Excessive Taxation

For people making excessive income Excessive Taxation works as follows. Say you made 20 million dollars of income. In a given year if you only had receipts for 10 million dollars of spending then the remaining 10 million dollars will be taxed at 50%. This way spending is kept at high levels but money that would not be spent would be pulled into the government for government spending. And people who are successful do not take a hit on their well earned lifestyles as long as they spend it. There is a point when so much income is in so few hands, the amount of spending is not enough keep the economy moving well.

It's only theoretical. Something this radical would never become reality. And there's probably better ways to increase spending with tax policies. I'm not sure lowering taxes on the super wealthy will move the economy since the super wealthy have more money than they could ever spend in several lifetimes.

a reply to: dfnj2015

We should be encouraging saving, not spending.

We arrived at our national debt through spending too much.

a reply to: dfnj2015

If I was 'a' corporation and I made a lot of money I would keep it in off shore banks.

EOS

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: dfnj2015

We should be encouraging saving, not spending.

We arrived at our national debt through spending too much.

Spending makes the economy move. Saving does nothing to move the economy. But even if people had a choice, I do not believe they do. The purchasing power of the median worker's wage is being spent 100% for just basic living necessities. The worker making the median worker's wage simple cannot afford the luxury of saving money.

The national debt comes from having fiat money with interest. I'm not smart enough to argue it perfectly but this video explains why we have a national debt and why we will never be able to pay off because of the way the Federal Reserve works:

www.youtube.com...

"Give me control of a nations money supply, and I care not who makes it’s laws". Mater Amschel Rothschild

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: dfnj2015

If I was 'a' corporation and I made a lot of money I would keep it in off shore banks.

EOS

EOS my butt. If the corporations kept their money here nothing would be any different. Spending levels would still not be enough to keep the economy moving at a reasonable pace.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: dfnj2015

We should be encouraging saving, not spending.

We arrived at our national debt through spending too much.

We arrived at our national debt by relying too much on other countries. A country that relies solely on its own resources can never go into debt.

The spending needs to be kept inside the US. As long as that happens, the economy will continue to churn.

originally posted by: scojak

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: dfnj2015

We should be encouraging saving, not spending.

We arrived at our national debt through spending too much.

We arrived at our national debt by relying too much on other countries. A country that relies solely on its own resources can never go into debt.

The spending needs to be kept inside the US. As long as that happens, the economy will continue to churn.

I agree. We need a tariff on every container coming into this country where the amount of the tariff is proportional based on the trade imbalance with country of origin. This way, we will encourage balance of trade with countries that trade with us.

Lol! No flags!

a reply to: dfnj2015

They should tax everyone 100% of their earnings and just make everything we purchase free for all. Free milk, beer, gas, hotdogs, everything.

originally posted by: Idreamofme
a reply to: dfnj2015

They should tax everyone 100% of their earnings and just make everything we purchase free for all. Free milk, beer, gas, hotdogs, everything.

They've tried that in various places and it never works out well.

a reply to: ketsuko

National debt is incurred through people and other nations buying government bonds and social security. People tend to confuse national debt by equating it to personal debt, which it is NOT.

Debt in the form of bonds is actually a good thing - it shows that our economy is strong and that other nations are willing to buy them.

The deficit is where we spend more than we have.

@ the OP

Thank you for demonstrating your ignorance to the class... savings doesn't make the economy move? Are you high?

Savings doesn't just sit under someone's mattress. The wealthy aren't sitting in their library starting fire's with 100 dollar bills. That money is invested and returned to the economy through investments, loans, and charity. Venture capital, private equity, commercial lenders are using that money to create additional businesses which means jobs.

Individuals are far more efficient at redistributing their wealth than the government. Take a look around your city. Practically every museum, hospital, university, opera, and countless non-profits are supported quietly by the wealthy.

a reply to: dfnj2015

I'd have flagged you if you'd opened with this, for whatever it's worth.

Honestly, I'd take your idea and apply one modification to it and make it workable: investments. Investment is a type of spending and absolutely is an economic mover and shaker. I'd love to see someone in DC suggest a modification to the tax code that encourages small business investing. The type that doesn't produce capital gains so much as it provides reward for risk via a contractual ROI. To me, such a tax code would produce a boom on main street, USA.

Take Warren Buffett for example, if the man invested $1 Billion in publicly traded stock in a calendar year, he likely would see a 10-15% return in a good year. Imagine, however, if the tax code was written as such that he could actually lose money on that deal... say you tax him purely on the money as it is being invested at a, say, 50% rate... he'd see half as much in capital gains right from the start plus he'd need to leave that investment untouched for 10 years before he saw his gains recover the amount taxed. Not a good scenario in absence of alternatives. BUT also offer a small business investment clause in the tax code. Tax the investment in businesses with a net worth below, say, $10 Million at a much, much lower rate... say 10%, at the point of investment. Then tax the ROI at the standard 35% rate unless those gains are flipped back into further small business investments (in which case, again 10% time of investment taxation)

This type of program would see a LOT of small businesses become larger, hiring more workers, and moving out of the "small business" category, while more rise up to take their place.

a reply to: burdman30ott6

Yeah, but there's a difference between encouraging people to re-invest and attemtpting to force it or face confiscatory taxation.

That basically says "re-invest or we'll take away almost all your money." I kind of think that's the wrong way to go about things too.

a reply to: ketsuko

That's basically the current tax code, at least where retirement investment contributions are concerned. The penalty for pulling money from a 401k is insanity... why not apply that same standard across the entire investment class?

originally posted by: dfnj2015

originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: dfnj2015

If I was 'a' corporation and I made a lot of money I would keep it in off shore banks.

EOS

EOS my butt. If the corporations kept their money here nothing would be any different. Spending levels would still not be enough to keep the economy moving at a reasonable pace.

By EOS I meant thats what they do, thats how they dodge taxes and cripple the economy. Instead of keeping the money in the states to bolster US, they keep it in off shore accounts on friggin Islands. The end result is the burden of tax is greater on average citizens.

originally posted by: dfnj2015

originally posted by: scojak

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: dfnj2015

We should be encouraging saving, not spending.

We arrived at our national debt through spending too much.

We arrived at our national debt by relying too much on other countries. A country that relies solely on its own resources can never go into debt.

The spending needs to be kept inside the US. As long as that happens, the economy will continue to churn.

I agree. We need a tariff on every container coming into this country where the amount of the tariff is proportional based on the trade imbalance with country of origin. This way, we will encourage balance of trade with countries that trade with us.

Hah the same asshole legislators that allowed corporations to move overseas also reduced import tariffs to make it easer for those poor companies when they ship their foreign made products (like apple computers and Nike tennis shoes) back into the country.

Of, by and for the Oligarchy.

Tariffs used to be 33 percent to prevent that.

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: Idreamofme
a reply to: dfnj2015

They should tax everyone 100% of their earnings and just make everything we purchase free for all. Free milk, beer, gas, hotdogs, everything.

They've tried that in various places and it never works out well.

Yeah it's kind of hard forcing someone to work for free without beating the crap out of them.