Should Billionaires Even Exist?
- Thread starter Lakhota
- Start date
danielpalos
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #122
there is no upper limit under Capitalism.
You know what’s not cool anymore? Billionaires.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Elizabeth Warren believe some Americans have too much money, and they’re not alone.
Their very existence is now the subject of political debate, sparked most recently by tax-the-rich proposals from two prominent politicians.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed placing a 2 percent tax on wealth over $50 million and 3 percent on assets over $1 billion. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said she wants to increase the marginal tax rate on those earning more than $10 million a year.
Their ideas went viral, starting a mainstream conversation about inequality and wealth.
This kind of talk has always existed among a certain group of hard-core progressives and left-leaning economists, but heading into next year’s presidential election, the idea that the super-rich should pay their fair share is gaining real momentum.
Marshall Steinbaum, a research director at the left-leaning Roosevelt Institute, has advocated taxing the rich at higher rates for years. “We do not need billionaires,” Steinbaum told HuffPost. “The economy’s done better without billionaires in the past.”
For Steinbaum, higher taxes on the wealthy would mean freeing up more money for everyone else. If you think of the economy as a pie, right now, billionaires are getting just about all of it, while we’re all left splitting just one slice.
If you raise taxes on the richest, their incentive to grab at every morsel declines. The theory is they’ll fight a little less hard to depress everyone else’s wages if they know that every extra million is going to get taxed away. A high-paid CEO has less incentive to keep workers’ wages low so he can get a bigger payday.
Billionaires were once a rare breed. In the past few decades, as the U.S. has slashed tax rates, their numbers have exploded, far outpacing inflation.
Since 2008, the number of billionaires in the world has doubled, according to a report published last week by the anti-poverty nonprofit Oxfam. In just the last year, billionaires raked in an astonishing $2.5 billion each day.
In 1982, the first year Forbes debuted its list of the 400 richest Americans, there were about a dozen billionaires. The richest man in the U.S. back then was an 85-year-old shipping magnate with an estimated worth of $2 billion, or $5.2 billion in today’s dollars.
"We do not need billionaires. The economy’s done better without billionaires in the past."
--Marshall Steinbaum, Roosevelt Institute
Nowadays, Forbes’ list is entirely billionaires. The richest is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, worth $160 billion.
More: Should Billionaires Even Exist?
I agree! Billionaires aren't cool anymore! The playing field is tilted like the Titanic before it went down. There is no logical reason for so few to have so much. What do you think?
Pumpkin Row
Platinum Member
- May 26, 2016
- 5,694
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"The playing field is tilted
By the way, the government should steal more money and continue passing more regulations so that competitors have a harder time entering the market and competing."
More class and identity politics, and more advocating for thievery on the basis of others having more than you do, while also supporting legislation that perpetuates the issue of being unable to compete with those very businesses that you are complaining about.
- Banned
- #124
It is obvious that every one of the tens of thousands of people that are receiving a weekly paycheck from Microsoft are damn glad Bill Gates exist.
Come election time all these Moon Bats are damn glad George Soros exist and has so much money to give to the despicable bat shit crazy Democrat candidates that they vote for.
Come election time all these Moon Bats are damn glad George Soros exist and has so much money to give to the despicable bat shit crazy Democrat candidates that they vote for.
TheDude
Gold Member
Interesting how most billionaires are progs.
- Moderator
- #127
Yeah, all your hollyweird heros would love that. You'd be confiscating 10.5 million on a 25 million movie contract. I think all your regressive movie folks would become conservative over night and all their donations will dry up.
.
Yup, as long as it's the other person paying it.
- Moderator
- #129
Lakhota
Diamond Member
- Thread starter
- #130
Yup, as long as it's the other person paying it.
Yup, the ones making the big bucks.
Why the Rich Should Pay Higher Taxes
bripat9643
Diamond Member
- Apr 1, 2011
- 170,170
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They pay far more than that. if the top 1% pay 40% of the taxes, that means they pay $1.8 trillion, which far exceeds the military budget. However, why should they be solely responsible for the military budget? The military protects you from having ISIS cut your head off. Don't you believe you're obligated to pay for that?
bripat9643
Diamond Member
- Apr 1, 2011
- 170,170
- 47,420
- 2,180
We should all be paying less taxes. Government is at best a huge waste of money.
bripat9643
Diamond Member
- Apr 1, 2011
- 170,170
- 47,420
- 2,180
Microsoft created 200,000 millionaires.
That's how it starts, Lakhota, eventually you'll become part of it, also.Yup, as long as it's the other person paying it.
Yup, the ones making the big bucks.
Why the Rich Should Pay Higher Taxes
Desperado
Diamond Member
- Mar 13, 2012
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Lakhota give it a rest you hate anyone with more money than you.
Never seen a more jealous person in my life. You need to get off your reservation and live a little
Lakhota
Diamond Member
- Thread starter
- #136
Who pays off the national debt?
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to get rid of the entire national debt “over a period of eight years.” When this promise was made, the national debt stood at $19 trillion; it has since risen to $21.7 trillion. In the fiscal year ending September 30, it grew by $779 billion, up 17 percent from $666 billion in fiscal 2017. This year, after the Trump tax cuts take full effect, another $1 trillion worth of government IOUs will be issued.
Trump said he would erase America's debt in 8 years. It's now bigger than ever.
As a candidate, Donald Trump promised to get rid of the entire national debt “over a period of eight years.” When this promise was made, the national debt stood at $19 trillion; it has since risen to $21.7 trillion. In the fiscal year ending September 30, it grew by $779 billion, up 17 percent from $666 billion in fiscal 2017. This year, after the Trump tax cuts take full effect, another $1 trillion worth of government IOUs will be issued.
Trump said he would erase America's debt in 8 years. It's now bigger than ever.
HereWeGoAgain
Diamond Member
Should indians even exist?
Lakhota
Diamond Member
danielpalos
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #140
let's raise the minimum wage to raise tax revenue.
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