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...All that being said. I agree you are correct about the effective rates (we could argue the employer side %'s). I has been schooled.
Thank you for that. It's appreciated.
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Any response however to my entry into this? The REAL bottom line of this? The three questions? IE:
1. Do you or do you not want to live in a plutocracy? If the answer is no, then this needs to change.
I do not believe in a plutocracy. I've already explained that in order to equalize incomes more, we MUST remove the government's incentive to keep the income gap as wide as possible. That means scrapping the progressive tax system we have now and instituting a flat tax, a consumption tax, or anything that would remove the government's over-dependence on the top 1% for tax revenue.
The other issue is the lack of access to schools that will maximize every child's potential, dependent, of course, on the effort each child is willing to make to achieve their best. Instead, Democrats have a stranglehold on keeping kids trapped in abysmally performing schools, and insisting on mixing kids of all different skill/ability levels in the same classroom, a practice that is KNOWN to dumb down all but the lowest achieving students. A lot of info on that here: The Other Crisis in American Education
Given that, we NEED school choice/vouchers. We NEED to group students by skill/ability level so that instruction is specifically targeted to more students' educational needs. Everyone makes more progress that way.
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2. Do you, or do you not believe we are a consumer driven economy? If the answer is yes, then this needs to change.
If you've read The Millionaire Next Door and the books that have followed, you'd know that the people who accumulate wealth are NOT the conspicuous consumers. They live quite thrifty lifestyles.
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3. Do you, or do you not believe that money can define who our leaders are in this country, if you do, then this needs to change.
Money should most definitely NOT define our country's leaders. Genuine intellect and statesmanship should. That may be a matter of opinion, though.
Not to worry there. Obama and the Democrat party are well on the way to making this a third world country -- after all, it's his goal -- to redistribute the wealth -- remember?
That is the repulicans they want to cut regulations on everythinh and get rid of Medicare Medicare Social Security now that would make this country a third world country if they were to achieve all that
I guess that depends on your definition of "earned". If someone handed me $20 million tomorrow for no real reason, would I have earned it? If someone flipping burgers was given $1000 an hour, did they earn it?
Is getting $20 million for acting in a movie really earning it? Is getting $28 million a year for being a third baseman in baseball really earning it? Is a CEO getting $15m in compensation after 5 quarters of declining sales really earning it?
I don't think so. I'd use the term "given" before I used "earned" in a large number of scenarios.
No, but by smart investing, you would "earn" the interest.
To the rest of your questions, if you are paid $20 million for an acting role or $28 million for playing a game or $15 million from a private company, you have "earned" it.
BTW....the $20 million would be taxed, so if you "earn" money by investing the rest, what should your tax rate be?
So the conservative plan for "American prosperity" since Reagan has been deregulation and lower effective tax rates for the rich. The ol' "make the rich people so rich that they have to start giving back" method, aka trickle down economics. Since then, wages have been stagnant, union participation has plummeted, and wealth has been even more unevenly distributed to the super rich. So I'm curious, conservatives, are you aware with the definition of insanity? "The reason socialism never took root in America is because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarassed millionaires."
First step in addressing this problem is arresting and then reversing the skyrocketing economic injustice starting with a rebirth of morality in the form of civic responsibility and social consciousness. As demonstrated so well in this thread, the intransigence of the those afflicted by the currently-prevailing "greed is a virtue" egoism will be the major impediment to that.
First step in addressing this problem is arresting and then reversing the skyrocketing economic injustice starting with a rebirth of morality in the form of civic responsibility and social consciousness. As demonstrated so well in this thread, the intransigence of the those afflicted by the currently-prevailing "greed is a virtue" egoism will be the major impediment to that.
Yet, lefties bash religion at every turn.
Most people have a moral code based on their religious beliefs.
Notice the correlation between the removal of religion from the public square and the increase of "economic injustice"?
You reap what you sow.
Lefties may want to take a look at some of Calvin Coolidge's quotes.
Most people have a moral code based on their religious beliefs.
Notice the correlation between the removal of religion from the public square and the increase of "economic injustice"?
You reap what you sow.
Lefties may want to take a look at some of Calvin Coolidge's quotes.
Yes, clearly that must be it.
We should go back to the Victorian era, when people were REALLY Christian, like those nice slave owners.
Oh wait....I totally don't see the correlation, perhaps because it doesn't exist.
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