steverocks35
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Apparently Denver believes that the super rich play by the same rules as the rest of us.
I would posit that not only is Boone's rate lower than the popcorn seller but he may also pay less in actual taxes. In fact he may pay something approaching zero in actual taxes depending on how good his accountants are.
Apparently Denver believes that the super rich play by the same rules as the rest of us.
Apparently Denver believes that the super rich play by the same rules as the rest of us.
everybody has the same oppurtunities. The tax code allows anybody to have capital gains taxes.
I don't understand why people ***** about this. What the rich pay has no direct affect on you. What you pay has a direct affect on you. If you don't like what you pay in taxes, find a loophole, invest more,etc. Stop worrying about everybody else
There is nothing accurate about making a distinction between payroll and income taxes. That is a shell game meant to mislead. Both taxes end up in the same pot to fund any and all expenditures. As a matter of fact over $5 trillion of our supposed $16 trillion in debt is really just $ that was derived from payroll taxes but used to fund tax cuts. Tax cuts that have disproportionately benefited the top 1/2% with no tangible economic benefit.
The wholesale changes to the tax code were made in 2001 and 2003, were temporary and are set to expire. The experiment is over. It failed.
As for "finding loopholes" and "making investments," there are millions of people who can do neither. The kind of loopholes the rich benefit from aren't there for people of limited means, and the money that might be invested is needed to keep their families fed and clothed and with a roof over their heads. Besides which, as we all know, investing carries no guarantee of a positive return.
Everyone doesn't have the same opportunities at all. That's the way of the world, but it's a fact. Some are, as that old saying goes, born on third base and brag about hitting a triple.
I have no complaints about the opportunities I've had. I'm grateful for them. As a white male growing up in the 1960s and '70s, I had a head start on women and male minorities. I also had very supportive and loving parents who did everything they could for me (we weren't wealthy or even upper-middle-class, but I wanted for nothing important). But to pretend that I had the same opportunities as Mitt Romney did is beyond silly. And there are so many people who had fewer opportunities than I did. That's a simple fact.
As for "finding loopholes" and "making investments," there are millions of people who can do neither. The kind of loopholes the rich benefit from aren't there for people of limited means, and the money that might be invested is needed to keep their families fed and clothed and with a roof over their heads. Besides which, as we all know, investing carries no guarantee of a positive return.
There's a reason Mitt Romney wouldn't release his tax returns. The average schmo doesn't have any idea what loopholes are available to the super rich and just how little they get away with paying in taxes, but Romney's returns, had he released them, would have made that perfectly clear.
And as for the top 10% paying 70% of the taxes, that's largely because of the huge income disparity in the country right now, which is higher than it's been since the 1920s. The 400 richest Americans have as much wealth as the bottom 50% of the country.
And of course, all that money buys power and influence, in Washington and elsewhere.
In 2007, the six Wal-Mart heirs were worth a combined 69.7 billion dollars, equal to the total wealth of the bottom 30% of the country. That's one company--hell, it's one family! And they spent plenty in lobbying for lower taxes and other benefits for the wealthiest Americans (in 2005 alone, they spent $3.2 million on lobbying).
$3.2 million buys a lot of lobbyists and influence, but at that, it's just .000045 of those six Walton heirs' combined worth.
Now, you might say, SoonerBounce, in continuing with your idea that we should all just do as the wealthy do, that the poor and the middle class should lobby Congress, too.
Well, my wife and I make somewhere in the neighborhood of 100k a year, combined (doesn't go all that far in NYC, lemme tell you, but lots of folks have it worse, obviously). If we were to spend the same percentage of our income as the Waltons do on lobbying, we'd be able to pony up $4.50 a year.
How far do you think we'd get with that? We could buy some congressman or senator a latte, I guess.
Is there a law saying only wealthy people can invest or be successful? No. Everybody has the same opportunity. Get off your as and do something about your status if you aren't happy with it. The tax code isn't discriminating against any class
*Well, my wife and I make somewhere in the neighborhood of 100k a year, combined (doesn't go all that far in NYC, lemme tell you, but lots of folks have it worse, obviously).