Wall Street bonuses...$144 billion

[MikeK]

The purpose of taxation is to fund the government, not to take money from one set of people and give it to another. I don't oppose progressive taxation, but it cannot be taken to the extreme. Redistribution of wealth is simply a code word for making the government do the dirty work of envious people who want other peoples stuff.

Do you believe the efforts of Justice Department attorneys to recover money from Bernie Madoff's holdings and redistribute it to those who Madoff scammed over the years is an example of "government doing the dirty work of envious people who want other people's stuff"?

While I'm sure you won't consider that a valid analogy it is in fact spot on. Because the only way most of the mega-fortunes that comprise today's roster of the super-rich were accumulated has been via the surreptitious removal of laws and regulations that formerly protected the middle class from the great heist its been subjected to by these unscrupulous mortgage bankers, Wall Street scam artists, usurers, corrupters and manipulators and the crooked politicians who facilitate them.

Do you believe Madoff's victims are "envious" of him? Suppose the laws that protect investors from crooks like Madoff had been quietly removed, making what Madoff did perfectly legal. Would you then consider his victims "envious?"

Bottom line: It is perfectly normal and natural to envy wealth. But excessive wealth inspires resentment, which is quite a different emotion. Excessive wealth represents a distinct danger to the democratic process and it should not be permitted to exist.

 

[SwordofDamocles]

Bottom line: It is perfectly normal and natural to envy wealth. But excessive wealth inspires resentment, which is quite a different emotion. Excessive wealth represents a distinct danger to the democratic process and it should not be permitted to exist.[/QUOTE]


Excessive by whose definition? What are you going to do, rape their women and young children then hang them headless from a bridge? They do that in Iraq. Would you like the GP coordiates?

 

[bigrebnc1775]

Funny JFK... I don't see you calling for a cap on athletes, actors, musicians, lottery winners, gamblers, etc

Imagine that rich people going on strike

Will NFL players go on strike in 2011?

Players now receive 59.5 percent of all money generated by the league. The salary cap for each team is now at $127 million, up from $85.5 million in 2006. Owners say they’re getting soaked. They want a rookie wage scale so they don’t have to hand $40 million in guaranteed money to unproven players. They want players to understand that stadium costs in the current economy are killing them.

Will NFL players go on strike in 2011?

 

[Sallow]

A report from The Wall Street Journal Tuesday morning won't help Wall Street dodge any more bullets. A survey of about 35 top financial institutions -- comprising banks, investment banks, hedge funds, money-management firms and securities exchanges -- estimates distribution of $144 billion in compensation and benefits for 2010. This amounts to a 4 percent increase from the $139 billion paid out in 2009, and potentially a whole lot more billionaire contenders for the title of wealthiest Americans.

Wow. Absolutely ridiculous!

Probably not so ridiculous if you're on the receiving end of that $144 billion.

Well I am...

 

[boedicca]

Well, one more thing. The "carried interest" provision in the tax code survived the 'compromise' in extending the Bush Tax cuts. It seems it enables venture capitalists and hedge fund managers to declare much of their multimillion-dollar annual income as capital gains, taxable at a mere 15 percent tax rate, rather than up to 35 percent on ordinary income.
It must be nice to have Congress and the White House in you pocket.

And here you show your ignorance of how venture capital works.

Since the dotcom crash, most VCs have made zero return on their investments. For every winning investment, there are a multitude of losing ventures. Venture Capital is high risk.

It's in the interest of our society to encourage entrepreneurship. Those who take long terms risks by investing in early stage companies should get capital gains treatment.

 

[martybegan]

The purpose of taxation is to fund the government, not to take money from one set of people and give it to another. I don't oppose progressive taxation, but it cannot be taken to the extreme. Redistribution of wealth is simply a code word for making the government do the dirty work of envious people who want other peoples stuff.

Do you believe the efforts of Justice Department attorneys to recover money from Bernie Madoff's holdings and redistribute it to those who Madoff scammed over the years is an example of "government doing the dirty work of envious people who want other people's stuff"?

While I'm sure you won't consider that a valid analogy it is in fact spot on. Because the only way most of the mega-fortunes that comprise today's roster of the super-rich were accumulated has been via the surreptitious removal of laws and regulations that formerly protected the middle class from the great heist its been subjected to by these unscrupulous mortgage bankers, Wall Street scam artists, usurers, corrupters and manipulators and the crooked politicians who facilitate them.

Do you believe Madoff's victims are "envious" of him? Suppose the laws that protect investors from crooks like Madoff had been quietly removed, making what Madoff did perfectly legal. Would you then consider his victims "envious?"

Bottom line: It is perfectly normal and natural to envy wealth. But excessive wealth inspires resentment, which is quite a different emotion. Excessive wealth represents a distinct danger to the democratic process and it should not be permitted to exist.

I get the analogy, and the massive stretch you are trying to make as well. What Madoff did was illegal, what the (most) of the other banks did was not. I may have been illegal before, but the laws were changed.

Strawman arguement. try again.