Tax the rich..... (salary, dictators, politician, party)
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What’s hilarious is when the richest people in the US, who now vote almost completely Democrat, start crying about how they wished the tax codes would change so they can pay more, but it’s all Trump’s fault.
As if they can’t give more of their money away.
Sorry, but we have to hold onto all of our money, and it’s Trump’s fault!
this answer typifies why the left is dumb......WEALTH is not Income. Are you suggesting the Government seize the Wealth of the top 1% to balance the federal budget? What could possibly go wrong with that. This whole concept of Tax the Rich only works for fools who think all the rich just inherit their wealth and are on easy street.
Reminds me of where a Professor in college wanted to demonstrate Socialism so he announced all students would get the same grade, i.e. on every test all the grades would be averaged and thats what all students would get that grade. The first test comes along and everybody got a B+. This thrilled the students who normally get bad grades and who hardly studied. Those who work their butts off and usually get the A's+ were mad because they got the same grade as those who spent their time doing other things. Second test comes along and the Class gets a C +, the lazy kids were less happy but still ok with it, after all they didn't study at all. Many of the normal A plus kids had said why should i study so hard when I got the same grade. Final test comes along and everybody fails. The Former A plus students had all said screw it why should I do all the work when I am getting the same Grade as the people who partied all the time.
In the End everybody fails and the system breaks down when those who produce figure out why should they put in all the work to succeed when they get nothing more than those who are doing nothing but taking.
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Originally Posted by hawkeye2009
Amazing, isn't it?
This has been examined MANY TIMES; the hilarious thing is that if "the rich" (top 10%) were taxed at 100% (slavery), this would not take care of the annual deficits. Of course, after ONE YEAR of taxing the rich 100%, those individuals would choose to generate NO INCOME and that "revenue" would turn to ZERO.
We have a big problem:
1. The money supply in the US is predicated upon debt. IF politicians actually became sane and balanced the budget, it would create a depression due to lack of circulating currency. Of course, the same politicians would then try to "deficit spend" the nation out of a depression!
This is not a problem unique to the US. Most other nations actually have more debt relative to GDP. This is a worldwide problem.
2. The magic of compounding interest is working against us. The debt we have has been "manageable" due to being able to pay the interest on that debt. However, with continued addition to the debt every year, interest payments will ultimately not be able to be made. At that point, a "default" occurs. The US would most certainly print more money to pay that interest, devaluing the currency.
3. There is no effort or will whatsoever among politicians to control spending, as they fear the wrath of the voters if their actions result in fewer "goodies" for the electorate. Thus the desire to be re-elected prevents politicians to EVER consider fiscal responsibility. Term limits would eliminate this fear, yet that is also not going to happen.
4. The only way to delay the eventual catastrophe of increasing debt is to levy a VAT tax, like that used in European nations. A VAT tax would generate the revenue to be able to "balance the budget". However, as we have seen, politicians simply spend more when they have more revenue.
TBH - most countries don't have the power to tax the rich, as the rich are as multi-national as the global corporations that dominate global commerce.
The US is unique in relation to taxing people in relation to citizenship however in terms of US multi-national companies they don't tend to pay a lot of tax when operating overseas.
If the US starts demanding everyone is taxed fairly then other countries may start demanding that US internet companies and multinational chains and manufacturers are properly taxed rather than relying on tax loopholes or channelling money through tax havens and various company set up's.
A lot of the global tax evasion isn't individuals it's large mainly US multinational companies and in this respect perhaps it would be wise for the US not to start a global debate regarding taxes.
As for US tax increases they are usually subject to Congressional scrutiny and are often watered down or scrapped, and the rhetoric of Presidential candidates is often very different to reality.
The top 1% of the population is worth $44.6 trillion; the annual federal budget is $6.1 trillion.
Various different business publications list the net worth required to be in the top 1% as $5.8 million. Using the largest 1% number possible, which is 1% of all living Americans according to the census, you get:
335 million * 0.01 = 3.35 million.
3.35 million * $5.8 million = $19.43 trillion.
And that is the net worth, not annual income. As I have pointed out countless times, if you could seize the total wealth of the top 1% of US rich people and actually get their entire net worth at exact 1:1 dollar amounts without crashing the economy and all that, you fund the government for ~3 years, and then you are all out of rich people. What next?
So back to taxing income (unconstitutional as it may be, but it's what we know)...
IRS total AGI for 2021 (latest I could find) was $14.7 trillion. But we have to tap that AGI according to Hauser's Law (Observation), which shows that Americans are only willing to pay an average of 17% of the GDP in total taxes (this can be easily verified with the historical tables using Office of Management and Budget - Historical Tables.)
Latest GDP = $25.44 trillion * 0.17 = $4.32 trillion
Now apply what you can expect in total revenue to the reported AGI to get what a realistic total tax rate looks like
$4.32 trillion / $14.7 trillion = 29% MAX TOTAL TAX.
And that's about right. Americans will generally suffer a total of 30% across the board and not much more than that before they CHANGE THEIR BEHAVIOR.
This is why Hauser's Law holds up year in and year out. You get an occasional big year like 2022 where we did the biggest part of th COVID rebound and got 19.4% of GDP in revenue, or year 2000 and the all time post WW II high of 20.0% thanks to the Internet boom's biggest year of GDP outrunning Congress, but as of right now, we are at a historically proper 17.18% of annual GDP since 1946. That's what Americans will pay; they rarely pay more and never more than 20%.
FY 2023 was 16.5%, btw.
So whatever tax the rich, seizure of wealth schemes you want to conjure up, realize that 1) Americans will change their behavior and 2) the economy will make the government regret their nonsense.
Tax the rich or tax anyone but me has all the support until me also get tax.
Many young unemployed Democrats become Republicans once they receive their first paycheck and see how much tax is taken out.
This is why rich celebrities and musicians have homes in low tax states and avoid being fleeced while at the same time virtue signaling that they are liberals.
Not quite. As of 2024, 16% of federal spending is used to pay interest on the debt.
The top 1% of the population is worth $44.6 trillion; the annual federal budget is $6.1 trillion.
I have no idea if your numbers are correct but I'm sure you can back that wealth figure up? I part with most of Repubs on this issue, the super wealthy in the US have too much and need to be brought down a few notches with taxes.
I have no idea if your numbers are correct but I'm sure you can back that wealth figure up? I part with most of Repubs on this issue, the super wealthy in the US have too much and need to be brought down a few notches with taxes.
I already showed rjshae's numbers as incorrect, by more than double.
And it doesn't matter anyway, since net worth is not how individuals are taxed.
Next question is why do people with more net worth or higher AGI "need to be brought down a few notches with taxes?"
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