of schemes that convert what could be ordinary income into capital gains.
And there are a number of schemes that convert what could be ordinary income into capital gains.
Another poster making this assertion without any explanation of how exactly it’s done.
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