Awww, those poor guys making 10 mil+ a year... I really really feel bad for them. I mean, when are the wealthiest people in the world going to get a break? I'm sure I'll be doing my part with the AMT next year to give them some relief.

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Don't hold back

Actually, millionaires are now paying more as well. It's not just those making $10 million as you indicate. Their tax share rose again as well.

I could only wish I was just a lil millionaire.

What a stupid comment.

Why is it that the people who use the least of the benifits of the social services that are part of the tax base are the people who pay the most into it? What is their return on investment? More welfare mommies and rebuilding ghettos in NOLA? Do you really think that these "super rich" folks just have $50m in the bank as liquid assets? You have any clue how many people are supported by the financial food chain of the super rich?

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

I prefer "Eat The Rich" (by Krokus.....very obscure, but some of you ex-metalheads might remember them). A little too high in fat, generally, but kinda like a finely-raised cutlet of veal ;-))

T.

Oh man, no band was able to set off Beavis and Butthed more than Krokus

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Yeah....a heavy metal band from Switzerland. Gotta love it.

T.

You jerks are showing your age - and bringing back allot of things I have been trying quite hard to repress.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

"Simply put, between 2001 and 2004, out of every 100 Americans, the wealthiest 3 pay close to the same amount as the other 97 combined."

You think maybe its because the wealthiest 3% of Americans also control 97% of the wealth? Apply some simple math and think about it.

I don't know about any of that, but I know human nature. Almost everyone that I know on this board and in my real life would dearly love to be one of that 3% that controls 97% of the wealth.

Americans don't resent the rich. Americans want to be one of the rich. And a lot of Americans feel that government is unfairly preventing them from become one of the rich through onerous income redistribution schemes.

T.

Hmmm...I have paid over $100,000 to income tax in the last four years....hmmmm...would I like that back? HELL YEAH! No question I am not getting my monies worth...I cant imagine being one of the top 10% and pay tens of millions a year.

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

 "I cant imagine being one of the top 10% and pay tens of millions a year."

Well, you can stop imagining being one of the top 10% because judging by your taxes you either are or pretty close to the upper 10%. Here are some figures from a 2003 Milwaukee Journal:

"According to the Internal Revenue Service, you were in the top 1 % of all personal tax returns in 2000 if your adjusted gross income was $313,469 or more. That's pretty thin air, even for two-earner families.

You were in the top 5 % if your income was at least $128,336, the top 10 % at $92,144 or more, the top 25 % at $55,225 or more, and the top 50 % at $27,682 or more. The top 25 %, by the way, collected 67 % of all income and paid 84 % of all income taxes." (BTW the same figures are on Rush Limbaugh.com)

What tax figures never take into account is where...where are these people? I almost took a job in Santa Barbara California that had a sick salary...then again, my home in IL is just a bit north of $150k...the same house in Santa Barbara would be very north of $15m.

At what point should the higher percentage of federal income tax take regional cost of living into conideration?

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What if the Hokey Pokey is what it is all about?

True, rich people don't generally have millions in cash. But, I think we're talking taxes on income, which more or less by definition is available. In reality a lot of rich peoples' wealth is in the form of increases in house value and stock appreciation, which is either never income taxed or only taxed much later and at favorable rates.

When you refer to the rich getting the least benefit of social services, you're using the term "social services" narrowly. Sure, the rich don't usually get things like food stamps. But, they do get enormous benefits from the government (along with some burdens). Many of them got rich by selling things to the government. Lawyers benefit from a legal system which is basically free. Inventors benefit from the patent system. Almost all rich people benefit from a stable society (most poor people do, too). The government helps provide those things.

I think what he is getting at is that the enxt time someone feels the urge to say "the rich need to pay their fair share", they need to remember the quote about opening your mouth and removing doubt about being a fool. The rich pay more than their fair share. If you're going to talk about fair shares, then the people on the bottom are the ones who need to ante up. But there's far more on the bottom than top, so that won't get you elected.

But the lower income people don't just benefit from the social services. What was it in the 80s, the boating indutry or something, where a surtax was added? One of those stupid "it's only x dollars. On a $x times30 boat, they won't mind another few bucks" taxes. What happened was the industry was devastated because the rich people just stopped buying boats due to the tax. A whole bunch of people lost their jobs because there was no work. People who need the job far more than rich people need a boat. While they may seem frivolous, or "toys of vanity", they also keep people employed. I think the lower income benefit far more from rich people than vice versa.

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"I can endure more pain than anyone you've ever met. That's why I can beat anyone I've ever met." Steve Prefontaine, Without Limits

Yes, the governments (at all levels) make mistakes. Perhaps the luxury tax on boats was a bad idea. I have not studied it. But, getting from there to the proposition that rich people don't derive relatively huge benefits from the government is quite a leap. I know a lot of rich people and I've never met one who was anything close to an anarchist. I've met a few anarchists and they were definitely not rich. Rich people (both liberal and conservative) will oppose all sorts of specific government policies but they almost never suggest that the basic stability provided by the government, among other things, is not extremely beneficial to them.

Oh man, no band was able to set off Beavis and Butthed more than Krokus

Not even Culture Club?

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --