Posted on 07/06/2018 6:59:02 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes thinks the government should give cash handouts to people with the lowest incomes in order to fight income inequality. And he thinks the money should come from higher taxes on wealthy individuals and even big tech companies, like Facebook.
Hughes, 34, was one of Facebooks co-founders, along with Mark Zuckerberg and three of their Harvard classmates, in 2004. He was Facebooks spokesperson for the companys first three years, before leaving to finish his Harvard degree and then to work on Barack Obamas 2008 presidential campaign as a media strategist.
He says he's made "half a billion dollars for three years of work" based on the value of his initial stock in Facebook, and his "lucky break" is exactly what's wrong with America today.
That is indicative of a fundamental unfairness in our economy. Income inequality in our country has not been this bad since the Great Depression. And even though were reading the headlines that unemployment is at 3.9 percent and the stock market is at record highs, whats actually happening is that the median incomes in our country havent budged in nearly 40 years. At the same time stories like mine create an illusion of economic opportunity," he told Techcrunch contributors Adriana Stan and Tom Goodwin on their "Interesting People in Interesting Times" podcast.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
How about whenever an executive stock option is exercises, a %50 tax is placed on the difference between the price of the option and the value of the stock?
How stupid can people be?
How about we NATIONALIZE Facebook. Take all income going to private individuals now and send it to the government to spend on welfare programs.
He should send all of his money to me—I deserve it!
So he can set the example by giving 50% of his wealth to the government. There is a way for like libs to pay more taxes.
Lets just kill anyone over the average income and redistribute. Keep doing that until inequality in any statistic is resolved. Duh.
We will only solve inequality in this way. We must do it for the children. Which btw must be held to the same inequality requirements.
Nobody has ever properly explained why there needs to be income equality with regards to factual human nature and responses. Emotional fits and feelings are not law.
How about giving it to the Salvation Army?
They are a well run organization, and set up to help the poorest of the poor.
$6000 a year ? I can buy new 30” wheels every year !
Absolutely the best rejoinder to his nonsense is factual: We’re already there. We shouldn’t be, but we are.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article, “How Income Inequality Helped Trump,” that discussed the combined impact of existing taxation and transfer payments on spendable income versus earned income.
The numbers are both fascinating and discouraging. The Cato Institute took earned income by quintile and deducted taxes while adding back in all transfer payments (including welfare programs) to get spendable income. Essentially the bottom 60% of us now have approximately the same spendable income.
The numbers:
Bottom quintile—earned income 2.2%—spendable income 12.9%
Second quintile—earned income 7.0%—spendable income 13.9%
Middle quintile—earned income 12.6%—spendable income 15.4%
Fourth quintile—earned income 20.5%—spendable income 18.6%
Top quintile —earned income 57.7%—spendable income 39.3%
But what’s equally interesting, or more so, is the analysis they also did on full-time jobs held, and on holding two jobs at once.
Full time jobs: 1st Q: X workers; 2nd Q: 2.5X workers; 3rd Q: 4.0X workers
That is, the middle quintile had four times as many people holding full time jobs as the bottom quintile (to gain 2.5% more spendable income.)
Hold two jobs: 1st Q: Y workers; 2nd Q: 4Y workers; 3rd Q: 7Y workers
That is, the middle quintile had seven times more workers holding two jobs than the bottom quintile.
I found those numbers eye opening. Clearly, equality of spendable income has arrived. It’s also pretty clear why the vast middle is upset with the current system when they work far harder and see others with the same spending patterns who don’t work at all, or very little.
These guys have their wealth - what they are advocating is a 50% INCOME tax on those attempting to attain wealth now.
Has very little effect on them, and they get to become heroes to the left - can’t take this seriously
Is he talking an income tax? Which rich folks find ways around.
Or a wealth tax. Which is an entirely different kettle of fish.
Betcha it’s the former.
In any case, rich man, nobody’s stopping you from cutting a whopping big check to send off to the Treasury. Put your money where your mouth is.
I’m sure this little Pr!ck doesn’t donate one-tenth of one percent of his money to charity.
so take oath of poverty and give your half billion away, putz.
Lucky break? stealing consumers data and personal info and selling it to others for profit?
some business model.
No time to read all the comments right now, but I know at least one conservative who thinks such plans are a good idea, rather than all the social services, which cost us much more money.
I think one of the Scandinavian countries tried this, and then recently abandoned it. It would be interesting to know why it didn’t work. One can kind of guess (blew it all in one weekend and ended up on the street?).
Dummy knows nothing of economics and economic basis and bias.
Classic white guilt.
What's stopping him from donating 99% of his money if he thinks he has too much or doesn't "deserve" it? He'd still be a multi-millionaire.
Yet another example of just because you have a Harvard degree, doesn't mean you have common sense or sanity.
Chris’s money isn’t income, it’s capital gains. $500 a month for every U.S. citizen comes up just shy of $2 trillion-with-a-T per year. “The rich” don’t make that in income and confiscating that in property isn’t something that can be done more than once because the goose that laid the golden eggs will be plucked bald and served up as a dinner entree.
Can anyone name me a single Dem pol who supports a wealth tax...?
Just curious.
Dem voters doing ICE sit-ins...are a prime example. ‘Elites’ are tired of advertising on CraigsList to find them, paying them a salary and having many turn them down. Give democrat losers an extra $500 and maybe they'll 'protest for free' AND put corrupt liberal elites back in power.
If Chris Hughes wants to 'do some good' in the world - maybe he should pay his employees more...
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