Sunday, February 27, 2011
Another Interesting Quote
"Look at the sorry spectacle presented by long rows of beneficiaries of the 'boondoggle', leaning on their shovels by the hour, at futile projects, and contrast it with the great universities, museums, and research laboratories which have come from the wise and generous giving of such as (J.P.) Morgan, and then consider which is the major constructive force in building a stable civilization."......Alexander Forbes, a Harvard classmate and cousin of FDR.............Look, folks, I'm not saying that every rich person is as "constructive" and magnanimous as Morgan, Annenberg, Mellon, Gates, etc.. That would be as flat-out ludicrous as saying that they're all evil (a sentiment of some on the far-left, evidently). And neither am I saying that they shouldn't be paying more in taxes (getting the top rates back up to 39.6% is entirely appropriate). I'm just trying to add some perspective here and, yes, to posit that it isn't always the government that knows the best way to spend the folks' money.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I don't believe rich people are necessarily evil... that's flat-out ludicrous!
I'm not saying there isn't waste in government, but your solution -- should we PRAY that a rich magnanimous person steps up and takes on a project that benefits society... I don't believe that is the way to go. If things need to get done WE (through our elected officals) should do them.
People should only be allowed to "earn" so much, and after that we (the govenment) should say, "ENOUGH" (BTW, I'm not saying we need maximum wage laws, just extremely high taxes after a certain point).
wd, we had a good economy in the 90s. The top rate was about 40% (which probably equates to 60-70% prior to the Tax Reform Act of 1986). Why don't we give that rate a shot first? We can always revisit the issue down the road.......But, wd, who's the arbiter of what's enough? You? Me/ The other guy? And did you see that GAO report on waste and duplication? My God! What do you say that we spend the money that we do spend more efficiently first?
The internet bubble had something to do with the good economy during the 90s.
As to how much is enough?, Thom Hartmann says, "When income above $3 million per year is taxed at 74% ... Worker wages are healthy, and a landed gentry superwealth class doesn't emerge to threaten democratic institutions and mess with politics in ways that purely advantage only themselves".
If the opportunity arose where we could actually do this (raise taxes up to where they need to be)... I certainly would NOT want to give any lower rate a shot first.
Its kind of funny how people who for whatever reason dont make money are hellbent and more then willing to take money from people who have in fact worked to improve their lot.
He apparently doesn't like to compromise, either, Russ. Wow, huh? Thom Hartmann gets to decide? LOL......Let's see, 74%. I'm assuming that Mr. Hartmann wants to raise the FICA tax to include all income, too. That would bring it up to 81%. Add to that the 9% that people in NY still have to pay for state income tax, the extremely high sale and property taxes there and, man, do these fellows ever like frigging taxes.
Post a Comment