Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

[LearJett+]

What does everyone think on this subject? My crazy left-wing english teacher hails stopping tax cuts for the wealthy as the solution to social equality. How bad are the tax cuts, and if it was as easy as taxing them to solve the great social rift, why doesn't anyone do it?

[AstroProdigy]

Getting rid of tax cuts for the wealthy is only part of the solution. There are also other issues such as oversubsidizing. Some industries don't need subsidies, such as the oil industry. Subsidies to megafarms only destroy the smaller farmers and give the developing world no chance to compete.

 

That being said, the tax cuts are a huge deal to social programs and reducing the deficit. It's estimated the tax cuts in 2001 will cost $1.35 trillion and the tax cuts in 2003 will cost $1 trillion. (http://www.socialistworker.org/2006-1/585/585_04_SuperRich.shtml)

Most of this money saved goes to the top 2 percent of the population.

[»Ducky]

This topic is one of few conservative viewpoints I actually take.

[LearJett+]

Explain why.

[Dr.Worthless]

Tell your liberal professor that she's full of !@#$%^&* and that she needs to stop being purposefully ignorant.

 

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/250.html

 

The 2003 tax cut was the third in three years, cementing the reputation of the Republican congress and President Bush as tax cutters of historic proportions, but those cuts have done preserved the progressive nature of the federal income tax. The average tax rate ranges from 2.9 percent of income for the bottom 50 half of the earning spectrum to 24.3 percent for the top one percent.

 

The top-earning 25 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $57,343) earned 64.9 percent of nation’s income, but they paid more than four out of every five dollars collected by the federal income tax (83.9 percent).

 

Data provided below is for the 2005 tax returns.

 

There were 1,286,098 returns that cons!@#$%^&*uted the top 1% of earners in the United States, together they paid $256,340,000,000 in income taxes, or $199,316.07 each on average.

 

There were 64,304,893 returns that cons!@#$%^&*uted the bottom 50% of earners in the United States, together they paid $25,912,000,000, or $402.95 on average.

 

There are roughly 50x the people in the bottom 50% than in the top 1% of the earners bracket, yet the top bracket pays 9.89x as many income tax.

 

Each person in the top 1% paid roughly 4930% more taxes than a person in the bottom 1%.

 

The top bracket on average paid 24.31% income tax. The bottom 50% paid 2.95%

 

Oh the horror!!! Stop the tax cuts for the rich!!!!

 

.....

[AstroProdigy]

Oh boohoo im rich and i have to pay higher taxes for the money that i earned with hard manual labor... i mean stock investing and bossing people around. The rich like to whine about being slightly less rich while ignoring the plight of the poor. The rich can go without some of their oodles of money if it means making the country liveable for everyone.

[Dr.Worthless]

..... You're being purposefully ignorant just like the professor Astro, stop being a dumb!@#$%^&*.

 

NEWSFLASH, THE RICH ALREADY PAY THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE TAXES, AND THATS HOW THE SYSTEM WAS INTENDED TO WORK!!!!

 

Remove that thick outer s!@#$%^&* around your brain called partisanship and let the facts slip in, they'll set you free.

 

Its a miracle that even with all these tax cuts for the rich, the rich still pay 4 out of every 5 dollars of taxes...

 

BTW, how !@#$%^&*ing funny is it, Astro, that you linked "socialistworker.org"

 

I suggest you move to France, I'll be a dead man before half my paycheck goes to pay for some lazy slobs coke habit, I'm already slated to be paying close to 20 !@#$%^&*ing percent of my paycheck to taxes once I get out of school...

 

LETS TAKE AWAY EVEN MORE OF THEIR MONEY, ITS NOT FAIR THEY ONLY PAY 5000X THE TAXES I DO!!!

[AstroProdigy]

THE RICH ARE SUPPOSED TO PAY THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE TAXES. THEY HAVE THE LEAST TO LOSE!!! WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN THEY CAN'T GET ENOUGH HUMMERS?

 

How !@#$%^&*ing funny is it that you support a group that whines about taxes when they have their mansions all set up pretty and the poor go hungry. It's easy to say your taxes just go to a cokehead that excuses you from thinking about others. Unless you make millions of dollars a year you shouldn't lose half your paycheck to taxes. You completely ignore the reality of the working class in America. Why don't you live your life bairly scraping by trying to support a family and THEN tell me that the rich shouldn't be taxed more.

[Dr.Worthless]

How !@#$%^&*ing funny is it that you support a group that whines about taxes when they have their mansions all set up pretty and the poor go hungry. It's easy to say your taxes just go to a cokehead that excuses you from thinking about others. Unless you make millions of dollars a year you shouldn't lose half your paycheck to taxes. You completely ignore the reality of the working class in America. Why don't you live your life bairly scraping by trying to support a family and THEN tell me that the rich shouldn't be taxed more.

 

So I guess your whole arguement would be blown out of the water if I told you that I made $2500.00 last year, right? I demand you send me money, Astro, because its not fair that you get to live off of more than what I live off of, here in government housing. PM me for a mailing address.

 

 

You just hate wealthy people, Astro, your problem isn't with the tax code its with the ability to ac!@#$%^&*ulate wealth. The fact remains that the majority of millionaires in this country start off as working class.

 

Why hate people just because they have wealth and you don't?

 

If the wealthy were taxed anymore, we'd be getting a free ride and they'd be paying all of the taxes.

 

Why should people be treated differently than anyone else just because they have more money? Your whole arguement is based around fairness, isn't it?

[AstroProdigy]

What job is this that they take 20% off your paycheck when you made $2500.00?

 

I hate wealthy people who think they don't need to help the less fortunate or throw a little token help for their friends to see. The majority of millionaires in this country start off as working class? I'm supposed to take your word for it? Do you understand the reality of things?

 

If we taxed the rich 100%, that would only provide a "free ride" for a percentage of the population; let's throw out a number 10%. The rest would live with no benefits and full taxes.

 

My argument isn't based on fairness in the simplest sense of the word it's based on fairness of what you have. Pure communism doesn't work, but a democratic society of mixed socialism and capitalism would be great. Unfortunately we are turning further and further away from this and towards the evils of capitalism.

 

Taxes are what we do to support the government and social programs for the less fortunate. The rich are the ones who have benefited the most from our system, therefore they have a responsibility to help those that got the short end of the stick.

[Dr.Worthless]

Characteristics of millionaires

According to a fascinating book I highly recommend, The Millionaire Next Door (published in 1996, so the statistics are a little dated, but the conclusions aren't), here are some characteristics of millionaires that might surprise you:

 

* "More than % are ordinary people who have ac!@#$%^&*ulated their wealth in one generation. They did it slowly, steadily, without signing a multimillion-dollar contract with the Yankees..."

 

* Fewer than 20% inherited more than 10% of their wealth, and more than half never received a penny of inheritance.

 

* They "wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars. Only a minority... drive the current-model-year automobile."

 

* About half have lived in their current home for 20 years or more.

 

* % are college grads, and 38% have advanced degrees (which reminds me of the bumper sticker: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance").

 

* 20% are retired. Of those still working, about two-thirds are self-employed -- mostly entrepreneurs, but also self-employed professionals, such as doctors and accountants.

 

* On average, they invest nearly 20% of their household realized income each year.

 

OK, so most millionaires aren't rock stars or scions of wealthy families, but surely they have high incomes, right? Think again. Their median annual income was a mere $131,000. So how did they become millionaires? The answer is so simple it sounds trite: "They live well below their means."

 

In short, the book explains most millionaires are "FRUGAL, FRUGAL, FRUGAL... Being frugal is the cornerstone of wealth-building... The affluent tend to answer "yes" to three questions: 1) Were your parents very frugal? 2) Are you frugal? 3) Is your spouse more frugal than you are?"

Feel free to research for yourself further, I've done nothing but hand you facts all thread long.

 

What job is this that they take 20% off your paycheck when you made $2500.00?

 

I suggest you work on reading comprehension before coming to the grown ups table.

 

 

 

So I take it you're against discrimination based on skin color, sexual orientation, or religion but you're for discrimination based on how much money you make?

 

Bottom line is the "Rich" are taxed enough, there is no such thing as "Tax Cuts for the Rich", the rich have paid the vast majority of collected taxes under this administration just like they have in every other administration since the 40's.

[AstroProdigy]

Monetary value is hardly the same as skin color, sexual orientation, and religion.

 

When you cut the taxes the rich have to pay it's called tax cuts brainiack.

 

There's a hug difference between someone who makes 131 thousand dollars a year and someone who makes a million dollars a year. Let me get the figures when i get back to college in a few hours.

[Dr.Worthless]

If you've got two people and you treat one different because of how much money he has, its discrimination by definition.

 

There's a hug difference between someone who makes 131 thousand dollars a year and someone who makes a million dollars a year.

Which is why they pay more taxes....

 

Holy !@#$%^&* are you seriously !@#$%^&*ing stupid or are you just being a hard!@#$%^&* on purpose? We shouldn't be taking more money from someone simply because they have more.

 

"FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS ABILITY, TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEED ..."

 

Thats already been tried, and it FAILED. We don't need to be practicing communisty bull!@#$%^&* just because you feel angry at someone because they have more money than you do.

 

Let me get the figures when i get back to college in a few hours.

 

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/250.html

 

That provides all the figures you need.

[AstroProdigy]

If you hire someone over another person because one is competent and the other is not, then that is discrimination. Not all discrimination is bad.

 

I don't get angry at people who make more money than I do. I get angry at people who make plenty of money to help others and prefer to keep it to themselves. Quite a Christian society of greed we have in the United States. We should be taking more money from someone if he is better able to afford it.

 

No pure communism under dictatorship failed. The reason the United States has thrived is they have developed a mix of capitalism and socialism.

 

Using your website, by your claim to lose 20% of your money to taxes you would have to be making around 200k. You mentioned that you made 5k last year and were overly taxed. You were among the ones least taxed by your own figures. So what is your argument? When you finish college and start making a lot of money you want to keep it all to yourself and !@#$%^&* the poor because you're not one of them?

 

The rich were taxed just fine during the Clinton years. Bush cutting the taxes was apparently large enough to cause a record surplus to turn into a record deficit. It was also large enough to prompt Bush to turn social security into the stock market because of the supposed iminent bankruptcy of social security. It was also big enough to turn Republicans into strong advocates of cutting medicare and medicaid and looking for any excuse to do so. That means that even those tax cuts that don't seem like a big deal actually have a detrimental effect on the country's fiscal condition.

 

You say that your money goes to a crackhead, but that's just your excuse not to think about what you and other people who support this idea are doing to the poor. This is extremely irresponsible and selfish thinking.

 

And by the way, when you disagree, try not to hurl personal insults at me.

[LearJett+]

If you hire someone over another person because one is competent and the other is not, then that is discrimination. Not all discrimination is bad.

It is discrimination if hiring someone is not based on competency, but something else. You say it's not bad but that is your bias created by social mores.

 

I don't get angry at people who make more money than I do. I get angry at people who make plenty of money to help others and prefer to keep it to themselves. Quite a Christian society of greed we have in the United States. We should be taking more money from someone if he is better able to afford it.

Paying four out of five dollars collected by the Government isn't a characteristic of greed...

 

No pure communism under dictatorship failed.

Nothing -- other than small communes -- has existed as pure Communism. Communism looks good on paper, but is unfeasible in reality.

 

When you finish college and start making a lot of money you want to keep it all to yourself and !@#$%^&* the poor because you're not one of them?

Paying off student loans and establishing my own life with my money seems like a better deal than giving it to charity.

 

Bush cutting the taxes was apparently large enough to cause a record surplus to turn into a record deficit.

Tax cuts aren't short-run solutions. When people are taxed less, they spend more, thus the government will collect more money in sales taxes in the future.

 

It was also large enough to prompt Bush to turn social security into the stock market because of the supposed iminent bankruptcy of social security.

No, the Social Security (or lack thereof) problem is independent of tax cuts. Had there not been tax cuts, we would be in the same predicament. Republicans are merely willing to acknowledge the problem years in the advance, whereas Dems won't do anything about it until it strikes. Seems to be a recurring theme with Democrats.

 

It was also big enough to turn Republicans into strong advocates of cutting medicare and medicaid and looking for any excuse to do so.

No, that wasn't the cause for Republicans wanting to cut medicare and medicaid. Privatised medicine is seen as the better solution, thus spending is allocated to subsidizing and such. "Cutting social programs" sounds bad, and is how the Dems attack the Republicans, but facts about privatised medicine and the benefits of it are rarely given.

 

The more social programs we have, the more people are dependent on the government. If we continue on this path, what is next? A dystopian society such as Oceania or The World State that is completely run by the state?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Work harder. Millions on welfare are depending on you.

[Dr.Worthless]

I don't get angry at people who make more money than I do. I get angry at people who make plenty of money to help others and prefer to keep it to themselves. Quite a Christian society of greed we have in the United States. We should be taking more money from someone if he is better able to afford it.

Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to help people, and it shouldn't be the governments job to force people to.

 

 

Using your website, by your claim to lose 20% of your money to taxes you would have to be making around 200k. You mentioned that you made 5k last year and were overly taxed. You were among the ones least taxed by your own figures. So what is your argument? When you finish college and start making a lot of money you want to keep it all to yourself and !@#$%^&* the poor because you're not one of them?

 

Combined salary with my girlfriend we'll be sitting around 90k out of college, I should have mentioned I'm adding in local taxes as well. Even so, the number was just thrown out there and I should have given you an exact percentage.

 

A.) If I wanted to horde all of the cash and be a self prick, its my perogative.

 

B.) If I wanted to help people less fortunate thats my perogative, not the government's to tell me who, how, and when to help.

 

The rich were taxed just fine during the Clinton years. Bush cutting the taxes was apparently large enough to cause a record surplus to turn into a record deficit. It was also large enough to prompt Bush to turn social security into the stock market because of the supposed iminent bankruptcy of social security. It was also big enough to turn Republicans into strong advocates of cutting medicare and medicaid and looking for any excuse to do so. That means that even those tax cuts that don't seem like a big deal actually have a detrimental effect on the country's fiscal condition.

A.) We're collecting more money than ever.

 

B.) We happen to be running a war that costs $200 million a day. No war = no deficit. If you think that the deficit was caused by the tax cuts, prove it.

 

You say that your money goes to a crackhead, but that's just your excuse not to think about what you and other people who support this idea are doing to the poor. This is extremely irresponsible and selfish thinking.

 

Who died and appointed you sheriff of the moral police?

[»Ducky]

Explain why.

I think Worthless nearly explained it in full for me already.

They already pay too much as it is.

 

Because you legally worked hard for something doesn't mean you should be forced to give it up because someone else wants you to.

Does it suck that there are plenty of people in the world that need money even for basic survival? Sure.

No one is required to help though. That's a choice that resides in the individual.

 

You spend a good portion of your life learning a craft that few have the ability to do. You work incredible hours, often miss your family and simply don't get the time to sit and enjoy small things on your way to monetary success.

When you finally get there, you are rewarded by the government by them taking a larger percentage of your earnings than someone who works at Mcdonalds part time for 20 hours a week and does little but sit around and play video games?

[OutlawGene]

Tell the poor first class avenue for celebrity business status has more opportunities than third class avenue because the indians are blinding you! We need more chiefs to tell us we can we can get us our fundamentals in our present for our future. I say get a god dam book and read each page 5 times so you know the page well. I also say watch sports in slow motion or copy singing sub!@#$%^&*les for a good 5 months until you start noticing things however long it takes you because music is a study if it were a business celebrities be getting chumpish change. I am a cheif I won't say you can't i'll slap american idol in the face for their health age intelligence etc excuses and I want to!