Why I think Tax Cuts For The Rich Are Good?

[Bonzi Lighthouse]

45% of americans don't pay federal income tax....

That FACT in and of itself says volumes about what is wrong with our current system.

 

[mame]

That FACT in and of itself says volumes about what is wrong with our current system.

Most of those people are too poor to be able to pay federal income tax. They do however, pay all kinds of other taxes and I'm willing to bet that once all factors are considered the poor pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than the rich. I pay over 30% of my income towards taxes easy... Why should GE go tax free?

 

[Bonzi Lighthouse]

50% of the people in this Country do not pull their own weight, and you're OK with that????

 

[mame]

50% of the people in this Country do not pull their own weight, and you're OK with that????

No, you're missing the point. I pay well over 30% of my income in taxes, I'm fairly poor - not too bad - but I couldn't pay my bills without my roommate and girlfriend each paying 1/3rd of everything as well. Why is it that GE, a multibillion dollar corporation payed 0% in taxes? You're right. there are people in this country not pulling their own weight... but it is those at the top - corporations - that aren't paying their fair share.

 

[Bonzi Lighthouse]

You are comparing Apples and Oranges. IMO Corporations should pay no taxes at all, once again who is in a better position to handle the money GE or our federal Government? FWIW Corporations just pass along any taxes to it's consumers, so you are poaying it regardless.

If our Government spent less money we would not have this problem on who to tax more, we could be lowering taxes for everyone.

 

[Nitegazer]

You are comparing Apples and Oranges. IMO Corporations should pay no taxes at all, once again who is in a better position to handle the money GE or our federal Government? FWIW Corporations just pass along any taxes to it's consumers, so you are poaying it regardless.

If our Government spent less money we would not have this problem on who to tax more, we could be lowering taxes for everyone.

You keep saying that corporations pass taxes on to consumers, and that is true to a point, but not entirely accurate. By the same line of reasoning, taxing citizens achieves nothing because they pass the cost along to the corporations when they demand higher wages for the lost income.

A corporation's ability to adjust the price of their product or service is known as elasticity. Not all prices are elastic, and not all corporations can pass costs along to consumers. You also ignore the fact that businesses have profits, which they can pass on to either the owner or share holders. Taxes can just reduce profits-- trouble is, there are many corporations with many millions of profits that will not pay taxes on them. They funnel profits to off-shore branches where there are few, if any taxes.

I wouldn't say that elimination of corporate taxes is silly, but it is certainly fringe. Corporations use the same roads and services as citizens. In fact, they are often the ones that demand improvements to infrastructure. Why shouldn't they pay a share of the cost of bridges, defense, and even Social Security?

Saying that business should pay no taxes, and at the same time that low-income people don't 'pull their own weight' seems ill-informed.

 

[mame]

I'm not going to tiptoe around it - eliminating corporate taxes is a terrible, unrealistic, and unsustainable idea. To go even further, historical trends show that corporate tax revenue has actually declined as a share of GDP since 1949 - which suggests that revenue is, in fact, a major component of the U.S. debt problem. This blog from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities expands on this a bit... (this is also my source for the following graph):

 

[Nitegazer]

Here is a nice supplement to Mame's info. Corporate Tax as % GDP (red) and Income Tax (blue).

 

[ink the world]

50% of the people in this Country do not pull their own weight, and you're OK with that????

I think that you are forgetting the fact that many of those people are the "working poor", you know people that bust their ass 40 hours a week and are still poor.

Another thing to consider if you give a wealthy person a tax break compared to a poor person. Most likely the wealthy person already has $ to buy what he needs, that $ sits in a bank on the sidelines....The poor person will go out and spend a much higher percentage of that $ just out of pure necessity.

I can understand your line of thinking, I thought the same way for a long time. I now see it differently with the help of recent history. Weve tried cutting taxes (Bush tax cuts) and seen that it had 0 positive impact. As a nation we are paying the lowest tax rates in something like 50 years.

Opinion is just that opinion. History is pure black and white fact.

 

[Luger187]

so protectionism? you willing to pay $8000 for a i-phone? thats what apple said it would cost to make it here. all of the sudden everything you buy would cost 100s of times its current price. what is that gonna do to the poor and middle class?

this problem is purely a govt problem. govt needs to get the fuck out of the way, quit it with this tax the corporation to death crap, and let the countries citizens decide this stuff.

you cant compete with free thinking people. everytime govt acts, it limits free thinking. and protectionism will result in a lot of starving americans

yeah because corporations are being taxed soooooo much, right? getting a 3 billion dollar check from us is a real pain in the ass for GE, huh?

I think that you are forgetting the fact that many of those people are the "working poor", you know people that bust their ass 40 hours a week and are still poor.

Another thing to consider if you give a wealthy person a tax break compared to a poor person. Most likely the wealthy person already has $ to buy what he needs, that $ sits in a bank on the sidelines....The poor person will go out and spend a much higher percentage of that $ just out of pure necessity.

I can understand your line of thinking, I thought the same way for a long time. I now see it differently with the help of recent history. Weve tried cutting taxes (Bush tax cuts) and seen that it had 0 positive impact. As a nation we are paying the lowest tax rates in something like 50 years.

Opinion is just that opinion. History is pure black and white fact.

i totally agree with this. these companies dont have our best interest at heart. they are corporations, and are only interested in profit, and profit alone. they have an obligation to shareholders. how can someone believe they will hire extra people and throw money at the american people? why would they do that?