A well off college professor gripes about Obama's tax policies

When I first heard of this I thought "Aw poor little rich guy whining about making too much money. Cry me a river."

Then I got to thinking about it; this guy may be making just over $250,000 a year, more than I could ever imagine making but, from what he says, he is living a life not so much different from my own, just scraping by from paycheck to paycheck due to the massive school loans he took out in order to make the money he is making and on top of all of that, he has a HUGE tax bill, almost half of what he and his wife make.


Read his story and lets hear what you think of this guy;

We are the Super Rich

Our combined income exceeds the $250,000 threshold for the super rich (but not by that much), and the president plans on raising my taxes. After all, we can afford it, and the world we are now living in has that familiar Marxian tone of those who need take and those who can afford it pay. The problem is, we can’t afford it. Here is why.

The biggest expense for us is financing government. Last year, my wife and I paid nearly $100,000 in federal and state taxes, not even including sales and other taxes. This amount is so high because we can’t afford fancy accountants and lawyers to help us evade taxes and we are penalized by the tax code because we choose to be married and we both work outside the home. (If my wife and I divorced or were never married, the government would write us a check for tens of thousands of dollars. Talk about perverse incentives.)

We pay about $15,000 in property taxes, about half of which goes to fund public education in Chicago. Since we care the education of our three children, this means we also have to pay to send them to private school.

We also have someone who cuts our grass, cleans our house, and watches our new baby so we can both work outside the home. At the end of all this, we have less than a few hundred dollars per month of discretionary income. We occasionally eat out but with a baby sitter, these nights take a toll on our budget. Life in America is wonderful, but expensive.

If our taxes rise significantly, as they seem likely to, we can cut back on some things. The (legal) immigrant from Mexico who owns the lawn service we employ will suffer, as will the (legal) immigrant from Poland who cleans our house a few times a month. We can cancel our cell phones and some cable channels, as well as take our daughter from her art class at the community art center, but these are only a few hundred dollars per month in total. But more importantly, what is the theory under which collecting this money in taxes and deciding in Washington how to spend it is superior to our decisions? Ask the entrepreneurs we employ and the new arrivals they employ in turn whether they prefer to work for us or get a government handout.

Truth on the market

If this guy is forced to make cutbacks, it means the guy who mows his lawn will lose a customer, the lady who cleans his house will be out of a job and the private school where he sends his kids may lose the children enrolled there. If he is taxed to death, he will take a lot of people down with him, forcing them onto the public dole.

So, what do you think; does this guy have a point, or is he just a big rich whiner?

You know that argument...we are borrowing from our kids and they will suffer?

well, this is not a new argument. the debt ceiling has been raising for a very long time...wars, tax breaks, programs, etc...our parents and their parents were borrowing and it is us whom have to suffer to make things right.

If we don't pay off the debt, balance the budget, etc...then we will simply make the hole deeper. If we dont get things back to where things were during the Clinton years, then the hole grows.

A fiscal conservative...a actual one, not a pretend one, would see that these taxes are necessary to simply keep part of the union for ourselves verses a corporate ownership from the banks and china.

So whats the solution? the guy is making 250k a year. when my ex-wife and I were together, we were raising 2 kids, had a twice a week maid, a occasional sitter, and nice things, and we did not even come close to 80k. Clearly this guy does not know how to balance his own books...he is not being honest in his claims at all.

he would have a much better argument simply stating "I am rich because I worked for it and studied hard...I want to keep my extra money because of none of your damn business..its my money!"
At least then he is being honest and I can fully appreciate that...but to be intellectually dishonest to try and pull at the heartstrings of the poorer people...ya...whatever bub, your not the only one with a higher learning degree.

reply to post by SaturnFX


But it depends on where the man is living. If he is living in say, Biloxi, MS and making $250K/year, then yes, he has not the mental maturity to handle that much money.

If he is living in Malibu, CA and making that, he might as well be living on the salary that you did.

I am not defending his or attack your point, just the perspective of cost of living, which rarely anyone ever discusses when it comes to people making more money than they.

Another point: Say I make $60K/year and live in Las Vegas. That right there should be fairly comfortable with no real desire to make much more. But throw in that I pay 48% of that to child support and now that is no longer a comfortable wage.

While I tend to look strongly and favorably upon the data, knowing the whole facts helps us understand why someone is looking at the tax hikes of $250K/year earners in a different light....

$250k? He is making WAY too much. Look at the poor people in El Salvador. I think we should start taxation for those making $1 more than me at about 98%. We can give them public housing, food stamps and a very small allotment for fuel.

Why are we even having this conversation? With all that money this rich bastard was able to save from the Evil Bush tax cuts, he should be rolling in the dough. That poor little rich guy, he works his entire life and expects to keep the fruits of his labor? What a joke, people in Africa need some cook stoves that way Goldman Sachs and Al Gore will have some carbon credits to trade.

Yep, I had a thread on this very topic about 5 days ago. Have fun.

Oh, I think this guy should be forced to give up all his property and wages so Bill Clinton can enact his Global Initiative. You know all those folks in DC are going to put your labor to good use. They need as many castles, yachts, and jets as they can get their hands on.

reply to post by saltheart foamfollower


Yep, TPTB want us to fall for all of their class warfare sctick without ever hearing about life from the other guy's point of view.

One thing we should keep in mind is that most of those folks out there making 6 figure salaries had to go to school for a very long time to get the skills needed to bring in that type of money. The amount they owe on their college loans seems astronomical from the average Joe's point of view and we have to keep in mind that a large portion of their income goes to paying back those student loans.

I was shocked to read that that guy had to pay $100,000 in taxes every year. That's OUTRAGEOUS! I thought the tax deductions from my paycheck were bad, at least I usually end up getting a big tax return every year. To think of all that work and effort going down the tubes to support some gubment project just makes me sick.

After hearing that guy's story, I don't think I envy the rich as much any more.


Now the SUPER rich, them I still envy. They have the dough to hire expensive lawyers and accountants to avoid paying the taxes.

reply to post by FortAnthem


I made in the upper middle class for a few years. Decide the salary and working 10-13 hours a day, 6 days a week and getting 50% of my wages taken on income taxes alone was not worth it.

If you add SS, Medicare, Federal Income taxes, State Income taxes together, you will get to what I was paying.

Add onto that the amount that I was paying extra for things because I was working such outrageous hours, you get to the point that you realize you can make just as much not working that kind of job.

I have been thinking of doing a min max flow chart on wages and taxation to see exactly where the break even points are. What I am talking about, let us say you make say 75k and end up with only 37k after taxes. So someone making less could actually make just as much. Because I had so many hours, I was eating out, using laundry service and other type things because I did not have the time and they were costing me big. But if I wanted to be able to relax at all and sleep, I had to do these things.

Oh well, now that I am making a lot less and have a lot more time, I am actually able to relax a little more. At least until I read the news.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by saltheart foamfollower

 

I was shocked to read that that guy had to pay $100,000 in taxes every year. That's OUTRAGEOUS!

100k on a 250k income?

I'm skeptical, to say the least.

show me his tax records.

The USA has some of the lowest levels of taxes in the developed world.

en.wikipedia.org...

upload.wikimedia.org...

When you add up the Federal, state and local city taxes, it all adds up pretty quickly. It is easy to believe that he could be paying close to half his income in taxes. If you include property taxes, it could be even more than 50%

Originally posted by justadood

edit on 23-9-2010 by justadood because: take out dancing banana

That's just a little too much personal information don't you think?

What you do at home in front of your computer is your own personal business, we don't need to hear about it here.

Originally posted by ownbestenemy
reply to post by SaturnFX

 

But it depends on where the man is living. If he is living in say, Biloxi, MS and making $250K/year, then yes, he has not the mental maturity to handle that much money.

If he is living in Malibu, CA and making that, he might as well be living on the salary that you did.

oh, and I understand the cost of living argument of course.

however, I was making it easy considering this is a American majority board. converted it...I was in england at the time, about 20 minutes outside the heart of London in a posh area..the cost of living there was stupid high. imagine 30+ million people trying to crunch into a tiny little spot on a island.

the guy simply has no money managment skills.

Originally posted by FortAnthem

When you add up the Federal, state and local city taxes, it all adds up pretty quickly. It is easy to believe that he could be paying close to half his income in taxes. If you include property taxes, it could be even more than 50%

it "could" be? based on what?

besides, how do state and local taxes have anything to do with 'Obama"?

I think this guy is full of poop, and so are his numbers. Show me proof.

reply to post by SaturnFX


You make a good point, it could be bad money management but, like Saltheart said, in order to make that much money they need to spend a lot of time at work and don't have the time to do the day to day chores and this adds to their expenses. All that outsourcing puts a mighty strain on the wallet. At some point, it becomes counterproductive working all those hours to pay some other guy to do the stuff you should be doing at home just so you can have a few hours of rest and relaxation.

Maybe its not so much a case of bad money management as it is a case of misplaced priorities. Seeking weatlh and a good career demands a high price in time and resources. At some point people need to realize that true wealth isn't measured in dollars and cents; its the quality of life that is most important.

reply to post by FortAnthem


If your main point is that people who appear 'rich' to us hand-to-mouth working class folks are actually not all that comfortable within their own cost of living ()which includes college debt the willingly took on), then you have a point.

But the notion that this guy pays nearly half of his income in taxes? Not likely.

reply to post by justadood


Well, I haven't examined his tax records or anything. He may be exaggerating a bit as people tend to do when they are trying to get a point across although I do believe his claim that taxes take a significant chunk out of his income.

Whether its close to 50% or somewhat less, the point he is trying to get across is that if Obama's taxes are enacted, a lot of people will end up hurting, especially if the "rich" are forced to cut back on their spending. If they have to let go some of the people they hire to help out, it could have a snowball effect on the economy.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
reply to post by justadood

 

Whether its close to 50% or somewhat less,

well, im not saying i think it's 'slightly less'. i'm saying i question the validity of his claim entirely.

the point he is trying to get across is that if Obama's taxes are enacted, a lot of people will end up hurting, especially if the "rich" are forced to cut back on their spending. If they have to let go some of the people they hire to help out, it could have a snowball effect on the economy.

that is a theory, to be sure. But if you actually study what many economists are saying, its not that simple. our 'economy' at the moment is bascially the service sector. That is unsustainable. Just because a rich person (this guy is rich) isnt able to buy a new flat screen, or has to pay his maid a little less, this will not have a 'snowball effect' on the economy. What WILL undoubtedly have a snowball effect on the economy is if we keep pretending that the MASSIVE infrastructure that we ALL benefit from in this country is not actually essential to commerce.

Government investment of tax dollars in programs that actually grows a sustainable economy (one based on manufacturing, not consumption) is ESSENTIAL to ensuring our economy exists in the future. Giving a negligible amount of tax dollars back to those at the higher levels of income will not stimulate that sort of growth. It MIGHT keep a couple mcdonalds employees working, or maybe employ a few part time wal mart employess, but it wont grow our economy AT ALL.