Gravitymaster

Just ponder this for a little while. Every single American in this country with a retirement acct will eventually be paying capital gains tax someday. Raising capital gains is going to make it more difficult for that middle class guy that busted his ass his whole life to make ends meet with what he's managed to scrape up by age 65. Raising capital gains will effect everyone. Not to mention it "could" discourage investing and saving which could cause a whole other slough of problems. I make roughly 90,000 a year. With all my deductions I pay around 10-15% federal rate (rough guess), assuming I was going to retire now, off of a little less income, and the kids are grown and house paid off, I'm going to be collecting about 75% of my income at 15% tax rate. Manageable, but if we decide to stick it to the capital gainers, the possibility of me retiring before I die, is decreasing rapidly depending on how crazy we get with the rates in the name of fairness. Everything you attempt to do will have collateral damage on the middle class. Attacking 1% of the population at the cost of everyone with a retirement acct on the basis of them not paying their fair share when those 1% already pay 40% of the taxes, just seems like a path we don't want to go down. I honestly think we both want the middle class to succeed Kallend, but don't punish me in an attempt to bring down someone that's done better than me. Now if the country decides to treat capital gains as a regular income tax below age 55 or something along those lines, I've got no problem with that. But even that will have a negative effect on investing. If we want growth, we need investors. That incentive to paying less taxes by investing your money is probably a big part of what will ensure that my acct has grown to a "retireable" figure by the time I hit that age. We all benefit from that. But just jacking up capital gains tax under the premise of the "rich need to pay more" is going to hurt a lot of people. Really not relevant. Working for a living should not be "penalized" (to use your and gravitymaster's silly concept.) There is absolutely no reason that clipping coupons should get more favorable treatment than working. Neither is punishing people who saved their money and invested it instead of pissing it away on the latest toy.

Taxes are not punishment. They are the dues we pay to belong to an advanced society. It is a travesty that capital gains get more favorable treatment than the fruits of working. If you really believed that, you would want everyone taxed at the same rate. Your grasp of basic logic, or English (or both) is remarkably poor. Pretty funny coming from someone who thinks that someone paying $3.5 million in taxes isn't taxed enough and someone who pays nothing at all is over-taxed.

Pretty funny considering how you come across on here. Perhaps a look in the mirror would help.

Taxes are not punishment. They are the dues we pay to belong to an advanced society. It is a travesty that capital gains get more favorable treatment than the fruits of working. If you really believed that, you would want everyone taxed at the same rate.

Great. So we can put you down as supporting a flat tax and eliminating all deductions? Or would you favor a national sales tax? Oh wait, that's right. You are against anything that doesn't punish successful people.

Yes, but that's a very different topic - it was written that they can make good money, and you said until they wanted advancement. Now you're saying if they want advancement after abandoning their profession for a corporate life. Which is true, but getting higher salaries in a profession entered in their 40s or 50s is extremely challenging anyway. It may take a decade or two just to catch up to where they were as experienced trademen, and perhaps longer then they have left. BTW, you have to also measure the direct and opportunity costs of going to college, esp if it's just to have a backup option later in life. 4 fewer years of experience means less money for a long time. (This is also frequently seen for people with master's degrees earning less than those with bachelor's or doctorates - the time lost outweighs the gain) A saavy tradesman would also be able to invest the money not spent on a college education to expand their business and improve their skills. Most General Contractors I know who are in their 40's-60's don't crawl around in attics and basements any longer. They have journeymen or apprentices to do that work and concentrate more on running and expanding their business.

It's our job to make sure we elect people who will uphold that law, and to hold them accountable for it. Sure, it's not perfect. But we have a heck of a lot less corruption and suppression of freedom than many other countries. We also have more guns than many other countries.

Your response demonstrates exactly what I am talking about. I don't know any Republicans who have contempt for those who haven't done well. Most that I know would like to see them do better. OTOH, demanding reparations from those who worked hard for what they have only furthers the anger and hatered from the lefties and perpetuates the victim mentality. It is the left that has convinced the low output people they NEED government to solve their problems. Some of us reject having things done for us and some relish in it. I always found it interesting that Obama ran on "Yes we Can" when what he really meant was "but you need government to do it for you".

Perhaps a better description would be reparations. When you consider the contempt and at times, the hostility, for those who have done well by many of those who haven't been as productive, it fits well.

Some incorrectly use the word taxes when they really mean fine. A person is fined for being successful.

Yes. Can I state for a fact they will within a certain time period? No. Nobody can. They might increase taxes and some catastrophe might strike that would make it imprudent to do so immediately. That said, getting the US deficit and debt in check is the entire reason taxes need to be raised. How is that not obvious? I gave a few examples of government promising that money would be used for a specific purpose and then simply added to general revenue. Have we not learned the lesson of the "Social Security Lockbox"?

If you got a raise, would you use it to pay off your credit cards? It's difficult to say what each person would do in any given situation, but paying off your most expensive debts first is probably the smartest thing to do if you have come into some increased revenue. Same question to you. Do you think the government would use the money from a tax increase to pay down the debt? This question is at the core issue and Inthinkmthe main point of contention between liberals and conservatives. We have seen the government collect money for supposedly specific earmarks such as Social Secyurity, tobacco settlements etc. only to end up pissing it away on something else. Recently the State of Maryland had a referendum to allw Casinos. The touted purpose, as usual was to capture tax dollars that were going o neighboring States and use that money "for the children". The Comptroller for the State actually did a radio spot in which he told taxpayers that the money would not be used for educational purposes. The voters till voted yes on the bill. So, in some regards, we have Lucy holding the football and promising Charlie Brown that this time she means it, she won't pull the football away at the last second. Some of us have learned from the past that government will make any promises that influence the weak minded that this time the money will go to a stated purpose only to have the promise once again broken, and some of us have not. This, is the main reason for the resistance to tax increases. Particularly given the fact that we have not had a budget approved since Obama was elected. All the hazy promises without any specifics can not have a very positive outcome. So one more time: Do you honestly think the government would use an increase in tax revenue to pay down the debt?

Well, you can always emigrate to Somalia. Non-sequitur and a strawman rolled into one. Try a dictionary. I did, it tasted like cardboard.

Well, you can always emigrate to Somalia. Non-sequitur and a strawman rolled into one.

Yes or no question (not that I think you will answer). If the government raises taxes, do you believe the money will be used to pay down the debt?

You need to go back to school. Don't you know the correct response to any criticism about Benghazi is to scream "Racism" or to accuse the critic of hating women? Sheesh..... How quickly some forget.

All the more reason they should be raising taxes according to you lefties. Those damn Chinese aren't paying their fair share.

I think you would have not posted in this thread unless you could try and get a slam in. I also think the cut and paste parts of the article posted by Billvon were done one sided so as to push an agenda against Republicans. I think anyone who read the entire article would come to a different conclusion than Billvon wanted them to. Anytime I read an article that contains a lot of "undisclosed sources", "asked that their name not be used" is likely rubbish written by a reporter with an agenda. That about cover it for you?

How come you didn't include this part? Left a few important details out didn't you?

Do you actually give that article one ounce of credibility? Seriously?

you support "voter fraud" legislation which is tacit approval for voter suppression. The GOP comments quoted here remove the last pretence that it is anything but. So in Kelptown, attempts to prevent voter fraud equate to voter suppression? Does setting speed limits also run contrary to the DoI? While you are at it, you might want to get an oil change on the sarcasm meter.

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/painting-depicts-obama-as-crucified-christ.html

Well, the local Senior Center around here offers free lessons on how to speak Chinese.

This came out of the mouth of a comedian. Nobody is going to take this seriously, let alone defend it to the death. Oh my god-- Get over it. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/hes-our-man-yes-we-can-shocking-obama-song-taught-to-kindergarteners-at-tx-school/# http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz-xBxGieWs&feature=fvwrel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5DgJRerXhg&feature=related

I don't know it exactly but I do know that China's economy has slowed considerably and they feel they need to do something to stimulate it. Why are they cutting taxes instead of raising them?