OK, let's put it to the test - do you think the top tax rate will make it over 50% in our lifetime? I say it will not. The changes we might see will be growth in rates on things like capital gains, etc. Raising the income tax rate in the highest brackets will result in a zero gain in total revenue, but will have a detrimental effect on economic activity. It ain't 1937 anymore my friend.

 

Those who say that a more progressive tax system "will have a detrimental effect on economic activity," are the same kind of people who opposed it when it was in place. They are not able to explain why, as the top tax rate rose, the per capita gross domestic product in 1996 dollars rose more than when the top tax rate declined from 73 percent to 25 percent during the administrations of Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=213

http://www.singularity.com/charts/page99.html

 

This chart might help you visualize the bigger picture:

 

In the last 40 years our tax code is like the old christian saying....
"when god closes a door he opens a window"

or

whenever loop holes are closed or rates increased something seems to always get overlooked (on purpose) to fix things for less tax for those who have the knowledge to use it...

 

That is interesting. Here is a chart of income tax receipts:

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=203

The numbers are not adjusted for inflation, so they are only meaningful within a short time span. In 1944 the top tax rate rose to 94 percent from 88 percent. Income tax receipts rose from $6,505 million to $19,705 million.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=213

During Ronald Reagan's first term in office the top tax rate declined from 69.13 to 50 percent. Income tax receipts rose from $285,917 million to $298,415 million, for an increase of $12,498 million.

However, during Jimmy Carter's four years in office the top tax rate remained at 70 percent. Income receipts rose from $157,626 million to $244,069 million for an increase of $86,443 million.

We should also consider that when Jimmy Carter was president, an average of 2,600,000 jobs were created per year. Under Ronald Reagan that declined to 2,000,000 jobs.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/09/bush-on-jobs-the-worst-track-record-on-record/

Different factors influence economic growth. Ronald Reagan benefited from the fact that the world price of petroleum began to decline in 1983.

http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Rate/Historical_Oil_Prices_Table.asp

This did not happen because of anything Reagan did, just as Carter cannot be blamed for the increase that began in 1979 because of the Iranian Revolution. Nevertheless, we can say that when taxes are raised, especially for the well to do, tax receipts have nearly always been higher than they they were reduced. What also increased was economic growth and job creation.

 

Thats true. Although nobody ever actualy paid that much. The tax code was very simple and there were special loopholes that forced people in the top tax brackets to invest in order to avoid paying those taxes. That made it possible for businesses that needed bailouts to look to investors instead of the government.

The key was to keep money moving. Stationary money generates no taxes and no income. The accumulation of vast wealth is ultimately a drain on any economy, since in the end it all ends up at the top with nothing left at the bottom for circulation.

Something that has helped to form our current economic problems is that fact that so much of the U.S. currency is outside the United States and we have no access to it. Other countries use US dollars as thier trade currency to buy products from other countries. The trade deficit means that for every dollar we bring into the country, more than a dollar leaves the country. To the tune of about a trillion dollars every three and a half to four years. In order to maintain the balance of our currency the federal reserve at the request of the treasury prints more money which serves to devalue the currency in circulation. So the dollars we still have dont buy as much as they did a decade ago, which didnt buy as much as a decade befor that, etc. The cost of goods and services today is generaly less than it was ten, twenty or thirty years ago in inflation adjusted dollars. But paychecks are less than they were in inflation adjusted dollars thirty years ago.

 

A real fucking head game to those that have a problem understand present and furture value of the dollar....

 

I, too, like to take people's personal anecdotes at face value and assume they're competent enough to do proper maths.

Did you hear that I knew a guy who knew a guy who's cousin said he paid 99% in taxes?

 

Any liberal that thinks they get a good deal or do not pay enough send in some extra, Or is that only for the other guy???

Just like buffet he is now moving his money around so he will not pay more, GEE I thought he wanted to pay more, guess I was wrong. What a fucken ASS HOLE the man is.


Here is the state tax on fuel for all 50 (or if your obama 57) states

LINK::: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States


And please do not report me to the obama website as I have already reported myself to the moron.

 

Why do you guys keep repeating this utterly moronic refrain? It completely misses the point. Nobody WANTS to pay more taxes. Buffett thinks it would be good economic policy for the extremely wealthy to pay more in taxes. Not just him, but everyone like him. That isn't going to happen voluntarily. Is that so hard for you to grasp?

 

Thank you, OT...I was gearing up to post a copy of that graph myself. It fairly clearly illustrates one thing. This fantasy of conservatives that Americans are grossly overtaxed is a fantasy. But I guess if they say it often enough and loudly enough...

 

The reason they keep repeating it is because they are a bunch of brainwashed parrots.

 

It's not enough just to raise that top tax rate. The amount of revenue generated depends on where ALL of the tax brackets fall in relation to taxable income.

One thing seems certain, though. The tax proposals of ALL of the Republican candidates will result in the wealthy paying less and the poor paying more. Good luck selling that one.

 

Oh yeah...I forgot.

Did you see Krugman's latest column? He totally nailed it, but I can't find it online to link to it.

Edit: Aha! Here it is...

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/02/14/4261505/dismal-gop-field-shows-affliction.html

 

There was a recent article on Yahoo regarding someone who ended up owing over 100% in taxes. It happens.

 

I read that article. It was based on an e-mail that was sent to the author after requesting bad tax stories with no proof whatsoever. Not only that, but there was a refutation of it by a CPA not long after of why it wasn't really true.


Here's a tip:

When things sound way out of whack with reality, THEY USUALLY ARE AND YOU SHOULD LOOK INTO IT DEEPER.

This is why we're in such a bad spot right now. People don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but run around pretending like they do. They don't understand the concept of sources or facts, and don't bother looking into things deeper. It's just accepted.

I want you to know that I toned down my original language because you're not a total moron. That being said, you do need to learn that when something sounds fishy, take it with a grain of salt....And please don't try to come back at me with the same kind of anecdote I describe in a post in some sort of "gotcha" attempt. It won't work with me.

 

Better late then never baby.
I'm glad I caught this. Krugman was one good read in that column.

 

I meerly mentioned that there was an article on Yahoo...I didnt even read it, I just read the headline, since I have better things to do than read what Lidsay Lohan is doing in rehab. Yahoo isnt my usual source for information. Im sorry you have a problem with that. You might want to see your therapist about your issues with thinking people are out to get you though. "Gotcha?" Seriously? Lighten up.

 

The Republican Party, which keeps moving to the right, reminds me of those cartoon characters who would walk off of a cliff, and not fall until they look down, and realize that there is nothing beneath them.

On important issues, such as raising taxes on the rich, not cutting Social Security and Medicare, and even gay marriage and abortion the GOP is out of touch with most Americans. Nevertheless, Republican candidates continue to think that the way to win elections is to be more extreme than anyone else.

 

I just LOVE how my thread about the amount of my income that goes to taxes has turned into more Publican bashing.

And just about all of the shit I read here is biased, taken out of context, or used to prove a false premise.

That's OK. It's a Porn site. I wouldn't expect actual meaningful dialog from well intentioned, objective, fair minded people.

But I am surprised at how people jump to conclusions, all just to take another jab at their favorite villain.

My question was, am I part of the 1%, or part of the 99%, or something else?

I wasn't being overt in complaining about my tax bill(s), I was asking a question.

Anyone care to stop the bullshit long enough to answer the question?