Posted on 01/26/2012 4:42:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Remember the moment in 2008 when Charlie Gibson of ABC News asked Senator Barack Obama why he would support raising the capital gains tax even though "revenues from the tax increased" when the rate fell? Mr. Obama's famous reply: "I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness." Well, we were warned.
Here we are four years later, and President Obama on Tuesday night linked the term "fair" to U.S. tax and economic policy seven times. The U.S. economy is still hobbling out of recession, real family incomes are falling and 14 million Americans are unemployed, but Mr. Obama declared that his top priority is not to reform the tax code to promote growth and job creation. His overriding goal is redistributing income.
Mr. Obama endorsed the political ruse he calls the Buffett rule, which asserts as a matter of moral principle that millionaires should not pay a lower tax rate than middle-class wage earners. Specifically, Mr. Obama is proposing that anyone earning more than $1 million pay at least 30% of that income to Uncle Barack.
The White House says that if a millionaire household's effective tax rate falls below 30%, it would have to pay a surcharge—in essence a new Super Alternative Minimum Tax—to bring the tax liability to 30%. For those facing this new Super AMT, all deductions and exemptions would be eliminated except for charity.
The Buffett rule is rooted in the fairy tale that taxes on the wealthy are lower than on the middle class. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office notes that the effective income tax rate of the richest 1% is about 29.5% when including all federal taxes such as the distribution of corporate taxes, or about twice the 15.1% paid by middle-class families.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Obama wants to double the capital gains tax rate even as he raises the top income-tax rate to 42% or so.
So, Obama really is taking us back to the worst habits of the 1970s (REMEMBER THE STAGFLATION?). And not because he thinks higher rates will raise revenue, but merely so he can score points against Mitt Romney and stick it to the successful.
This isn’t tax fairness. It’s tax folly.
What is fair?
Fair to one person is unfair to another.
I think there should be one rate for everyone, one and only one exception (military pay during war/combat/police action /whatever) and no deductions. Whatever your income was x percent comes out in taxes regardless of who you are.
The sad part is.. Americans seem to be OK with that. Younger voters are into that “fairness-at-all-costs” ideal. Socialism is becoming more acceptable..even fashionable.
And that, along with the ongoing cultural degradation of this country, is the prime “success” of the government school system.
Capital gains is income from money you put at risk to lose....why put your money at risk if reward is small?
So why do I get taxed for interest income? Or rental income?
FAIR? Half the people paying absolutely NOTHING for the running (or ruining) of their country is FAIR?
BS
RE: Buffett’s secretary pulls down $200,000 - $500,000 per year in salary...
Buffet’s secretary owns TWO properties.
- Despite a heavy tax burden, Warren Buffett’s secretary last year was able to purchase a second home in Arizona, a residence complete with a swimming pool and a “professional PGA putting green,” according to real estate records.
Debra Bosanek, 55, and her husband Gerald bought the 2100-square-foot home in Surprise, a city outside Phoenix. The Bosaneks paid $144,000 for the four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath property (the purchase was financed, in part, by a $115,200 mortgage
PLUS, she gets a free trup to Washington DC to be feted by Barack Obama and to hear his SOTU speech.
Capital gains is income from money you put at risk to lose....why put your money at risk if reward is small?
Capital gains are taxes on paper gains which can disappear faster than a dictator in the arab spring.
...and if in the likely event a company you invest in should go broke, you may have paid years of capital gains taxes, on something that ends up worth NOTHING. At the very least, for the last 5 to ten years capital gains have been taxes paid for little or no gain. The horn of plenty is a picture of plenty in DEE CEE.
Tax the billionaires into the back shed so they can remember what socialism is. Leave everyone else alone.
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