Wealthy people

[Brainteaserfan]

How do you view wealthy people?

 

I said:

 

IMO, there is no such thing as too rich. I think this for a few reasons. Firstly, they do help bail out our country via (a) the taxes while they are alive, and (b) from the death tax. (not to mention the tax on whoever receives some of their fortune as an inheritance, I'm not certain of the current rules.) Secondly, a rich person generally will want a nice house, clothes, car, mowed lawn etc, and will create jobs for others who are not as fortunate. IMO, wealthy people are essential to our economy.

 

Edit: I should add, as long as their wealth is acquired honestly.

 

 

Greg said:

 

In th usa all that wealthy people seem to do is evade taxes. It is the majority of ordinary people who can't afford the smart ar$e lawyers and accountants who collectively pay the bulk of the tax revenue.

 

Wealthy people might therefore be regarded as a drain on the economy - taking a great deal of wealth and funnelling it off shore into Swiss bank accounts and not purchasing locally etc.

 

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Maybe, but I see no evidence that they aren't paying taxes. If they weren't, this would partially fall into the category of not honestly acquired wealth, which I didn't claim to support. Even if they didn't pay any taxes, though, they would still create jobs.

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Tony said:

 

Obviously there is much truth in what you say and I did say I might be biassed. I am not trying to make a case for equality of income but I do feel that some people and some organisations are so rich that they could afford to put more into the national pot. I also feel that rewards for effort could be more sensibly distributed. I find it obscene that a pop singer can earn many times the income of a brain surgeon or that many people in local government in the UK earn much more than the salary of the Prime Minister. I feel that we are getting rather off topic so I will repeat the point that I originally made - I think that allowing the National Debt to increase year on year is dangerous and a sensible strategy would involve shrinking it year by year.

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It is strange how much celebrities make, but if people want to pay them lots, they'll probably help bail us out and create jobs, so I won't complain.

Edited August 6, 2011 by Brainteaserfan

[Realitycheck]

Edited August 15, 2011 by Realitycheck

[jeskill]

Warren Buffett thinks he should be taxed more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html

 

A lot of people are disillusioned with the trickle-down effect. This is but one example of many: http://rationalrevolution.net/war/trickle_down.htm

[Realitycheck]

What caught my eye was the only time on the chart when taxes were lower than the Reagan era. By the "established" line of thinking, the 30's should have been rife with jobs created by the 20's tax breaks, but I guess the market crash kind of complicated things.

[john5746]

a question I would like to ask in the republican debates -

 

how much lower should income and capital gains taxes be in order to improve the economy, give me a %.

 

or

 

Should we have a moratorium on taxes(for those making above $1 mil), worker protections and epa laws for 2 years to really get this economy going?

 

It would be fun to see how low they would go. I realize the polished guys like Romney would dance around the question, but Cain did say 0% capital gains tax in the last debate. Yeah, Steve Jobs and his ilk would basically pay no taxes.

[Brainteaserfan]

a question I would like to ask in the republican debates -

 

how much lower should income and capital gains taxes be in order to improve the economy, give me a %.

 

or

 

Should we have a moratorium on taxes(for those making above $1 mil), worker protections and epa laws for 2 years to really get this economy going?

 

It would be fun to see how low they would go. I realize the polished guys like Romney would dance around the question, but Cain did say 0% capital gains tax in the last debate. Yeah, Steve Jobs and his ilk would basically pay no taxes.

I, personally, do not care if Steve Jobs pays many taxes. A, he wouldn't actually pay that much compared to the debt, B, if the government has it, the will waste it, and C, he should be rewarded for providing so many jobs. Anyway, here are some percentages that Herman Cain wants: http://www.hermancain.com/images/economicgrowth.pdf