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Bernie Sanders: "top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 95%"

Linuxcooldude said:
Of course he is, when he became a millionaire, he changed the narrative so he could exclude himself.
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So he will pay more taxes under his own plan. He also is pointing out the increase in wealth disparity and how too many now rely on government to help keep themselves at the afloat financially. Sounds like he is willing to pay more in taxes to help them along with his fellow millionaires and billionaires. He isn’t in the profession of trying to make more profits and accumulate more wealth while lobbying government for tax cuts. He is in willing to pay up more taxes to fund government to help people. He is for the progressive income tax that we used to have without all the loopholes for the rich.
 
eohrnberger said:
The OP appears to have a bad case of class envy and / or class jealousy and wants to see a Marxist style class war.
He apparently hasn't learned from history what such a Marxist style class war leaves behind.
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This is the same tired old accusation from people who for some strange reason think that wealth disparity can’t possibly lead to social problems or the rich having too much influence in government. The rich look out for themselves and a have no clue how the average American lives. They should have less say in government, not more. Most people only have a single vote. They have both a vote and a tone of money to lobby and influence government to get more for them a d forget about the consequences for the majority of Americans. The problem isn’t class envy, it is class arrogance leading to a government by the rich and for the rich.
 
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AJG said:
I agree with this to some degree. If your primary motivation for innovating is wealth, why would you continue innovating if there is no opportunity for greater wealth? Taxing billionaires into oblivion by creating a 100% tax bracket is a bad idea, but what if instead of 100% it was 50%, or even 90%? Would someone lose all motivation to innovate if an opportunity to create something earned them $500 million or $100 million instead of a $1 billion?
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I would be happy with a progressive tax that eliminates any loopholes or ways for the rich to protect their money that those with less can’t afford. I would also like to see lobbying cleaned up to remove any financial advantages. This act would be a good start.


Instead, we now have the rich directly involved in the current administration and doing things to help their own interests. Sorry, but the American people know best their own self interest and don’t need arrogant rich assholes deciding what is best for us. What is best for the rich is definitely not what is best for the average American. This is a strange belief of those in the authoritarian right. They call it trickle down while in reality it is being pissed on.
 
trumptman said:
Just wait until all the people realize that ending billionaires enough and then they come for the millionaires.

Funny how Bernie justifies his own wealth no problem.
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Bernie is willing to pay more in taxes.
 
LostInSeattle said:
So he will pay more taxes under his own plan.
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Nope, Bernie wants to create tax laws which apply higher rates to those with more income/wealth than he has.

Bernie Sanders Submits New Social Security Reform Proposal

It’s a refresh of a former proposal Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren submitted a couple of years ago. But it garnered attention this week when the SSA Office of the Chief Actuary published its response to Bernie’s request for an analysis of the proposal’s effect upon the system. According to...
www.savvysocialsecurity.com www.savvysocialsecurity.com


LostInSeattle said:
He also is pointing out the increase in wealth disparity and how too many now rely on government to help keep themselves at the afloat financially. Sounds like he is willing to pay more in taxes to help them along with his fellow millionaires and billionaires. He isn’t in the profession of trying to make more profits and accumulate more wealth while lobbying government for tax cuts. He is in willing to pay up more taxes to fund government to help people. He is for the progressive income tax that we used to have without all the loopholes for the rich.
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ttwtt78640 said:
The wonders of ‘democracy’ allow the less rich majority to decide how much the more rich should pay in taxes.
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It isn’t democracy that does this. But we do have a representative government meaning it should reflect what is best for all Americans, on the average. It will never perfectly represent us, but the power of wealth is allowed to tilt the scales in favor of the rich. So yeah, the less rich should be able to tax the rich when the rich try to use their wealth to influence government inordinately.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Nope, Bernie wants to create tax laws which apply higher rates to those with more income/wealth than he has.

Bernie Sanders Submits New Social Security Reform Proposal

It’s a refresh of a former proposal Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren submitted a couple of years ago. But it garnered attention this week when the SSA Office of the Chief Actuary published its response to Bernie’s request for an analysis of the proposal’s effect upon the system. According to...
www.savvysocialsecurity.com www.savvysocialsecurity.com
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That is how progressive taxes work.
 
devildavid said:
This is the same tired old accusation from people who for some strange reason think that wealth disparity can’t possibly lead to social problems or the rich having too much influence in government.
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What's preventing you from building your own wealth, if you cherish this alleged 'too much influence in government' so much?

devildavid said:
The rich look out for themselves and a have no clue how the average American lives. They should have less say in government, not more. Most people only have a single vote. They have both a vote and a tone of money to lobby and influence government to get more for them a d forget about the consequences for the majority of Americans. The problem isn’t class envy, it is class arrogance leading to a government by the rich and for the rich.
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By pushing the government to take these actions, aren't you exerting 'too much influence in government' the same a you allege the rich are doing?
 
devildavid said:
It isn’t democracy that does this. But we do have a representative government meaning it should reflect what is best for all Americans, on the average. It will never perfectly represent us, but the power of wealth is allowed to tilt the scales in favor of the rich. So yeah, the less rich should be able to tax the rich when the rich try to use their wealth to influence government inordinately.
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Why not tax all ‘excess’ (above a generous, yet truly standard, deduction amount of say $40K) annual (personal) gross income (from all sources) equally (aka at a single flat rate of say 25%)?
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Why not tax all ‘excess’ (above a generous, yet truly standard, deduction amount of say $40K) annual (personal) gross income (from all sources) equally (aka at a single flat rate of say 25%)?
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Flat tax rate is not a fair tax rate. Those at the lower income end of it are being subject to regressive taxation. Flat tax rates only have the appearance of fairness, not the reality of it. Progressive income tax works the best.

itep.org

The Pitfalls of Flat Income Taxes

While most states have a graduated rate income tax, some state lawmakers have recently become enamored with the idea of…
itep.org itep.org
 
devildavid said:
his is the same tired old accusation from people who for some strange reason think that wealth disparity can’t possibly lead to social problems or the rich having too much influence in government.
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It's not the fault of society that state agents auction off political favors to the highest bidder. That's an inherent feature of any democracy.
 
Napoleon said:
The socialist millionaire with three houses who’s never had a job outside of government says some people have too much. Ok, Bernie. 😂
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Plus he used donations he received to buy thousands of copies of his own book:



And they call Trump a grifter.
 
devildavid said:
Flat tax rate is not a fair tax rate. Those at the lower income end of it are being subject to regressive taxation. Flat tax rates only have the appearance of fairness, not the reality of it. Progressive income tax works the best.

itep.org

The Pitfalls of Flat Income Taxes

While most states have a graduated rate income tax, some state lawmakers have recently become enamored with the idea of…
itep.org itep.org
Click to expand...

My ‘two number’ (personal) FIT system is effectively quite progressive until annual income amounts are well above the median income.

Examples, based on annual gross (personal) income:

Annual income of (up to) $40K would pay $0 FIT for an effective rate of 0%.

Annual income of $50K would pay $2.5K FIT for an effective rate of 5%.

Annual income of $80K would pay $10K FIT for an effective rate of 12.5%.

Annual income of $100K would pay $15K FIT for an effective rate of 15%.

Annual income of $200K would pay $40K FIT for an effective rate of 20%.

Annual income of $400K would pay $90K FIT for an effective rate of 22.5%.

Annual income of $800K would pay $190K FIT for an effective rate of 23.75%.

Annual income of $1M would pay $249K FIT for an effective rate of 24.9%.

Annual income of $100M would pay $2,499K FIT for an effective rate of 24.99%.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
Why not tax all ‘excess’ (above a generous, yet truly standard, deduction amount of say $40K) annual (personal) gross income (from all sources) equally (aka at a single flat rate of say 25%)?
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I ran a thread suggesting something similar recently, though I put it at $200K.

Uncensored2008

Thread 'The Uncensored Tax Plan'

I propose a one line tax code:

All Income of individuals in excess of $200,000 shall be taxed at a rate of 40%. Income below the threshold is not taxed. There shall be no exemptions, deductions, loopholes, adjustments, or any other attempt to alter said tax. Congress shall adjust the threshold to keep pace with inflation every ten years.

Provide rational reasons to oppose this.

Oddly, the left didn't support it.
 
devildavid said:
Flat tax rate is not a fair tax rate. Those at the lower income end of it are being subject to regressive taxation. Flat tax rates only have the appearance of fairness, not the reality of it. Progressive income tax works the best.

itep.org

The Pitfalls of Flat Income Taxes

While most states have a graduated rate income tax, some state lawmakers have recently become enamored with the idea of…
itep.org itep.org
Click to expand...

False - those at lower income are not taxed at all.
 
aociswundumho said:
It's not the fault of society that state agents auction off political favors to the highest bidder. That's an inherent feature of any democracy.
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I don't know about that - but it is inherent to any progressive tax system. In fact, any type of direct taxation.
 
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