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Originally posted by Hwed
I never said you were trying to bring the economy to its knees. I believe you have good intentions.
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Thanks for the belated benefit of the doubt.
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If you think the poor pay too many taxes, I'm fine with that. Reduce 'em. The bottom 50% (most of whom could hardly be considered poor) could all stop paying federal taxes completely and barely make a dent.
My issue is when you start trying to sieze money from the upper 50% who fund 96% of our federal government. These people (middle and upper class) are already bled dry by the government. The last thing the need are more taxes.
What good do you really think higher taxes will do?
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I never argued for higher taxes...read my last post to you again, where I list the things that I have stated. I don't really think that we need to tax any more heavily than we already are. There is plenty of tax money out there, it's just being used for the wrong things.
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The ultra-rich, faced with some ridiculously higher tax rate, will only hide it from the government in tax shelters that prevent them having to pay taxes, but at the same time, prevent them from investing in business opportunities that create jobs. They will thereby generate less income, and at the end of the day, government revenues will shrink.
You mean well, I'm sure. But you should remember that the ultrarich aren't hurt by changes in law. They have armies of accountants and lawyers to find loopholes and minimize the impact of tax increases. The people hurt most by short-sighted attempts at wealth redistribution are on the middle and lower end of the scale, who make a decent living, but can't afford the fancy tricks.
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What you say is true, and a clear indicator that our system is rigged in the favor of those with the most wealth. This is why incredible income disparities are harmful to our democracy and why both parties pander to the needs of the ultra elite. Rather than accepting it as "reality," we should work to reform the system and take money out of the political process.
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And like it or not, the lower and middle class are dependent on the upper class to provide jobs. Giving those people tax relief allows them to create more jobs. This has been proven again, as it has in the past, with the effects of Bush's tax cuts, which you're now seeing generate about a quarter-million jobs a month.
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I don't accept that Bush's tax cuts are the cause for our economic recovery. That's a near unprovable proposition when considering a system as complex as our economy. You can't lay all the responsibility for the health of the economy on the level of taxes in society. Why was the economy doing well under Clinton, before Bush's tax cuts? Wasn't economic success dependent on them?