Honest question for the left

[ajax18]

A sustainable social contract says that those who make more must contribute more in taxes. When America was" great", in the good ole days that the far right claims to long for, highest marginal corporate tax rate was 91%. The top marginal personal income tax rate then was about 16%.

It still doesn't answer my question. If Robert DeNiro, Hollywood, Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, LeBron James were so upset about Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy, why didn't they just voluntarily pay 91% of their income in federal taxes? What exactly was stopping them from doing that?

[Gadianton]

ajax,

Try to learn something before you argue the point. I'll consider this response first, and maybe later read your longer post which no doubt involved zero increased education on your part since you wrote the OP.

charge a toll

Great idea. The most progressive state in the nation, California does a hell of a lot of that. As Chap pointed out to you, there is no strictly free market solution to the problem of roads. You'll never have a meaningful systems of roads built from tolls from the ground up, you ignorant water slug. The free rider problem exists at all levels: community, district, state, and nation. Imagine waiting for a toll system to pay for the building of our inter-state freeways.

But with a road system in place, there are certainly ways to improve the quality and fairness by quasi free-market solutions. With computer technology and A.I., who knows where increasingly granular solutions may take us.

[ajax18]

Great idea. The most progressive state in the nation, California does a hell of a lot of that. As Chap pointed out to you, there is no strictly free market solution to the problem of roads. You'll never have a meaningful systems of roads built from tolls from the ground up, you ignorant water slug. The free rider problem exists at all levels: community, district, state, and nation. Imagine waiting for a toll system to pay for the building of our inter-state freeways.

I'm not arguing that there aren't some public goods that don't work so well in the free market. While I still don't quite understand why my utility bill had to go up from $250/month in the summer of 2019 to $750/month in the summer of 2019 other than expensive green energy and the fact that many people couldn't pay due to being deemed nonessential workers, for the most part, I don't see the right arguing about paying for things that everyone benefits from, i.e. military.

It still doesn't answer my question. If Robert DeNiro, Hollywood, Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, LeBron James were so upset about Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy, why didn't they just voluntarily pay 91% of their income in federal taxes? What exactly was stopping them from doing that? If they're really worried about these free riders on public utilities, why not just give away 91% of their income and estate for that matter to people on means tested welfare programs directly that they so vehemently think compulsory taxes must be raised to pay for? How many of these people gave that amount of money to people who Trump was supposedly killing by cutting welfare benefits?

[canpakes]

A sustainable social contract says that those who make more must contribute more in taxes. When America was" great", in the good ole days that the far right claims to long for, highest marginal corporate tax rate was 91%. The top marginal personal income tax rate then was about 16%.

It still doesn't answer my question. If Robert DeNiro, Hollywood, Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, LeBron James were so upset about Trump's tax cuts for the wealthy, why didn't they just voluntarily pay 91% of their income in federal taxes? What exactly was stopping them from doing that?

Can you break down your argument a bit into just what it is that is bugging you here?

In fact, some folks do ‘gift’ the Government with funds to apply to public debt.

https://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/rep ... t/gift.htm

There’s not much of this going on, but you might ask yourself who is willing to do this.

In the meantime, are you concerned about a possibility that Robert DeNiro, ‘Hollywood’ (hint: is not a person), Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, and LeBron James have paid less tax that you did last year?

Can you break down your argument a bit, and be more specific about just what is bugging you about this issue?

[ajax18]

In the meantime, are you concerned about a possibility that Robert DeNiro, ‘Hollywood’ (hint: is not a person), Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, and LeBron James have paid less tax that you did last year?

No. I liked the Trump tax cuts. It built a roaring economy.

Can you break down your argument a bit, and be more specific about just what is bugging you about this issue?

It's a pretty simple question.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

I’m guessing Xanax didn’t bother to read this.

The OP reflects a worldview that is akin to that of the narrow minded, willfully ignorant and soon to be jailed far right individuals who broke into the US Capitol building on January 6, who were roaming around inside the looking for a politician to take hostage and deciding to take selfies and smear their feces around when they failed to find one.

Civilized countries operate under a social contract, some of which is legislated and some of which is by culture and tradition. Germany, where I lived with my family for several years is one such country. The Scandinavian countries and Australia are other good examples.

Having experienced the fruits of right wing fascism in WWII, and out of postwar necessity, Germany developed a social contract that respects the rights of all citizens, without regard for status or education, tries to ensure that all are educated to a level commensurate with their natural ability, and provides for most basic necessities of all who are willing to work. Those disabled, especially in conflict, are granted special status in many areas and taken care of.

The social contract allows for some degree of social engineering. For example, as a foreign worker, I was obligated to put aside money from my salary each month, which amount was matched by the government. This was so that foreign workers would not be reliant on welfare when it was time to return to their home country. To encourage a population sustainable birth rate, families received an allowance from the government for each child. At work, the basic salary could be substantially increased by performance bonuses according to agree upon criteria.

A sustainable social contract says that those who make more must contribute more in taxes. When America was" great", in the good ole days that the far right claims to long for, highest marginal corporate tax rate was 91%. The top marginal personal income tax rate then was about 16%.

Those on the far right who bitch about taxes should realize that their cult leader gave the rich on the right exactly what they wanted and screwed the middle and working classes. Consider that Trump's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced the top corporate income tax rate from 35 % to 21%. (Remember that it was 91% in the good ole days.) More than 80% of these tax cuts went to millionaires. The latest 2020 Corona virus relief package was even worse, with 99% of the benefit going to the top 1% in income.

The best response to the troll questions of Ajax is that what you used to call the left (which in the good ole days was the center) wants only to have a workable and fair to all social contract re-established in this country.

Since we saw what the right can do for social cohesion and sustainability on January 6, maybe it's time we gave some of the center policies and culture a try.

Let's leave the right wing selfishness, stupidity and pseudo-Christianity behind, recognize and acknowledge the value of education and rationality and move on as a country.

- Doc

[canpakes]

In the meantime, are you concerned about a possibility that Robert DeNiro, ‘Hollywood’ (hint: is not a person), Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, and LeBron James have paid less tax than you did last year?

No. I liked the Trump tax cuts. It built a roaring economy.

I’m not asking you if you liked the Trump tax cuts, so let me be more direct: do you believe that Robert DeNiro, ‘Hollywood’ (hint: is not a person), Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, and LeBron James have paid less tax than you did last year?

Can you break down your argument a bit, and be more specific about just what is bugging you about this issue?

It's a pretty simple question.

I think that depends upon your answer to my question above.

[Gunnar]

It appears that Ajax either doesn't understand how a marginal tax rate works or is deliberately dishonest about how it works. A higher marginal tax rate for someone earning more than $60,000, for example, doesn't mean that the individual earning more than that amount gets taxed at that rate for his total income. The higher rate only applies to the portion of his income that exceeds $60,000. A millionaire who is charged even as much as 90% or more marginal tax rate for the portion of his income that exceeds one million dollars, is still going to be a millionaire and better off financially than if his income fell below a million dollars. Thus there can still be significant incentive to work harder to earn more money. Not that it is at all reasonable for someone already a millionaire to continually aspire to ever more wealth, of course.

[ajax18]

do you believe that Robert DeNiro, ‘Hollywood’ (hint: is not a person), Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, and LeBron James have paid less tax than you did last year?

No.

[Icarus]

In the meantime, are you concerned about a possibility that Robert DeNiro, ‘Hollywood’ (hint: is not a person), Obama, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Warren Buffett, Bernie Sanders, and LeBron James have paid less tax that you did last year?

No. I liked the Trump tax cuts. It built a roaring economy.

Based on zero evidence whatsoever.

After 2 Years, Trump Tax Cuts Have Failed To Deliver On GOP's Promises

"The tax plan will pay for itself with economic growth," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.

It hasn't worked out that way.

"It was unbelievable at the time, and it's proven to be absolutely untrue," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. "The tax cuts were never going to — and have not — come anywhere close to paying for themselves."

Corporate tax revenues fell 31% in the first year after the cut was passed. Overall tax revenues have declined as a share of the economy in each of the two years since the tax cut took effect.

The tax cut also failed to produce a permanent boost in economic growth, despite promises from Republican supporters.

"After eight straight years of slow growth and underperformance, America is ready to take off," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said when the tax cut passed two years ago.

In fact, the economy grew 2.9% last year (2019) — exactly the same as in 2015.

The tax cut, along with increased government spending, did give a short-term lift to the economy and businesses temporarily boosted investment. But the rocket fuel burned off quickly. Business investment declined in the last two quarters.

=====

You've been gaslit by a career con artist. Tax cuts for the rich have NEVER resulted in a booming economy. Even during Reagan the economic gains were due to the Fed slashing rates, which was admitted by Reagan's own economic advisors.