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I'd feel a lot more sympathy for your argument if the average baby boomer weren't costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars per person in medicare, that's currently unfunded, that i'm going to have to pay for later, since the baby boomers don't want to raise taxes now, and don't have a single constructive solution on how to fix the problem.
Don't blame the Baby Boomers: they already paid the extra taxes that would have funded the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, at very high rates that went into effect in 1983 (15.3% of every dollar earned, no matter how poor you are). In effect, the problem was FIXED at that time.
For people now age 50, like me, we paid the maximum 1983 rates on every paycheck we earned. And we know very well that we, like everyone after us, will probably get very little back for all the money we lost to that single program.
The "Trust Fund" idea was doomed at the start: We forgot about the absolute corruption of Washington. They stole the excess funds every year, and spent them on other things--like foreign wars. They replaced them with worthless IOUs, called unmarketable "special" securities. It amounted to $2.6 trillion stolen and spent, rather than saved or invested. THAT is why there is nothing left to pay for the Baby Boom's retirement.
Yes, there is someone to blame: the thieves in Washington. They stole from everybody, and we all lose--in both taxes, and future cuts to benefits because there's no money left to pay for the promises.
And raising taxes now wouldn't help one iota. The money would STILL be stolen and spent every year, just like the previous $2.6 trillion. Washington simply cannot be fiscally responsible, or honest, or sane. It's like giving the Mob protection money, and then thinking the Mob "owes" you something in return.
As for constructive solutions, we knew what had to be done long ago--we need to be able to opt out of the disastrous Ponzi Scam that WILL be a total loss for everyone age 50 and older. I say take the money from our ridiculous Defense/Offense budget to pay for those still in the system, and let the rest of us out. Yes, we'll lose money after we paid all those taxes. But it's better than continuing to throw good money after bad, when we know we won't get anything back no matter what happens.
Don't blame the Baby Boomers: they already paid the extra taxes that would have funded the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, at very high rates that went into effect in 1983 (15.3% of every dollar earned, no matter how poor you are). In effect, the problem was FIXED at that time.
1983? hah. They've expanded Medicare liabilities so many times since then.... 1983 is ancient history.
One important thing is to seperate medicare from social security, to understand how bad medicare actually is. I'm not saying SS is in tip-top shape, but I have no major problems with it. Medicare is the deep black abyss my generation is staring into, as our parents retire, and demand no new taxes on their wealth that is so much greater than ours. Assets grew throughout the decades, while wages stayed flat.
It's hard to even grasp what they are spending all that money on in the Medicare system.
0.5% on assets would be about enough to close the deficit.
I'd feel a lot more sympathy for your argument if the average baby boomer weren't costing the taxpayer hundreds of thousands of dollars per person in medicare, that's currently unfunded, that i'm going to have to pay for later, since the baby boomers don't want to raise taxes now, and don't have a single constructive solution on how to fix the problem.
ok, fine, let's run my scenario with a .5% tax:
$50k Joe STILL OWES $6,000 per year in the "wealth" tax, bringing his total tax burden to 28% and leaving him with $36,000 to live on. That's how your going to treat the middle class with this tax? I don't think so
And for our truly rich "average" millionaire--> his effective tax rate is now 39% leaving him with $79k. Hardly sounds "rich" anymore, right? more like middle class......
It's still a BAD idea. I'd rather see regular old income taxes get raised or modifications to the tax code (limited deductions, etc) than taxing wealth for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc times.
None of them (the wealthy) do anything near the value of what they get paid.
If they get more than a heart/trauma surgeon then they're overpaid leeches on society.
That goes for stockbrokers, businessmen, lawyers, tv and movie stars, pundits and pro athletes.
I find it ironic that your status says "wouldn't it be nice if America was a meritocracy"
From my viewpoint, IT IS. I studied hard in high school, got into a good college, studied hard for 4 more years, busted my a$$ interviewing for internships that were halfway across the country, funded my own move to NYC with my $15/hour summer job savings, interned, interviewed for full-time placement, got hired, and have been working 50-70 hours per week for the last decade, making MONEY for my company (and our shareholders). That's how I got to be a 6-figure earner before age 30. WORK HARD & EARN IT.
$50k Joe STILL OWES $6,000 per year in the "wealth" tax, bringing his total tax burden to 28% and leaving him with $36,000 to live on. That's how your going to treat the middle class with this tax? I don't think so
that sounds about right.
Quote:
And for our truly rich "average" millionaire--> his effective tax rate is now 39% leaving him with $79k. Hardly sounds "rich" anymore, right? more like middle class......
that also sounds about right.
39% is definitely high, but that scenario is assuming we don't cut anything else. I also think we should cut plenty out of the federal budget. We can have a constitutional amendment, to implement this tax until the budget is balanced -- and then it goes away.
i see this all as a great incentive to get medicare costs under control. if there is no financial penalty, boomers will suck every last penalty out of this system that they can and leave us with the bill. Right now they are trying to pretend like the OTHER part of the budget is what we need to worry about, like "waste and fraud." Medicare IS waste and fraud.
The real enemy of small business is big business. Only by destroying Big Business and its monopoly control over prices can small businesses and individuals prosper.
Between 1985 and 2000, the cost of basic office applications software for PC's dropped by 95% and was made a thousand times better. The machines themselves had a corresponding increase in the value, driven largely by innovation in the chips at their heart. Microsoft, HP, Dell and Intel helped my small business more than I can ever repay via the productivity revolution they unleashed.
Today my small business has a giant corporation as its primary institutional partner. As that corporation becomes larger, its costs go down and those savings come through to my business via lower direct expenses over time.
One of the functions of my giant partner is to coordinate access to products from hundreds of other huge companies, which gives my small business the same breadth of product as my competitors who are twenty or a hundred times larger.
My small business is fabulous, in large part because of the beneficial alliances it has with big business.
The real enemy of small business is economic illiteracy.
Between 1985 and 2000, the cost of basic office applications software for PC's dropped by 95% and was made a thousand times better. The machines themselves had a corresponding increase in the value, driven largely by innovation in the chips at their heart. Microsoft, HP, Dell and Intel helped my small business more than I can ever repay via the productivity revolution they unleashed.
Today my small business has a giant corporation as its primary institutional partner. As that corporation becomes larger, its costs go down and those savings come through to my business via lower direct expenses over time.
One of the functions of my giant partner is to coordinate access to products from hundreds of other huge companies, which gives my small business the same breadth of product as my competitors who are twenty or a hundred times larger.
My small business is fabulous, in large part because of the beneficial alliances it has with big business.
The real enemy of small business is economic illiteracy.
I find it ironic that your status says "wouldn't it be nice if America was a meritocracy"
From my viewpoint, IT IS. I studied hard in high school, got into a good college, studied hard for 4 more years, busted my a$$ interviewing for internships that were halfway across the country, funded my own move to NYC with my $15/hour summer job savings, interned, interviewed for full-time placement, got hired, and have been working 50-70 hours per week for the last decade, making MONEY for my company (and our shareholders). That's how I got to be a 6-figure earner before age 30. WORK HARD & EARN IT.
Don't be so bitter.
blah blah blah, I have a different view so I must be bitter.
you worked hard and have money.....therefore everyone who works hard gets money, everyone who doesn't work hard doesn't have money.
Thats the crap you're trying to sell. Sorry, not buying into your myth.
Go to Ames, Iowa, there's lots of sheeple there this week willing to believe that.
Good for you that you've made a bunch of money, but I'll repeat my prior post in a different way. If you aren't saving lives, odds are you aren't doing something worth millions of dollars in salary and you and your cronies have overvalued. Or you are just finding ways to suppress wages of people that work for your or overprice the goods that you sell in an effort to transfer more wealth from everyone else (basically a fancy form of theft for rich people, thats what Wall Street is)
and if we're going to have a bunch of extreme right wingers on here that think only cutting spending and screwing over those with little resources to begin with is the solution, then some extreme left wing solutions should also be voiced.
oh, last I checked in the history books, all the wealthy got along fine under Eisenhower with 90% taxes....... and you can't get along now with the thought of a slight bump? cry me a river. Don't be so whiny. Its time for the wealthy to share in the sacrifice to fix our budgetary problems.
blah blah blah, I have a different view so I must be bitter.
you worked hard and have money.....therefore everyone who works hard gets money, everyone who doesn't work hard doesn't have money.
Thats the crap you're trying to sell. Sorry, not buying into your myth.
Go to Ames, Iowa, there's lots of sheeple there this week willing to believe that.
Good for you that you've made a bunch of money, but I'll repeat my prior post in a different way. If you aren't saving lives, odds are you aren't doing something worth millions of dollars in salary and you and your cronies have overvalued. Or you are just finding ways to suppress wages of people that work for your or overprice the goods that you sell in an effort to transfer more wealth from everyone else (basically a fancy form of theft for rich people, thats what Wall Street is)
and if we're going to have a bunch of extreme right wingers on here that think only cutting spending and screwing over those with little resources to begin with is the solution, then some extreme left wing solutions should also be voiced.
oh, last I checked in the history books, all the wealthy got along fine under Eisenhower with 90% taxes....... and you can't get along now with the thought of a slight bump? cry me a river. Don't be so whiny. Its time for the wealthy to share in the sacrifice to fix our budgetary problems.
Did you finish high school?
Did you go to college?
Did you study something that would enable you to be workforce ready?
What steps did you take to start & own your career?
How are your networking skills? People skills? (I can guess from your attitude, you may need to polish them up a bit.....)
It isn't that hard to get ahead in America; it just isn't. Most people aren't willing to put in the time or effort towards steps that will help vs walking around a mall filling out job apps and hoping for the best.
I work with TONS of people who grew up poor/much lower income than they are as adults, yet they all figured it out and do quite well now. Why can't you?! Maybe you should direct your energy/anger towards yourself to improve yoour life than waste time & energy hating the rich so much.
I AM paying my fair share, considering half of Americans pay NOTHING. I'm probably supporting quite a few of you already. Expecting 2% of the population to support the other 98% is a recipe for disaster- socially and fiscally. You people all want to tax they wealthy into oblivion, then who will pay for you????
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and you can't get along now with the thought of a slight bump? cry me a river. Don't be so whiny. Its time for the wealthy to share in the sacrifice to fix our budgetary problems.
