Comments for American-Manifesto.com

Comment on Investment Taxes Too High by George

George — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 13:42:32 +0000

Not to mention that the corporation that returned the investment has already been taxed, so your returns are correspondingly lower.

Comment on Question For Our Friends On the Left by George

George — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:54:45 +0000

It’s going to get really ugly, really quickly over there.

Comment on The Importance of Growth by Dod

Dod — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:12:56 +0000

And we can see in Europe how well decades of growth-avoidance works.

Comment on The Importance of Growth by George

George — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:02:26 +0000

Good point. Progress increases efficiency. Efficiency destroys jobs. The solution is to grow the economy and create new industries, and thus new jobs. The left’s fascination with preserving the status quo implies lack of progress.

Comment on Oh, The Irony by Dod

Dod — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:50:09 +0000

I wonder what the OWS crowd is going to think of this - Progressive politician turned corporate villain.

Comment on Oh, The Irony by George

George — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:44:43 +0000

And it seems that there is some money missing.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/cme-investigating-mf-global/

Comment on Their Fair Share by Dod

Dod — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 23:28:43 +0000

Sorry for the delayed response Ted.

In your first comment you are essentially arguing that the Laffer Curve is not valid. I’d be impressed if you could succeed in that. The chart definitely supports my argument. A tax scheme with a top tax rate of 91% produced revenues of 7.7% of GDP. While a tax scheme with a top tax rate of 39.6% produced revenues of 9.4% of GDP. When Clinton raised the top tax rate to 39.6% from 31%, there was only a 0.2% GDP increase in revenues. I suspect left leaning economists expected a much bigger increase. Plus without changing the income tax rates, the reduction in capital gains tax rates increased revenues from 8% to 9.4% of GDP.

I’m not sure what your second comment is trying to accomplish. Yes, people who earn more money pay more taxes. That would be the case even under a flat tax. 20% of $200,000 is more than 20% of $25,000. Why would that not be fair and just in itself? Why punish success by raising tax rates on people who make more money?

Your third comment, demonstrates the fundamental disconnect between left and right. You seem to think the mere existence of a gap between rich and poor is a problem. Why? If the rich were rich because they exploited the poor, that would be a problem. If the poor did not have the opportunity work themselves out of poverty, that too would be a problem. If poverty were a fatal condition, as it is in much of the world, that would be a problem. But none of those are true here.

Poverty in America is as much a behavioral trait as a financial state. No amount of throwing other people’s money at poor people is going to change that.

Comment on Obama’s Jobs Plan Will Fail by Dod

Dod — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 22:49:30 +0000

The problem is that too many people on the left have never learned this at all. It is simply foreign to their worldview. To them, motivations define good policy, not results.

Comment on Obama’s Jobs Plan Will Fail by George

George — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 18:54:12 +0000

They always forget…we capitalists always have the option to take our ball and go home. Capital is like water; it flows to the point of greatest return. Taxes and regulations and administrative requirements erode at that profit. And if there is no profit to be had, or insufficient profit for a given level if risk, then there is no investment and no business.

Oh, and risk in business is defined as uncertainty. Do you think that this administration has increased or decreased uncertainty?

Comment on Their Fair Share by Ted H

Ted H — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:01:58 +0000

And so that this doesn’t go unrecognized, the bottom 50% of taxpayers only receive 12.75% of income (they pay only 2.75% of all income taxes). The top 50% of taxpayers receive 87.25% of income (and pay 97.30% of all income taxes).

The disparity of the tax rates between rich and poor IS an issue of fairness. A 1% rate on a person making $20000 is $200 dollars, that $200 has a far greater impact on the basic necessities of that person than a 1% rate on someone earning $100,000 (= $1000), and even more so than someone earning $1,000,000 (= $10,000). So on and so forth…