Too much wealth at the top?

[kentuck]

The poor are getting poorer and more and more of the middle class is sliding backwards. That is a fundamental problem with our democracy.

Neither Party has the backbone to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to help the poor and the middle class move forward.

Somebody in the Democratic Party needs to say that it is time to raise taxes on the wealthy. They are robbing us blind. They are accumulating wealth at an alarming rate. It is a threat to our survival as a democracy.

Once we collect the revenues we need to put our budget in balance, then we have the leverage to debate what programs we need to fund to make this a better country. So long as we are debating the deficit and the debt, we are surrendering to the whims of the wealthy. When we cut programs for the needy and the middle class, that is nothing more than a transfer of wealth to the top.

Unfortunately, we had a chance to fix most of the problem if we had simply let the Bush taxcuts expire. We would be approaching a balanced budget and the debate in Washington would be totally different than it is today. We should have bitten the bullet but we didn't. That was to our detriment.

We must return the Democratic Party to one that supports progressive tax rates. We cannot continue to let the wealthiest collect more and more of the wealth of this country. We are rapidly sliding into third world status if we do not change.

The political reality is that politicians are fearful of even mentioning tax increases. But, in my opinion, the people are ahead of the politicians on this issue. The choice is ours to make.

Now, the Republicans are threatening another showdown over the debt ceiling. They want the President to agree to repeal Obamacare in exchange for a deal over extending the debt limit. It didn't have to be this way but attempts to compromise with Republicans keep us in this fiscal rabbit hole. It is insanity. It is nerve-wracking. It is unnecessary.

We need to re-write the tax laws and transfer some of the wealth back to those in the middle and the lower classes. That would be a good start at getting our country back on the right track.

.

[leftstreet]

1. DURec

[cantbeserious]

2. Yes - Agreed - And Society Should Demand Even More To Re-Balance The Wealth Inequity

eom

[GlashFordan]

3. Good read

But I think a solution will be elusive.

[bhikkhu]

4. Mostly agreed, but the bush tax cuts did expire

Though the tax tables were reworked a bit to put them back in place, permanently, for all the lower tax brackets. The top tax rate for the highest earners was increased to the level it had been under Clinton. Which was definitely a tax increase on the wealthy.

Capital gains taxes were bumped up too, from 15% to 20% for top earners.

More tax changes favoring equality are built into the ACA, which is taking effect at the end of this year.

Not that that's "job done", as there is still plenty of inequality, and the effects of tax changes are slow and incremental over time, but the tax increases that have been done deserve some notice. Mostly congress deserves its low rating, but in 2014 a bunch of people who put their jobs on the line to raise taxes will be up for re-election, and the common belief that they accomplished nothing isn't likely to get us a good result.

[kentuck]

5. 2% of the Bush taxcuts were allowed to expire.

Not a progressive decision at all. It was minimal. "Put their jobs on the line"? They are not "their jobs". They are there to represent the people, not themselves.

[bhikkhu]

6. Taxes were raised on the wealthy

which is the important point. Taxes were raised on the incomes of the wealthiest by 3.6%, and taxes were raised on capital gains for the wealthiest by 5%, both of which favor a reduction in income inequality. There are a number of tax provisions in the ACA ( http://www.irs.gov/uac/Affordable-Care-Act-Tax-Provisions ), most of which favor reductions in income inequalty. You can say its all a pittance and insufficient, but it is a fact nevertheless.

How do we expect to move in the right direction if we dismiss moves in the right direction as trivial, and dismiss those who worked for them as disposable?

[kentuck]

8. One step forward and two steps backward...

We will never get ahead because politicians lack the courage. As I recall, the tax rates went back up to where they were supposed to be with the expiration of the Bush taxcuts and that was only on those making more than $450,000 per year. I doubt that is the top 3.6% of Americans?

[on point]

7. Agreed. Wealth accumulation has led to economic instability and corrupt politics

Treat all income the same regardless of source
Increase upper tax rates back to the levels of 60%
Put in transaction tax on stock trades
Put in tariffs on countries with low environment standards, poor labor laws and low wealth tax rates to stop the race to the bottom

[duffyduff]

9. Nobody will ask the rude question: How much money do these rich people really need?

Money is a finite resource. The fact there are so many people falling into poverty is a giant clue somebody else is getting rich at their expense.

Our biggest problem is Washington politicians won't do one thing about it because they are totally bought off by the gangster class.

[kentuck]

10. We need a Party for the People...

That used to be the Democratic Party.

[duffyduff]

11. +1,000,000 n/t