Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
What is this thing you refer to that has "stood us in good stead."
First, the wealth distribution is sickening in this country. We are a third-world country, the wealth should be falling from the top and to the bottom, as Reagan promised.
With that, the wealthy still aren't paying their share of taxes, and neither is the upper class. It's all burdened on the poor and middle class.
Initially, your distorted, nay, perverted opinions are not facts, they are just distorted, nay perverted opinion
What has stood this country in good stead is rugged individualism, self reliance and risk taking.
It is not mamby-pamby whining, dependency and parasiting off of your fellow citizen. You are but a prospective enabler.
If you want to see an example, go watch Deadliest Catch. Say what you will about them, they work their asses off and are well paid as a result. You should learn something from them, but you rather that some bum sitting under the pier wasting his life away, be rewarded at the expense of the others who bust their asses. You can probably quote some stupid statistic about how much better the bums would be if they are attached to a permanent nipple, but that is completely and utterly besides the point. The point is you must produce to deserve your keep. Existance is not enough, production is required.
Taking form others just because they have it to take, and you don't, is wrong. That you don't understand that is disturbing to say the least. Your opinions are a disease, a sickness, a malignancy.
The world you envision CANNOT exists anymore than a room-temperature perpetual motion machine could exist.
Initially, your distorted, nay, perverted opinions are not facts, they are just distorted, nay perverted opinion
Initially? Which is why these sources I have are--my opinion?
Quote:
What has stood this country in good stead is rugged individualism, self reliance and risk taking.
Social Darwinism did not bring up this country. The founding fathers saw it fit to protect the minority from the majority views, and elect leaders to make difficult decisions.
Quote:
It is not mamby-pamby whining, dependency and parasiting off of your fellow citizen. You are but a prospective enabler.
The only people whining here is you and your ilk. Those "dependent" on welfare are very few in numbers. Most people are on and then off again rather shortly. Safety nets keep people from staying in poverty.
Quote:
If you want to see an example, go watch Deadliest Catch. Say what you will about them, they work their asses off and are well paid as a result. You should learn something from them, but you rather that some bum sitting under the pier wasting his life away, be rewarded at the expense of the others who bust their asses. You can probably quote some stupid statistic about how much better the bums would be if they are attached to a permanent nipple, but that is completely and utterly besides the point. The point is you must produce to deserve your keep. Existance is not enough, production is required.
So, the opposite of this would be the entertainment industry, where people make absurd levels of income for very little work.
Quote:
Taking form others just because they have it to take, and you don't, is wrong. That you don't understand that is disturbing to say the least. Your opinions are a disease, a sickness, a malignancy.
Taxation is not "wrong." The avoidance of fair taxes by the wealthy is "wrong," and so is the dumping of that tax burden onto the middle and lower classes.
Quote:
The world you envision CANNOT exists anymore than a room-temperature perpetual motion machine could exist.
And are you suggested you have a perpetual motion machine that doesn't operate in a room-temperature environment? Considering reality already exists, and reality shows that welfare programs work as advertised, and that reality shows the wealthy skipping out on their taxes, is somehow less real than a perpetual motion machine?
[b]The Constitution of the United States of Americas: Article 8, The Legislative Branch; Article 1, the Powers of Congress]
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"[/i]
GENERAL welfare of the United States, not the individual welfare of only some of its citizens.
And I've posted MULTIPLE times that the top 1% earns 20% of the income but pays 38% of the federal income tax revenue. They pay nearly TWICE their fair share.
I looked at the numbers. They DO NOT support your ridiculous assertion, at all.
Share of total Federal Tax Liabilities:
The top 1% pays 28.1%
The top 5% pays 44.3%
The top 10% pays 55%
The middle quintile (middle 20%) only pays 9.2%
No, you misunderstood her assertion.
You posted the top 1%, 5%, 10%, using income as the metric. She said the wealthy do not pay their fair share. Having wealth is not the same thing as having a high income.
It's not disputed that people at the top end of the INCOME scale are paying all the taxes. That is actually the problem. It should include people who are at the top of the WEALTH scale, too, since they benefit from government spending much more than the high-income people do.
She said the wealthy do not pay their fair share. Rich is a matter of net worth, or assets, not income.
You posted the top 1%, 5%, 10%, using INCOME as the metric.
Because we have an INCOME tax, not a wealth tax. A wealth tax would screw retired union pensioners. Is that acceptable to you?
Quote:
Yeah, people at the top end of the INCOME scale are paying all the taxes. That is the problem. It shouldn't be that way. It should include people who are at the top of the WEALTH scale, too, as they are the ones who benefit from all this government largesse.
I wonder what the numbers would look like if we took taxes and added to that number income paid to employee's to see the actual "tax burden" on each quintile?
You're saying that the reason we shouldn't tax wealth, is because we don't do it already.
What about 'there is no wealth tax' do you not understand?
A wealth tax would force everyone to pay taxes on the equity in their homes, the value of their cars, the value of their pension, 401k's, IRA's, etc. Do you really want to go there?
Quote:
No it wouldn't. Retired union pensioners hold a minute fraction of this country's wealth.
False. For example, CalPERS is the US's biggest investor.
A wealth tax would force everyone to pay taxes on the equity in their homes, the value of their cars, the value of their pension, 401k's, IRA's, etc. Do you really want to go there?
My tax philosophy is based partly on my belief that the most productive people in America are the people who have high salaries, and that they deserve a break in relation to the billionaires, and multinational corporations.
It doesn't make sense to me to have special tax treatment for hedge fund managers and trust funders, while taxing a far more valuable brain surgeon with a $1m income at 40%.
We have this preference for asset holders, and penalize earners, regardless of whether we're talking about the top whatever % or not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by InformedConsent
False. For example, CalPERS is the US's biggest investor.
that doesn't tell me how much American wealth is made of "union pensions", like you were talking about.
Last edited by le roi; 07-22-2011 at 11:09 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
