Check out my latest article on the popular political website, Red County, entitled, "It Won't Be Heaven in 2011", where I write about the economic risks facing our country next year, exacerbated by the ill-conceived policies coming out of Washington, DC.
Less Government = More Freedom
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The Obama administration, learning nothing from the past, is raising, among other taxes, the top federal personal income tax rate to 39.6%, doubling the highest federal dividend tax, from 15% to 39.6%, and the capital gains tax rate by 1/3, to 20% from 15%. The death tax returns in 2011, from a one year hiatus, going from zero to 55%. No honest economist in their right mind can make a case that extracting money from the already hurting private sector, and giving it to the unproductive government sector, will turn this economy around. History shows the opposite to be true
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GOOD GRIEF. SUCH NONSENSE. FIRST, THE TOP RATE USED TO BE WAAAAY HIGHER. IT WAS 90% AT ONE POINT. WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? MANY OF THE RICH USED TO THINK IT WAS THEIR DUTY TO HELP OUT THE COUNTRY. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PATRIOTISM? IS IT ONLY FOR THE GUYS WE SEND OVER TO DIE IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN?
CAPITAL GAINS OUGHT TO BE EVEN HIGHER. WHY ARE WE LETTING PEOPLE KEEP ALL THE MONEY THEY GET FROM THINGS LIKE GAMBLING IN THE STOCK MARKET? THE PEOPLE WHO GET RICH THIS WAY ALSO ARE EXEMPT FROM CONTRIBUTING TO THINGS LIKE SOCIAL SECURITY, AS IT ONLY TAXES WAGE INCOME. THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE PAYING THROUGH THE NOSE. MANY OF THEM ARE PARASITES. THEY PRODUCE NOTHING, BUT TAKE IN MILLIONS.
AH, YES, THE DEATH TAX. YOU KNOW WHY THE "DEATH TAX" (REALLY CALLED THE ESTATE TAX) WAS AT 0%? BECAUSE BUSH AND THE RUBBER STAMP CONGRESS RECKLESSLY KILLED IT. THE ESTATE TAX NOT ONLY TAXES THOSE WHO HAVE MOST BENEFITED FROM LIFE IN AMERICA, BUT IT LIMITS THE WEALTH AND POWER OF THE ARISTOCRACY. DO WE REALLY WANT THE KIDS OF PEOPLE LIKE BERNIE MADOFF TO KEEP BILLIONS TAX FREE SO THEY CAN CONTINUE TO BUY OFF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS. DON'T THINK SO.
WHAT EXACTLY IS WRONG WITH TAXING THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE MOST MONEY?
BY THE WAY, DEPRESSIONS ARE CAUSED BY MONEY BEING CONCENTRATED IN THE HANDS OF THE FEW. TAX THE BEJEESUS OUT OF THE WEALTHY, WHO HAVE TOO BIG A SHARE OF AMERICA'S MONEY, AND GET PEOPLE WORKING AGAIN.
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteWhat you don't understand is that the rich are America's achievers. They work hard, take risks, and their success produces good jobs for other people. The more you tax them, the fewer jobs they produce. Think of the Walton family...owners of Walmart. If you tax them, they might not be able to produce so many of those $7.00/hour jobs with no benefits. A lot fewer people will be able to give the Walmart cheer in the morning.
Get with it, Anonymous. I know the federal, state and local governments are swimming in debt. Our schools can't afford to pay teachers, police and fire are laying off, parks can't be maintained, school lunch programs feed kids slop...lots of bad stuff is happening. But think of the alternative: rich people being required to pay their share of the taxes.
ReplyDeleteSince you obviously aren't a Republican, I think you would choose to have the rich pay taxes. You Commie. As for me, I agree with
Ronald Reagan. I want America to be a country in which a man can get really, really rich. And I say, we shouldn't have to give a damn about the losers in our country. They had the same opportunities to get rich, but they blew it. If they starve, tough luck.
I'm no economist, but didn't cutting taxes incessantly got us into this recession/depression?
ReplyDeleteSome good questions being asked here. I don't see any good answers.
ReplyDeleteDave, You're right, you're no economist. But, you don't have to be to get this right. No, the Great Depression wasn't caused by tax-cuts, which is probably the most ignorant of explanations. Explain to me how allowing those who create, innovate, produce, and invest, to keep more of their money can cause any sort of economic downturn and I'll eat my hat. That's asinine.
ReplyDeleteMatthew,
ReplyDeleteThe poster above didn't say the Great Depression was caused by tax cuts, but the current one. The government borrowed trillions to give tax cuts so the Fortune 500 don't have to pay corporate income tax, the billionaires can inherit wealth tax free, and the richest people could get millions in income tax cuts.
When the middle class and the poor have no money because the aristocracy is hoarding all the money, businesses fail.
Your assumption that the rich are creating, innovating, investing, etc. is often not accurate. A lot of the rich have been pretty self serving. Goldman Sachs execs grabbed $20 Billion in bonuses... AIG execs took huge bonuses from taxpayer bailout money after they screwed up. An awful lot of these characters have simply figured out how to manipulate the system to put more $$ in their pockets, without producing much of anything. Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase lined his pockets big time after leading the merger of Bank One and JP Morgan Chase that cost many workers their jobs, while making those who remained work much harder to keep up.
How about this guy--
A lawsuit filed by plaintiffs' firm Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman charged that Bank One CEO Harrison and the J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. board should have informed shareholders that the deal could have been executed as a merger if Dimon was given the top job. By putting his own interests ahead of Chase shareholders', the lawsuit alleges, Harrison spent $7 billion in shareholders' money so he could retain his post for another 24 months.
Compensation for corporate execs has gone through the roof, while they cut pay, eliminate jobs, and outsource to China. Even when their corporations crash and burn, they have golden parachutes to loot the corporation of even more money when they get fired.
Then, there's this guy...
Dick Cheney — Halliburton: When his vice-presidential ticket was punched in 2000, Cheney stepped on to the White House lawn and quietly gave up his title as CEO of a little government-contracting company named of Halliburton — with a $34 million rip cord on his golden parachute. Cheney was kept on the company’s payroll after retirement, however, and was paid deferred compensation for his years of service. He also retained around 430,000 shares of Halliburton stock, which eventually led to questions about his business ties to a company that seemed to have benefited quite well from the War on Terror.
Innovators, producers....or crooks?
I have to agree with anonymous (to some degree). Surely, running up trillions of dollars of debt during the Bush years had a lot to do with our economic troubles. You can't just keep on borrowing...the GOP is talking the talk now that they are out of power--but didn't walk the walk when they controlled the government.
ReplyDeleteI would also agree that much of the cuts benefitted the wealthy. Further, I haven't noticed the big companies that don't pay tax rushing to hire, raise the pay of anyone other than top management, or to lower prices for consumers.
Matthew, how are we going to get control of debt while continuing to cut taxes? Your campaign against the tax on Wealthy Estates continues.
I'd like to add to the discussion....
ReplyDeleteI know a guy who trades for a living. All he does is watch the prices of commodities, buy low, sell high. He makes tens of thousands (and more!) a month. But the guy does nothing that is useful for anyone else. He's just skimming money off the top. I'm afraid that an awful lot of the rich are like this guy--very rich, but not very useful. They skim money off other people's hard work. So why shouldn't guys like this pay lots of tax?
Dave,
ReplyDeleteThe thing I wonder about is, if it is such a great idea to get rid of the taxes on the rich, why don't the Republicans just come out and admit to what they're doing? Why all the sneaky names like: "Tax Cuts for Working Americans"
and "Death Tax"? Why not be honest about your thought that somehow, it will benefit America when the rich keep their money? Or perhaps, more accurately, you don't care about what happens to the average Joe--you just want the rich to be fatter and happier.
David,
ReplyDeleteYou see? Matthew doesn't have anything to say on the topic of cutting the military budget. Such a thing won't get one single GOP vote. They are all deeply in the pockets of the military industrial complex. We may not have money to feed our kids, look after the elderly, provide health care, or educate our young, but by golly, there is always enough money to build another missile, start another war, and set up another torture chamber.
PS....too many Democrates too.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeletePipe down! I'm sure Mr. Burke will let us know how he feels about the military when he gets a chance. It's not like he has nothing to do with his time.
Dave,
ReplyDeleteNo he won't. If you scroll down, you'll notice a criticism of Obama's job creation efforts. The road repair projects will be paid for by our grandkids--and they're brought to us by an "acoloyte of Alinsky." You might notice that there is no suggestion that the 700 military bases we have in over 100 countries and the 2 senseless wars we are fighting might cost our grandkids. War...any war the corporate elites want us to fight...is good and patriotic. It makes the cash registers hum in the military industrial complex.
Matthew is going to keep quiet on this one.
I also notice that there is no mention of the fact that our grandkids will be slaving away to pay off the trillions of dollars Reagan and Bush borrowed to give tax cuts that mostly benefitted the richest 5% of Americans.
ReplyDeleteInteresting stuff on this blog. Obama's health care is unconstitutional. ON the other hand, there's no concern expressed about the rogue Supreme Court who thinks corporations, but not we the people, should have rights.
ReplyDeleteSteve F.,
ReplyDeleteWho do you think works at corporations? Dogs? Cats? It's people! Hello?
I'm amazed at the fake outrage over Bush's deficits. What hypocrites! Obama has QUADRUPLED Bush's (admittedly high) deficits two years in a row, and you're happy as a clam. Here's your "logic": Bush's deficits = bad. Obama's deficits (4X Bush's) = good. Your credibility has crashed.
ReplyDeleteBush spent money and expanded the government like a liberal, so you libs SHOULD LOVE BUSH. He was not a fiscal conservative.
I am not liking what Obama is doing, but to be fair, he inherited quite a mess from G.W. Bush and the Rubber Stamp Congress.
ReplyDeleteBush, on the other hand, inherited peace and prosperity--as he himself admitted. Bush was obviously not a fiscal conservative. Neither is the rest of the GOP any more. Today, the GOP talks about fiscal conservatism, but has become the party of thieves. Government has become a big feeding trough for the rich and powerful--especially the defense contractors. Then, there's tax policy. Reagan pioneered the idea of borrowing money to give tax cuts to the rich, and Bush went at it with a vengence. You are still going at it, Matthew, with your support of killing the "Death Tax" the tax on billionaires.
Steve F.,
ReplyDeleteWho do you think works at corporations? Dogs? Cats? It's people! Hello?
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That's a rather simple response. Obviously people work at corporations....just like people worked for the East India Company. This company oppressed our Founding Fathers and led to the American revolution.
our Founding Fathers rightly recognized that corporate power poses a threat to a democracy. The FF's kept them on a short leash--until conservative Justices unleashed them and gave them rights that were not supposed to have. The corporation magnifies the power of the elites, and when out of control, they can be as oppressive, if not more so, than out of control government. Just one example: the insurance companies. Although they provide NO health care, they suck up billions and billions of dollars, and keep millions from getting the care they need.
David,
ReplyDeleteNot surprised, but you're still waiting for your response to your question about cutting the military budget. What did I tell you?