Economists Say We Should Tax The Rich At 90 Percent

originally posted by: macman
a reply to: AlaskanDad

Soooo, 2, not 3 or 4 or five, but 2 Progressive Professors state this and it must be true.


Funny, as those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. And those that can't but are really full of crap go on to become Professors.

And an article driven by the Huffington Post no less.

Thanks for providing a regurgitated Progressive wet-dream.

Nothing like promoting the whole "They have more, it's not fair so we should take what they got" thing.

Many countries are living with austerity because a couple conservatives, who were mathematically challenged wrote a paper saying debt would destroy nations economy. Only to find out later that they made a simple addition mistake, that when corrected destroyed their whole hypothesis.

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

a reply to: MysterX

How true!

The Rothchilds should at the very least have their ill begotten wealth taken and the face trial for crimes against humanity.

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

originally posted by: AlaskanDad

originally posted by: macman
a reply to: AlaskanDad

Soooo, 2, not 3 or 4 or five, but 2 Progressive Professors state this and it must be true.


Funny, as those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. And those that can't but are really full of crap go on to become Professors.

And an article driven by the Huffington Post no less.

Thanks for providing a regurgitated Progressive wet-dream.

Nothing like promoting the whole "They have more, it's not fair so we should take what they got" thing.

Many countries are living with austerity because a couple conservatives, who were mathematically challenged wrote a paper saying debt would destroy nations economy. Only to find out later that they made a simple addition mistake, that when corrected destroyed their whole hypothesis.

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

Evidence of this?

Many countries face austerity for the simple reason is that they were spending more than they were taking in.

The only fair tax on income is an equal tax. Period! Everyone wants equality...race, sex, preference, etc. So since equality is King...a percentage should be established for everyone on income. But...traffic tickets (for example) should also be a percentage of income, as should many other things. In the example of traffic tickets, how painful is a $200 ticket to someone making millions as compared to someone making thousands?

a reply to: NavyDoc

That took ten seconds-

source

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

a reply to: crazyewok

No digs, I understand that.

Taxes are being used as some sort of punitive tool to punish those that are deemed as evil or having too much.

Taxes are not there for this.

Regardless what people are being pushed to think of the wealthy, having a Govt take from them and give to others is theft.
They are just okay with it, because it isn't being pushed on them, only someone else.

a reply to: JesperA

Bill Gates did effectively have a monopoly for a while but I take your point. I have no beef with super-rich, only those who have gotten their fortunes unethically or illegally which is the majority of the banker class. That money doesn't belong to them and needs to be "repatriated".
Even a 90% tax on income wouldn't make a dent in Gates fortune, it is after all a tax on money yet to be made. There is too much need for that capital to be reinvested in the commons - our roads, communications, schools, museums, libraries - those things that everyone can enjoy and prosper from.
I won't even start on those corporations that have made billions from no-bid government contracts rebuilding Iraq or outrageously priced weapons systems.

a reply to: WeAreAWAKE

imho The 10% flat tax is the millionaires dream, fair really?

Or just another attempt to lower their taxes?



Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

a reply to: AlaskanDad

Sooooo, debt is good and fine...

No wonder we are where we are. Thanks to people of your mentality that live in this idea that borrowing or stealing from the haves to give to others is good.

Tax a few, to give to others. What a joke.

a reply to: macman

Can you cite anything to back your opinions, or is that a belief?


Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
a reply to: NavyDoc

That took ten seconds-

source

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

That article did not say

Many countries are living with austerity because a couple conservatives, who were mathematically challenged wrote a paper saying debt would destroy nations economy. Only to find out later that they made a simple addition mistake, that when corrected destroyed their whole hypothesis.

at all. Where id the evidence that what you said above happened?

The article you quoted does say this:

The government allowed public-sector employment to balloon fivefold between 1970 and 2009. “The dream of the Greek family was to put your child to work in government because you will never lose your job. Maybe we did need pressure from the outside to change.”

Yep. EVERYBODY wanted a government and when large portions of your populace are a drain on the public coffers rather than putting into the public coffers, then there will be bankruptcy.

It also said this:

Bouchoutsos has paid his taxes, partly because he wants to start a car-rental business. But he also faces a mountain of paperwork and tight credit. “We needed change, but now it has gone too far and is killing the private sector,” he says.

"Mountain of paperwork" Hmm think that maybe entrepreneurs in Greece are being killed by taxation and regulation?

You also forgot this closing by the UMass economist interviewed:

Despite the flaws in that 2010 Harvard paper, Ioannides believes the central logic of austerity still stands. “The basic theory is we will reduce costs enough so we become competitive again so we can reduce deficits and live within our means,” he says. “It will be a slow process, but hopefully better days are ahead.”

So, the article says a GRADUATE STUDENT claims to have found some errors in a Harvard paper but the article does not give any indication of "cause and effect" on said Harvard paper as you claim. (Considering that austerity started before said paper was published should indicate this to a thinking person in the first place.) In addition, the UMass economist quoted in the article agrees with the central concept of the paper and agrees that Greece needs to curtail spending and live within it's means.

Methinks you either did not read the article in it's entirety or simply did not understand it.

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
a reply to: macman

Can you cite anything to back your opinions, or is that a belief?


Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

Ironic post is ironic.

a reply to: NavyDoc

One way to hurt the Soros' of the world is to reduce the power of government to give them what they want. If government (at least in the US) was kept to it's Constitutional constraints, there would be no bail outs because that is not something that government was authorized to do.

Hear, hear.

Now THAT is a sensible course out of the corruption and mire America is sinking into.

And it's not difficult either, all you have to do is rigidly adhere to the US constitution...what's not to like?

Win-win situation, the corruption stops, the corrupt fall by the wayside and the people get their constitution back intact.

Nice one mate.

a reply to: NavyDoc

I guess you missed this little gem:

One of Greece’s biggest problems  is tax evasion, especially by the rich. By some estimates, Greece could wipe out its 2013 budget deficit if its 1,500 biggest scofflaws paid up. Bouchoutsos has paid his taxes, partly because he wants to start a car-rental business. But he also faces a mountain of paperwork and tight credit. “We needed change, but now it has gone too far and is killing the private sector,” he says.

So once again I say:

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

and enforce it!

originally posted by: AlaskanDad
a reply to: NavyDoc

I guess you missed this little gem:

One of Greece’s biggest problems  is tax evasion, especially by the rich. By some estimates, Greece could wipe out its 2013 budget deficit if its 1,500 biggest scofflaws paid up. Bouchoutsos has paid his taxes, partly because he wants to start a car-rental business. But he also faces a mountain of paperwork and tight credit. “We needed change, but now it has gone too far and is killing the private sector,” he says.

So once again I say:

Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

and enforce it!

Your statement, which was that the austerity was caused by errors in a Harvard paper by some "conservative" economists (conservatives in Harvard? LOLZ) was wrong and not proven by your "source."

As for tax evasion in Greece. No kidding. Governmental corruption has caused the two largest problems of people being on the government pay and people not paying taxes. Everyone who can avoids taxes in Greece, from the guy who sells fruit to the business owner to the government official.

The BBC:

The Greek government is trying to recover billions of euros lost to tax evasion as part of its austerity programme, but as the BBC's Malcolm Brabant finds, many Greeks see it as their right to keep as much black money as possible.

The Greek economy is like an aircraft that's caught in a flat spin.

The pilot, Prime Minister George Papandreou, is struggling to regain level flight by trying to increase tax revenues. His critics say he is not doing enough to cut the bloated civil service.

Now the government is going to raise income taxes, Stelios the cancer specialist is going to be digging even deeper into his pockets to pay his dues, while his medical colleagues will find new ways of trying to keep as much black money as possible.


Demonstrators in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens
Greek public sector workers have gone on strike over the austerity plans
And if that means bribing the odd civil servant then so be it.

Stelios's wife signed off with this missive: "Until they give some incentive for those who actually declare their income and figure out how to get rid of the black money that most rich Greeks see as their right, they will never solve the problem.

BBC

Boston Globe:

But not everything has changed in Greece. In daily life here, cheating, bribes, and tax evasion are still a matter of course. Even anticorruption officials reputedly accept bribes, and only one Cabinet minister has gone to prison for embezzlement. At the bottom level, freelance workers and shopowners still hide most of their income, like a workman who got angry when I filed a receipt for the repairs he did at my house.

Boston Globe

So the Greek government, corrupt and inefficient, does exactly what you want--raise taxes, raise taxes, raise taxes, and the economy and money goes underground. "Black money" they call it and even less revenue goes to the state. You really don't know what's going on over there do you?

a reply to: NavyDoc

Although in fairness, the problems are not solely at the feet of those who evade paying due taxes, but also at the feet of those who decide exactly how the tax generated is put into use.

There is so much waste, so much back scratching and all the rest of it, that if they properly spent the taxes they did get in the first place, that would go a long way to easing things for everybody.

originally posted by: MysterX
a reply to: NavyDoc

Although in fairness, the problems are not solely at the feet of those who evade paying due taxes, but also at the feet of those who decide exactly how the tax generated is put into use.

There is so much waste, so much back scratching and all the rest of it, that if they properly spent the taxes they did get in the first place, that would go a long way to easing things for everybody.

That's the point. Corrupt politicians kept spending and expanding government, government programs, and government programs and used loans to float the bill to keep themselves in office and they eventually drove their economy into failure.

Tax evasion in Greece is a symptom of the underlying problem, not the cause.

a reply to: AlaskanDad

When you take in X, and your budget is +X, what is the outcome???


Amazing that you need an article or a Progressive Professor to bring credence to common sense.

I suppose you also need such things to make other decisions in life??

a reply to: NavyDoc

paper on austerity flawed



Lifes not fair so-

Tax the rich, they will not go hungry!

Austerity economics is not flawed.

It is misrepresented and poorly implemented.

Much like trickle down.