Posts tagged taxes

jasencomstock: theheritagefoundation: What if families handled finances like the federal government does? THEN I GUESS YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN THAT MASSIVE PAY CUT IN 2001 AND 2003 AND AGAIN IN 2010, RIGHT, DAD?! I love this elegant bit of nonsense that equates government spending to personal spending. And by “love,” I mean “can’t stand.” Maybe some Tumblrs who are far, far smarter than I am about economic and policy stuff like this can better explain how a central bank is different than my checking account. I’ll start: Where does the money come from? Me: Billing hours, and occasionally executing project work based on a pre-negotiated fee. In brief: from performing labor. Government: from taxes, which debt hawks don’t like. How to get more of it? Me: Continue to do good work, and/or find new companies to pay me in exchange for the things I’m good at. Government: I guess this is sort of tricky. Tax reform, stimulus spending, incentives for economically beneficial behavior, and other sensible policy can create more revenue. So can borrowing. Debt hawks would have Americans believe that government borrowing is the same as credit-card spending. Which means I need to call American Express to ask them about fixing my rate of interest to the Treasury’s yield curve. /snark What does it fund? Me: A pretty nice apartment, groceries, artwork and books that I enjoy having, necessities that keep me looking fairly presentable in public, etc. In brief: things I need and also things I want. Government: Wildly popular insurance programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and also a terribly powerful and globally influential military. To make even a dent in spending, one of those three things needs to be cut. Pick one, debt hawks. Please, bloody pick one!

jasencomstock:

theheritagefoundation:

What if families handled finances like the federal government does?

THEN I GUESS YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TAKEN THAT MASSIVE PAY CUT IN 2001 AND 2003 AND AGAIN IN 2010, RIGHT, DAD?!

I love this elegant bit of nonsense that equates government spending to personal spending. And by “love,” I mean “can’t stand.”

Maybe some Tumblrs who are far, far smarter than I am about economic and policy stuff like this can better explain how a central bank is different than my checking account. I’ll start:

Where does the money come from? Me: Billing hours, and occasionally executing project work based on a pre-negotiated fee. In brief: from performing labor. Government: from taxes, which debt hawks don’t like.

How to get more of it? Me: Continue to do good work, and/or find new companies to pay me in exchange for the things I’m good at. Government: I guess this is sort of tricky. Tax reform, stimulus spending, incentives for economically beneficial behavior, and other sensible policy can create more revenue. So can borrowing. Debt hawks would have Americans believe that government borrowing is the same as credit-card spending. Which means I need to call American Express to ask them about fixing my rate of interest to the Treasury’s yield curve. /snark

What does it fund? Me: A pretty nice apartment, groceries, artwork and books that I enjoy having, necessities that keep me looking fairly presentable in public, etc. In brief: things I need and also things I want. Government: Wildly popular insurance programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and also a terribly powerful and globally influential military. To make even a dent in spending, one of those three things needs to be cut. Pick one, debt hawks. Please, bloody pick one!

foundry.org

motherjones: 25 Giant Corporations That Paid Their CEOs More Than They Paid Uncle Sam

motherjones:

25 Giant Corporations That Paid Their CEOs More Than They Paid Uncle Sam

motherjones

Warren Buffet: "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich"

While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as “carried interest,” thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.

These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.

[…]

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, tax rates for the rich were far higher, and my percentage rate was in the middle of the pack. According to a theory I sometimes hear, I should have thrown a fit and refused to invest because of the elevated tax rates on capital gains and dividends.

I didn’t refuse, nor did others. I have worked with investors for 60 years and I have yet to see anyone — not even when capital gains rates were 39.9 percent in 1976-77 — shy away from a sensible investment because of the tax rate on the potential gain. People invest to make money, and potential taxes have never scared them off. And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation, I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.

[…]

… I would leave rates for 99.7 percent of taxpayers unchanged and continue the current 2-percentage-point reduction in the employee contribution to the payroll tax. This cut helps the poor and the middle class, who need every break they can get.

But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.

My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.

Guess which one is the state assemblyman:

Pragmatist: “I’ll be miserable about buying them for $11, but at least I’ll have a cigarette to deal with the problem.”

Behaviorist: “It’s the only stress relief I have. [My kids] can be screaming and I can go outside and smoke and have a moment to myself.”

Realist: “There have got to be easier ways to raise more money. All the cars coming into Manhattan. Maybe there’s a way to tax that.”

Lunatic: “Terrorists win when smokers/grocers buy bootleg, untaxed cigarettes. Bootleggers will have an enormous incentive to smuggle untaxed cigarettes into New York. Yesterday’s budget action has set plans in motion for those who wish the USA and Israel harm.”

Via Gothamist