Fox News anchors baffled as polls show people want to tax the rich more

[Economy 52,861]

32 minutes ago, Morphine Prince said:

I agree! All interesting points you made! I think all these things need to be considered before anything like this applied to the US. The way this country funds the military is ridiculous but not surprising considering how many military operations the US has around the world. It needs to change.  

Yeah cuz I think we need to understand taxes for what they are. It's literally a transfer of capital resources from individuals and companies in the private sector to give to the government...

 

A government that uses the money well and invests well can probably tax a little more (within reason) and keep The economy healthy and functional while a Nation that wastes tax dollars is taking money out of private sector for nothing and they are better off taxing less and let the private sector do their own thing

 

I think the USA can tax the wealthy individuals a little bit more without big negative consequences. If the top tax rate was raised to 45% for example (add State taxes and would be closer to 55% to 57% depending on the state) and I think that's still reasonable and wouldn't result in any major divesting

 

I do think it's a lot of work to move businesses and for people to simply move countries when they have family and friends in their home and their company operations are already established so most wealthy individuals wouldn't go thru that hassle of moving because of a 55% tax rate... But If it got really high tho like 70% tho I can definitely see more individuals trying to shift operations tho or being willing to move Countries if their circumstances allow...

 

I therefore think a modest increase in top income bracket in the US would be fine. However don't raise corporate taxes because that ends up taxing middle and low income class as well and it affects business Investment more directly than if you tax the rich individuals themselves more.

 

I think Capital Gains taxes could also be raised a little when earnings surpass a certain threshold

 

But raising taxes on the wealthy a few percentage points won't fix Americas financial problems or provide enough money for some of the stuff Democrats wanna do

 

Yes a modest increase in taxes to wealthy can help a little but above all I think the more important thing the US can do really is re-evaluate how it spends it's money...

 

Military accounts for over 70% of the current budget deficit to put that into perspective

[Suspiria 10,683]

1 hour ago, Economy said:

I agree. Taxes should be low for low Income

 

I do think a 70% tax rate is insane tho. I can't support a tax rate that high because of the negative potential effects on investment and entrepreneurship

I don't think they were suggesting a 70% tax rate. They were saying 70% of the people polled were in favour of hugher taxes for the rich?

[Economy 52,861]

18 hours ago, Delusional Aura said:

The problem with that is that the rich can still live comfortably of taxes are raised on them. The poor can't survive high taxes. Taxes are used to generate revenue for expenditure. The rich can afford to pay up, the poor needs whatever little they make to survive. However, what democrats are proposing of taxing the rich 70% is insane. However, I'm all for a tax rate for about 50-55% on the rich.

I should point out that if you include the taxes states add, in many States the tax rate is already not far off what you suggested

 

There maybe room for a small increase tho without major negative effects. Also I think Capital gains taxes on stuff like stocks could be raised a little on the wealthy for those that make over a certain amount from that because the rich earn a lot that way just sitting on their assessment doing nothing as the gains compound on themselves

 

I think taxes on rich in the US can only go up a little bit more before they get too high so perhaps what would be more prudent would be to re-evaluate spending. For example some of the massive military budget could be diverted to social programs that actually help people without having to raise taxes or the deficit

[Luc 4,776]

1 hour ago, Economy said:

Yeah cuz I think we need to understand taxes for what they are. It's literally a transfer of capital resources from individuals and companies in the private sector to give to the government...

 

A government that uses the money well and invests well can probably tax a little more (within reason) and keep The economy healthy and functional while a Nation that wastes tax dollars is taking money out of private sector for nothing and they are better off taxing less and let the private sector do their own thing

 

I think the USA can tax the wealthy individuals a little bit more without big negative consequences. If the top tax rate was raised to 45% for example (add State taxes and would be closer to 55% to 57% depending on the state) and I think that's still reasonable and wouldn't result in any major divesting

 

I do think it's a lot of work to move businesses and for people to simply move countries when they have family and friends in their home and their company operations are already established so most wealthy individuals wouldn't go thru that hassle of moving because of a 55% tax rate... But If it got really high tho like 70% tho I can definitely see more individuals trying to shift operations tho or being willing to move Countries if their circumstances allow...

 

I therefore think a modest increase in top income bracket in the US would be fine. However don't raise corporate taxes because that ends up taxing middle and low income class as well and it affects business Investment more directly than if you tax the rich individuals themselves more.

 

I think Capital Gains taxes could also be raised a little when earnings surpass a certain threshold

 

But raising taxes on the wealthy a few percentage points won't fix Americas financial problems or provide enough money for some of the stuff Democrats wanna do

 

Yes a modest increase in taxes to wealthy can help a little but above all I think the more important thing the US can do really is re-evaluate how it spends it's money...

 

Military accounts for over 70% of the current budget deficit to put that into perspective

I think you also have to distinguish between different parts of the private sector. I think that any wage going to rich people is inherently a waste, because these people spend their money on expensive cars, yachts, parties, etc. It may not seem like a waste money-wise (because the money is somewhat efficiently allocated), but utility-wise (which is what economics is about in the end) it's a huge waste. One dollar in the hand of a poor person raises total utility more than one dollar in the hand of a rich person (theory of diminishing marginal utility). 

 

By the way, what many people forget when comparing the US to Europe is that Europe doesn't just have higher taxes on the rich, but also on the poor. Most countries in Europe have 30-40% taxes for low incomes plus a ~20% tax on consumption. The poor get things like rent subsidies (in the Netherlands: €350 rent subsidy per month for a €700 rent if income below 25k), leading to a lower marginal tax rate. These subsidies and such can however make the marginal tax rate for the poor wayyyy too high.

The Netherlands, marginal tax rates per income:

gemiddelde = average, persoonlijk inkomen = personal income, marginale druk = marginal net tax rate including all kind of subsidies.

So some people actually have a net marginal tax rate of over 100% (!) because they have, for example, rent subsidy and health insurance subsidy that stops at an income bracket. If you get 6000 in subsidies a year but that stops if you earn more than 25k, your marginal tax rate becomes very, very high.

But the main takeaway from the graph is that it's mostly the middle classes being taxed at a high level in Europe leading to high government resources. Taxing the rich wouldn't make much money because the rich doesn't earn that much in Europe. Jobs for university graduates with a masters' degree start around 3000 (before taxes, but with a lot of opportunity for developing to higher wages) while the minimum wage is around 2000. If we raised an extra tax of 60% on incomes above 150k, it would only raise about 400 million euros a year. In the US, a 70% tax on million+ earners would earn a much larger amount, even relatively speaking, because the US simply has a lot of high-earners (and many very low-earners). 

If you want to get the money necessary for free healthcare, education, good infrastructure, public housing, unemployment insurance and pensions, you need to tax the middle class a lot. Taxing the rich isn't going to cut it. 

By the way, it's uncontroversial that the US healthcare system is extremely inefficient. Getting medicare for all and then making healthcare more efficient, streamlined with lower wages for surgeons would lead to a lot less being spent on healthcare in total.

[Economy 52,861]

12 minutes ago, Luc said:

I think you also have to distinguish between different parts of the private sector. I think that any wage going to rich people is inherently a waste, because these people.

 

By the way, what many people forget when comparing the US to Europe is that Europe doesn't just have higher taxes on the rich, but also on the poor. Most countries in Europe have 30-40% taxes for low incomes plus a ~20% tax on consumption. The poor get things like rent subsidies (in the Netherlands: €350 rent subsidy per month for a €700 rent if income below 25k), leading to a lower marginal tax rate. These subsidies and such can however make the marginal tax rate for the poor wayyyy too high.

The Netherlands, marginal tax rates per income:

gemiddelde = average, persoonlijk inkomen = personal income, marginale druk = marginal net tax rate including all kind of subsidies.

So some people actually have a net marginal tax rate of over 100% (!) because they have, for example, rent subsidy and health insurance subsidy that stops at an income bracket. If you get 6000 in subsidies a year but that stops if you earn more than 25k, your marginal tax rate becomes very, very high.

But the main takeaway from the graph is that it's mostly the middle classes being taxed at a high level in Europe leading to high government resources. Taxing the rich wouldn't make much money because the rich doesn't earn that much in Europe. Jobs for university graduates with a masters' degree start around 3000 (before taxes, but with a lot of opportunity for developing to higher wages) while the minimum wage is around 2000. If we raised an extra tax of 60% on incomes above 150k, it would only raise about 400 million euros a year. In the US, a 70% tax on million+ earners would earn a much larger amount, even relatively speaking, because the US simply has a lot of high-earners (and many very low-earners). 

If you want to get the money necessary for free healthcare, education, good infrastructure, public housing, unemployment insurance and pensions, you need to tax the middle class a lot. Taxing the rich isn't going to cut it. 

By the way, it's uncontroversial that the US healthcare system is extremely inefficient. Getting medicare for all and then making healthcare more efficient, streamlined with lower wages for surgeons would lead to a lot less being spent on healthcare in total.

Wow, that's totally different from here...

 

Here in Canada I pay like 15% to 17%  in income taxes and I make about $45,000 ish (depends on exactly how much I make each year, it's been as high as like 20% on years I earn more)... But on the other hand there's no rent subsidies here (unless your on welfare) so your on your own

 

The top tax rate used to be 29% but the Liberals raised it to 33%. Add another 10% in like provincial taxes (varies a bit by province) and the true top income tax rate is like 43% kind of in like with the US but I think actually slightly lower than in the US

 

US taxes on top income bracket depending on the state can go to around 50% in states like California, so the US doesn't tax top earners as low a rate as is generally believed

 

I think the big issue is how money is spent...

 

Our income taxes for middle class are just as low as in the US and our corporate taxes are now about the same and small business taxes are actually lower here but we do not have the budget issues the US does...

 

We do have a 5% National Sales tax tho and the US does not

 

I think it all comes down to waste in America like that overblown military budget

[JusKeepBreathin 19,311]

"The idea of fairness is being promoted in public schools."

What? Why is that guy trying to explain why fairness is bad?

You know what's bad. All those women who will get cancer because of "Allergen Breast Implants." Or all those doctors being paid by big pharma for using products and drugs on their patients, that are not necessarily safe and extremely addictive. Or all those deaths the the CEO General Motors could have avoided and the fact that none of those rich people will be punished.

People are sick and tired of being screwed over by the rich INCLUDING REPUBLICANS!