Friday, November 25, 2011

Krugman: The Rich are for Plucking

In his latest call for taxing the rich, Paul Krugman writes:
...the point is that higher taxes on the very rich could make a significant contribution to deficit reduction. They couldn’t eliminate the deficit on their own, but what could? There’s real money up there, and those making it should be bearing a share of the burden.
Which pretty much makes him what he says, tongue in cheek, that he is:
I’m a Sharia Jewish atheist Marxist who hates America!
Only a person with Marxist, share the wealth leanings, would be in favor of increasing taxes on the most productive members of society.

6 comments:

  1. I never understood why the answer to deficit reduction is always raising taxes when the real proposal should be reducing spending. Further, why is it that it is always the rich that must see their taxes rise? Why are we focusing on classes of people when we really should be demanding lower taxes for EVERYBODY. It's like the argument against the Bush tax cuts, people always say, "only the rich benefitted" and then they want to end the Bush tax cuts for that reason. Shouldn't the correct answer be to broaden the tax cuts to include everybody?

    I don't get these people sometimes.

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  2. Its knowing that government is listening to hacks like this that keep my buying gold every week. I hope to be gone from the US before 2014 and then wait out the revolution in some other country. If his ilk wins, then I'll learn to love my new home. I know lots of lower 1%'rs like me that have the same idea. I'm not of course talking about the Buffet crowd but those of us that own profitable businesses that push our incomes into the "evil" 1% class. We work hard, take lots of risk, try to avoid the destructive forces of government rather then exploit it and we just happen to make good money that usually gets plowed right back into our businesses to fund growth. Yet, week in and week out we are told that we are no different then billionaires and that we are not paying our share, even though government data does not bear that out. The funny thing is that this talk does not make me want to work harder and take more risk, but instead it makes me want to work less and take less risk. I actually use to feel good about paying my six figure tax bill every year (I know that's crazy) but now I just feel exploited and a sucker for working so hard. I'm sorry if paying more then 40% of my income in taxes to government at all levels is not enough, I just cannot stomach the idea of paying any more. Welcome to Obama's America where greed of a few has been replaced with a society fixated on envy and where working hard to afford a better life for you and your family has been replaced with a sense of entitlement. No thanks, I'll pass.

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  3. "I'm a Sharia Jewish atheist Marxist who hates America!" A bit rough, huh? Calling names like a child...that's what this once great country has devolved into. *sigh* Oh, and "...increasing taxes on the most productive members of society." Yeah, like the wealthiest are the most productive? Some are, I can't argue with that, but most rich people I know (I'm a banker) inherited the means to develop or further their mother/father's business, or simply buy up real estate and lease to companies at outrageous rents. Real productive, lemme tell ya!

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  4. Hey RW,

    I'm a fan, but i think you are off on this one. The top 0.1% make half of the capital gains in the country. They are taxed at 15%! Before you call me a class warrior, I have to say that it's not fair for a working stiff to pay 30% in taxes, and some billionaire, like Buffett, can hire an army of lawyers and accountants to shuffle papers around with their buddies in d.c. And only pay 15%. So why not make capital gains tax rate = top income tax rate, and just lower the top income rate to 25% (from 35%). And I don't believe the crap that it will punish the most productive. Buffett is paying 15% tax because he's giving billion dollar loans to Goldman Sachs and bank of America. Quit pretending that he is a productive member of society.

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  5. Taxes are fines that are imposed in order to punish people for earning money outside the black market.

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  6. Or what my associate says:
    Taxes are fines levied for being obedient.

    One has to be either drop-dead stupid or a murdering sociopath to claim they own other people's earnings. Only in a Democracy can this mass psychosis manifest.

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