Comments on: On Government Shutdowns, Giraffe Manure, and the Larger Debate

By: green.goddess

green.goddess — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 17:16:58 +0000

Posted by: Jose | Apr 5, 2011 10:42:36 PM posted: “Yes, it is GG’s job to redistribute that wealth so that people who didn’t take risks to earn it still get some, deserved or not. Oh, and you’re confusing income and wealth. Or do you not know the difference? “
OK, Jose The Libertarian, let’s begin with a definition of “wealth” from the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C.:
“The source of wealth has changed over the past 30 years; in the past, wealth came from ownership. Today it comes increasingly from income.”
Investment companies that publish a financial survey of the world’s wealthiest people. These “High Net Worth Individuals” or HNWI, are people with at least $1 Million of “investible assets”.
Note this “investible assets” does not include “wealth” such as the value of their homes, jewels, cars, yachts, top hats, and other tangible goods.
Approximately 2.9 Million HNWIs live in the US. That’s less the 1% of all US citizens. Their “investible assets” totaled $12.09 TRILLION. In 2009, the total US annual budget deficit was $1.7 TRILLION.
Had the US government levied a modest 15% tax on ONLY the wealthiest 1%, the US could have erased the 2009 deficit.
And Jose, only in your Libertarian fantasy land did the1% wealthy “take risks” or “earn it”. Sure they may have worked hard to start a business or invent something at one time. But now their income is now mostly from inheritance, tax loopholes, capital gains, stock options, and moving money around. Hedge fund managers alone have made BILLIONS in personal income by shorting subprime mortgages, betting on the pure misery of others.
TAX EM

By: Jose

Jose — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 02:42:36 +0000

Yes, it is GG’s job to redistribute that wealth so that people who didn’t take risks to earn it still get some, deserved or not.
Oh, and you’re confusing income and wealth. Or do you not know the difference?

By: green.goddess

green.goddess — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:51:25 +0000

Posted by: Chuck | Apr 5, 2011 3:23:41 PM posted: “How much of your share is paid for by the wealthy who you hate? The top 10% pays 70% of all federal income taxes.”
The top 10% pays 70% of the taxes because they own 72% of the wealth !
The entire bottom HALF of America’s population owns only 2.5% of the nation’s wealth – these people are poor, unemployed, old, handicapped, or little kids on welfare – people most touched by this Great Recession. Americans who cannot afford to pick up the slack when food stamps or heating assistance programs are cut, just so our nation can continue Bush era tax cuts.
Sorry Chuck, I don’t “hate” the wealthy – they did just fine under Clinton era tax levels, and they can pitch in again. Tax em.

By: Parallex View

Parallex View — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 21:26:30 +0000

With all due respect GG, The Dems have had their chance and they blew it…..

By: Justin

Justin — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:13:45 +0000

Posted by: progressive mama | Apr 5, 2011 11:48:19 AM
Progressives in power made things worse in the last four years. Nobody cares what they think.

By: J.R.

J.R. — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:38:31 +0000

“They aren’t serious people. ”
You’re right, serious people propose high cost, high speed rail projects that aren’t necessary during times of fiscal crisis!! The serious ones don’t pass a budget during times of fiscal crisis. The serious ones continue to claim that miniscule cuts to the budget are draconian and can’t be accomplished while the federal government spends 8x what it is taking in.
Are those the serious people you are talking about PMama?

By: Chuck

Chuck — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:23:41 +0000

“Just like the richest 1% of Americans who accumulated Trillions over the past decade won’t want to pay taxes at a sustainable rate either.”
Posted by: green.goddess | Apr 5, 2011 1:56:02 PM
How much did you pay in federal income taxes in 2010? How much of your share is paid for by the wealthy who you hate? The top 10% pays 70% of all federal income taxes. What do you think will happen to your tax burden if they decide to stop paying what should be your share?

By: WILLIAMPGH

WILLIAMPGH — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:31:31 +0000

This government needs to shutdown and a full reset undertaken. From this day looking backwards it has not been a very good caretaker of the best interests of the average American and American people. Geithner summed it up very well, its not the American Economy, let me state… Geithner did not say “American” economy he said, its the “GLOBAL” Economy. Whose interests is Geithner looking out for anyways? The so called Bildeberg establishment that even Bernanke goes to, the security and secure meetings that our elected officials go? I used to think the Bildeberg thing was a joke, but the more I read and see, something is very fascinating here. These people are not looking out for Americans, they are looking out to fatten their over flowing pockets with more elitism and rhetoric to put people on paths of mis-information!

By: Foghorn Leghorn

Foghorn Leghorn — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:28:28 +0000

“huge corporations like GE did just fine when tax rates were higher under Clinton. Tax em.”
Yeah sure. That will happen while Immelt is sleeping with Barry.
Maybe we could bill GE for the time Barry and Biden spent pimping GE’s trains.

By: Shoe

Shoe — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:15:04 +0000

The uber-wealthy and huge corporations like GE did just fine when tax rates were higher under Clinton. Tax em.
POSTED BY: GREEN.GODDESS | APR 5, 2011 1:56:02 PM
But the questions still remain…why would this president appoint someone like Immelt to such a position? To make himself seem more ‘business friendly’? And why does he not now think it would be in the best interest of everyone to revoke this position from him?
At some point Obama is going to have to explain his actions about this. Either he is so tied in to Immelt for agenda reasons we don’t fully know about, OR he really doesn’t care as much about tax dodging as people think. Once again, we play the Obama game – he sits on the fence and we try to figure out which side he’s going to fall off on.