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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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ORIGINAL: ScaryJello

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

fast reply

For those on this thread arguing about taxing wealth, when this country started we taxed property to generate revenue, now we tax people's wages. Wealth used to be measured in the property one owned, and we had a gold standard to make wealth fluid and transferable, now we have a fiat currency. If we really want to keep in the same spirit as the founders had, we would be taxing the wealth of the wealthy, not the wages of the slaves

A pound from few is less then an ounce from many.

Also slaves don't have wages....hence why they are slaves. At least unless I missed a meeting changing the definition of the word.

There was a system in the South after the fall of slavery in which former slaves would buy everything they needed from their former masters at the local store. They were not only over charged, but they were charged interest on everything they purchased. The same is the case for coal miners who would buy their necessities from the company store, indebting them to the point they could never leave their job... we have a similar circumstance arising today from those who have a 1040 tax form...

To argue that rich people should not pay their share of the tax debt when the monied class has benefited the most from this system is an invalid argument. Why shouldn't they pay their fair share? Why should they be able to buy the influence to ditch their tax debt?

In any case, even if you don't buy the ethically principled argument, the bottom line is that tax cuts for the extraordinarily rich at a time we need to balance our budget makes zero economic sense...

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50,000 income is far from "extraordinarily rich". It is upper middle class at best.

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ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Then that's one fuck of a big "middle."

Fewer than 20% of Americans earn more than $100,000 annually, and the median figure hovers somewhere around $50,000.

Roughly one in 50 households will take in more than $250,000 next year. That's households, not individuals.

That's still only the upper 2%.

It would take quite a stretch of imagination to call that "middle class," even "upper" middle class.

At best, you say? No. Try not at all. Not even close.

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Apparently you dont understand that Im talking about lifestyle, not percentages. $250k today, taxed around 50% (without counting property taxes) is a middle class lifestyle by historical standards.

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President Obama has proposed retaining the current rates on incomes up to $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Under this plan, everyone would receive a tax “cut” relative to the rates in effect in the Clinton era. For a family with a $250,000 income or more, the cut would be about $6,000, because its first $250,000 of income would be subject to the current, lower rate. But such families would have a higher bill than they do now.

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ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

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ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Then that's one fuck of a big "middle."

Fewer than 20% of Americans earn more than $100,000 annually, and the median figure hovers somewhere around $50,000.

Roughly one in 50 households will take in more than $250,000 next year. That's households, not individuals.

That's still only the upper 2%.

It would take quite a stretch of imagination to call that "middle class," even "upper" middle class.

At best, you say? No. Try not at all. Not even close.

Apparently you dont understand that Im talking about lifestyle, not percentages. $250k today, taxed around 50% (without counting property taxes) is a middle class lifestyle by historical standards.

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ORIGINAL: juliaoceania

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Apparently you dont understand that Im talking about lifestyle, not percentages. $250k today, taxed around 50% (without counting property taxes) is a middle class lifestyle by historical standards.

Either you are ignorant about the proposed tax system, or you are being disingenuous. People are not going to be taxed at the highest rates on the first 250k of their income, this fact will not change no matter how many times you attempt to misrepresent it

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President Obama has proposed retaining the current rates on incomes up to $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Under this plan, everyone would receive a tax “cut” relative to the rates in effect in the Clinton era. For a family with a $250,000 income or more, the cut would be about $6,000, because its first $250,000 of income would be subject to the current, lower rate. But such families would have a higher bill than they do now.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/business/26view.html?src=busln

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ORIGINAL: Hippiekinkster

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ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

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ORIGINAL: Musicmystery

Then that's one fuck of a big "middle."

Fewer than 20% of Americans earn more than $100,000 annually, and the median figure hovers somewhere around $50,000.

Roughly one in 50 households will take in more than $250,000 next year. That's households, not individuals.

That's still only the upper 2%.

It would take quite a stretch of imagination to call that "middle class," even "upper" middle class.

At best, you say? No. Try not at all. Not even close.

Apparently you dont understand that Im talking about lifestyle, not percentages. $250k today, taxed around 50% (without counting property taxes) is a middle class lifestyle by historical standards.

Horseshit. Last year my ex and I were together our AGI was 272K. We went to Europe 2 or 3 times a year, bought houses for rentals, had a Mercedes convertible, a house in a country club subdivision in the 2nd wealthiest zip code in GA, all the toys we wanted, yada yada yada. That is hardly a middle class lifestyle, and you are once again talking out of your ass.

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Apparently you dont understand that Im talking about lifestyle, not percentages. $250k today, taxed around 50% (without counting property taxes) is a middle class lifestyle by historical standards.

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Apparently you dont understand that Im talking about lifestyle, not percentages. $250k today, taxed around 50% (without counting property taxes) is a middle class lifestyle by historical standards.

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250,000 income is far from "extraordinarily rich". It is upper middle class at best.