Why don't we just raise taxes on the wealthy temporarily...

[WCGreen]

I mean if temporarily is the new permanent, why not.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Now THERE'S an idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why aren't Obama's advisers coming up with ideas like this???

[WCGreen]

4. Well, basically, I am brilliant and they are not... LOL....

[BrklynLiberal]

10. It sure would seem that way...

[Drale]

2. Why don't we just raise taxes on the wealthy permanently

and not care what they say? But thats never going to happen, to many people being payed.

[KillCapitalism]

3. +1

Let's just return to the top tax rate of 90% that we had right after WWII.

[Sirveri]

14. it was actually 92%, for two years in the 1950's. nt

[slackmaster]

30. And practically nobody paid it.

An income of $400,000 was almost unheard of back then.

http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php

[Scuba]

12. Are you implying that corruption exists within our government? Shocking!

[stray cat]

5. why not let them all expire and extend unemployment and continue funding food stamps

[jwirr]

6. I like your idea of compromise. nt

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Nah, make those taxes permanent...

Really permanent.

There should not be any retreat from this. After all, what they want to do to us would be permanent too, now wouldn't it?

Recommend.

[Make7]

8. I'd say just until the National Debt is paid off though. ( n/t )

[WCGreen]

13. Yea, that's a good one....

[DirkGently]

9. Hear, hear. Let's all oppose a "permanent" expiration of the Bush tax cuts. Just for now, ya know.

Surely we can all agree on this "compromise."

:rofl:

[RainDog]

11. and temporarily remove the cap on soc sec. payments

until the boomer population bubble passes, for instance.

[WCGreen]

15. I would like to lower the percentage of income taxed and matched for

those at the lowest end of the wage/salary strata, increasing it from 3.0% gradually to 6.2% where it is now.

I would also raise the cap 20% passed the point where the income coming into social security matches the amount flowing into the program as of 2007, the last full year before the depression/recession hit.

I would also stop the double taxation of earned wages or salary that now goes on. At a certain level, at about $32k of other income, SS benefits start to be taxed at a rate higher than 50%. Really, the tax isn't 50%, rather it is the amount of Social Security benefits that are included in your gross income calculation.

That just isn't fair...

[L0oniX]

16. I'd like to see their assets seized and have them locked up for treason.

They're clearly are working against Democracy.

[glinda]

17. Excellent idea.

[slackmaster]

18. I'd rather see more jobs becoming available for all the unemployed people

That's the real problem, and increasing taxes on anyone isn't going to fix that.

[closeupready]

19. Sure it would.

n/t

[slackmaster]

20. How?

n/t

[closeupready]

23. Consider Germany.

n/t

[slackmaster]

24. Your reply makes no sense. Germany relies heavily on Value-Added Tax, which we don't have here

Income taxes there are progressive, with maximum rates about 45%.



Germany has cut its corporate income taxes drastically in the last 15 years.



Germany is making a great effort to cut the structural deficit in its federal budget.



So I ask again, how would allowing income tax on the wealthiest Americans to go up (which I don't have a problem with, BTW) create jobs? Germany does have relatively high employment (about 8% unemployed, if you really consider that good), but that's because more people have jobs there (proportionally), not because high-income people pay higher income taxes than do high earners in the USA.

[closeupready]

28. Highly progressive income taxes > low unemployment. This is not rocket science, sweetie.

n/t

[slackmaster]

29. How? You're still not addressing the question.

What magical mechanism do you believe makes progressive taxes translate to high employment (as if 8% unemployment is something to be proud of)?

As far as employment goes, the German economy is at the moment the smartest kid on the short bus. The unemployment rate in Germany was in double-digits for several years prior to 2007. German tax rates aren't any different than those of other Western European countries.

This is not rocket science, sweetie.

How about giving us all a serious reply and cutting the condescending crap, closeupready? If it's really that simple, why can't you explain how it works? I am glad to admit that Econ is not my strongest subject. How about a little help?

[closeupready]

31. Progressive taxation puts more money in the hands of lower socioeconomic classes,

leading to more economic activity in terms of essentials, like diapers, toys, apparel, small appliances, etc. That is, a stronger middle class.

[slackmaster]

32. You're saying that taking money away from some people automatically means other people have more

Which is completely horse shit.

The issue is jobs. The poorest Americans already pay NO income tax, so charging more taxes to people who make more money isn't going to make any real difference to them.

It seems to me you haven't really thought this through.

[closeupready]

33. I also admit, like you, that economics isn't my strong suit. That said,

I firmly reject the notion that low tax states are 'better' than high tax states, or that taxation is evil.

If you take not just Germany but Sweden or Finland or many of the other Nordic countries, they are high tax states which are doing far better economically than our low tax economy. I suppose you'll argue that correlation is not causation, but these facts speak for themselves.

Cheers. :)

[HughBeaumont]

21. Continually giving the wealthy a free pass while adding to the debt isn't going to fix it.

The past 10 years of low TMTR hasn't really resulted in a whole hell of a lot of jobs.

We cannot continue to be held hostage by these ridiculously overprivileged people. We don't stand up to them now, we're NEVER going to.

[slackmaster]

26. I'm not a big believer in trickle-down economics, Hugh

Raising taxes on the wealthy is OK with me, but the problems that would be addressed by doing that don't automatically translate into more private-sector jobs.

[mmonk]

34. Unrelated to the employment picture.

If tax cuts help create jobs, then we would be around full employment by now given the income tax rate is at historical lows. Demand creates jobs. Without demand, you can have no tax rate at all and still not solve unemployment.

[grahamhgreen]

22. This needs to be stated every hour. Our leaders need to start saying it. Brilliant!

[Xenotime]

25. No. Raise taxes on them to teach them a lesson

[slackmaster]

27. LOL!

The only lesson it would teach them is to find other ways of increasing their wealth in order to avoid taxes.