11 Things The Wealthiest 400 Americans Could Buy Their Country

[BDBoop]

I just realized. It's not the poor who are the parasites of this country. Who sucked the life out of our economy and left an empty husk? Yeaaaaah. That'd be the rich, and the numbers prove it.

 

[1Perry]

I'm sorry TD. Just for you I will break down this deeply philosophical sentence. The chart was showing how much incredible wealth these people have.

Ummm, as pointed out the chart is wrong in it's accusations.

Using that chart just to explain how incredibly wealthy they are and what is possible with that much money to help out other people, is apparently greedy. I am not saying they should do it. In fact if you read my post, I suggest that plenty of people that are very well off in USA do indeed contribute much more to society than what is asked of them. I don't understand what makes it a "leftist" comment.

Did you miss where the numbers provided are completely bogus?

 

[Ockham]

I just realized. It's not the poor who are the parasites of this country. Who sucked the life out of our economy and left an empty husk? Yeaaaaah. That'd be the rich, and the numbers prove it.

Something you saw on MSNBC dear?

 

[TurtleDude]

What is wrong with my quote? Why does it bother you so much? Asking people to drop to their knees in thanks is as old as the Bible. Our society does allow the wealthy privileges that other societies do not allow. What is wrong about that?

permitted to Keep their wealth? for awhile

even Oldreliable67 who is about as even handed as they come on the econ forum noted how disgusting that attitude was

 

[BDBoop]

Something you saw on MSNBC dear?

No, see; here's the thing. I don't have a TV. I've said that I know not how many times. I just used my mind. It's a really neat concept, you know? To actually THINK, as opposed to kneejerk reacting.

 

[TurtleDude]

No, see; here's the thing. I don't have a TV. I've said that I know not how many times. I just used my mind. It's a really neat concept, you know? To actually THINK, as opposed to kneejerk reacting.

It is hard to see how real thinking could lead you to the conclusion you made about the rich-

 

[BDBoop]

It is hard to see how real thinking could lead you to the conclusion you made about the rich-

Well, of course it is. When one's mind has been stuck for as many years as yours has, it's physically impossible to see how anybody could reach an opposing conclusion.

 

[Paschendale]

Needs of the many outweigh the what?

 

[BDBoop]

Needs of the many outweigh the what?

"Pop quiz, hotshot!!"

 

[Иосиф Сталин]

I'd like to ask the guy who has that turtle in his avatar a serious question.

Where do you think rich people make their money? By selling stuff to poor people mostly or by getting them into debt.

Well, once you admit that, don't you think people being extremely poor (and this is where we're heading to right now) is going to be as devastating as or even more than capital (rich folks) fleeing the country, since the new impoverished middle class won't have any purchasing power left or they won't be able to pay back their debts.

If you strangle your pet, you won't be able to play with it anymore.

A patriot would care about the plight of the American people. Rich people aren't patriotic. The only country they serve is called money.

 

[BDBoop]

I'd like to ask the guy who has that turtle in his avatar a serious question.

Where do you think rich people make their money? By selling stuff to poor people mostly or by getting them into debt.

Well, once you admit that, don't you think people being extremely poor (and this is where we're heading to right now) is going to be as devastating as or even more than capital (rich folks) fleeing the country, since the new impoverished middle class won't have any purchasing power left or they won't be able to pay back their debts.

If you strangle your pet, you won't be able to play with it anymore.

A patriot would care about the plight of the American people. Rich people aren't patriotic. The only country they serve is called money.

Excellent post, sir.

 

[atrasicarius]

‪Money (That's What I Want) The Flying Lizards‬‏ - YouTube

its lame but funny

I always find it amusing that the people who whine the most that money isn't everything often spend so much time justifying why they should be given the money of others

Money is kind of like sex: It's only a big deal when you can't get any.

 

[UtahBill]

I disagree. If they'd ever truly been at the breaking point, they would KNOW that money is not everything. Money can't buy happiness, obviously! Who are the most miserable, bitchy, cold, harsh people on this board? The ones who claim to be rich. I don't believe we have a millionaire on this board, nevermind the alleged 'several'. Happy people who are well and truly blessed don't go to message boards so they can anonymously attack people hour after day after week after month. They have FULL LIVES. So - no. I don't believe we have anybody on this board who is actually wealthy, in any sense of the word.

We have a few millionaires here.....if you look at it right..
It takes about 2.5 million dollars to buy an annuity that pays what the wife and I get in retirement income. So even tho we don't have the 2.5 million in our hands, our income stream is equivalent to once having it. And that is not counting our assets, 2 houses and enough money to buy a third if we wanted it...
Not that I would advise anyone buying an annuity. They SUCK as an investment. Some insurance company takes your money, and if you die shortly thereafter, that money is kept by the insurance company, instead of going to your kids or grandkids.

And IMO, wealth should not be measured solely by how much money you have. I count each of my grandkids as an asset....

 

[FilmFestGuy]

Comrade, the money is sitting there because the Government is taking more... and threatening to take EVEN MORE.

I know you think Rich people don't deserve money, but look what happens when you take more from producers...

Show me one working individual whose taxes have been increased since Obama took office. There aren't any. Because taxes haven't gone up.

Again, you thrillingly compare tax rate hikes to lynchings, which only proves that you have no idea what's actually happening in this country.

But I do have some wood I can sell you for the cross you're trying to build.

 

[Catawba]

our corporate tax rate is the highest or one of the two or three highest

so you are admitting that the massive war on poverty is a failure

and taxing the rich more doesn't give the poor the tools to become self sufficient

most of the things that cause people to be poor has nothing to do with the rich and how much tax they pay

breeding before marriage, doing drugs and dropping out of HS isn't caused by the rich

Uh oh, you forgot to number your personal opinions. How can we take you seriously unless you continue to number your personal opinions?

Fact: U.S. effective corporate tax rate significantly lower than its statutory rate

"according to an August 2008 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO): "Statutory tax rates do not provide a complete measure of the burden that a tax system imposes on business income because many other aspects of the system, such as exemptions, deferrals, tax credits, and other forms of incentives, also determine the amount of tax a business ultimately pays on its income." In the report, GAO estimated that "[t]he average U.S. effective tax rate on the domestic income of large corporations with positive domestic income in 2004 was an estimated 25.2 percent." Moreover, in June 2007, the Treasury Department concluded: "If the revenue from tax preferences were used to lower the corporate tax rate, the rate could be lowered from 35 percent to 27 percent while producing approximately the same revenue."

Fact: World Bank study found U.S. effective corporate tax rate lower than those of several industrialized nations

In its Paying Taxes 2009 publication, based on its 2009 Doing Business report, the World Bank-International Finance Corp. estimated that the United States has a lower effective rate of current corporate tax than that of several other nations, including Germany, Canada, India, China, Brazil, Japan, and Italy. The publication also included a figure that compared effective and statutory corporate tax rates for several G-8 and BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, China] countries:"
Quick Fact: Welch overstates U.S. corporate tax burden | Media Matters for America

The war on poverty was undercut by the failure of 30 years of trickle down economics that concentrated the wealth at the top.

A small percentage are due to cultural causes but the great majority of poor are created by the practices that concentrate the wealth to a very small percentage at the top as I documented in my post above.

 

[haymarket]

permitted to Keep their wealth? for awhile

They are PERMITTED to keep their wealth. Other countries have not allowed that or have not allowed as much to be permitted. And that includes our own nation at other times in history. That is a reality of life.

And we can only look a short distance down the road and can not see the future - so to say for a while is the best we can do. Tax rates can change.

Again, you seem to be obsessing about this and taking it rather personally.

I notice you seem to really love it when anybody here agrees with you - even if it is only partially - but you have complete scorn for others who agree with me or my positions and dismiss them out of hand. You seem to think even tepid support for your position is of world importance while support for mine is irrelevant. That says something.

 

[sangha]

our corporate tax rate is the highest or one of the two or three highest

so you are admitting that the massive war on poverty is a failure

and taxing the rich more doesn't give the poor the tools to become self sufficient

most of the things that cause people to be poor has nothing to do with the rich and how much tax they pay

breeding before marriage, doing drugs and dropping out of HS isn't caused by the rich

The US is a low tax nation

Ten Charts that Prove the United States Is a Low-Tax Country

 

[TurtleDude]

Money is kind of like sex: It's only a big deal when you can't get any.

Are you speaking from experience? I will defer to your expertise then

 

[TurtleDude]

They are PERMITTED to keep their wealth. Other countries have not allowed that or have not allowed as much to be permitted. And that includes our own nation at other times in history. That is a reality of life.

And we can only look a short distance down the road and can not see the future - so to say for a while is the best we can do. Tax rates can change.

Again, you seem to be obsessing about this and taking it rather personally.

I notice you seem to really love it when anybody here agrees with you - even if it is only partially - but you have complete scorn for others who agree with me or my positions and dismiss them out of hand. You seem to think even tepid support for your position is of world importance while support for mine is irrelevant. That says something.

Its you and 3-4 others who constantly thank each other no matter how silly the post so it seems to me its your little group that apparently loves the mutual admiration activity.

 

[haymarket]

Its you and 3-4 others who constantly thank each other no matter how silly the post so it seems to me its your little group that apparently loves the mutual admiration activity.

If people want to LIKE my posts or I want to LIKE some of their posts - that is the purpose of that feature. But that is not the point and you know it. One person seems to support something you say and suddenly EVERYBODY is behind you. When three or four disagree with you, you whine and cry that you are being ganged up on and its just not fair.

Make up your mind about the importance of other posters opinions and stick with it.

 

[BDBoop]

Its you and 3-4 others who constantly thank each other no matter how silly the post so it seems to me its your little group that apparently loves the mutual admiration activity.

If I agree, that's how I say so. I don't want to post going "good point!" Additionally. Pot? Kettle. Black!

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

paid for by themselves, if they can have jobs....where are those jobs? overseas.....

See, if this were 3 or 4 months ago, I might of had some sympathetic feelings towards that but seeing as how my company is hiring and so far 50% of the new hires have quit because they're lazy, my level of caring has dropped to near 0.

It's sad that 50 and 60 year old men are willing to work but under 40's aren't.

 

[sangha]

See, if this were 3 or 4 months ago, I might of had some sympathetic feelings towards that but seeing as how my company is hiring and so far 50% of the new hires have quit because they're lazy, my level of caring has dropped to near 0.

It's sad that 50 and 60 year old men are willing to work but under 40's aren't.

Your anecdotal reminiscences are irrelevant, and not credible without documented evidence to support it. Argument by assertion is a fail

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

This is untrue, or at least deceptive. I did a little analysis last month: if you liquidated all the wealth of the Forbes 400 (leaving them broke and destitute) and distributed it equally among the presumed 300 million inhabitants of the USA, each person would receive...



Forbes 400 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1.37 trillion / 300 million = a WHOPPING $4,566 each.

What are you going to do with $4,566? Buy a used car, maybe. Pay off a small debt. Get the bathroom redone.

Well, then it is GONE... and so are the Forbes 400, they're destitute and done, you've plundered them once and now they're broke. Not only that, 1.37 TRILLION in CAPITAL INVESTMENT is also gone to the four winds, to pay for bathrooms and used cars... what will that do to the economy? I don't know... it's a spending boost but a huge drop in available capital, so who can say.

But the point is that you can only plunder them like this ONCE, and the end result of spreading the wealth doesn't make or break anyone; it doesn't pull anyone out of poverty. I have less debt than most, but $4566 wouldn't pay mine off. It would help a little, but not much.... and it is a one-off.

Don't worry Gosh, we'll take it all from the next 400. :doh

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Your anecdotal reminiscences are irrelevant, and not credible without documented evidence to support it. Argument by assertion is a fail

So is arguing that we should take all the money 400 people have, to buy everyone gas.
That's if not anything else, absurd nonsense.