CBO: Millionaires tax raises $452.7 billion (more than enough to pay for Pres. Obama's Jobs bill)

I posted this further down on the thread, but thought it would be a good reply to your post:

Many of the CBO's claims need to be read in a different light.

The CBO can only make predictions based on the information its given. The CBO cannot make predictions based on human behavior. For example:

If there are 1,000,000 people in the U.S. earning exactly $1 million per year, and these people are taxed at 50%, the government would be receiving $500 billion from these people. If taxes are to be raised to 100% for these same people, the CBO would surely tell you that the government's revenues would increase by $500 billion... to $1 trillion.

However, the CBO can't predict human behavior. So, many of these people, knowing that they will be taxed more, will change their behavior. They will intentionally earn less. They will put money in other areas that can't be taxed. They'll get out of their line of work and invest their money, which will be taxed according to capital gains tax rates. Bottom line, if the CBO says that higher taxes will bring in a certain amount of revenue, that figure can't be trusted because the CBO can only look at the information it has been given and can't take into account how the new policies will change peoples' behaviors.

:kick:

Let's face it, the right has the media machine to propagandize on a massive scale; we don't have that. And bully pulpit or no, the president, alone, cannot fight the massive media manipulation that takes place by the $$$$$.

When the media chooses to cover the president, they make sure to have a dozen Repukes on to debunk anything he says. Not only that, he's got the professional left working against him as well. How do you win the war of words, when only one side gets out? :shrug:

I like the President's plan better:


Sure it's $3 billion less in deficit reduction, but when will be the next opportunity to end subsidies for these industries?

How Obama’s tax hikes would really impact the rich, in three easy charts


Also, here's a table with the after-tax incomes.

Charts posted here.

Sadly, it will go nowhere--unless the public demands public financing. So far, they have not.

That's only 45B/year... folks, our deficit alone is 1.5T/yr. This tax almost is dust in the wind. Hopefully we begin to realize that we need to raise taxes on everybody... Clinton tax rates were not higher just on the rich... they were higher across the board.

This "additional revenue" will be over a 10 year period. Very good point. But I believe that higher taxation doesn't have to be the only answer. We've increased government spending by well over 20% in the past couple of years. Even more in the past few. Surely, some spending can be cut. I don't see why not.

This can't be? I wonder how the Republicans will spin this?

Many of the CBO's claims need to be read in a different light.

The CBO can only make predictions based on the information its given. The CBO cannot make predictions based on human behavior. For example:

If there are 1,000,000 people in the U.S. earning exactly $1 million per year, and these people are taxed at 50%, the government would be receiving $500 billion from these people. If taxes are to be raised to 100% for these same people, the CBO would surely tell you that the government's revenues would increase by $500 billion... to $1 trillion.

However, the CBO can't predict human behavior. So, many of these people, knowing that they will be taxed more, will change their behavior. They will intentionally earn less. They will put money in other areas that can't be taxed. They'll get out of their line of work and invest their money, which will be taxed according to capital gains tax rates. Bottom line, if the CBO says that higher taxes will bring in a certain amount of revenue, that figure can't be trusted because the CBO can only look at the information it has been given and can't take into account how the new policies will change peoples' behaviors.