Should the Rich pay more taxes ?

[fetaby]

lol, late edit! Shoulda been 2nd amendment. Yeah, I just outed myself as not being a Constitutional scholar. Whoopsie!

 

[justsimon]

I think Warren Buffet's opinion is refreshing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html

 

[rosie]

I'm sure Paris Hilton worked very hard for her inheritance.
I'm sure the Waltons worked very hard for their inheritance.
And, you know there are plenty more.

 

[borg69unimatrix]

Metaphorically, your SUV wears out the roads a lot more than the bike I ride to/from work every day. If anything, I should pay less taxes than you.

Where I live, Gasoline is heavily taxed in order to pay for roads, and their maintenance... INCLUDING the bike lanes, side walks, and pedestrian paths.

IMO- he's paying so YOU can use roads you didn't contribute to.

 

[MoltenRock III]

Where I live, Gasoline is heavily taxed in order to pay for roads, and their maintenance... INCLUDING the bike lanes, side walks, and pedestrian paths.

IMO- he's paying so YOU can use roads you didn't contribute to.

Your profile says you live in Oregon, which does not have "heavy" gasoline taxes by any standard. Even within the US (which are pathetically low) Oregon is lower than 15 other states. Additionally, all in gasoline taxes don't even come close to paying for the maintenance and construction costs of the roads themselves, much less the other heavy costs autos exact. Retail gasoline for personal autos and trucks are heavily subsidized by the government.

http://www.api.org/statistics/fueltaxes/upload/GASOLINE_TAX_MAP_JULY2011.pdf

 

[Beachguyj]

Absolute not. I don't understand why we discourage success and hard work by punishing it with higher taxes.

Did you know that 43% of the population doesn't pay taxes ? ''

Absolute Yes. They were paying more during the Clinton administration and we were doing better as a country fiscally then. The rich are very lucky and fortunate and do not have to worry about putting food on the table or gas in their car.

Also the rich have accountants to find loop holes and hide their money so they do not have to pay taxes on it.

Also the fact that the poor do not pay taxes is a myth. They pay gasoline taxes, utility taxes, sales taxes, etc.

 

[Beachguyj]

Of course they should.

Hard work? How many millionaires and billionaires have that money by inheritance? I know many. 5 of the 10 richest people in America are Sam Walton's adult kids and they got their billions through their Daddy and the hard work of millions of working poor.

The rich don't know what hard work is. Hard work is picking up garbage for 8 hours or the Chinese sewing our garments to earn 15 cents an hour.

I saw a show where a guy asked if they knew why the rich had small bathroom sinks. He said because "they don't get their hands dirty".

Howard Stern has ruined his show by becoming a lazy rich Hampton's snob. He takes 12 weeks off for vacation a year, does 4 hour shows, instead of the 5 he used to do. Now he works 3 days one week and 4 days the following one. He's too cheap to hire a comedian so his show is now an unfunny bore fest.

There just isn't enough work that can be done to earn $100 million dollars a year, they are just lucky people.

 

[BlondeCanadian]

Yes I do think the rich should be more heavily taxed.. Although I think there should be some revision to the system in canada at least.. I would say take more from the very top and make the brackets in the middle or upper mid a little less and maybe take a tiny bit from everyone....

I base this solely off of three things that are not empirical at all. First off I believe that the very rich have no business at all being that rich.. there is no way that they deserve to be worth and have billions of dollars when people are living in poverty so go for it tax the shit out of them... My dad and mom both make around 110-125k a year each (which i know is very very good) but I know that my dad has to watch his overtime which he frequently works to make that money because if he goes up a tax bracket he ends up losing money in the long run. Thirdly I am a full time student who makes maybe 10-15k a year and pays no tax at the end of it.. and to be honest when i get that money back i dont really need it all... alot of it I spend on entertainment.. And I know alot of friends (many who live on their own and dont go to school) get all that money back they blow it on whatever. Iwouldnt mind paying a tiny bit of tax say like 5% or something

 

[Orlandude]

It is the tax code that is at fault, not who pays what taxes. The rich and giant corporates get tax loopholes and incentives denied the average person. Look at mega billion dollar corporations like GE who paid ZERO taxes, thanks to corporate loopholes and incentives. It is the loopholes and incentives that should be abolished in order to level the playing field of paying taxes.

It should not be the case that just because you're wealthy, you're entitled to a tax free life. Unfortunately in this country, he who holds the gold makes the rules. The wealthy too often forget HOW they got wealthy. I don't begrudge anyone who can make themselves wealthy. I do reject the idea that they should get special loopholes and incentives to avoid paying taxes. The wealthy should pay their fair share.

 

[star-warrior]

Cutting taxation for the 'wealth creators as they create jobs' is a red herring argument. You can cut their taxes, and they are in no way obligated to create more jobs.

As for Reaganomics or Regan Trickle Down economics which seems to also be similar to the above job creator glib soundbite, it seems to be all smoke and mirrors to me.

 

[Serenx55]

I believe the very rich should pay higher taxes. However I think the tax brackets everyone who doesn't make above 500k a year should be decrease to at the most 20% ( Currently 33% for everyone makes above 100k?). I also believe that people at the very top who literally make more money than they can actually think to spend it on should be taxed at upwards of 70%. I mean what are they really going to do? Buy a fleet of Yachts every single year? It doesn't really make much sense.

 

[fetaby]

However I think the tax brackets everyone who doesn't make above 500k a year should be decrease to at the most 20% ( Currently 33% for everyone makes above 100k?).

And it is those people who are the true job creators. Small business men and women who employ local citizens... Not giant corporations who pay no taxes and ship our jobs off to the other side of the world.

But then again, it's rather difficult to buy politicians when you make under 1M...

 

[miken1999]

Yes the rich does contribute more taxes because they make more income . We could all agree on that.


The better question is should the rich Be tax at a higher percentage just because they make more ??

The only I see is to make it work is to have a flat tax with no deductions so there will be no loop holes (especially for the rich ).

 

[csb999]

well I am very disabled , totally confined to a wheelchair , my condition is progressive and terminal , I live on a small pension totally at government expense ( perhaps I should have provided for this ,but I did not , and I cannot change history ) . An aspect that seems to be generally ignored . Wealth - income . The richest man in the world does not eat twice as much as you do , cannot live in two houses at the same time , cannot drive two cars at once . Perhaps I am just arguing that the minimum be raised . If it is some sort of either/or situation , it should be made much easier to own one house and more difficult to own two . And you may prefer to look at it as a simple equation of those who try more should get more but usually practically wealth is dependent on uncontrollable external issues like interest rates and starting capital . There are very few rich men who are not the sons of rich men .

And I really don't see why anyone needs to be a billionaire .

 

[Gatorguy]

Yes the rich does contribute more taxes because they make more income . We could all agree on that.


The better question is should the rich Be tax at a higher percentage just because they make more ??

The only I see is to make it work is to have a flat tax with no deductions so there will be no loop holes (especially for the rich ).

I think so. Or even base it on consumption like a European VAT.

 

[MystikWizard]

The more and more I think about it, the more I am thinking the Flat Tax is a good idea. Then, the rich will pay more in taxes and it will be proportionate based on everyone's individual income.

 

[maxpowr9]

Let's face it, the Republicans do not have any valid economic strategy and this has been proven several times over. I remember in college in intermediate macro when we decimated our neo-classical professor into oblivion (for those that remember here, this was where I got my literal paperweight textbook by Bernanke). We even had the balls (and ovaries) as a class to complain to the head of the econ department and almost got his tenured ass shipped to Bahrain. He was actually smart enough to take retirement instead. I would end up doing this to two other tenured professors also for basically just collecting a pay check and not teaching. Complacency breeds incompetence.

 

[hotatlboi]

Absolute not. I don't understand why we discourage success and hard work by punishing it with higher taxes.

Did you know that 43% of the population doesn't pay taxes ? Why should you carry all burden for other who doesn't even try ? The only fair way is to have a flat tax .

Imagine in school when all the "A" students get to do more home work then the "D" student. Who would want to get an "A" in the class ?''

The bolded is completely and totally false. That is referencing income taxes only. Poor people pay lots of other taxes, payroll, gas, sales, etc.

And rich pay no tax on the same portion of their income as poor people.

 

[CFoTsD]

If there must be a personal income tax then everyone should have some skin in the game, right? Okay exempt people below the poverty line. Eliminate all deductions for most deductions and the like are Central Govt Engineering. Then formulate a Flat Tax.

The rich would indeed pay more taxes in dollars.

 

[chance1]

Yes they should.

Two people. One works 55 hours a week on minimum wage, slaves and sweats their way through hard graft and labour. Will never get promoted because his boss only promotes girls he fancies/sleeps with. After say 25% tax he only has enough to pay bills rent, and the cheapest bare essentials at the supermarket.

Guy two, runs his own business, got a leg up all the way because of who his daddy is. Supposed to work 40 hours a week but for him that includes meetings at fancy restaurants, golf games and such. Earns 2 million a year.

And if you had it your way, would get taxed the same amount. Would this person really be crippled in any way if their taxes were a few percentages higher? No.

Why should one individual get nothing and the other everything. The super rich aren't victims, stripped of their luxuries if they're taxed abit more. Infact they'd hardly notice it. Why not have their lifestyle come at a price.

I don't know where to begin as this post is fraught with silliness and untruths

In your world

ALL LOW PAYING JOB EMPLOYEES ARE HARD WORKING AND DON'T GET AHEAD BECAUSE THEY'RE BOSS WOULD RATHER PROMOTE PRETTY GIRLS THEY CAN FUCK

ALL HIGHER INCOME FOLKS GOT IT FROM DADDY - THE MONEY THAT IS - HE DOESN'T WORK HARD

OMG

anyway ......... the OP presents a great question but it's unclear what "more" means

they already pay "more"

i don't believe in a progressive tax rate - rather a flat one - remove loopholes which mask income and thus reduce tax burdens .......... and there's the answer

make more pay a higher % tax? crazy - where's the incentive to work harder?

no thanks

it should almost work the other way - make more and pay a lower % as there would be incentive to make more - employ more, etc.

great thread

and the knee jerk reaction of yes they should is ........... dare I say un-american