President Biden says that 3,500,000,000,000 equals 0.

[wdmso]

This is why we tax the rich
the top 10 percent held 69.8 percent of total U.S. net worth (which is the value of all assets a person holds minus all their liabilities). The top 1 percent held about half of that wealth – 32.1 percent, while the next 9 percent held approximately another half at 37.7 percent.

The top 1% of Americans have about 16 times more wealth than the bottom 50%

So 10% have 70% of the wealth of American

(Republican senators and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, is a repeal of the estate tax.

The #DeathTax is an unfair tax that burdens family farms & ranches. Tragedy & loss shouldn’t be exploited to fill the federal government's coffers. Today, I led colleagues, including @LeaderMcConnell, @MikeCrapo, & many more, to reintro a #DeathTaxRepeal.

That’s a tax paid by only 2,500 of America’s 153 million tax filers, all of whom are (or were) among the richest Americans. Also, 100% of those on whom the tax is levied are dead when the bill arrives.

But Jim says we’ll we got a tax cut…. Again the 2 are not even comparable the only thing they have in common is the words Tax Cut .. The Republicans don’t like the infrastructure bill because it helps Americans and those Americans vote. And they can’t allow Biden to pass something to help Americans the True face of the Republican Party
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[Pete F.]

In Arizona, 72% supported the American Rescue Plan, with most giving credit to the Democratic Party for passing provisions including vaccine distribution, stimulus checks and expanded child tax credit.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

In Arizona, 72% supported the American Rescue Plan, with most giving credit to the Democratic Party for passing provisions including vaccine distribution, stimulus checks and expanded child tax credit.

most Americans support the government sending them "free money"

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

In Arizona, 72% supported the American Rescue Plan, with most giving credit to the Democratic Party for passing provisions including vaccine distribution, stimulus checks and expanded child tax credit.

Trumps tax cuts also greatly expanded the child tax credit, that saved me almost $3500 a year. How come you didn't post about what a good thing it was when Trump did the same exact thing?

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

In Arizona, 72% supported the American Rescue Plan, with most giving credit to the Democratic Party for passing provisions including vaccine distribution, stimulus checks and expanded child tax credit.

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Trumps tax cuts also greatly expanded the child tax credit, that saved me almost $3500 a year. How come you didn't post about what a good thing it was when Trump did the same exact thing?

As I have stated previously, I wanted Trump gone, he is, I'm glad and you are sad.

[Pete F.]

Sorry Jim,
You just eat the baloney and regurgitate it

Before the pandemic, there was 1 person worth $100 billion. Now there are 10.

Before the pandemic, those 10 people were worth $650 billion. Now they are worth $1.4 trillion.

Must have been all the hard labor and risk they took.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Before the pandemic, there was 1 person worth $100 billion. Now there are 10.

.

the pandemic has been a huge boon for china, democrats and big tech/corporate entities tied to democrats...hmmmmm

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Sorry Jim,
You just eat the baloney and regurgitate it

Before the pandemic, there was 1 person worth $100 billion. Now there are 10.

Before the pandemic, those 10 people were worth $650 billion. Now they are worth $1.4 trillion.

Must have been all the hard labor and risk they took.

"Before the pandemic, there was 1 person worth $100 billion. Now there are 10."

(1) so what? would anyone be better off if we burned all that money? They created it, they didn't steal it.
(2) how many are republican, how many are democrat?

"Must have been all the hard labor and risk they took"

You're being sarcastic, but that's what it is. You think you work more hours in a week than Jeff Bezos or Tim Cook?

You are deranged with jealousy, and consumed with the nonsense that one person's wealth was caused by another person's poverty. It doesn't work that way, wealth is not finite, it's not like a pizza. If it were, GDP would be constant.

Pete, just tell me this...how does it hurt you, if Apple's stock performance or Amazon's stock performance makes those CEOs richer? In what way does that have a negative impact on anybody?

Those people pay a boatload of taxes, they invest money which creates jobs, they spend a lot of money which creates jobs, and they give tons to charity.

How are you better off if those people were only half as successful as they are?

I don't think anyone needs a billion dollars, but I could care less if someone has that goal and then achieves it, as long as they do it legally.

"You just eat the baloney and regurgitate it"

This, from the guy obsessed with the wealth 100 private citizens in a country of 330 million.

If you want what they have, do what they did, or stop crying about it.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

"Before the pandemic, there was 1 person worth $100 billion. Now there are 10."

(1) so what? would anyone be better off if we burned all that money? They created it, they didn't steal it.
(2) how many are republican, how many are democrat?

"Must have been all the hard labor and risk they took"

You're being sarcastic, but that's what it is. You think you work more hours in a week than Jeff Bezos or Tim Cook?

You are deranged with jealousy, and consumed with the nonsense that one person's wealth was caused by another person's poverty. It doesn't work that way, wealth is not finite, it's not like a pizza. If it were, GDP would be constant.

Pete, just tell me this...how does it hurt you, if Apple's stock performance or Amazon's stock performance makes those CEOs richer? In what way does that have a negative impact on anybody?

Those people pay a boatload of taxes, they invest money which creates jobs, they spend a lot of money which creates jobs, and they give tons to charity.

How are you better off if those people were only half as successful as they are?

I don't think anyone needs a billion dollars, but I could care less if someone has that goal and then achieves it, as long as they do it legally.

"You just eat the baloney and regurgitate it"

This, from the guy obsessed with the wealth 100 private citizens in a country of 330 million.

If you want what they have, do what they did, or stop crying about it.

Rant much?

You’re right. It takes thousands of people working for almost nothing to make someone a billion dollars. Capitalism will eat itself.

The share of American adults who live in middle-income households has decreased from 61% in 1971 to 51% in 2019. This downsizing has proceeded slowly but surely since 1971, with each decade thereafter typically ending with a smaller share of adults living in middle-income households than at the beginning of the decade.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Rant much?

.

from the guy that cuts and pastes encyclopedic volumes.....

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

It takes thousands of people working for almost nothing to make someone a billion dollars.

.

this is stupid.....

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by scottw

well, we know that 99.9% of west virginians are uneducated hicks who married their sisters....soooo....I wouldn't put much stock in that nugget

Originally Posted by scottw

the pandemic has been a huge boon for china, democrats and big tech/corporate entities tied to democrats...hmmmmm

Originally Posted by scottw

most Americans support the government sending them "free money"

Originally Posted by scottw

this is stupid.....

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Rant much?

You’re right. It takes thousands of people working for almost nothing to make someone a billion dollars. Capitalism will eat itself.

The share of American adults who live in middle-income households has decreased from 61% in 1971 to 51% in 2019. This downsizing has proceeded slowly but surely since 1971, with each decade thereafter typically ending with a smaller share of adults living in middle-income households than at the beginning of the decade.

You still won't answer my question.

How is anyone better off, if the 100 wealthiest people were only half as successful?

Are you saying that if they were less successful, that their lost wealth would necessarily go to the less fortunate? It doesn't work that way, because they created their wealth, they didn't steal it.

Christ, what a stupid, devoid-of-any-logic, broken record.

I agree that it's not fair that there are billionaires and poor people. But one person's wealth has nothing to do with another person's poverty. They're not connected to each other.

Ands as Scott correctly said, even if you took every cent that the billionaires have, it's nothing compared to the federal budget.

If you dont have what you want in life, and you want to know why, the answer isn't on the cover of Forbes magazine, it's much more likely that the answer is staring at you in the mirror.

Your premise is stupid, it has no logic to it, and it's completely refuted by the math, which clearly shows that tweaking tax rates on the wealthy doesn't add up to much.

[scottw]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

Ands as Scott correctly said, even if you took every cent that the billionaires have, it's nothing compared to the federal budget.

.

clearly we should kill them and take their stuff and evenly distribute it among the people they victimized to create their wealth and the world would be a better place

[Pete F.]

Meanwhile
Rural Americans are dying of Covid at more than twice the rate of their urban counterparts —Exacerbated by the refusal of Republicans to support literally any policy or program that might deliver more accessible and less expensive care to their own supporters…

[Pete F.]

Just when did I say nobody should be successful, I have learned that trickle down doesn't work and that paying off politicians can get you a lot better treatment.

Pass the Buffett Rule. The Buffett rule, inspired by billionaire Warren Buffett, would require millionaires to pay a minimum tax rate of 30%. This will guarantee that the wealthy will not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than a middle-class family pays. It would raise $72 billion over 10 years.

Close the Wall Street carried interest loophole. Wealthy private equity managers use a loophole to pay the lower 23.8% capital gains tax rate on the compensation they receive for managing other people’s money. We should close this loophole so that they pay the same rate as others at their income level who receive their compensation as salary. This would raise $17 billion over 10 years.

The richest 1% pay an effective federal income tax rate of 24.7%. That is a little more than the 19.3% rate paid by someone making an average of $75,000. And 1 out of 5 millionaires pays a lower rate than someone making $50,000 to $100,000.

Conservatives claim that the estate tax is a “death tax,” wrongly implying that the tax is paid when every American dies. In fact, the tax primarily is paid by estates of multi-millionaires and billionaires. The vast majority of deaths — 99.9% — do not trigger estate taxes today.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Just when did I say nobody should be successful, I have learned that trickle down doesn't work and that paying off politicians can get you a lot better treatment.

Pass the Buffett Rule. The Buffett rule, inspired by billionaire Warren Buffett, would require millionaires to pay a minimum tax rate of 30%. This will guarantee that the wealthy will not pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than a middle-class family pays. It would raise $72 billion over 10 years.

Close the Wall Street carried interest loophole. Wealthy private equity managers use a loophole to pay the lower 23.8% capital gains tax rate on the compensation they receive for managing other people’s money. We should close this loophole so that they pay the same rate as others at their income level who receive their compensation as salary. This would raise $17 billion over 10 years.

The richest 1% pay an effective federal income tax rate of 24.7%. That is a little more than the 19.3% rate paid by someone making an average of $75,000. And 1 out of 5 millionaires pays a lower rate than someone making $50,000 to $100,000.

Conservatives claim that the estate tax is a “death tax,” wrongly implying that the tax is paid when every American dies. In fact, the tax primarily is paid by estates of multi-millionaires and billionaires. The vast majority of deaths — 99.9% — do not trigger estate taxes today.

"Just when did I say nobody should be successful"

I said, if they were less successful, who benefits?

No one benefits.

As to the Buffet rule, the problem is we differentiate (smartly in my opinion) between income and capital gains. Capital gains involves a lot of risk, you have to incentivize people to take that risk. Ordinary income and capital gains are two very different things, and wealthy people get a lot more from capital gains.

[Pete F.]

Oddly enough, the best schools are in Mass, Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia and Vermont.
Worst is easy, pick most any Republican state.
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[wdmso]

Income Inequality Is Not a Myth It’s a historical fact . I find it funny the right is always wanting to go back in time to the “good old days” of the 1950s @ 1960. Which happens to be when income inequalities were at their lowest .. fast forward today and some how income inequality is because of lazy Americans against successful people


The notion that we owe whatever economic prosperity we have to the genius of these high-performing frontier firms. So let’s get out government out of the way and let these frontier firms work more wonders. Let’s deregulate the economy. Let’s free companies from labor-protection rules that reduce their flexibility. Let’s limit collective bargaining.

As trade union membership declines, inequality rises,” notes the OECD’s Trade Union Advisory Committee. “And yet OECD recommendations have largely remained the same: reduce labor market dualism by reducing employment protection legislation for regular workers, decentralize collective bargaining systems — including opt-outs for individual companies — and reduce what is termed as ‘excess coverage’ of collective bargaining.”

https://ips-dc.org/whos-to-blame-for-inequality/

Jim your school choice is red herring .. and plays right into what’s written , trying to expand choice of those with resources and removing funds from everyone else
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[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by wdmso

Income Inequality Is Not a Myth It’s a historical fact . I find it funny the right is always wanting to go back in time to the “good old days” of the 1950s @ 1960. Which happens to be when income inequalities were at their lowest .. fast forward today and some how income inequality is because of lazy Americans against successful people


The notion that we owe whatever economic prosperity we have to the genius of these high-performing frontier firms. So let’s get out government out of the way and let these frontier firms work more wonders. Let’s deregulate the economy. Let’s free companies from labor-protection rules that reduce their flexibility. Let’s limit collective bargaining.

As trade union membership declines, inequality rises,” notes the OECD’s Trade Union Advisory Committee. “And yet OECD recommendations have largely remained the same: reduce labor market dualism by reducing employment protection legislation for regular workers, decentralize collective bargaining systems — including opt-outs for individual companies — and reduce what is termed as ‘excess coverage’ of collective bargaining.”

https://ips-dc.org/whos-to-blame-for-inequality/

Jim your school choice is red herring .. and plays right into what’s written , trying to expand choice of those with resources and removing funds from everyone else
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

why is school choice a red herring? it only removes funds from schools that parents ( customers) think are bad. why shouldn’t we de emphasize lousy schools and expand the benefit of good schools to kids who today are excluded from those benefits?

why are you afraid of letting people
decide which school is right for their kids?

i never said income inequality isn’t real. has anyone ever said that?

my boss chooses to work 70 hours a week. why shouldn’t he make
more than me? what’s unfair about that?

this union mindset that everyone makes the same regardless of the quality and quality of their work, is nonsense.

thanks to teachers unions, the gym
teacher gets paid the same as the guy who teaches AP physics. Stupid.

Who the hell said we all owe our entire economic prosperity to these guys? you’re making sh-t up. i said they create wealth, they don’t steal every dollar they have from someone else.


Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

this union mindset that everyone makes the same regardless of the quality and quality of their work, is nonsense.

thanks to teachers unions, the gym
teacher gets paid the same as the guy who teaches AP physics. Stupid.

Actually this isn't at all how it works Jim.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by spence

Actually this isn't at all how it works Jim.

the hell it’s not, i was a public schoolteacher. salary is based on seniority and credentials.

so if an AP physics teacher and a gym teacher each have a masters degree and ten years experience, in Connecticut at least, they make the same exact salary.

tell me where i’m wrong?
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[spence]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

the hell it’s not, i was a public schoolteacher. salary is based on seniority and credentials.

so if an AP physics teacher and a gym teacher each have a masters degree and ten years experience, in Connecticut at least, they make the same exact salary.

tell me where i’m wrong?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

You just defeated your own argument.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

why is school choice a red herring? it only removes funds from schools that parents ( customers) think are bad. why shouldn’t we de emphasize lousy schools and expand the benefit of good schools to kids who today are excluded from those benefits?

why are you afraid of letting people
decide which school is right for their kids?

i never said income inequality isn’t real. has anyone ever said that?

my boss chooses to work 70 hours a week. why shouldn’t he make
more than me? what’s unfair about that?

this union mindset that everyone makes the same regardless of the quality and quality of their work, is nonsense.

thanks to teachers unions, the gym
teacher gets paid the same as the guy who teaches AP physics. Stupid.

Who the hell said we all owe our entire economic prosperity to these guys? you’re making sh-t up. i said they create wealth, they don’t steal every dollar they have from someone else.


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Now do Epi-pens, insulin and pretty much the entire healthcare system.
Lots of wealth created there also, I guess when you increase the price of a drug by the stroke of a pen you deserve it.

[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

Now do Epi-pens, insulin and pretty much the entire healthcare system.
Lots of wealth created there also, I guess when you increase the price of a drug by the stroke of a pen you deserve it.

people who price gouge for medical treatment are unique, and bad. separate issue.

who is Oprah Winfrey hurting? If you don’t like Jeff Bezos, you can choose not to use Amazon.
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[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by Jim in CT

people who price gouge for medical treatment are unique, and bad. separate issue.

who is Oprah Winfrey hurting? If you don’t like Jeff Bezos, you can choose not to use Amazon.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Except that he’s sucked the money out of the market for anyone else and your only other choice is to mine the raw material and fabricate it yourself
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[scottw]

Originally Posted by wdmso

Income Inequality Is Not a Myth It’s a historical fact .

Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I could have so much fun with this....but I think I'll just leave it right there.....

[wdmso]

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-t...uality_0-5.png

[Pete F.]

So apparently the argument only works when it does otherwise it is different, “Damn you Enoch, you know I have two pigs”
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[Jim in CT]

Originally Posted by Pete F.

So apparently the argument only works when it does otherwise it is different, “Damn you Enoch, you know I have two pigs”
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

there are rare exceptions. people
who get richer by stealing or by exploiting customers’ desperation, didn’t create their wealth fairly IMO.

Most wealthy people don’t that category. Duh. So the argument works in almost every single case. i support laws which prevent price gouging in healthcare.

My CEO is close to being a billionaire. I don’t spend a second thinking about it, his extreme wealth doesn’t effect me, nor does it interest me. you’re obsessed with it.
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