A Freeper on the diffrerence between 'semi-rich' and 'super rich'

[Zuni]

To: Prime Choice
"So people like Teresa Heinz-Kerry can pay zero dollars in taxes? And the incentive here is...?"

What really needs to happen is for the government to focus upon eliminating the tax loopholes that the wealthy elite exploits. There are two classes of "rich" people:

The super "rich" (Teresa Heinz Kerry, George Soros, Barbra Streisand, Bill Gates, etc) with hundreds of millions, with access to sophisticated tax shelters. This crowd is so wealthy that they hang around St. Tropez and Sun Valley all year, and vote Democratic.

The semi "rich" are entrepreneurs and business owners. They might have $1 million, $5 million, but they still have to work for a living, and understand the value of a dollar. Many built their businesses from nothing. They don't have access to sophisticated tax shelters, and are paying at the top marginal rates of 35-45%, depending on the state.

The "semi-rich" entrepreneurs are being taxed to death, while Teresa wanders around Sun Valley with a martini (or two), and hires a bunch of accountants to fool the IRS.



31 posted on 11/30/2004 11:20:36 PM PST by nj26
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[Abelman]

1. That doesn't explain

why the semi-rich are assholes.

[ComerPerro]

2. Then Bush and Cheney must be "super rich"

because they sure as hell didn't pay anywhere near 35-45 percent. More like 20.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. Taxed 45% on 5 million!!!?!? How can they survive?!?!

[bluestateguy]

4. semi-rich would be more like an income of $150,000-$250,000.

Maybe a little higher for people living in New York or California. I see his point, but his numbers are way off and his facts are bullshit: Bill Gates voted for Bush twice, and Teresa Heinz-Kerry paid millions in taxes.

[RivetJoint]

7. She paid millions in taxes

But as a percentage of income, she payed far less than most of those making between $150-250K. That's becasue a great deal of her income was from interest on non-taxable bonds and the like.

[Tom Kitten]

5. No doubt about it

These guys are fucking geniuses. They make the Three Stooges seem like mental midgets. They've got it all figured out...
Free Republic must be one of the leading economic think tanks in the nation, if not the world...These must be the people who are behind our current White House policies. No wonder our economy is "the best it's ever been"...:eyes:

[ET Awful]

6. So where does Richard Mellon Scaife fall in this little scenario?

How about Rupert Murdock? What about everybodys favorite housing developer in Texas that funded the Slimeboaters?