"You see, Rick, it's this way"

"You have your haves, and you have your have-nots." "That's the way it is."

That's how I explained it to my fellow Air Force comrade some 30 plus years ago when we were lamenting our lowly position in life. The Minnesotan laughed and said, "You may have something there, Jack", "and we are definitely in the have-not crowd."

We see a lot of greed and avarice these days. The gulf between those who live in comfort and those whom do not, has seldom been greater. The U.S.A. requires a turn in the direction of Socialism, much as it did in the Great Depression years. I think the top income tiers need to fall dramatically to allow American manufacturing to return home. That, coupled with protectionist tariffs against imported goods, should stabilize the general health of the nation's economy and alleviate the deficit spending. The top tax rate needs to be fixed around 90% for incomes in excess of 100K per year. Let's be real. If you're kicking down a six figure income, you ain't hurtin.

The Market was said to have fallen today on worries over the "Automaker Bailout". It's their own bailout that wrecked the rest of our nerves. The poor have suffered too hard and too long in this country. The common folk are the ones who need to be bailed out. The wealthy have had it too good for too long.

That's funny.

Would the person making 35k/ year take home more?

The 90% tax would apply only to income above $100K / year.

I don't advocate 90% taxes at $100K / year, but I definitely believe it's appropriate for incomes above $1M / year.

That way they would end up paying more than they make for every dollar over one million.

I could assume that you DO understand it, but if that were the case you'd just be trolling the thread, so I'll go with the theory that places this topic over your head.

The boom years were excessive. Real excessive toward the top enders. It's no secret. The hard times may be coming. All incomes will more likely need to deflate if manufacturing is going to be profitable once again on our shores. The cheap labor overseas is likely to get even cheaper in years to come. The U.S. isn't going to have a major depression and not share it with the rest of the world. That's how I see it. I don't know the answers and you may be right in criticizing my numbers. I still think those with the least have borne the greatest of the burden over the last 35 years. You know it's true. Remember all the seminars: How to Protect Your Wealth From Taxation
20 Ways to Hide Your Assets
Tax Shelters for the Rich & Famous
Death Tax: How to Have it all and keep it!

:woohoo: :applause: :woohoo:

and tax everything else at 50%..

people who have every cent documented on paychecks always get hit for every cent they make, while other who gain income from non-paycheck venues, can and do use loopholes to escape most of what they "earn"

You would only pay 90% on that last 5k, and lower rates on the first 100k. Not particularly defending it, just explaining what I assume he means.

The statement was: "The top tax rate needs to be fixed around 90% for incomes in excess of 100K per year. Let's be real."

What that means is that if you make 200g then the first 100 would be taxed regular and the 2nd 100 would be taxed at 90%.

Poor uneducated little bumpkin. Here you go:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marginal_tax

You're Welcome!

Since I got whacked with a 30% cut off of what was a 50% cut this week, I'm TOTALLY feeling you but that kind of rate would be insane. Maybe 90% on everything over a million. I don't think we should be looking to underemphasis the value of a carrot to run after quite yet.

more qualified in the field of economics. I think we need to get realistic about a graduated tax rate resembling those of the 1950s under Ike and socialist reforms to create more equality in earnings. Something has to be done before long or most everybody is going to have nothing.

When most everybody has nothing, it will really be something. Nothing good either.

For one, it destroys the incentive to earn/produce more. That's probably the biggest and most glaring one. Why become a research scientist when you can make just as much flipping burgers?

It's very much against the spirit of Enlightenment thinkers like Locke (Life, Liberty and...)

I hate to dig up this example, but we saw what happened in the USSR. No incentives.

from the broiler, the monotony, the tired feet, etc. I have done office work in a suit and tie that doesn't come close to what a burger fryer should be worth in pay.

I bet some people would pay 100K a year to avoid broiling burgers for their backyard cookouts.

Good luck with that...

(Top marginal rate meaning people at that time making over 1.2 million per year)

The reason those rates worked fine under Ike and people think they are nutty now is that people of that era were not as spoiled and selfish. We want it all..we want it all...we want it now...just like the TV ads say.

People weren't greedy back then?

And btw, the unemployment rate nearly doubled in less than two years. Even in today's recession, the growth rate of unemployment hasn't been nearly that bad.



BLS historical data

Except for race discrimination and sex discrimination, the average family was pretty average in those days. There was neither a great disparity in wages or housing in the city I grew up in. The guy who owned the box company and the guy who drove the bus lived on the same street, for the most part. There were not many people who made a lot. Maybe, California offered some luxury lifestyles, but cities in the midwest were pretty equivocal in terms of income and earnings. There wasn't the need for much jealosy, because those who might have had it sure didn't flaunt it either.

But what are you basing that conclusion on outside of what you experienced?

The point is that there is absolutely no metric to measure greed and its fruitless to try to quantify it.

That said, I can't think of anytime in history that people weren't greedy.

The 50's were after all the first post WWII consumer age, buying stuff they didn't really need, keeping up with the Jonses, etc.

That isn't greed?

came from direct descendants of the Great Depression. Our parents lived through horrible times. We didn't have much, but we were extremely grateful for what we had. No, there was little wealth exhibited in those days. I can only relate my experience in time. I'm sure Hollywood had plenty of wealth then. My father worked for a large trucking company. Even so, he could call the owner of this midwestern trucking company at his home if he had a great complaint. One icy night, he woke him up in the middle of the night to get a road crew dispatched to a lonely stretch of highway. You couldn't do that now. Too much mid-management. Business owners in those times were directly involved with their business and their employees' needs.

Then why did men like John Kenneth Galbraith (a liberal economist mind you) spend his entire career in the 50's and 60's decrying the 'greed' and 'monopolistic' nature of the big corporations like General Motors, General Electric, etc?

but I work for every fucking dime. Harder than most people. I am a roadie. I work 16-20 hours a day 6 days a week. Now your telling me I should be taxed at 90% because I work so hard? $100,000 isn't much when you are supporting a family of 5 with 2 disabled children. And some people actually work for that money. Your idea is beyond pathetic. There is no need for a tax rate higher than 50% and that should be anything over a million or any free money, like winnings or bonuses.

Maybe, just maybe it would be wiser to stop the government from wasting fucking money on $500 hammers then to make me pay for it. But really if you'd like to be taxed at 90% feel free to offer it to the IRS I'm sure they would be happy to take your money.

If you make 6 figures you have enough.








trying to get in the spirit here. /sarcasm

You can look it up yourself.

The top marginal rate was nowhere near $100,000-- even in the 1950s. Like I said, it was for $1.2 million and over adjusted income.

Ever heard of the phrase "Never get angry at a fact...?"

If you think it's right then you go right ahead and give up your 90%.

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gets too big then comes the revolution.

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