We make 250,000/year. I'm not a f***ing billionaire

No one has any business passing judgment on how much money anyone else should need. I'll bet most of you would LOVE to have more money.

If you are content, why don't you leave us alone? I have never figured out why it is selfish to want to keep money that you have earned but it is not selfish to take money that you have not earned? If you are content, mind your own business. We are not going to bother you so stay away from us. Everyone I know that makes over 250K busted it to get there and continues to bust it to stay there. None of them work 40 hour weeks. They are at 60hrs or above in most cases. If you are happy, that is great. Smile and leave us alone. You are getting ready to see how things stop working when producers don't work so hard or work at all.

Smooth Daddy wrote:

Obesity is "normal" in this modern day liberal $hitball society.

Red states generally have higher obesity rates than blue states. Also more divorce. And lower literacy rates. And more violent crime.

But mostly, they're fatter.

Yeah, BS. You know its possible to do both?

You're so happy with your decision that you're on here dripping self righteousness on everyone.

Geez, where do you think we're headed when we've made it suspect to be successful?

OP, you should write a song: "The $250k blues, caught between the plutocrats and proletariat...."

+1

sub3over40 wrote:[/b

If you are content, why don't you leave us alone? I have never figured out why it is selfish to want to keep money that you have earned but it is not selfish to take money that you have not earned? If you are content, mind your own business. We are not going to bother you so stay away from us. Everyone I know that makes over 250K busted it to get there and continues to bust it to stay there. None of them work 40 hour weeks. They are at 60hrs or above in most cases. If you are happy, that is great. Smile and leave us alone. You are getting ready to see how things stop working when producers don't work so hard or work at all.

Wow, your arrogance is appalling. Saying "Us" and "You" as if you're in an elite class. You make it sound like everyone making less than you has there hand out but it is rather a small percentage. There are many working two jobs on an hourly rate to make ends meet, well in to the 60 hour work week. Mechanics, janitors, landscapers, etc etc. They ask nothing of "you". And when producers stop producing, some one else will come along and will be content doing it for slightly less.

The problem with your argument is that there is no gold standard for what constitutes "fair." Sure, some things seem more intuitively fair than others but without a gold standard there is no way to be objective about an assertion. Sure, taking home less than $1 million when you gross over $2 million seems unfair, but as many have argued on this thread you belong to a very very small percentage of people throughout human history and even at present who have had circumstances that would permit them to attain your wealth.

Consider this: genetics and environment account for 100% of the variance behind what makes us who we are. Some people are indeed vastly more capable than others. Is that fair? Sure, you have discipline and motivation and the qualities that make people successful, but the factors that produce these qualities have already done most of their work by the time the first few years of life are through, when the brain is most plastic. If we really wanted fair one could argue for forced adoptions of socioeconomically disadvantaged infants by socioeconomically well-off parents. People would rather have unfairness than this solution.

I'll make a second argument against your concept of "fair." Why shouldn't you be happy netting $900k for the work you do? I am a physician, post-training who works 60-70 hours a week with a decent amount of stress, and I make under $125k a year. Yes, it was my choice to go into the specialty I did and I did so knowing that it was less lucrative than others. But it's also true that I work in a profession where the free market does not determine financial compensation, with good reason. Even though I prefer capitalism to socialism and have no problem with the fact that the free market does determine most people's gross incomes, it does not necessarily follow that incomes are "fair." Fairness means different things to different people.

Someone who gets it

Another dupe for Obama wrote:

To the OP-Finanacially i am in the same boat as you. My wife and i between the 2 of us make more than 250000. Thats more than most of the people in the world. Like it or not, we're in the top 1-2% of wage earners in the world. Call me crazy, but i want to pay taxes. This is what makes roads, libraries, police, garbage collection work. GWB's administration showed that privatizing these services leads to a worsening of society.

Through accidents of birth (EG white parents) ive had advantages that people without my advantages havent gotten. I want society to be fair. Yes, some poor people abuse the benefits that taxes bestow upon them, rich people do the same to find tax loopholes etc. A just society is just for all, not just the top 1-2%

Here is what almost everyone seems to not get:

Raising tax RATES doesn't automatically raise tax revenues.

Say it to yourself over and over: Sometimes when tax hikes occur, less actual tax revenues are generated!

DUUUUUUUUUUUH ah Gee whiz duh how can this bu eee?

Well before we go forward we better make this clear:

Raising taxes may reduce tax revenues. Raising taxes can reduce tax revenue, Raising taxes can reduce tax generated revenue.

Here: raising taxes a LOT will often only raise tax revenue a LITTLE and suppress overall economic activity.

So what to do what to do?

How about this? Use tax revenues to set up programs that cause the public to feel very safe and taken care of in their old age? Might that work?

Someone who gets it

Another dupe for Obama wrote:

To the OP-Finanacially i am in the same boat as you. My wife and i between the 2 of us make more than 250000. Thats more than most of the people in the world. Like it or not, we're in the top 1-2% of wage earners in the world. Call me crazy, but i want to pay taxes. This is what makes roads, libraries, police, garbage collection work. GWB's administration showed that privatizing these services leads to a worsening of society.

Through accidents of birth (EG white parents) ive had advantages that people without my advantages havent gotten. I want society to be fair. Yes, some poor people abuse the benefits that taxes bestow upon them, rich people do the same to find tax loopholes etc. A just society is just for all, not just the top 1-2%

OK, that is fine if you want to pay more to the federal government for these types of services. But two things:

1) Any US citizen can write a check to the US Treasury department if you sincerely think it is important.

2) I hope you realize the vast majority of your tax libraries do not go towards roads, schools, libraries, etc., but rather go towards fighting useless wars overseas. IF I knew exactly where my tax dollars were going, and knew these types of things were good (like the schools) then I would be more inclined to agree with you. But the vast majority of our tax dollars is not put towards things like that.

Additionally, it is honorable if you truly feel that you should give back. That is good. But by supporting tax hikes, you are basically pushing your own personal beliefs (that we should give back) on everyone else---and forcing them to do it under the penalty of prison. Again, it is good if you want to give back--write a check to the Treasury department--but don't force your own morals and opinions on us and force us to do the same. That is akin to those who are against abortion who want to ban it for everyone. If you don't like abortion--don't get one. Same deal here--if you want to give back to the US government, do so yourself. But don't force your views on others.

39.6% marginal tax for income over $250K is not very high. That's the main argument against his post. He is whining that he doesn't want to pay taxes and if you also don't like to pay taxes you've probably already made up your mind and won't agree with many of the arguments against his post.

The fact of the matter is, income tax rates in the US are very low by historical standards (source:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t106/OnlyObvious/Tax_Rates/TopTaxBracket_TaxRate.jpg

). Of course nobody wants a tax increase, but the national debt is out of control and budget cuts alone cannot realistically solve the problem. To avoid a scenario like Japan - where a significant portion of GDP goes to paying for interest payments instead of paying for useful things like infrastructure, education, and healthcare (you know, the things that help private sector growth) - it is only prudent that we raise taxes a little bit on the people who are best equipped to shoulder the burden...the rich.

If you really want to get into the weeds you'll need a better-than-average understanding of how income taxes are calculated...

A couple of people on this thread have tried to point out that most of us actually pay a MUCH lower effective rate than our marginal rate. Note that health care costs, mortgage interest, personal exemptions, business expenses, state and local income taxes, retirement savings, and many other things are removed from your gross income to arrive at taxable income. In general, the richer you are, the more deductions you're able to take.

...Long story short - most people don't pay as much in taxes as they complain to. Most of us can afford to pay more than we do...the rich can EASILY afford to pay 3-4% more on income over $250K.

Paying taxes IS very similar to getting an abortion. Good point.

from the look of this thread, I should ask my mommy and step dad about money management. They make about 83k a year total and have a pretty nice house along with lots of new toys lately.

I do not wish to work for the benefit of a society that regards me as a slave.

Let the country go bankrupt. See what I care.

Most members of this rotten society don't care about my rights or will for my own life, so why should I care about them?

If you don't respect my right to my money, why should I acknowledge your claim to it?

I'm going to produce, and you're going to eat... just because you insist that I can afford to feed you?

Fuck off.

Everyone has a right to b*tch.

True, and I'm bitching about his bitching - which is my right, as you have acknowledged.

i'm a convert! wrote:

Paying taxes IS very similar to getting an abortion. Good point.

No, No, you won't need an abortion. Taxes, much like rape are naturally shut down by the body when unwanted. Right republitards???

Wouldn't it gall you to see how much is wasted on BS?

I keep hearing people say this, would you please explain what is "wasted" and why it is "BS"?

If you make >$250,000 a year, you are among the richet 0.001% of people on the planet. In other words, you are Usian Bolt.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/