There was a class war. The rich won.
Felix Salmon says:
If you were structuring a tax code from scratch, it would look nothing like this. But the problem is that tax hikes seem to be politically impossible no matter which party is in power. And since any revamp of the tax code would involve tax hikes somewhere, I fear we’re fiscally doomed.Digby says:
If I were you, I would print out this post by Felix Salmon and pull it out whenever you confront some bozo who's railing about the deficit and insisting that we have to put old ladies on a cat food diet to fix the problem.Specific policy proposals in addition to letting Duhbya's tax cuts expire above $250,000 of income:
- Once unemployment is below 7%, make the income tax more progressive with a 50% marginal tax rate on incomes over $1 million, to be lowered to 40% when the deficit (not including any surplus from Social Security) is lowered below 2% of GDP (currently, it's about 10% of GDP).
- Make the payroll taxes less regressive immediately by removing the income cap on taxes subject to FICA, Medicare, etc.
- Reinstitute the Paris Hilton tax at 50%, closing the loopholes that have allowed the lazy children of extreme wealth to escape taxes on their parents' estates, but raise the estate size floor to $4 million and index it for inflation.
2 comments:
"There was a class war. The rich won."
Millions of lazy assholes bent on more laziness have had their lazy "benefits" extended once again. Cowardly Republicans are already setting the stage for their own demise in future elections by bending to this shit.
No, the lazy asshole is you - lazy-minded but proud to be an asshole. It's quite obvious to anyone who'll actually look that there are not enough jobs to employ those who are eager to work. There are, of course, always entrepreneurial opportunities - a gun, the bank, the gas station, the liquor store.
It's also obvious that government policy is pitched to succor the rich and neglect the poor, not the other way around.
Do you have any idea how small unemployment benefits are? About $300 a week, on average. Filet mignon and lobster!
Here's hoping for Republican doom. But they already have the asshole vote locked up - where else are you guys going to go?
Post a Comment