Writing a Book on America, based in a future 20 years after TEA Party Landslide

LDragonFire
reply to post by NavyDoc

 

I think Nixon lowered the wealthiest tax rate to 55% from 75% funny how prosperous we were with higher taxes.

And, as I already pointed out. The highest margin was not actually the paid rate due to tax shelters written into the law that encouraged investment and reduced the actual payout in taxes to much lower than the highest rate (that very few, if anybody qualified for because it was such a tiny minority.) Please show that people were actually paying those rates. You won't find anybody. Since then, rates have dropped but deductions and shelters were actually eliminated so the amount the upper earners pay now is actually slightly higher than they paid then.

In addition, the two decades after WWII, every other industrial society was recovering from being bombed to # so we were the world's only source for a lot of things. When you are the world's only source for a lot of things, you do pretty well.

But you knew that, didn't you? Or are facts lost amongst the Marxist rhetoric?

Like the other guy, I challenge you to finds someone who actually paid a 90% rate on income, which was the top marginal rate of all time. Heck, I challenge you to find someone who actually paid 75%.

True enough, the top marginal income-tax rate in the 1950s was much higher than today's top rate of 35%—but the share of income paid by the wealthiest Americans has essentially remained flat since then.

In 1958, the top 3% of taxpayers earned 14.7% of all adjusted gross income and paid 29.2% of all federal income taxes. In 2010, the top 3% earned 27.2% of adjusted gross income and their share of all federal taxes rose proportionally, to 51%.

So if the top marginal tax rate has fallen to 35% from 91%, how in the world has the tax burden on the wealthy remained roughly the same? Two factors are responsible. Lower- and middle-income workers now bear a significantly lighter burden than in the past. And the confiscatory top marginal rates of the 1950s were essentially symbolic—very few actually paid them. In reality the vast majority of top earners faced lower effective rates than they do today.

Fantasy of the top 91% income tax rate

The tax code of the 1950s allowed upper-income Americans to take exemptions and deductions that are unheard of today. Tax shelters were widespread, and not just for the superrich. The working wealthy—including doctors, lawyers, business owners and executives—were versed in the art of creating losses to lower their tax exposure.

For instance, a doctor who earned $50,000 through his medical practice could reduce his taxable income to zero with $50,000 in paper losses or depreciation from property he owned through a real-estate investment partnership. Huge numbers of professionals signed up for all kinds of money-losing schemes. Today, a corresponding doctor earning $500,000 can deduct a maximum of $3,000 from his taxable income, no matter how large the loss.

That's great. I'm writing a book about the world and what it would look like after eight years of Obama and another 8 years of Hillary. Oh wait nevermind. George Orwell already wrote 1984.

Wow - I just came back in after a few days and impressed to see all the responses, thanks a lot everyone.

Especially like the "pray the gay away camps founded by the Bachmanns", I'll have to use that one.

Thinking that "The Ted Cruz Memorial Relocation Camp for Illegal Immigrants" might be a good one, too, as well as the "Santorum Church of Abstinence".

Getting a ton of good ideas here

reply to post by babybunnies


So you don't actually want to know what the Tea Party is about, you just want to perpetuate a stereotype devised by the progressive media?

Nice!

Why not actually ask Tea Party members for insight?

Or are you afraid that it would ruin your narrative?

It was JFK who started the ball rolling on tax rate cuts, how about that - a DEMOCRAT hero President actually did one of the largest tax cuts for the richest Americans in history.

Nixon wouldn't even rate an entry into a primary race now. He believed in environmental protection (created the EPA) and science (was the only President to authorize manned moon missions). He was actually a pretty decent President until the whole Watergate issue, and now gets villainized by history because of one mistake.

JFK dropped the rate for the 1%ers from 90% to 70%. Nixon then cut it some more, but by far the biggest drop was from St Reagan, who dropped it from somewhere in the 60's% to 28%, while dropping corporate tax rates about the same.

And then wondered why the Government ended up with MASSIVE revenue deficits as a result.

I think I'll call the book "Killing O'Reilly". TEA Party faithful seem to love books like that You know "Killing Lincoln", "Killing Kennedy".

Bill O'Reilly loves to tell the lie that he was the main author on these books, when he was actually just a co-author, and even then, probably didn't do most of the work.

reply to post by NavyDoc

With reference to the Wall Street Journal Article:

1. I have a friend that's a CPA, and most people would be surprised how small businesses and middle class incomes are taxed. When he begins to recite the various federal, state, and local tax laws, my head starts to hurt and I get dizzy. Businesses and individuals are taxed in so many ways that we don't even realize. But there are still ways of reducing tax liabilities.

One interesting way of doing it is by buying state tax credits: Farmers and other owners of undeveloped property are awarded tax credits for keeping their properties as either agricultural, or undeveloped. They can sell any unused tax credits to other filers that have high income tax liability, at a cost less that the "face" value. Then high income filers save money by reducing the actual amount of tax they pay. The property owners get some cash for allowing their properties to remain in their current state. This helps to dissuade those property owners from selling or otherwise developing those properties. In this case, apparently the state government understands the necessity of agriculture and natural resources.

In general most deductions are designed to stimulate reinvestment in their businesses or other worthwhile ventures.


2. From the article:

Those 1950s gambits lowered tax liabilities but dissuaded individuals from engaging in the more beneficial activities of increasing their incomes and expanding their businesses. As a result, they were a net drag on the economy. When Ronald Reagan finally lowered rates in the 1980s, he did so in exchange for scrapping uneconomical deductions. When business owners stopped trying to figure out how to lose money, the economy boomed.

Ok, I'm no RR disciple. However, truer words were never spoken. You'll notice that this time period coincided with the advent of the computer age. Geeks coming of age in the early to mid eighties were able to see themselves getting wealthy in ways that their parents could never imagine. Somehow, I think those two guys building the first consumer level personal computer on top of an apple crate may not have been as motivated with a 91% tax rate...


3. I have to say that the WSJ article plays pretty loose with the facts and figures. Some numbers are provided based 1958 rates, and others in 2010 rates. Numbers that support the writer's arguments are presented numerically, while numbers that refute his position are spelled out alphabetically. It would have a lot more meaning if this article were written as a paper including sources and raw data. Then add in a few charts and graphs plotting the apples to apples comparison.


Dex

reply to post by babybunnies



So you are writing a book about an American Utopia? That would be a boring read.. you should write about what happens December 2015 when Obama decided he doesnt want to leave office.

reply to post by BritofTexas


Libs are so funny. U guys are so afraid of the Koch brothers. If they are so powerful why are they heavily regulated and why do we have to ship oil from Saudi Arabia and Canada instead of drilling our own oil?

The biggest threat to America right now are the energy companies like GE which will soon have complete control of America energy now that the coal industry are regulated out of business under Obama and Wall street who are the shareholders to the Federal Reserve which is looting America through stimulus and bailouts leaving no money for anything else.


The smart liberals actually have defected from the Democrat party to join the Tea Party, the lemmons and political hacks have remained. The only way for libs to fund all the social programs and handouts that they want is to nationalize the Federal Reserve and give the power to print money back to the treasury. We would instantly wipe out all debt and print money by the real gov. instead of getting loans from Private banking cartel like the feds, world bank, iMF, and China. This is one of the main objectives for the Tea Party is to END THE FED. This would actually help the liberal cause the most, but most of them are too dumb to even realize it. All your social programs would now be funded with no debt to the tax payers.

But instead the libs bought into the political hacks and operatives belief that the Tea Party is some sort of religious nut to mask the real meaning behind the movement. Sure there are some groups that claim to be the Tea Party pushing their own agenda. Just like everything else power brokers try to hijack it. But the Tea Party is a idea, u can't hijack the idea that hates corruption. That's why the establishment GOP failed by trying to control the idea and there is a war within the Republican party.

reply to post by LDragonFire

That's pretty creative. Let me add to it:

8. Militant Islamic insurgency has captured virtually all of the Middle East except for parts of India, Jordan and Israel. Sharia law is in full force and is introduced into Spain as the first European nation's government falls to the terrorists. The US, as defender of Christianity, embarks on the 10th Crusade into the heart of Islam. After several failures to "put boots on the ground" due to decreased military spending, the US uses nuclear weapons killing millions. Unfortunately the intended surgical strike went wrong due to system failures of poorly maintained equipment. Much of the Persian Gulf region, including parts of Israel, are turned into giant, glass, self-illuminating, parking lots.

9. Weapons grade nuclear material begins to show up on the black-market as funding for scientific research dries up and America's brain trust starts to feel the pain. Domestic terrorists in the US, armed with crude nuclear weapons launch a retaliatory attack against the government. But due to the crude nature of the homemade weapons, the explosive yield and environmental contamination vary significantly. The Infrastructure finally collapses as entire regions of the continent become uninhabitable.


Ok, who's next?


Dex

amfirst1
reply to post by BritofTexas

 

Libs are so funny. U guys are so afraid of the Koch brothers. If they are so powerful why are they heavily regulated and why do we have to ship oil from Saudi Arabia and Canada instead of drilling our own oil?

Nope.

As of 2013 we produce more oil than we import.

Last month, for the first time since February 1995, the U.S. produced more crude oil than it imported: 7.7 million barrels per day in October, versus 7.6 million of imports. Domestic output ticked up further to a level just shy of 8 million barrels per day in the week that ended Nov. 8, according to data from the Energy Information Administration.

U.S. Makes More Oil than It Takes

The biggest threat to America right now are the energy companies like GE which will soon have complete control of America energy now that the coal industry are regulated out of business under Obama and Wall street who are the shareholders to the Federal Reserve which is looting America through stimulus and bailouts leaving no money for anything else.

Blame the Lobbyists. (including your beloved Koch Brothers)

...Big Oil spends more on lobbying than any other group: nearly $150 million in 2010.

10 of the Biggest Lobbies in Washington

The smart liberals actually have defected from the Democrat party to join the Tea Party, the lemmons and political hacks have remained. The only way for libs to fund all the social programs and handouts that they want is to nationalize the Federal Reserve and give the power to print money back to the treasury. We would instantly wipe out all debt and print money by the real gov. instead of getting loans from Private banking cartel like the feds, world bank, iMF, and China. This is one of the main objectives for the Tea Party is to END THE FED. This would actually help the liberal cause the most, but most of them are too dumb to even realize it. All your social programs would now be funded with no debt to the tax payers.

Sorry to break it to you, but, the TeaPots are on the wane I'm afraid.

If there’s one thing the debt ceiling battle revealed, it’s that the Tea Party continues to enjoy outsized influence in Washington in general and over the GOP in particular. So it’s interesting to note that according to the internals of today’s New York Times poll, the Tea Party is rapidly shrinking before our very eyes, and is hemorraging supporters at a surprising rate:
Do you consider yourself to be a supporter of the Tea Party movement, or not?
Yes 18
No 73

The Incredible Shrinking Tea Party

But instead the libs bought into the political hacks and operatives belief that the Tea Party is some sort of religious nut to mask the real meaning behind the movement. Sure there are some groups that claim to be the Tea Party pushing their own agenda. Just like everything else power brokers try to hijack it. But the Tea Party is a idea, u can't hijack the idea that hates corruption. That's why the establishment GOP failed by trying to control the idea and there is a war within the Republican party.

This is the problem with getting all of your information from Fox news.

A poll by Farleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey showed that of all the news channels out there, Fox News viewers are the least informed.

Fox News Viewers Uninformed, NPR Listeners Not, Poll Suggests

reply to post by BritofTexas


LoL u do know that the Tea Party opposes anything to do with Amnesty??

The ones pushing Amnesty are establishment Democrats and Republicans donors like Wallstreet so they can get more taxes, Hotels, and the fast food chain restaurant that need low paid workers.

I'm beginning to think u are a paid shrill.

reply to post by BritofTexas


LOL fox news?? Fox doesn't even touch the subject I am talking about. Fox for the most part is control opposition for the left. If they wanted to bury Obama they are doing a poor job, I can do a way better job.

That is a good idea. Don't worry.Go ahead.