When they talked about the top tax rate last night

[SHRED]

The female debate moderator (I forgot her name) fell all over herself when Bernie said his plan "wouldn't be 90%".
She replied, "Well I certainly hope not"...in an overly excited way.

Here inlies the problem.
So many, including her apparently based on her reaction, don't have a clue how progressive tax rates work. They must think that the 90% rate would be on 100% of income.

People don't understand that a higher progressive rate on the wealthy does more than just take in more revenue but actually motivates those in that bracket to SHELTER their income through reinvestment in expanding their business, etc to avoid those rates. This helps all of us by spreading the wealth around.

Sometimes (no most of the time) I think I'm living in a country of under-educated and brain-dead reactionaries.

[LiberalArkie]

1. Here ya go, Tax rates adjusted for 2013 Dollars

http://taxfoundation.org/sites/default/files/docs/fed_individual_rate_history_adjusted.pdf

[Travis_0004]

2. It makes a nice soundbite, but nobody really paid 90%

Yes, the top tax rate was 91%, but you could deduct just about everything, and a lot of those deductions would seem crazy by today standards.

I could go on a business trip bring my wife, and deduct everything my wife spent money on, including airfare, as just one of the many things that could be deducted.

I've looked at George Romney tax returns. The top marginal tax rate was 70% at the time, and George Romney paid about 36% in taxes, and he has been praised for not taking advantage tax 'loopholes' that were available to him.

The fact is, that taxes rates were never 90% AS WE KNOW THE TAX CODE TODAY. Some people paid a bit more, some people paid a bit less, but there were SIGNIFICANLY more deductions available back then.

So you can add me to the people that says "I certainly hope we don't see a 90% top marginal rate. I am an accountant, IRS enrolled agent, and have passed parts of the CPA exam, so I would like to think I'm not an under-educated and brain-dead reactionary.

[SHRED]

3. Fine tune deductions

Don't make them loopholes.

[dreamnightwind]

4. Great to bring attention to her inappropriate mocking laugh

That was her interjecting her own bias into the debate, unacceptable.

I'm sure she understands that the top rate is not applied to all of the income. She is just doing the work of her corporate bosses, part of the problem, and part of why it is so hard to claw back any turf we concede to RW and corporate interests.

[SHRED]

5. It's an uphill battle

[passiveporcupine]

6. You are so right

Most people have no idea what they are arguing about. I mean seriously...most people are complete idiots when it comes to politics...unless they invest themselves in it totally.