no one should have that much money or power

is giving Trump hell every day with Wapo.

Stock "earnings" arent real until the stock gets sold.
But Amazon SHOULD certainly be paying some kind of taxes. I cant see how they're still losing money.

Not a good look for Bernie frankly -- and I'm a Bernie fan.

The underlying point is a good one however. Mega corporations pay measly taxes percentage-wise compared to the average working American.

If they are, I suspect the reason they are still losing is because of "tax attorneys and accountants" and the fact that they are constantly growing (revenue gets pumped into new or expanded activity/capacity/business expenses as a means to avoid corporate taxes). Which is why a corporate wealth tax -- not just a personal wealth tax -- makes sense. Tax laws have been manipulated by corporations and the very wealthy to benefit themselves via the influence their big money had and has on political decision making. The only way to ever recover lost revenue which equated to lost benefits for average working Americans whether in the form of wages, employer paid benefits or government provided benefits, is via a tax on the wealth amassed via big money influence over the past 40-plus years.

account for their value during tax time differently from individuals or sole proprietor business owners. That give Corps a huge advantage, any activity can be classed as either an asset or an expenditure required to keep a business viable, at tax time, that looms large.

to book my new roof as an expenditure required to keep my livelihood viable at tax time — at least by that standard if a fair playing field were to have any relevance.

Your new roof is a good example. Say you pay $50,000 for a new roof. The big corporation down the nearest highway to you buys a $7 million dollar machine. You new roof increases the valuation of your property, you likely end up paying more on property taxes, which under the tax scam, are no longer deductible to any meaningful degree - you only benefit from the new roof if you sell the higher value house. The corporation can immediately write off 20% of the machines price and save on taxes, also, because the company's local taxation issue is so complex, it likely pays nothing more in property taxes and likely get a tax break for locating to the state and city. So the deck is stacked in favor of the company.

I was recently at a city zoning meeting in my predominantly red city (actually trending more purple now). There was a large land trac proposal being discussed. What struck me was the chairman of the zoning board, who I had assumed was a staunch republican, asked out loud whether the buyer of the land trac would want tax breaks to make the project viable, his point was the city seemed to be giving out a lot of tax breaks and maybe should reconsider that policy. The guy's point stunned me, I didn't expect to hear such a thing from anyone on a red city's zoning board.

And the city/county would likely not even know you ever did it anyway.
Add on a room, close in a carport; those are improvements
Of course, some folks live in areas that will try to screw you in any way possible for taxes, so who knows. I just know it wouldnt fly HERE.

I just get it done if it needs it. I had to do 3 in the past 3 yrs.

Was that for multiple houses, or were you buying your roofs from Ned to cutrate roofer? One of the slimiest businesses around is roofing. There are good roofers, but also a lot of scumbags, especially here in the south.

Yes, after every big storm some of them come thru every neighborhood telling you that THEY can get you a new roof for FREE from your insurance company if you'll just let them handle it!

Unfortunately they take some elderly people for lots of money here in Florida. Often they have been run out of states that have better regulation. Have a good night, I have had a long day and am getting slow on the uptake, time to floss, brush and shower and then to bed. Take care.

It's only value is to inflame passions. In reality, Bezos doesn't and really can't make anything remotely close to that amount.

I suggest that people try owning a public company like Bezos is accused of (ignore the fact that "owning" a publicly traded company is impossible, it is possible to have what is considered a controlling stake, like Bezos likely has) and try cashing in the "value" of their stake. Such people will be in for a rude awakening.

want an Elizabeth or a Bernie. No one else has been courageous enough to take on the issue of the super-rich and inequality and to say these people earning THAT MUCH should have to pay a reasonable tax. It is simply outrageous that the richest 3 own more than the bottom 50%. I don't care who you are or what you've done, no one needs that much money.

And to get it, you'd have to make him sell ALL his stock. Wouldnt happen of course, but even making him sell a large chunk would hurt 100s of thousands or even millions of shareholders, because the price would tank. And the same goes for all the other "super rich"; most of their "money" is stock. Its not real.
Nobody thinks this stuff through & accounts for the reactions to the action.

I'm sure he's not paying cash.
My point remains; if you made the CEO sell a large block of stock to pay taxes, the stock price will drop & hurt all the OTHER shareholders.

He paid cash for the Washington Post.



"The Washington Post’s parent company announced Monday that it will sell the newspaper to technology magnate Jeffrey P. Bezos for $250 million in cash. Bezos is one of the wealthiest people in the world and the founder and chief executive of Amazon.com. The deal ends the Graham family’s control of The Post, which has endured for four generations:'

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/amazon-founder-jeff-bezos-will-purchase-the-washington-post-for-250-million/2013/08/06/1cc215c8-fea1-11e2-9711-3708310f6f4d_story.html

After those, the high worth individuals dollar amounts drop a lot. She needs around 5 TRILLION a year JUST for the MCA. Dont even factor in free college, student debt forgiveness, etc. JUST MCA.
So you assume ALL the super rich will pay her rate, which they'll find a way around, but just say they do. We're still over 4 TRILLION dollars short.
Its a pipe dream. It cannot be paid for solely on the backs of super rich & business. And it likely would never pass even a Democrat held Congress

Focus on BEATING TRUMP. Nothing else matters if you cant do THAT

I mean, I realize you're baiting me but how does it even make sense? The poster said they doubt he pays in cash.


I pointed out he made a very large purchases in cash. So where's the negativity?

Capital Gains taxes should be higher though.

Amazon will pay taxes when their accumulated losses from early years and research/development costs are offset by income.

Totally opposed to corporate money in politics.

...sorry, but I can't settle between screaming or crying. Then I settled for both at once!

I gave up on the first.

Is this Bernie Math or real math?

I was selling books too, on eBay. A financial article pointed to Amazon's debt and thought it was going under. I didn't buy it, I stopped selling books. Where did I miscalculate?

It's easy to fling out numbers that bolster one's political position, but what are the REAL numbers? Doubt they'll be forthcoming.

And, as has been pointed out, even last years number isnt "real"

This might work for his base but it’s truly ignorant the way it is presented.

Wouldn't want to see him treated unfairly or anything.

I don’t see anyone rushing to stand up for the billionaire.

the world's largest economies were corporations. Probably higher now.

You cant base a tax rate on wildly fluctuating asset values.

with people like him. And as i pointed out in another post, even if he and the other SUPER rich paid Warren's rates, the govt still only raises MAYBE 100 billion. And even that number is a stretch.
Just tell the truth and tell everyone that we ALL will have to pay more. And we'll have to pay more for products too, because the big business tax increase will be passed along to us as well.
Thats reality.

I still haven't seen anyone explain how this one would be substantially more effective than the other versions which have been tried.

In the EU, EVERYONE pays something into the system. Its many pieces to a big puzzle. If you take away some of the pieces you never complete the puzzle

It gets help to 94% of the country - and guarantees no people in need fall through the cracks anymore, or have to go through humiliating situations to get assistance.

Combined with other fixes to the tax plan (capital gains fixes, financial transaction tax), and we'll be headed toward being in much better shape. (will take some time to fix Trump's damage)

In no real world projection will you raise enough revenue by simply focusing on rich people and businesses.
You're a Sanders supporter, you've seen HIM say everyones taxes WILL have to go up. Nobody else will admit it & watching Warren tap dance around it with her ridiculous revenue projections is just sad.
People are taking their eye off the ball; beating trump.

that have many similarities to the Gilded Age. A period where greedy, corrupt industrialists, bankers and politicians enjoyed extraordinary wealth and opulence at the expense of the working class.

John D. Rockefeller is the richest American who ever lived. At the time of his death in 1937, Rockefeller was worth the equivalent of $340 billion in today's dollars. His company, Standard Oil, dominated American Oil production and was eventually broken up by the US Government for being a monopoly. Standard Oil was broken into smaller companies that you probably recognize today: Amoco, Chevron Conoco, and ExxonMobil. Rockefeller was the first American to ever have a net worth over $1 billion.