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Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher taxes?

Should the rich pay higher taxes?


  • Total voters
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Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax



For those interested in cutting costs, the elderly have come up with a few ideas.


why did it have to be a black guy holding up the 40oz? dat be racist
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

I think you shouldn't have a family if you can only get a job that pays 20K or less.....Thats a personal choice and people dont always make the best life choices eh?

I don't know anyone who is asking them to pay 50% or higher. I'd be asking for closer to 38 to 40%.

And let me ask you something, do you think you could support your family if you could only get a job that pays less than $20,000 a year, and then have to pay 20%+ of that to the government? I object to putting someone who already is in poverty that much further bellow the poverty line.

Which is why the poor should pay a lower tax rate and the rich, who can afford it, should pay a higher rate.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax



For those interested in cutting costs, the elderly have come up with a few ideas.


I think you have found the perfect add for Dictator Perry's campaign. But I got a good laugh out it. Thanks
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

I think you shouldn't have a family if you can only get a job that pays 20K or less.....Thats a personal choice and people dont always make the best life choices eh?

why is it that so many "poor" people who can't afford healthcare or can't afford to go to college or can't afford whatever, always seem to be able to afford cigarettes and beer and gold teeth and gold chains and 15 coon dogs and spinning rims to put on a POS chrysler le baron and $200 in lotto scratchers every month?

good priorities...many of them don't haz 'em
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

why is it that so many "poor" people who can't afford healthcare or can't afford to go to college or can't afford whatever, always seem to be able to afford cigarettes and beer and gold teeth and gold chains and 15 coon dogs and spinning rims to put on a POS chrysler le baron and $200 in lotto scratchers every month?

good priorities...many of them don't haz 'em

don't forget lottery tickets
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

don't forget lottery tickets

and fishin boats.

one of my POS "poor" neighbors lives in a singlewide trailer that looks like it was built in the 70's damn thing is falling apart. his kids get free breakfast/lunch at school and he is "disabled". but he somehow can afford a brand new bass boat and trips to south alabama to go deer hunting (how he manages to walk around in the woods with his disability is beyond me) every other weekend.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

You have to look at all the federal taxes, not just income taxes, and I pay a higher percentage of my total income than the rich who's income comes primarily from investments. That's what needs to be fixed.

Where do you think rich folks got their money from? Do you think that all rich folks have been handed everything on a little silver platter? Most of the rich folks I know work their butts off and pay a lot in taxes. As you get into the higher tax brackets you lose all the nice deductions etc that the middle income folks enjoy. You have no chance of tax credits, etc. We aren't entitled to take part in things like the Roth IRA program. Most folks that I know who get the majority of their income from investments are retired and have paid a fortune in taxes all their lives. And, while you may pay a higher percentage of your total income than these rich folks you are complaining about here, I'm pretty sure that they still pay more than you do into the coffers of this great country. It's becoming much harder to get rich in this country and if you think that is a good thing then you are not thinking this through.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

ah the class envy argument the rich really didn't earn that money so stealing it is justified.

perhaps the most pathetic of all the silly soak the rich nonsense

since 51% pay no income tax and 95% pay less taxes than the top 5% of us good. Most of the people should pay more, they pay too little because we in the top 5% subsidize the low rates for the rest of you

Huh? How's that rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer thing working out for you?

It's a good point, but consider who's buying the more expensive stuff.

Perhaps, but which is more important: The actual dollars spent, or the dollars as a percentage of one's income? Rich people tend to spend more, but they spend a lower percentage of their incomes.

We arent in massive debt because we dont take in enough taxes...we are in massive debt because congress spends money like crack whores. We are in debt because 50% of the public pays ZERO in income tax and in fact gets free money via the EIC. We are in massive debt because there are far too many crippled and dependent little ****s in this country that insist the government needs to take care of them and incessantly whine and bitch and moan about how unfair the world is. Meanwhile people of every race and nationality come to this country legally or otherwise and manage to bust their ass and find success. You didnt fix ****...you are the illustration of the problem.

Disagree with everything other than the first sentence. It is good to see a conservative acknowledge that we need more revenue streams.

Please calm down. You have a wonderfully logical point; it's what a lot of people have been trying to say for ages, but people won't listen to you if you start cursing. It makes people get defensive instead of paying attention to your argument.

I don't think that all of the unemployed people would be particularly unhappy about getting a job. If people who wanted to start up a business were allowed to let it grow by any means possible--including having "the rich" buy their stock, etc., then jobs would be created. Given the opportunity, a few of those businesses would become sufficiently large to provide a considerable number of jobs. Entrepreneurs take a risk, but if you throw Ping-Pong balls at a wall with a hole in it, some will go through, and we should try to make that hole as big as possible.

I know a lot of poorer people who have good skills and excellent work ethic, which is wasted when they go to work as a Hy-Vee cashier instead of participating in a growing business--or end up not working at all.

Has anyone here considered that the jobless would be in better health if they were working for the pay they get? If they got out, worked a little, even stocking shelves, then they'd be better off health-wise.

You should stick around. We need more conservatives that can actually hold an honest debate and not just troll. :)

I agree with you to an extent. Don't forget, however, that poor people simply do not have the same mindset as you or I. For them, it's all about day-to-day survival. Long-term planning is practically nonexistent. Ironically, it is this long-term planning that could help get them out of poverty. But that would sacrifice their day-to-day survival. Thus the vicious cycle continues.

why is it that so many "poor" people who can't afford healthcare or can't afford to go to college or can't afford whatever, always seem to be able to afford cigarettes and beer and gold teeth and gold chains and 15 coon dogs and spinning rims to put on a POS chrysler le baron and $200 in lotto scratchers every month?

good priorities...many of them don't haz 'em

Word to the wise: Don't try to understand poverty and the behavior of those afflicted by it, if you don't know how it works.

Of course the poor would be more likely to buy lottery tickets. Many of them see it as the one shot they have at riches and fame. Considering that their options for getting that are very, very limited, I can't say that I blame them.

As for spinners and all that other stuff, who cares? Rich white folks also have their shiny stuff that serves as nothing more than a status symbol.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

Huh? How's that rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer thing working out for you?

great, I increase my wealth about 15% each year.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

great, I increase my wealth about 15% each year.

That sounds like something Bernie Madoff would say.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

Yes, and it's an overwhelming majority.

generally that's correct. a large majority of Americans currently favor raising taxes on the uber wealthy in order to pay for not having to cut entitlements.

which is, to say, we would like to pay for the equivalent of a brand new car with the equivalent of $1.32 in change we found buried in the back seat of the old one.

sadly, fiscal reality is unlikely to bend to our preferences.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

why is it that so many "poor" people who can't afford healthcare or can't afford to go to college or can't afford whatever, always seem to be able to afford cigarettes and beer and gold teeth and gold chains and 15 coon dogs and spinning rims to put on a POS chrysler le baron and $200 in lotto scratchers every month?

good priorities...many of them don't haz 'em

I’d like to know how many of you are rich; I’m guessing none, because if you were rich you would not be wasting time on the computer arguing with me. I think you’re so deep in debt that if you lost your job in two months you would be homeless and begging for food. Or maybe you are retired and board and want to destroy the world for everybody else before you die. More or less what you are trying to say is if you have a refrigerator that you are no poor; if you are not living outside with nothing to eat that some way you are saying that those people should be happy to watch the other 20% of the people living like kings, because some people think that the bottom 80% of this country is lazy and all drug addicts or alcoholics or in some way you are smarter than they are and not that maybe you just got lucky is asinine
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

I’d like to know how many of you are rich; I’m guessing none, because if you were rich you would not be wasting time on the computer arguing with me. I think you’re so deep in debt that if you lost your job in two months you would be homeless and begging for food. Or maybe you are retired and board and want to destroy the world for everybody else before you die. More or less what you are trying to say is if you have a refrigerator that you are no poor; if you are not living outside with nothing to eat that some way you are saying that those people should be happy to watch the other 20% of the people living like kings, because some people think that the bottom 80% of this country is lazy and all drug addicts or alcoholics or in some way you are smarter than they are and not that maybe you just got lucky is asinine

I don't see it as all poor people being lazy, not at all. There are many factors that go into making someone poor: born into poverty, bad decisions, lack of education, etc., etc.

My father was raised dirt poor on a 40 acre share-cropping tobacco plot (could not be called a farm). He quit school more than once to help bring in the crop. They had mules, not tractors. He continued to go to high-school off and on until he graduated. He then hitchhiked to Atlanta and got a job clerking at an hotel during the night - so he could attend Georgia Tech (and pay for it) during the day. He joined the Army to help with his school expenses. Long story short...he retired as a General, he has a Phd, he has 3 retirement checks coming each month, he successfully (over 15 years ago) started a (now very large) defense company. He lives on a farm - he made the wise decision 2 decades ago to change from cattle to timber. More money.

If he can do this, anyone can. Oh, and by the way, I wasn't spoiled - at all. I thought we were barely making it for most of my life. All my friends received cars, I had to buy mine (a worn out 1962 PU truck in lovely olive green). I was expected to work around the house and on the farm. Spending money - only if I got a job. I'm so glad my parents made me earn my own way. I'm unafraid to take risks financially, because I know that even if I self destruct financially - I won't go under because I have the tools to recover and start again (myself only - my father doesn't believe in loans and bailouts, even for family members).
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

That sounds like something Bernie Madoff would say.
You are rather ignorant of Madoff. that is a normal rate for people who understand what they are doing
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

You are rather ignorant of Madoff. that is a normal rate for people who understand what they are doing

YOU are lecturing me about honesty?? lol

I don't see it as all poor people being lazy, not at all. There are many factors that go into making someone poor: born into poverty, bad decisions, lack of education, etc., etc.

My father was raised dirt poor on a 40 acre share-cropping tobacco plot (could not be called a farm). He quit school more than once to help bring in the crop. They had mules, not tractors. He continued to go to high-school off and on until he graduated. He then hitchhiked to Atlanta and got a job clerking at an hotel during the night - so he could attend Georgia Tech (and pay for it) during the day. He joined the Army to help with his school expenses. Long story short...he retired as a General, he has a Phd, he has 3 retirement checks coming each month, he successfully (over 15 years ago) started a (now very large) defense company. He lives on a farm - he made the wise decision 2 decades ago to change from cattle to timber. More money.

If he can do this, anyone can. Oh, and by the way, I wasn't spoiled - at all. I thought we were barely making it for most of my life. All my friends received cars, I had to buy mine (a worn out 1962 PU truck in lovely olive green). I was expected to work around the house and on the farm. Spending money - only if I got a job. I'm so glad my parents made me earn my own way. I'm unafraid to take risks financially, because I know that even if I self destruct financially - I won't go under because I have the tools to recover and start again (myself only - my father doesn't believe in loans and bailouts, even for family members).

That's a really cool story, and I believe it, but there's just one problem: It's only one person. How many impoverished people are denied opportunities because of a crime they committed many years ago? Or are sometimes overlooked for a job simply because of their color of skin--you think that doesn't happen? Or are so ingrained in the life of the ghetto that they lack so many of the basic skills required to survive outside it? And even for those who pass all that and then some, what percentage of poor people really make it from rags to riches? Would we blame the overwhelming majority of those who don't?
 
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Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

YOU are lecturing me about honesty?? lol

If the shoe fits
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

YOU are lecturing me about honesty?? lol



That's a really cool story, and I believe it, but there's just one problem: It's only one person. How many impoverished people are denied opportunities because of a crime they committed many years ago? Or are sometimes overlooked for a job simply because of their color of skin--you think that doesn't happen? Or are so ingrained in the life of the ghetto that they lack so many of the basic skills required to survive outside it? And even for those who pass all that and then some, what percentage of poor people really make it from rags to riches? Would we blame the overwhelming majority of those who don't?

There are many people out there who do. All the time. But, going from rags to riches? Not so much. But a good life, absolutely. I haven't made any fortune, but I'm a happy, content person. I have more than I need, but I earned every bit of it. I spent many years in a career that I didn't enjoy so that I could retire and work in a field that I love (that field takes money to start-up though).

I'm going to address your question about racism and jobs. Of course it happens, not nearly as often as it used too. Those entrenched in the ghetto lifestyle? I hate to sound too unsympathetic, but... they have a choice. Go to school (which is provided for them, complete with supplies and 2 meals) to start on their path of getting out! There are countless programs designed specifically to help them. It all hinges on one thing - do you want it badly enough.

Oh, did I mention my father is a full-blooded Creek? No? Talk about racism.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

You are rather ignorant of Madoff. that is a normal rate for people who understand what they are doing

I vote we team up. I have a secret power - I can make the market tank by putting money into it. I'll let you know when I'm about to drop in cash, you short the market, we split the profits.
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

I vote we team up. I have a secret power - I can make the market tank by putting money into it. I'll let you know when I'm about to drop in cash, you short the market, we split the profits.

sounds like a plan


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Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

If you think I am wrong, disprove my statement.
I think what good 'Ole Aunt Spike meant was that your statement was devoid of value, not necessarily technically incorrect. The President may have approved the budget (what choice does he really have but to allow a Gov't shutdown), but the Democrats ran up the debt, not Republicans.

Republicans controlled the House and Senate from 1995 to 2000.
1996 Debt Increased by 6.71%
1997 Debt Increased by 3.37%
1998 Debt Increased by 2.03%
1999 Debt Increased by 2.88%
2000 Debt Decreased by 1.97% (a product of the "Contract with America" led by Newt Gingrich in preceding years)

in 2001 and 2002 the House and Senate were split and the debt grew by an average of 6.37% (9/11) and to a height of a 9.25% increase by 2003 when Republicans (not particularly conservative Republicans) regained a slight majority. Then the increase decreased (politician speak) gradually each year (9.25%, 8.55%, 7.56%, 6.24%) to 6.24% in 2006. The Democrats gained control of both House and Senate in 2007 (elected end of 2006) and in 2008 the increase in debt jumped from 6.32% in 2007 to 15.93% in 2008 another 15.06% in 2009 and another 13.92% in 2010. About a 52% increase in debt in just 3 years -thanks!
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

I am about to punch you in the fackin face.

THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A WORKING CLASS. If the people who comprise it now do not want that status, they can quit - others will come up to take their place. Quit acting and arguing like it's some tablecloth you can yank out from underneath that will cause all the wealthy dishes to fall and break. This whole pro-proletariat bullsnot is really beginning to irk me. I have to put up with it from all these damned teenaged socialists and pseudo-Marxists. I can't take another source.

Workers of the world unite...and shut your yaps.

You sure make a great case of the middle class continuing to put up with the same failed trickle down policy of the last 30 years, but I would have to say no thanks!
 
Re: Are you part of the majority of Americans who feel the rich should pay higher tax

"Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"

"A major reason for this large and growing gap between the rich and the working-class people was the increased manufacturing output throughout this period. From 1923-1929 the average output per worker increased 32% in manufacturing8. During that same period of time average wages for manufacturing jobs increased only 8%9. Thus wages increased at a rate one fourth as fast as productivity increased. As production costs fell quickly, wages rose slowly, and prices remained constant, the bulk benefit of the increased productivity went into corporate profits. In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%10.

The federal government also contributed to the growing gap between the rich and middle-class. Calvin Coolidge's administration (and the conservative-controlled government) favored business, and as a result the wealthy who invested in these businesses. An example of legislation to this purpose is the Revenue Act of 1926, signed by President Coolidge on February 26, 1926, which reduced federal income and inheritance taxes dramatically11. Andrew Mellon, Coolidge's Secretary of the Treasury, was the main force behind these and other tax cuts throughout the 1920's. In effect, he was able to lower federal taxes such that a man with a million-dollar annual income had his federal taxes reduced from $600,000 to $200,00012. Even the Supreme Court played a role in expanding the gap between the socioeconomic classes. In the 1923 case Adkins v. Children's Hospital, the Supreme Court ruled minimum-wage legislation unconstitutional13.

The large and growing disparity of wealth between the well-to-do and the middle-income citizens made the U.S. economy unstable. For an economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. In an economy with such disparate distribution of income it is not assured that demand will always equal supply. Essentially what happened in the 1920's was that there was an oversupply of goods. It was not that the surplus products of industrialized society were not wanted, but rather that those whose needs were not satiated could not afford more, whereas the wealthy were satiated by spending only a small portion of their income."

Main Causes of the Great Depression
 
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