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Originally Posted by Minte
I will accept your figures as fact. That being said. It's not difficult to do the math. Top 400 x an additional $2m in tax = less than 1 billion dollars. at that rate it will take 1000 years to recover one trillion dollars.
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Actually it works out to substantially more money if implemented correctly because there are many people collecting substantial incomes at little or no tax rate but making much less than the 8M per year. The so called 'idle rich' who have inherited very large sums of money and earn income on it at extremely low or no tax rate. 100M inherited and invested at a 2% rate of return on tax free municipal bonds is 2M per year income, but taxed very differently from 2M earned by someone who worked for it as payroll in the same year.
I do not believe improving the fairness of an inherently broken tax system is a long term solution to either our financial problems or our ethical problems. However, I also do not see how making these change can be anything but a positive step forward on the revenue side of the equation. We aren't talking about raising any tax brackets, we are talking about making sure the people already in a given tax bracket are paying the amount that everyone else in their bracket is paying. Earning 2M should not be taxed more than investing 100M and taking home the same 2M amount.
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I actually agree with you on this Relentless. A flat and a national sales tax along with a much more moderate spending package is the only hope for the next generations.
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I do not think a 'moderate spending package' is a solution on the spending side any more than a 'moderate tax system change' would be effective on the revenue side. We need massive overhauls on both sides. The amount we spend should be reduced, but how we spend needs to be completely revamped.
We currently fund a 1980s style military industrial complex for no reason, we fund farm subsidies and destroy crops to provide 'price support' rather than using that food to feed poor people and meanwhile 15% of our population is on food stamps, we give huge subsidies to oil companies that are already generating record profits, and we pay more for poor health care than any other country on the planet.
I believe the solutions on the spending side are just as inevitable as they are on the revenue side of the equation. We are heading to some kind of single payer healthcare system for all basic medical care. We will soon have completely subsidized college educations and technical schools that are basically grades 13-15 for people who can not afford private colleges. We will rebuild our infrastructure to include high speed rail, national wifi, new bridges and a smarter power grid.
Those things will have HUGE costs. The money will come from finally dropping many of the expenses that are used to generate profits for private companies. The only question is when, and that will be determined by how long it takes for bankers and oilmen to tilt the standard of living far enough in their direction to anger enough of the 300M citizens in this country to take to the streets. If you think predictions of riots are premature or childish, make note of the fact that Mike Bloomberg recently predicted the same thing if unemployment continues at its current pace.
Mass poverty is bad for the poor, but historically its much much worse for the rich. The wealthy make out just fine no matter how everyone else is doing.
