E.J. Dionne: In American politics, stupidity is the name of the game (Need to Tax the rich more)

Washington (Com)Post ^ | 07/29/2010 | E.J. Dionne Jr.

[SeekAndFind]

Can a nation remain a superpower if its internal politics are incorrigibly stupid?

Start with taxes. In every other serious democracy, conservative political parties feel at least some obligation to match their tax policies with their spending plans. David Cameron, the new Conservative prime minister in Britain, is a leading example.

He recently offered a rather brutal budget that includes severe cutbacks. I have doubts about some of them, but at least Cameron cared enough about reducing his country's deficit that alongside the cuts he also proposed an increase in the value-added tax, from 17.5 percent to 20 percent. Imagine: a fiscal conservative who really is a fiscal conservative.

That could never happen here because the fairy tale of supply-side economics insists that taxes are always too high, especially on the rich.

This is why Democrats will be fools if they don't try to turn the Republicans' refusal to raise taxes on families earning more than $250,000 a year into an election issue. If Democrats go into a headlong retreat on this, they will have no standing to govern.

The simple truth is that the wealthy in the United States -- the people who have made almost all the income gains in recent years -- are undertaxed compared with everyone else.

Consider two reports from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. One, issued last month, highlighted findings from the Congressional Budget Office showing that "the gaps in after-tax income between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the middle and poorest fifths of the country more than tripled between 1979 and 2007."

[SeekAndFind]

E.J. Dionne's argument :

---

Internal Revenue Service data show that the effective federal income tax rate for the 400 taxpayers with the very highest incomes declined by nearly half in just over a decade, even as their pre-tax incomes have grown five times larger.

The study found that the top 400 households "paid 16.6 percent of their income in federal individual income taxes in 2007, down from 30 percent in 1995." We are talking here about truly rich people. Using 2007 dollars, it took an adjusted gross income of at least $35 million to make the top 400 in 1992, and $139 million in 2007.

The notion that when we are fighting two wars, we're not supposed to consider raising taxes on such Americans is one sign of a country that's no longer serious. Why do so few foreign policy hawks acknowledge that if they lack the gumption to ask taxpayers to finance the projection of American military power, we won't be able to project it in the long run?

And if we are unwilling to have a full-scale debate over whether nation-building abroad is getting in the way of nation-building at home, we will accomplish neither.

[goodnesswins]

"The simple truth is that the wealthy in the United States -- the people who have made almost all the income gains in recent years -- are undertaxed compared with everyone else.

HEY...Dionne, you Pawn....you are an economic IDIOT.

[goodnesswins]

AND...furthermore....the super rich are the ones the DEMOCRATS PROTECT .... so go pound sand.....

[caseinpoint]

“the people who have made almost all the income gains in recent years — are undertaxed compared with everyone else.”

If this makes sense, then repeat the EITC. Those folks are literally the most undertaxed.

[avacado]

"Start with taxes. In every other serious democracy, ..."

Logic 101: start with a false premise and you'll arrive at false conclusion.

WE ARE A REPUBLIC!!! With a Republican form of government!

ARTICLE IV, Section 4

Section 4 - Republican government

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this 
Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect 
each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the 
Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature 
cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

[MrB]

I read the dead tree version this morning,
and EJ’s justification “reasons” really contained no reason for raising taxes on “the rich”.

[A_Former_Democrat]

Cut welfare programs
Cut Federal employees
Freeze compensation and benefits
Perform study comparable private sector jobs
Then lower all overpaids to 3% less than private sector compensation and benefits. See how many self-deport.
Cut Congressional perks
Eliminate all “affirmative action” and “diversity’ positions (ie. have them great real jobs)
Eliminate all benefits to illegals and their families
Deport illegals, encourage families to join them
Abolish chain immigration
Abolish birthright citizenship

Voila

[equalitybeforethelaw]

Hey, did anyone tell Ms. Dionne that the dems have no budget, aren’t going to prepare one and will call you a racist if you asked why they don’t do their job. Also, does Ms. Dionne know that Mr. Skittles has raised President Bushs deficit by a factor of 5. Finally, this is the WAPO, all they really know is MACACA. mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm

[gthog61]

This dumbass doesn’t realize that there are not nearly enough rich people to pay for the runaway spending. Any dunce with a calculator can run the numbers.

[saganite]

This is why Democrats will be fools if they don’t try to turn the Republicans’ refusal to raise taxes on families earning more than $250,000 a year into an election issue

This makes zero sense. The Republicans don’t have the power to stop anything the Dems want to do with the possible exception of a filibuster. Apparently Dionne has sufficient faith in the stupidity of voters that he thinks the Dems can continue to mouth the same old platitudes and the voter will cast the standard knee jerk vote. He may be right about Dem voters but Independents are figuring it out. Sorry EJ.

[MrB]

“poor” - democrats that seek the use of the State to better their condition without effort on their own part.

middle class - “republicans” who create wealth and pay taxes

super rich - communists who have special status in the law, who use the wealth confiscated from the middle class to subsidize their lifestyles and use the remainder to buy the votes of the “poor” in order to remain in power.

[SeekAndFind]

Hey, did anyone tell Ms. Dionne

I didn't know that E.J. Dionne is a transgendered American ... :)

[SeekAndFind]

This dumbass doesn’t realize that there are not nearly enough rich people to pay for the runaway spending

Such argument have never impressed libs from the WaPo or the NY Slimes.

Their reasoning is simple --- People should not be too rich to enjoy things in life others can't. And since they can afford more of their money to be taken to help the "poor and needy", we need to take it from them so that they can be less comfortable. Even if there aren't enough rich people to take from, every penny counts.

[equalitybeforethelaw]

“I didn’t know that E.J. Dionne is a transgendered American ... :)”

By definition, any outwardly male employee of the WAPO was required to hand in his testicles as a term of employment. I here it hurts, but then you get to go to great Georgetown parties and have people kiss your ass, so I guess its a trade.

[Falcon4.0]

Now here's a Fool who doesn't even consider that there is such a thing as too much Government spending. And I'm sure that if someone broaches the subject he'll immediately poke his finger at you and say something negative about G.W Bush and his spending. Well EJ, GW Bush's spending record is what happens when you try to "Get Along" with Liberals. They goat you into funding they're Socialist, Redistributionist Policies and then criticize you for it.

[caseinpoint]

“People should not be too rich to enjoy things in life others can’t.”

Some folks don’t seem to realize that almost the entire service class of “working families” depend on others too rich to do for themselves. Gardeners, nannies, waiters, hotel cleaners, amusement park workers, airline stewards, road tolltakers, taxi drivers, tourline operators, excursion boat captains, cruise ship workers, and millions of other jobs depend on people having disposable income above their basic needs.

Evidently a lesson not learned by the Dems during (iirc correctly) the Clinton Administration involved the Dems tacking on a steep tax for yachts. This had the effect of decimating the boat-building jobs so the Dems had to quietly repeal the luxury tax in order to save “working families” jobs. Reagan was right. The economy is trickle-down and anyone who thinks the economy tinkering isn’t as interrelated, if not more so, than ecology tinkering is living in a fantasyland (which no one will be able to visit if Dionne gets his way).

They also ignore the effect of seeing someone do well. Mentally-healthy folks in an open society have no problem seeing rich people enjoying the fruits of their own labor. Resentment and class warfare happens where people truly believe such a lifestyle is closed to themselves because of conditions outside their own initiative. Unfortunately, many blacks have already internalized this myth and our country is rapidly approaching the state where it is no longer a myth but true for everyone.

[junta]

A couple of points you ever meet a liberal who was willing to have less personally to create this utopia, I have not. Second these tax increases are gonna whack blue state idiots, come next year we will hear the hand to the forehead slap of all forehead slaps.

[Vinnie]

This dumbass doesn’t realize that there are not nearly enough rich people to pay for the runaway spending.

I recall seeing/hearing a calculation concerning how long the government could run if all the wealthiest American's money was confiscated.

IIRC it wasn't long.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Cut welfare programs
Cut Federal employees
Freeze compensation and benefits
Perform study comparable private sector jobs
Then lower all overpaids to 3% less than private sector compensation and benefits. See how many self-deport.
Cut Congressional perks
Eliminate all “affirmative action” and “diversity’ positions (ie. have them great real jobs)
Eliminate all benefits to illegals and their families
Deport illegals, encourage families to join them
Abolish chain immigration
Abolish birthright citizenship

Voila”

Kill the Department of Education
Kill the Department of Energy
Kill the Environmental Protection Agency
Kill the Department of Agriculture
Kill all monies distributed to countries that do not promote individual liberty
Kill all contributions to the United Nations. With the savings from that, move the UN to Gaza or Mogadishu. Sell the land to Donald Trump.
Cut all Federal employees overtime, accumulated vacation and sick pay. Government employees retiring get retirement pay based on the halfway point of their carrer and not the last year worked.
Sell all federal vehicles not assigned to protection or cabinet level appointees.

Double Voila