Tax The Rich

[one...two...tree 2,762]

A new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll was released late yesterday, with a variety of quirky questions. CBS News described the poll as intended to be "topical, fun, amusing, illuminating and most importantly, interesting." Some of the queries were more compelling than others. One result, however, stood out as politically relevant.

If the Obama administration proposed a tax of 50 percent or higher on the incomes of the very wealthiest millionaires, would you support it, or not?

A 51% majority endorsed the significantly higher rate, 45% did not.

Of course, the Obama administration intends to return the top rate to 39.6% -- the pre-Bush rate -- which is obviously nowhere close to the 50% (or higher) rate a whole lot of Americans seem to be comfortable with.

By the way, for most of Reagan's presidency, the top rate was 50%. As I recall, society functioned, people resisted the urge to "go Galt," and according to conservatives, the economy thrived.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

[Joseph & Ana 0]

a life of jealousy is a sad sad life my friend.

[SMR 368]

A new 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll was released late yesterday, with a variety of quirky questions. CBS News described the poll as intended to be "topical, fun, amusing, illuminating and most importantly, interesting." Some of the queries were more compelling than others. One result, however, stood out as politically relevant.

If the Obama administration proposed a tax of 50 percent or higher on the incomes of the very wealthiest millionaires, would you support it, or not?

A 51% majority endorsed the significantly higher rate, 45% did not.

Of course, the Obama administration intends to return the top rate to 39.6% -- the pre-Bush rate -- which is obviously nowhere close to the 50% (or higher) rate a whole lot of Americans seem to be comfortable with.

By the way, for most of Reagan's presidency, the top rate was 50%. As I recall, society functioned, people resisted the urge to "go Galt," and according to conservatives, the economy thrived.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/

This poll says more about the moral state of America than anything else. In other words, 51% of Americans think that other people should pay more taxes but they shouldn't. Never mind that they think they should receive the benefit of those increased taxes. The idea of taxation is that people pay money for a service provided by the government. When one group pays and another group receives the service, it is no longer taxes, it's extortion and robbery.

And your statement about a 50% rate of tax in the highest bracket during the Reagan era, while factually true, is ignoring some important details. First, when Ronald Reagan took office, the rate was 70% on that bracket and it continued to decline to 39.6% by the time he left office. But more basically, Congress sets tax rates, not the President.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Definitely. Tax the rich at 99% of their income. Nobody needs that much money while kids are starving in Appalachia!

Edited September 28, 2009 by Lone Ranger

[Joseph & Ana 0]

Yeah, just yax it at 99% then we can make the minimum wage 100.00 per hour, and you've eliminated poverty in one fell swoop.