Zone1 Tax the Rich! Make them Pay their Fair Share!

[Billiejeens]

The leftists always hit back with, “but…but….but…..poor people pay sales taxes!”

What they omit to mention is that they take out far more than they pitch in, via food stamps, Medicaid, free breakfasts and lunches, subsidizing housing, and TANF payments.

The average welfare family draws $41k in benefits. So big deal….they pay in $1000 or so in sales taxes.

Contributing members of society not only pay in much more in sales tax, they also pay federal and state income tax that poor people do not AND they pay for their own food, their own medical, their own housing, and their kids’ lunches.

The sales tax is paid by the EBT card.

 

[JonKoch]

Solyndra was gifted money that was never paid back and because of their mismanagement, they went broke at a cost to taxpayers. Solyndra was nothing but political payoff to Obama's supporters.

They earned it. LOL, your buddy Bill Gates is one of the richest on earth. He and Paul Allen made a better mousetrap. They didn't do anything that you couldn't have done if you had applied yourself. You and the democrats can't seem to grasp that the world doesn't OWE you anything. Earn it. BTW, spare us the anonymous cut and paste. If you can cut an paste it, you can provide the source so we can see it ourselves.

Got it, you are ignorant as ****


"(President Barack Obama gave) half a billion in taxpayer money to help his friends at Solyndra, a business the White House knew was on the path to bankruptcy."

In 2006 (DUBYA), the U.S. Department of Energy invited the company to apply for a new loan guarantee program, a program created with the support of a majority of Republicans, who controlled Congress at the time.

The company's December 2006 pre-application was enough to vault it into a group of 16 applicants invited to submit full applications in 2007. By early January 2009, Solyndra's file had been reviewed by the department's credit committee and returned with a request for further analysis. On Jan. 15,2009 (DUBYA) the loan program office said "due diligence" for the Solyndra loan was scheduled to be complete by March 2009. The money was going to build a gleaming new factory in Fremont, Calif.



As recently as 2010, the company was hailed as a Silicon Valley superstar, ranked a top clean-tech company by the Wall Street Journal and one of the "World's 50 Most Innovative Companies" by a Massachusetts Institute of Technology magazine.

Solyndra ad claims President Barack Obama gave taxpayer money to help his campaign donors at failed solar company

A new TV ad airing in Florida and other states portrays President Barack Obama as a politician who showered millions of

www.politifact.com

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Oh good, the jealousy card shaking head


A 2020 RAND Corporation study (updated to $79 trillion by 2023) found that rising income inequality has redistributed roughly $50 trillion in cumulative income from the bottom 90% of U.S. earners to the top 1% since 1975. The report, "Trends in Income From 1975 to 2018," indicates this is the "foregone income" the90% would have earned had income growth matched the equitable trends of the post-WWII era


Key Findings of the Study:

• Massive Wealth Shift: The study found that from 1975 to 2018, the bottom 90% of households saw their income growth lag, resulting in a $47 trillion shortfall, which grew to over $50 trillion by early 2020.
• 
  
• The "Gap" Defined: Researchers Carter Price and Kathryn Edwards found that if income growth had remained as equitable as it was between 1945 and 1974, the average American worker would be earning significantly more today.
• 
  
• Impact on Workers: The study estimates that the average, full-time worker in the bottom 90% was losing roughly $1,144 per month in income due to this shift.
• 
  
• Annual Cost: By 2018, this trend was costing the bottom 90% approximately $2.5 trillion in annual income

Contextual Factors:

• Not Just Investment Gains: The report clarifies that this is not just a transfer of existing assets, but rather a structural change in how income (wages and salary) is distributed, driven by changes in policy and productivity gains that did not translate to higher wages.

• Updated Figures: As of March 2025, analyses based on this methodology indicate that this cumulative shift reached $79 trillion by 2023.

HOW? TAX POLICY FOR ONE, REAGANOMICS
The Reagan administration implemented several regulatory and tax changes in the 1980s that dramatically increased the use of stock-based compensation and share repurchases, which critics argue allowed executives to "game the system" to boost their personal wealth. Key policy changes included

• 1982 SEC Rule Change (Stock Buybacks): The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under Reagan passed Rule 10b-18, which provided a "safe harbor" that effectively legalized large-scale stock buybacks. Prior to this, massive buybacks were often considered market manipulation.

• 1981 & 1986 Tax Acts (Incentive Stock Options): Reagan's Economic Recovery and Tax Act of 1981 restored favorable tax treatment for stock options, renaming them Incentive Stock Options (ISOs). These changes, along with the Tax Reform Act of 1986, lowered the top personal income tax rate, allowing profits to be taxed at lower capital gains rates rather than higher ordinary income rates.

Shift to Shareholder Primacy: These policies, combined with a shift in antitrust enforcement, encouraged a "shareholder value" model that rewarded executives with stock-linked bonuses.

• Stock Buybacks vs. Investment: Critics argue that Rule 10b-18 encouraged companies to spend massive amounts of money buying back their own shares to increase stock prices—and by extension, executive compensation—rather than investing in innovation, wages, or long-term growth.

• CEO Compensation Gap: The percentage of profits spent on buybacks by major companies soared from under 1% in 1982 to high levels in the following decades, contributing to a widening gap between CEO and worker pay.

• Option Backdating: While not directly enacted by Reagan, the emphasis on stock-based pay set the stage for later scandals like stock option backdating, where executives manipulated grant dates to increase their profits

While the administration marketed these changes as boosting the "entrepreneurial spirit", the resulting policy environment has been widely criticized for prioritizing short-term share price increases over corporate investment and worker wages.

found that rising income inequality has redistributed roughly $50 trillion in cumulative income from the bottom 90% of U.S. earners to the top 1% since 1975.

How does "rising income inequality" redistribute income?
Does the sun rising in the east also redistribute income?

indicates this is the "foregone income" the 90% would have earned had income growth matched the equitable trends of the post-WWII era

Hilarious!

The Reagan administration implemented several regulatory and tax changes in the 1980s that dramatically increased the use of stock-based compensation and share repurchases,

Clinton made cash-based compensation over $1 million, non-deductible for the corporation.
It's his fault corporations shifted to options-based compensation.

Stock Buybacks vs. Investment: Critics argue that Rule 10b-18 encouraged companies to spend massive amounts of money buying back their own shares to increase stock prices

We should force companies to do what you want them to do with their own money?

 

[JonKoch]

Solyndra was gifted money that was never paid back and because of their mismanagement, they went broke at a cost to taxpayers. Solyndra was nothing but political payoff to Obama's supporters.

They earned it. LOL, your buddy Bill Gates is one of the richest on earth. He and Paul Allen made a better mousetrap. They didn't do anything that you couldn't have done if you had applied yourself. You and the democrats can't seem to grasp that the world doesn't OWE you anything. Earn it. BTW, spare us the anonymous cut and paste. If you can cut an paste it, you can provide the source so we can see it ourselves.

So you CAN'T explain why from 1945-1980 the top 1% received 8%-10% of the pie but 26% by 2024?


MY LINKS WILL ALWAYS BE SHOWN IF YOU ASK


ANTI TAX FOUNDATION

Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2025 Update

New IRS data shows the US federal income tax system continues to be progressive as high-income taxpayers pay the highest average income tax rates. Average tax rates for all income groups remain lower after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

taxfoundation.org

 

[sparky]

So they didn’t pay their fair share.

how much 'economy' did they create?

~S~

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

The bottom half of the US who make a whopping 10.4% of the pie, down from 18% in 1980?

Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2024 Update

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) made many significant, but temporary, changes to the individual income tax code to lower tax rates, widen brackets, increase the standard deduction and child tax credit, and more.

taxfoundation.org

Know who is a big part of the bottom 50%? Retirees who did pay and the young who will pay

Besides federal income taxes are only 25% of the entire US taxes

Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes​

Most of the people who pay neither federal income tax nor payroll taxes are low-income people who are elderly, unable to work due to a serious disability, or students, most of whom subsequently become taxpayers

https://www.cbpp.org/research/misconceptions-and-realities-about-who-pays-taxes#:~:text=Most%20of%20the%20people%20who,and%20local%20taxes%20in%202011.

The bottom half of the US who make a whopping 10.4% of the pie, down from 18% in 1980?

Flooding the country with millions of illegal aliens hurts Americans in the bottom 50%.

Know who is a big part of the bottom 50%?

People with fewer skills and less education. The ones who have to compete with Biden's 12 million new illegal aliens.

Most of the people who pay neither federal income tax (nor payroll taxes) are low-income people who are elderly, unable to work due to a serious disability, or students

Cool story. Now post your evidence for those who don't pay federal income tax.
Of course, people who don't pay payroll taxes aren't working.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Overall Tax Burden: The poorest fifth of Americans pay an average of 17% of their income in total taxes.

Who Pays Taxes in America in 2024​

Who Pays Taxes in America in 2024

America's tax system is just barely progressive, and not nearly as progressive as many suggest or as progressive as it could be. There is plenty of room for lawmakers to improve the progressivity of the tax code to combat economic, wealth, and racial inequality.

itep.org

For the first time in roughly 100 years, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than the working class in 2018, largely driven by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The wealthiest 400 families paid an average effective rate of ~23%, less than the ~24% average for the bottom half of households.



Trump’s tax cuts helped billionaires pay less than the working class for first time.

For the first time in roughly 100 years, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than the working class in 2018,

Liar.

 

[JonKoch]

found that rising income inequality has redistributed roughly $50 trillion in cumulative income from the bottom 90% of U.S. earners to the top 1% since 1975.

How does "rising income inequality" redistribute income?
Does the sun rising in the east also redistribute income?

indicates this is the "foregone income" the 90% would have earned had income growth matched the equitable trends of the post-WWII era

Hilarious!

The Reagan administration implemented several regulatory and tax changes in the 1980s that dramatically increased the use of stock-based compensation and share repurchases,

Clinton made cash-based compensation over $1 million, non-deductible for the corporation.
It's his fault corporations shifted to options-based compensation.

Stock Buybacks vs. Investment: Critics argue that Rule 10b-18 encouraged companies to spend massive amounts of money buying back their own shares to increase stock prices

We should force companies to do what you want them to do with their own money?

Nah, we should allow Corps to run a game on US as they have financialized the entire US economy since Ronnie

The deregulation of stock buybacks during the Reagan administration is widely cited as a turning point that incentivized executive stock options and contributed to the surge in CEO pay. In 1982, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relaxed regulations on stock buybacks, allowing companies to buy back their own shares under conditions that critics argued were impossible to police.

Stock Option Exploitation and Regulatory Changes

• Buyback Resurgence: Before 1982, stock buybacks were rarely used because they were seen as a method for market manipulation. The 1982 change allowed corporations to boost stock prices—and consequently, executive stock options—without needing to improve actual company performance.

• Compensation Skyrockets: Following these regulatory changes and the start of a bull market in 1982, executive pay began to soar, with CEO pay rising significantly relative to worker pay.

• The "Cheating" Link: Stock buybacks often prioritize short-term stock price increases, rewarding executives who hold stock options but often limiting reinvestment in the company (e.g., research and development or wages).

Tax Changes: Reagan-era tax reforms (1981 and 1986) lowered the top personal income tax rate from 70% to 50% and then to 28%, making stock options more valuable as compensation.

• Long-Term Impact: The shift initiated in the early 1980s set the stage for later scandals, including the "backdating" of stock options in the 2000s, where executives altered grant dates to maximize personal profits.

• Economic Impact: Critics argue that the prioritization of stock options led to a disconnect between performance and pay, with corporations reducing reinvestment in favor of inflating stock prices.

BUT HEY, IF YOU "BELIEVE" LEON MUSK IS WORTH $800 BILLION PLUS FOR THE NEXT DECADE TO RUN TESLA, YOU'RE AN IDIOT

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Mostly red states

Did California turn red when I wasn't looking? Illinois too?

 

[JonKoch]

The bottom half of the US who make a whopping 10.4% of the pie, down from 18% in 1980?

Flooding the country with millions of illegal aliens hurts Americans in the bottom 50%.

Know who is a big part of the bottom 50%?

People with fewer skills and less education. The ones who have to compete with Biden's 12 million new illegal aliens.

Most of the people who pay neither federal income tax (nor payroll taxes) are low-income people who are elderly, unable to work due to a serious disability, or students

Cool story. Now post your evidence for those who don't pay federal income tax.
Of course, people who don't pay payroll taxes aren't working.`

Yeah, sorry I forget the US didn't have a bottom 50% from 1945-1980, and especially no immigrants

Reality Check on Who Pays Taxes​

https://www.cbpp.org/blog/reality-check-on-who-pays-taxes-0

Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes​

https://www.cbpp.org/research/misconceptions-and-realities-about-who-pays-taxes

​

Five Myths About the 47 Percent​

​

Five Myths About the 47 Percent | Brookings

William Gale and Donald Marron of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center identify five myths about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes.

www.brookings.edu

 

[JonKoch]

For the first time in roughly 100 years, U.S. billionaires paid a lower effective tax rate than the working class in 2018,

Liar.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/08/first-time-history-us-billionaires-paid-lower-tax-rate-than-working-class-last-year/

NO PAYWALL

https://archive.ph/i9pbY

 

[Concerned American]

So you CAN'T explain why from 1945-1980 the top 1% received 8%-10% of the pie but 26% by 2024?


MY LINKS WILL ALWAYS BE SHOWN IF YOU ASK


ANTI TAX FOUNDATION

Summary of the Latest Federal Income Tax Data, 2025 Update

New IRS data shows the US federal income tax system continues to be progressive as high-income taxpayers pay the highest average income tax rates. Average tax rates for all income groups remain lower after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

taxfoundation.org

Nothing to explain. What is your point? That the top 1% built on their successes? I would wager that your piece of the pie has increased more than 16% over your working years. Are you complaining about how your lot has improved. LOL, troll on son, your tin hat is getting too tight.

 

[JonKoch]

Did California turn red when I wasn't looking? Illinois too?

California's tax structure is heavily reliant on the wealthy, with the top 1% of earners paying nearly 40-50% of the state’s personal income tax, making it one of the most progressive systems in the nation.

\

California's overall tax system, including income and sales taxes, remains largely driven by high earners, as detailed in this report on tax fairness.

• Middle/Low Income Burden: The lowest-earning 20% pay roughly 11.4% of their income, largely through consumption taxes (sales and excise taxes). The middle 20% pay about 10.4% in taxes.

 

[JonKoch]

Nothing to explain. What is your point? That the top 1% built on their successes? I would wager that your piece of the pie has increased more than 16% over your working years. Are you complaining about how your lot has improved. LOL, troll on son, your tin hat is getting too tight.

So you CAN'T explain why from 1945-1980 the top 1% received 8%-10% of the pie but 26% by 2024?


GOT IT

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Nah, we should allow Corps to run a game on US as they have financialized the entire US economy since Ronnie

The deregulation of stock buybacks during the Reagan administration is widely cited as a turning point that incentivized executive stock options and contributed to the surge in CEO pay. In 1982, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) relaxed regulations on stock buybacks, allowing companies to buy back their own shares under conditions that critics argued were impossible to police.

Stock Option Exploitation and Regulatory Changes

• Buyback Resurgence: Before 1982, stock buybacks were rarely used because they were seen as a method for market manipulation. The 1982 change allowed corporations to boost stock prices—and consequently, executive stock options—without needing to improve actual company performance.

• Compensation Skyrockets: Following these regulatory changes and the start of a bull market in 1982, executive pay began to soar, with CEO pay rising significantly relative to worker pay.

• The "Cheating" Link: Stock buybacks often prioritize short-term stock price increases, rewarding executives who hold stock options but often limiting reinvestment in the company (e.g., research and development or wages).

Tax Changes: Reagan-era tax reforms (1981 and 1986) lowered the top personal income tax rate from 70% to 50% and then to 28%, making stock options more valuable as compensation.

• Long-Term Impact: The shift initiated in the early 1980s set the stage for later scandals, including the "backdating" of stock options in the 2000s, where executives altered grant dates to maximize personal profits.

• Economic Impact: Critics argue that the prioritization of stock options led to a disconnect between performance and pay, with corporations reducing reinvestment in favor of inflating stock prices.

BUT HEY, IF YOU "BELIEVE" LEON MUSK IS WORTH $800 BILLION PLUS FOR THE NEXT DECADE TO RUN TESLA, YOU'RE AN IDIOT

Before 1982, stock buybacks were rarely used because they were seen as a method for market manipulation.

If corporations bought stock before announcing good news or issued stock before announcing bad news,
this could be a realistic claim. That's usually not the case.

Tax Changes: Reagan-era tax reforms (1981 and 1986) lowered the top personal income tax rate from 70% to 50% and then to 28%, making stock options more valuable as compensation.

Making all compensation more valuable.

Economic Impact: Critics argue that the prioritization of stock options led to a disconnect between performance and pay, with corporations reducing reinvestment in favor of inflating stock prices.

But enough about Clinton's 1993 tax bill.

 

[JonKoch]

The sales tax is paid by the EBT card.

No, state or local sales tax is not paid by the EBT card (SNAP benefits). Federal law explicitly prohibits taxing food items purchased with SNAP benefits. Retailers must not charge tax on these items, and if a transaction includes taxable non-food items, tax is only applied to that portion.

 

[Toddsterpatriot]

Yeah, sorry I forget the US didn't have a bottom 50% from 1945-1980, and especially no immigrants

Reality Check on Who Pays Taxes​

https://www.cbpp.org/blog/reality-check-on-who-pays-taxes-0

Misconceptions and Realities About Who Pays Taxes​

https://www.cbpp.org/research/misconceptions-and-realities-about-who-pays-taxes

​

​

Five Myths About the 47 Percent​

​

Five Myths About the 47 Percent | Brookings

William Gale and Donald Marron of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center identify five myths about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes.

www.brookings.edu

Yeah, sorry I forget the US didn't have a bottom 50% from 1945-1980, and especially no immigrants

You forgot, Reagan cut taxes for those at the bottom too.

 

[JonKoch]

Before 1982, stock buybacks were rarely used because they were seen as a method for market manipulation.
If corporations bought stock before announcing good news or issued stock before announcing bad news,
this could be a realistic claim. That's usually not the case.
Tax Changes: Reagan-era tax reforms (1981 and 1986) lowered the top personal income tax rate from 70% to 50% and then to 28%, making stock options more valuable as compensation.
Making all compensation more valuable.

Economic Impact: Critics argue that the prioritization of stock options led to a disconnect between performance and pay, with corporations reducing reinvestment in favor of inflating stock prices.

But enough about Clinton's 1993 tax bill.

The 1993 Clinton/Democratic bill not a single GOPer voted for? That created 4 budget surpluses, 3 after vetoing the GOP's $792+ billion tax cut? That one?


Sure Clinton's bill didn't do the trick, but it was ALLOWED by Ronnie's changing in 1982

History shows corps layoff to get "lean", the top exec's cash out their options, next guys have to rebuild with pushes stocks down, until they do the same thing



The pattern described—layoffs to "get lean," followed by executive cash-outs, subsequent restructuring, and eventual rehiring—is a well-documented phenomenon in corporate history often referred to as "the layoff loop". While designed to boost short-term shareholder value, research shows that layoffs often fail to improve long-term performance, leading to a cycle of rehiring within 12 months as companies realize they have cut essential talent.

 

[Billiejeens]

No, state or local sales tax is not paid by the EBT card (SNAP benefits). Federal law explicitly prohibits taxing food items purchased with SNAP benefits. Retailers must not charge tax on these items, and if a transaction includes taxable non-food items, tax is only applied to that portion.

Excellent, so the crap about poor people paying massive sales is false.
Thanks for the reminder.

 

[JonKoch]

Yeah, sorry I forget the US didn't have a bottom 50% from 1945-1980, and especially no immigrants

You forgot, Reagan cut taxes for those at the bottom too.

LMAOROG, Except he didn't, by much! He increased taxes 11 times AND increased SS taxes which hit the workers

• Tax Structure Change: While the top rate was slashed from 70% to 50% (and later to 28% in 1986), the bottom rate was also initially reduced. However, it is noted that in 1986, the lowest tax rate was increased from 11% to 15%, which was a departure from the 1981 cuts.

What we learned from Reagan's tax cuts | Brookings

David Wessel looks at what happened at Ronald Reagan cut tax rates in the '80s.

www.brookings.edu