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

Benjamin Franklin of LRC wrote:

CT just gave a lengthy denunciation of anyone who claims to have the answer, then went on to state matter-of-factly that the definitive answer is to tax the rich more. Way to be a liberal crackpot hiding behind the veil of reasonability, bro.

You seem like a person who was not aware that top marginal tax rate was above 70% or even 90% in past? Is that true?

How can you say that? The doctor or the businessman that makes 250k a year does work harder and is going to be smarter than the McDonald's worker. You're a stupid piece of sh!t for saying otherwise. These people busted their a$$es in high school and college to get where they are. They came out with huge student loans to back back and you have the nerve to say that their intelligence and work ethic has nothing to do with it! Success is out there for any American who wants it.

Isn't anyone watching football?

Subfive wrote:

You seem like a person who was not aware that top marginal tax rate was above 70% or even 90% in past? Is that true?

I am a person who doesn't accept contradictions like "nobody knows the answer, but here's the answer anyway."

I am also a person who is committed first and foremost to intellectual honesty. Therefore, I acknowledge that it is grossly misleading to mention the old tax rates without also noting that there were so many deductions available at the time that, in reality, which is the only thing that matters, nobody ever paid anything close to a 70% tax rate. Unlike you, I understand that lying by omission is still lying, and that offering lies as justification for one's political opinions only proves that everything you believe is wrong and discredits you in the eyes of the youth.

Have a nice day you liberal liar :D

20 Trillion wrote:

Another very interesting thing i've noticed in this thread.

Every single person calling out the OP in this thread is telling him that he needs to SPEND LESS money. Not one single person has advocated that he go out and make more.

If so many people realize that SPENDING LESS is the solution for families with tight budgets, then why can we not agree that cutting the federal budget has to be the main way of solving the debt crisis?

Thank you, good point. Our Fed gov needs to go on a spending diet.

Benjamin Franklin of LRC wrote:

I am also a person who is committed first and foremost to intellectual honesty.

In the spirit of intellectual honesty - what percentage of income went to taxes, for say a millionaire, back in the days of 70-90% marginal rates and big loopholes? Please include links to back up your claim.

Subfive wrote:

Benjamin Franklin of LRC wrote:

CT just gave a lengthy denunciation of anyone who claims to have the answer, then went on to state matter-of-factly that the definitive answer is to tax the rich more. Way to be a liberal crackpot hiding behind the veil of reasonability, bro.

You seem like a person who was not aware that top marginal tax rate was above 70% or even 90% in past? Is that true?

It was true but there were so many deductions that no one paid it. The top rate was 90% for a short time in the 50's. In one year ( 1957 I think ) only ONE taxpayer that paid that top rate. When you have rates that high, no one will pay them.

Subfive wrote:

You seem like a person who was not aware that top marginal tax rate was above 70% or even 90% in past? Is that true?

You seem like a person who is not aware that when the top MTRs were ~90%, there were so many exemptions and deductions that no one actually paid those rates.

GenericID wrote:

I don't have a problem paying taxes but I do have a problem with how my taxes are being spent.

I've asked this before, hopefully this time I'll get an answer: what, specifically, do you not like about the way your taxes are spent?

I am not who you adressed in this question, but am the OP.

I'll answer:

1) Primarily I think we spend WAYY too much on defense

2) The "war on drugs." Legalise them.

And stuff like this:

Highlight from the link: Studying pig poop. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $141,450 grant under the Clean Air Act to fund a Chinese study on swine manure and a $1.2 million grant to the United Nations for clean fuel promotion.

IF I knew my money were going to things like roads, schools, etc., I wouldn't mind as much. But even those on the left MUST admit that some of the things the federal government spend our money on are ridiculous.

Never really considered this until I got married. Do you understand where the ultra-wealthy put their money? The money that is not spent (and spending money fuels the economy) is placed in investments. These investments can be anything from bonds to stocks to mutual funds. Tax an ultra-wealthy individual more and they will have less money to place into such investments. Do they get a return on these investments? Absolutely....appropriate reward for the degree of risk taken. But the return for companies, municipalities, and other organizations is much greater. The ultra-wealthy are the foundation of our economy and stock market.

were you aware...

You seem like a person who is not aware that when the top MTRs were ~90%, there were so many exemptions and deductions that no one actually paid those rates.

He's aware, he just doesn't give a damn about the truth. He want to eat the rich even if he has to lie to justify it.

extra crispy wrote:

20 Trillion wrote:

Another very interesting thing i've noticed in this thread.

Every single person calling out the OP in this thread is telling him that he needs to SPEND LESS money. Not one single person has advocated that he go out and make more.

If so many people realize that SPENDING LESS is the solution for families with tight budgets, then why can we not agree that cutting the federal budget has to be the main way of solving the debt crisis?

Thank you, good point. Our Fed gov needs to go on a spending diet.

+2

This is worth repeating.

You sir have a lot of audacity to come on here and complain when some are working 3 jobs to support families.

Hear is a thought: Stop spending so much time on this message board. Have your kids get jobs and student loans. In reality you want more of that money for yourself. But you like this persona of I am happy to help my family out and the government shouldn't tax me. Now you are supporting all of these people and feel like MC Hammer back in the 80s with his entourage of freeloaders. It is time for you to stop complaining about the government when you got yourself into this mess.

Benjamin Franklin of LRC wrote:

Jeff Wigand wrote:

Doug,

Don't you think the people making $1 million would be saying that Obama should just raise taxes on the people making over $5million, "the real rich"?

Jeff,

Don't you think the people who make nothing would call for higher taxes on those who earn lower-middle class incomes?

Could be. But that's why we have a progressive tax system.

married up wrote:

Never really considered this until I got married. Do you understand where the ultra-wealthy put their money? The money that is not spent (and spending money fuels the economy) is placed in investments. These investments can be anything from bonds to stocks to mutual funds. Tax an ultra-wealthy individual more and they will have less money to place into such investments. Do they get a return on these investments? Absolutely....appropriate reward for the degree of risk taken. But the return for companies, municipalities, and other organizations is much greater. The ultra-wealthy are the foundation of our economy and stock market.

Did the ultra-wealthy not invest in the 1990s?

By the way, when did the goal posts move? Why do so many people brand Obama and his supporters as socialists/communists when he's basically a Rockefeller Republican.

Read the Simpson/Bowles report and then tell me how we're going to get out of our budgetary problems through cuts alone.

http://www.fiscalcommission.gov/sites/fiscalcommission.gov/files/documents/TheMomentofTruth12_1_2010.pdf

We can't afford people to not be able to compromise about taxes and spending. As the commission states - this is a "moment of truth".

Democrats are putting spending on the table - Republicans need to do the same with taxes.

Goldman wrote:

Salary: 250,000

Federal taxes: 88,000

State taxes: 25,000

Property tax: 1,500

Social security, Medicare tax: 15,000

I find it interesting how people complain about paying taxes as if you are throwing it out the window never to see it again.

Federal taxes: Most of it goes to our military (24%) to keep the shipping lanes open so we can trade and to make sure no one gets too far out of line in the world. Not counting civil or small regional wars, we haven't fought a global conflict since 1945. Money also goes to education, student loans (4%), health care for Medicare/ Medicaid (22%), government pensions for people who worked their careers in the government (22%), welfare is %12 and interest on our debt is 6%. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the people in the Northeast, FEMA is also part of the federal budget.

State taxes go to roads and bridges, any number of state services such as public education (k-12 along with colleges and community colleges), law enforcement, disability services, health inspectors etc.

Local property taxes go to fire departments, police, education, libraries, public utilities, snow removal etc.

Social Security is there because prior to 1920s the elderly either got taken care of by their families or died in awful conditions. If you are living on that exclusively, you are very poor, but at least you can have a house and food to eat and medical treatment. Republicans claim there will be "death squads" if Obamacare comes in effect but if we didn't have these services, there wouldn't be death squads... people would just die.

People think all taxes go to lazy people who don't want to work. I know there are people who take advantage of the system, but that is such a small percentage of what our tax dollars go to. Every single one of us either directly benefit or will benefit in due time. Let’s not forget how we all indirectly benefit from welfare. If it wasn't for welfare those people would be starving and probably turn to crime against the rest of us. Also, the money they spend keeps local businesses in business by their spending. Think of it as a stimulus plan for a Mom and Pop store. In short, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, "taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."

Sure, they invested. But the 1990s economy would have been even stronger with lower tax rates. More money for them to invest. The ultra-wealthy don't keep their money under the bed. 95% of it is invested in the very things we depend upon...even the famed roads, bridges, etc. I am speaking from looking at actual financial portfolios.

You may wish to emigrate, and leave the USSA behind. It is, after all, circling the drain and things are likely to get very unpleasant well before 2020.

http://lewrockwell.com/berwick/berwick48.1.html

http://www.lewrockwell.com/pr/leaving-america.html

http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2010/07/is-it-time-to-leave-america.html

_____________________________________________________

I remember when it was "fashionable" to defect from the East to the West. I, myself, was one of those poeple who jumped ship back then. After defecting and narrowly escaping capture, I applied for political asylum, survived a filty refugee camp for two years, and worked my way to the US where I would eventually become a legal citizen. My adoptive country is going through a tough time, no doubt about it, but it will never be the country that I left behind some 25 years ago. Thinking back about those meagher times makes my life now feel plentiful nowadays, and my family's income is nowhere near $250k a year.

To the person posting there links, notice that the so called West to East "defectors" are spoiled brats who have enough money to live on the moon, if they wish to. They are also only a handful compared to the masses that migrated East to the West, back in the day.