Robert Reich: Why We Should Raise Taxes on the Super-Rich and Lower Them on the Middle Class

[Donnachaidh]

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/robert-reich-why-we-should-raise-taxes-sup

I really wish that President Obama was enlisting the likes of Robert Reich instead of those in the Wall Street revolving door on what needs to be done with our tax policies in the United States.

Why We Should Raise Taxes on the Super-Rich and Lower Them on the Middle Class:

My proposal to raise the marginal tax to 70 percent on incomes over $15 million, to 60 percent on incomes between $5 million and $15 million, and to 50 percent on incomes between $500,000 and $5 million, has generated considerable debate. Some progressives think it’s pie-in-the-sky. Here, for example, is Andrew Leonard, a staff writer for Salon:

A 70 percent tax bracket for the richest Americans is pure fantasy – even suggesting it represents such a fundamental disconnect with the world as it exists today that it is hard to see why it should be taken seriously. I would be deeply worried about the sanity of a Democratic president who proposed such a thing.

More at the link ---

[Iris]

1. k&R

I adore Robert Reich

[polichick]

2. imo the prez shows great disrespect for American taxpayers...

...by employing the "Wall Street revolving door" gang - also shows who he works for.

[Indydem]

3. Those who take their money abroad in an effort to avoid paying American taxes should lose....

"Those who take their money abroad in an effort to avoid paying American taxes should lose their American citizenship."

And we complain about the repukes attacking the 14th amendment.

[hfojvt]

4. I don't like the second line

In practice "middle class" tends to include a lot of people who are fairly well off. Somehow, the 80th-95th percentile gets defined as "middle" even though 80% are below them and only 5% are above them.

Secondly, it adds to the whole "tax cuts are good" Republican talking point.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/62

[Sirveri]

6. I always thought middle class was between 50-75k.

Which is the actual middle quintile. upper 80 starts around 120k.

[hfojvt]

7. according to this - top 20% starts at $100,000

http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/inequality/index.html

But when Congress or the President are proposing policy, they often aim it much higher and still claim it is about the middle class. Witness, for example, Obama's promise to not raise taxes for people making less than $250,000 a year. Why not raise them, at least a little bit, for households making $190,000 or $170,000 or even $140,000? Why would it be a big deal if a $140,000 paid another $600 in taxes?

Look at the Clinton plan that I referenced. Providing a tax credit for people making $50,000 - $100,000. Yet in 2006, only 40% of households made over $60,000 a year. Yet a leading Democrat was there proposing a plan that would be helping those in the 60th to 90th percentile. Which is what happens when the "middle class" gets targetted. Much of the gain ends up going to the UPPER middle class.

Meanwhile, Obama proposes to cut LIHEAP to balance the budget. Tax cuts for people making $160,000 a year, and budget cuts for people who cannot afford heat.

[StarsInHerHair]

5. he's got a realistic solution

to an enormous problem that's been purposely created over the last 40 years