I asked ChatGPT what would happen if billionaires paid the same rate of taxes as middle class

[leftwinger]

Taxing capital gains at a lower rate is just fubared. It really is. It makes no sense. Think about it, capital gains are called unearned income. Why in the hell should you pay a lower tax on income that isn't earned than income that is earned? Just stupid. Hell, we are punishing people for earning income, rewarding them for not earning it. WTF?

I mean think about it. You are a doctor. You spent a quarter of a million dollars going to medical school. You have a thriving practice, you do good work. But the income you generated is taxed higher than the income you generate gambling in the stock market. Again, WTF? How in the hell does that make sense? I mean our tax system is all but telling you, don't ******* work, don't contribute to society, just buy some damn stock. Who benefits from this fubared system?

So? Why didn't the big talking Obiden regime change tax rates over their12 years?

 

[WorldWatcher]

So? Why didn't the big talking Obiden regime change tax rates over their12 years?

IIRC, the GOP had control of at least one chamber of congress for all but the 1st 2 years.

WW

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

"Estimates for civilian deaths in South Vietnam during the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War vary widely, but generally range from hundreds of thousands to over 2 million..."

Did you make any money from those murders?

It's true, the commies killed lots of civilians.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

IIRC, the GOP had control of at least one chamber of congress for all but the 1st 2 years.

WW

Yeah, Obama's failures resulted in 63 lost House seats in 2010.

 

[leftwinger]

IIRC, the GOP had control of at least one chamber of congress for all but the 1st 2 years.

WW

More hogwash. They (the deep state) got the ACA disaster through. They don't even discuss "tax the rich" but maybe to get elected. Just SHUP with 12 yrs of excuses.

 

[Winston]

There is no Capital gains loophole.

Sure there is, it is called death. When you die any "unrealized capital gains" are passed to your heirs and they get a new cost basis, it is called the step-up. It is the cornerstone of generational wealth. It is best demonstrated in land, not stock. Passed down for generations, some with a cost basis of zero. King's grants, homesteaders, imagine, 160 acres in Montana. In some cases, it is thousands of acres. And in a few, rare cases, actually MILLIONS of acres.

There are some heavy hitters there. Red Emmerson, John Malone, then most people know of Ted Turner. But you can go down from there. Really smart people, accumulating land. And, for the most part, for "conservation" purposes. But that is just it, that land is always money in the bank. Returns are usually good, you pass on the step-up. And you don't need no locks, or guards. Nothing.

And sometimes, well that land pays off big time. I mean I am kind of laughing now, thinking about it. My wife's parents, well they inherited this huge patch of scrubland down in Texas. From her father's dad, everyone laughed at him about buying that land. It was back in the 50's, and a simple mill worker sunk his life savings into a patch of nothing. So, you ever seen the Beverly Hillbillies? I got a front row seat at the live 2025 version. I should pitch a reality show to Lifetime.

The point is there is no reason whatsoever to treat unearned income preferentially to earned income. And yes, we need to capture some tax revenue loss from the "step-up", which is the reason for the estate tax, or "death" tax if you will. It is called "death".

 

[georgephillip]

It's true, the commies killed lots of civilians.

No one kills/maims/displaces like capitalists:

"Scale of Casualties:

• Total Vietnamese Deaths: Estimates range widely, from 800,000 to over 3 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians.
• Cambodian Deaths: Around 200,000–300,000, with U.S. bombing contributing significantly.
• Laotian Deaths: Approximately 20,000–200,000, also heavily impacted by bombing.
• Overall Indochinese Civilians: Some estimates suggest two million or more civilians of all nationalities were killed"

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

No one kills/maims/displaces like capitalists:

"Scale of Casualties:

• Total Vietnamese Deaths: Estimates range widely, from 800,000 to over 3 million Vietnamese soldiers and civilians.
• Cambodian Deaths: Around 200,000–300,000, with U.S. bombing contributing significantly.
• Laotian Deaths: Approximately 20,000–200,000, also heavily impacted by bombing.
• Overall Indochinese Civilians: Some estimates suggest two million or more civilians of all nationalities were killed"

Now show all the dead in China!

 

[Grumblenuts]

Who won the war in Vietnam?
Cambodia?
Laos?

 

[georgephillip]

Now show all the dead in China!

Right after you show all the dead fascists
Communism defeated Fascism eighty years ago and will defeat it again: The Forty-Eighth Newsletter (2025) - MR Online

 

[georgephillip]

Who won the war in Vietnam?
Cambodia?
Laos?

North Vietnam won its "American War" by driving US invaders back from where they came from.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Right after you show all the dead fascists
Communism defeated Fascism eighty years ago and will defeat it again: The Forty-Eighth Newsletter (2025) - MR Online

Chinese dead don't count if Mao killed them.

 

[Grumblenuts]

North Vietnam won its "American War" by driving US invaders back from where they came from.

Google agrees.

 

[georgephillip]

Chinese dead don't count if Mao killed them.

As if Chinese deaths ever counted with greedy, capitalist piggies:

GoogleAI Overview:

"Estimates for Chinese soldier deaths in the Korean War vary significantly, with Chinese sources often citing around 180,000, while Western estimates range from 400,000 to potentially higher figures, reflecting discrepancies between official reports and external analysis.

"Many sources point to around 110,000-180,000 killed in action or from wounds, with total losses (including missing, wounded, and non-combat deaths) potentially reaching 390,000 or more, though figures remain debated due to differing definitions and reporting methods."

 

[georgephillip]

Google agrees.

I should have noted that's where my response came from; my initial instinct was to claim the US MIC won the war in Vietnam.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

As if Chinese deaths ever counted with greedy, capitalist piggies:

GoogleAI Overview:

"Estimates for Chinese soldier deaths in the Korean War vary significantly, with Chinese sources often citing around 180,000, while Western estimates range from 400,000 to potentially higher figures, reflecting discrepancies between official reports and external analysis.

"Many sources point to around 110,000-180,000 killed in action or from wounds, with total losses (including missing, wounded, and non-combat deaths) potentially reaching 390,000 or more, though figures remain debated due to differing definitions and reporting methods."

Capitalists are awful, so Chinese killed by the commies don't count. Got it.

DURR

 

[georgephillip]

Capitalists are awful, so Chinese killed by the commies don't count. Got it.

DURR

Awful capitalists plundered China for a century, and a few Chinese traitors paid with their lives; where's the loss?

China’s Capitalist Revolutions

"Pre-capitalist China had once been among the most advanced societies on earth.

"A series of dynasties, periodically replaced under the blows of mass peasant rebellions, ruled through the centralized political bureaucracy.

"China’s dynastic centralism, however, could not achieve the centralized, modern nation-state and economy that capitalism could in its progressive epoch.

"The last, Manchu, dynasty was already in decline by the 1800’s, the point at which Western capitalist encroachment became substantial.

"The next century saw the acceleration of this decline under the pressure of British-led opium-peddling and gunboat diplomacy.

"Whole regions were carved into spheres of imperialist influence, and the Chinese masses were subjected to intense degradation and exploitation.

"But through this process came the creation of modern classes, above all the proletariat, within the pre-capitalist society."

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Awful capitalists plundered China for a century, and a few Chinese traitors paid with their lives; where's the loss?

China’s Capitalist Revolutions

"Pre-capitalist China had once been among the most advanced societies on earth.

"A series of dynasties, periodically replaced under the blows of mass peasant rebellions, ruled through the centralized political bureaucracy.

"China’s dynastic centralism, however, could not achieve the centralized, modern nation-state and economy that capitalism could in its progressive epoch.

"The last, Manchu, dynasty was already in decline by the 1800’s, the point at which Western capitalist encroachment became substantial.

"The next century saw the acceleration of this decline under the pressure of British-led opium-peddling and gunboat diplomacy.

"Whole regions were carved into spheres of imperialist influence, and the Chinese masses were subjected to intense degradation and exploitation.

"But through this process came the creation of modern classes, above all the proletariat, within the pre-capitalist society."

Plunder was awful. 60 million Chinese killed by Mao was ok, eh comrade?

 

[Grumblenuts]

if billionaires paid the same rate of taxes as (the) middle class?​

-- famine would be reduced, no doubt, but
-- just chopping their heads off
-- would be way more efficient

The Great Famine 1315-1317

Such a mortality of men in England and Scotland through famine and pestilence as had not been heard of in our time.The Chronicle of Lanercost 1272-1346 In the autumn and winter of 1314, Britain exp…

britishfoodhistory.com

 

[georgephillip]

Plunder was awful. 60 million Chinese killed by Mao was ok, eh comrade?

60 million?

Who told you that, Trump?