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alum93

The filthy rich

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The recommendations make sense.  

The combined fortunes of the world's 26 richest individuals reached $1.4 trillion last year — the same amount as the total wealth of the 3.8 billion poorest people.

Most of these mega-wealthy are American, according to the Forbes list of billionaires used by Oxfam. The names include Amazon's Jeff Bezos, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who collectively are worth $357 billion, according to Forbes.
 
Oxfam recommends that nations tax wealth at fairer levels, raise rates on personal income and corporate taxes and eliminate tax avoidance by companies and the super-rich. It also advocates providing universal free health care, education and other public services — and ensuring that women and girls also benefit. And it suggests investing in public services — including water, electricity and childcare — to free up women's time and limit the number of unpaid hours they work.
 
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https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/247052/americans-long-standing-interest-taxing-rich.aspx

The idea of taxing the rich resonates with Americans' underlying attitudes. For over a quarter of a century, Gallup research has shown that a majority of U.S. adults believe upper-income Americans pay too little in taxes. A majority of Americans for 35 years have also said that money and wealth in the U.S. should be more evenly distributedamong a larger percentage of the people. (This latter question, however, doesn't specify that it should be the government that does the redistributing.)

And a number of surveys conducted over the last year have shown that Americans believe the new tax law enacted in December 2017 favors the wealthy.

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Of course everyone that doesn’t have wealth would like to distribute it. That’s human nature. To many people it’s unfair that some have accumulated billions. They should be willing to give half or more of it up, or let’s just take it from them. 

It should also be noted that wealth is relative. Most Americans are wealthy compared to those in third world countries. How many Americans are willing to share their wealth with the people in those countries? 

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1 hour ago, alum93 said:

https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/247052/americans-long-standing-interest-taxing-rich.aspx

The idea of taxing the rich resonates with Americans' underlying attitudes. For over a quarter of a century, Gallup research has shown that a 

1 hour ago, alum93 said:

https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/247052/americans-long-standing-interest-taxing-rich.aspx

The idea of taxing the rich resonates with Americans' underlying attitudes. For over a quarter of a century, Gallup research has shown that a majority of U.S. adults believe upper-income Americans pay too little in taxes. A majority of Americans for 35 years have also said that money and wealth in the U.S. should be more evenly distributedamong a larger percentage of the people. (This latter question, however, doesn't specify that it should be the government that does the redistributing.)

And a number of surveys conducted over the last year have shown that Americans believe the new tax law enacted in December 2017 favors the wealthy.

Interesting comment considering half of Americans pay no income taxes. 

 

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1 hour ago, soupslam1 said:

Of course everyone that doesn’t have wealth would like to distribute it. That’s human nature. To many people it’s unfair that some have accumulated billions. They should be willing to give half or more of it up, or let’s just take it from them. 

It should also be noted that wealth is relative. Most Americans are wealthy compared to those in third world countries. How many Americans are willing to share their wealth with the people in those countries? 

I don't see the comparison at all.  Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are in debt.  Your example is well there are poorer people overseas so the average American should just give money to them.  Whether it's the top  0.1%, or just top billionaires, we are talking about an amount of wealth that is so obscene that losing tens of millions would just be a number on a piece of paper.  Anyhow, here's some numbers regarding living paycheck to paycheck.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/01/11/live-paycheck-to-paycheck-government-shutdown/#a90cec24f10b

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2019-01-11/stretched-thin-majority-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/29/us-economy-workers-paycheck-robert-reich

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2 hours ago, alum93 said:

Here is more information than you could ever want about income taxes.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States

You do understand that the wealthy pay by far the largest majority of taxes in the country. If you want to sock it to them further, have you thought about what happens if they decide to take their wealth to another country?  

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4 hours ago, alum93 said:

https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/247052/americans-long-standing-interest-taxing-rich.aspx

The idea of taxing the rich resonates with Americans' underlying attitudes. For over a quarter of a century, Gallup research has shown that a majority of U.S. adults believe upper-income Americans pay too little in taxes. A majority of Americans for 35 years have also said that money and wealth in the U.S. should be more evenly distributedamong a larger percentage of the people. (This latter question, however, doesn't specify that it should be the government that does the redistributing.)

And a number of surveys conducted over the last year have shown that Americans believe the new tax law enacted in December 2017 favors the wealthy.

Considering the wealthy, you may want to read about the Giving Pledge program. They aren’t the greedy assholes many make them out to be. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/14-billionaires-signed-bill-gates-and-warren-buffetts-giving-pledge.html

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23 minutes ago, soupslam1 said:

Considering the wealthy, you may want to read about the Giving Pledge program. They aren’t the greedy assholes many make them out to be. 

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/31/14-billionaires-signed-bill-gates-and-warren-buffetts-giving-pledge.html

I have seen it.  I think someone on this site posted if i remember right.  Pretty cool.  I never said they were a-holes.  I don't know why anytime someone mentions the rich paying more of a share people dig in their heels and get so defensive.  Our president even joked about avoiding taxes when asked about all his losses recently and called it a sport.  Pathetic.  It really is ok to look at all options for a government drowning in debt, and yes that includes, gasp, the horror of the wealthy paying a little more.  It's ok to have that discussion and doesn't make anyone evil.  When you have more money than a billion people and are part of our society, well we may ask you to carry a more heavy burden by percentage.  I am sure they will still make out just fine in the long run.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/05/08/trump-tax-loss-new-york-times-accountant-crn-vpx.cnn

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1 hour ago, alum93 said:

I don't see the comparison at all.  Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are in debt.  Your example is well there are poorer people overseas so the average American should just give money to them.  Whether it's the top  0.1%, or just top billionaires, we are talking about an amount of wealth that is so obscene that losing tens of millions would just be a number on a piece of paper.  Anyhow, here's some numbers regarding living paycheck to paycheck.  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2019/01/11/live-paycheck-to-paycheck-government-shutdown/#a90cec24f10b

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2019-01-11/stretched-thin-majority-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/29/us-economy-workers-paycheck-robert-reich

Debt is not a bad thing.  In fact it's a very good thing.  It allows us to buy homes, vehicles, businesses, etc.

And I'd add that living paycheck to paycheck is more about us living above our means.

Neither of these has much if anything to do with taxes.

The World Needs More Cowboys!

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5 minutes ago, pokebball said:

Debt is not a bad thing.  In fact it's a very good thing.  It allows us to buy homes, vehicles, businesses, etc.

And I'd add that living paycheck to paycheck is more about us living above our means.

Neither of these has much if anything to do with taxes.

Our national debt and inability to invest more in things like education is tied to how much money the government takes in.  Every time someone games the system it takes money out.  

I have heard people argue the national debt is not a bad thing.  We are currently at $21 trillion and counting.  The deficit last year was $779 billion.

Yes you take out loans for homes, vehicles, businesses, etc.  The assumption is also you will pay it back in some timely manner dictated by the loan.  If enough people don't pay it back, what happens...

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15 minutes ago, alum93 said:

I have seen it.  I think someone on this site posted if i remember right.  Pretty cool.  I never said they were a-holes.  I don't know why anytime someone mentions the rich paying more of a share people dig in their heels and get so defensive.  Our president even joked about avoiding taxes when asked about all his losses recently and called it a sport.  Pathetic.  It really is ok to look at all options for a government drowning in debt, and yes that includes, gasp, the horror of the wealthy paying a little more.  It's ok to have that discussion and doesn't make anyone evil.  When you have more money than a billion people and are part of our society, well we may ask you to carry a more heavy burden by percentage.  I am sure they will still make out just fine in the long run.

https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/05/08/trump-tax-loss-new-york-times-accountant-crn-vpx.cnn

Instead of wealthy people paying more taxes, what’s wrong with cutting spending, or a combination of both. If I were wealthy I would request for every additional dollar the government wants to tax me, they should reduce spending by the same amount. 

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Just now, alum93 said:

Our national debt and inability to invest more in things like education is directly tied to how much money the government takes in.  Every time someone games the system it takes money out.  

I have heard people argue the national debt is not a bad thing.  We are currently at $21 trillion and counting.  The deficit last year was $779 billion.

Oh, I think the national debt is a serious issue.  I assumed you were talking about personal debt when you said, "Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are in debt."

The World Needs More Cowboys!

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Just now, soupslam1 said:

Instead of wealthy people paying more taxes, what’s wrong with cutting spending, or a combination of both. If I were wealthy I would request for every additional dollar the government wants to tax me, they should reduce spending by the same amount. 

Without any doubt in my mind, the national debt has to be addressed with a combination of both.  Neither side will come to that table.

The World Needs More Cowboys!

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1 minute ago, pokebball said:

Oh, I think the national debt is a serious issue.  I assumed you were talking about personal debt when you said, "Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are in debt."

No, that was in response to another comment about why don't give money to poor people in other countries with lower standard of living.  Somehow that was linked to the article on billionaires.  Don't ask me how.

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2 minutes ago, soupslam1 said:

Instead of wealthy people paying more taxes, what’s wrong with cutting spending, or a combination of both. If I were wealthy I would request for every additional dollar the government wants to tax me, they should reduce spending by the same amount. 

Indeed, why not both.  Let's ask the president and the party that just had the Senate and House on why they didn't cut spending but found a way to cut taxes for the rich.

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5 minutes ago, pokebball said:

Without any doubt in my mind, the national debt has to be addressed with a combination of both.  Neither side will come to that table.

It should be noted we are collecting more taxes right now than anytime in our history, which tells me we have a spending problem. 

And the biggest spending problem by far is social security and Medicare. Until we bite the bullet and solve that problem, any other discussion about the budget doesn’t have much impact. 

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3 minutes ago, soupslam1 said:

It should be noted we are collecting more taxes right now than anytime in our history, which tells me we have a spending problem. 

No argument from me on that one.  

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3 minutes ago, alum93 said:

Indeed, why not both.  Let's ask the president and the party that just had the Senate and House on why they didn't cut spending but found a way to cut taxes for the rich.

You don't need to ask the POTUS or either party.  I can answer that.

Any politician (even on your side of the aisle alum93) would not get elected or reelected running on that platform.

The World Needs More Cowboys!

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