Taxing the "Rich"

since when has a 100% tax rate ever been imposed anywhere? nobody except slaves works for nothing. you earn more, you get more, you pay more taxes, you whinge, fine. btw are you in the 'big earners'?

I think people need to focus on the first part of your discussion - the idea that anyone can decide that another person has made "enough money". Certainly, some people make more money than any of us could imagine having, needing or spending... but that doesn't mean that they have no right to it. It doesn't mean that I have a right to it, even if I have less than I need and they have more than they need. Besides, I thought the old saying was "you can never be too rich or too thin"?

A person making $250,000 pays the same tax rate as a person making $50,000, and President Obama wants to continue the tax cuts for both of those people. A person making $250,001 would only pay the higher tax rate on the extra dollar.

Do you have a link to this information where it indicates that 100% of earnings above $200k would be taxed? Have you read the guidelines, by the way? Members should not have to ask for supporting information.

Except that they've been convinced by the government, I don't understand how anyone who doesn't work can think they have a right to the money a worker has earned. Do failing students think they have the right to the honor roll student's grades? Does the losing team have a right to some of the winning team's points? Does the candidate who doesn't have as much campaign money as another candidate have a right to that candidate's money or votes? How did we get to the place where the have nots think they have a right to what belongs to someone else?

There is no such thing as the right to enjoy the benefits of government without paying one's fair share of the costs of those benefits. One's fair share of those benefits is a function of how much one prospers under the government that provides those benefits, and as a result the more one earns the more taxes one pays.

I think the real issue should be "there comes a time when you have earned enough money without giving a damn thing back" Because that's what's happened. The idea of giving tax credits to the top in the hope that they will create jobs for the folks further down the food chain has been a dismal failure. The only things that ever trickled down were minimum wage, no benefit jobs and the rich figured out that they could keep their tax credits and get additional ones if they outsourced even those jobs. Exact figures? Depends on the give back to society and NO credits for outsourcing. (It may be a necessary evil but it doesn't have to be rewarded)

What do we do when we reach that magic number, stop working?

I think that the true answer to the question of enough money would really depend on the person that you are talking to. Our family is not wealthy and we will never be wealthy. Therefore, I think for us, enough money would be about $150,000 in a year. That would be enough money that we would be able to pay all of our bills and still have plenty of money to pay taxes and also to ensure the future of our family in terms of stability.

I wish I could keep everything I earn! I don't think we'll ever be lucky enough to have that though. The government wants their cut of everything. While I realize that we all have to pay taxes, I sure don't like the idea of ANYBODY telling me I have earned "enough money", let alone the president of the United States. That sounds like a communist tenet to me. Like the government should be able to decide how much money someone is "allowed" to make? I don't think so. The whole issue about taxing the rich at a higher rate can be argued either way. Taxing the rich at a higher rate is clearly a disincentive to achievement. Take a small business that is ready to expand and hire another employee or two. They find out that next year they are going to have to pay 15% higher federal income tax. Now, since they just took a square hit right to the profit margin, they decide maybe now isn't the best time to hire another employee. They can't make up for it by raising prices in this economy so it's probably best to just hold off on hiring. Might just have to let someone go even... If you get my drift, I really don't think now is the best time to be raising anyone's taxes, rich or poor. I think it's best for the economy if we kept taxes at the rates they are at least until the economy improves. Then, maybe look at tax increases. Not that I think raising taxes anytime would help. I don't, but I think raising them now would hurt the economy a lot more than normal. Taxes and tax rates are just a secondary issue though. If you think about it, it doesn't matter how much we all pay in taxes if the government just keeps spending it faster than we can pay it. We could all give everything we make to the government and they would still find a way to spend more than we give them. The real issue is spending. We'll never get anywhere until we get government spending under control. THAT'S the ONLY way to control taxes and how much we need to pay in the first place.

Well, I heard the number was $250000, but after negotiation, it could be $1,000,000. No matter what Obama and this lame-duck Congress decide, I hope they start with taxing this President and this Congress...many/most of who are millionaires.

You know, my father would say that there is a word for that kind of thinking he isn't on mylot so I guess I have to say it that entire line of thinking is called COMMUNISM I mean come on 200,000 dollars? this is America if a man wants to make 2,000,000 dollars and works hard and does it legaly then he should be able to I'm from Alabama and I know that means I'm a little backward but I was raised to believe that we are brought into this world with certain talents and capabilities that no one else has and it is not only our right but our DUTY to use those talents and capabilities to the best of our ability. we live, at least we used to, in a country where the best and finest in a man can be brought out and used for the betterment of himself and his children sometimes this means that he won't make all that much money but other times it means he'll make a killing and what is wrong with that besides how much money does the american government spend on the upkeep of the president? how much money would a man have to make to live like that? and Nancy Pelosi too. how much? It is easy to say that when even after they lose their job they will make a lot more than a couple of hundred thousand on the lecture circut.

There's really no other way for me to describe this except as pure crap. Obama does not have the right to decide when you "earn too much money", nor can he decide whether or not you deserve the money you earned. If you worked for your money you should have the right to use it regardless of how much it is. Why would anyone want to work hard and move up in the world if they were going to lose everything they make anyways? Quite simply policies like this could destroy our nation literally.

Enough money seems to be like MORE THAN enough money. It's good to tax the rich, afterall, they're the ones whom the government can earn a lot.

Sounds like he is going in for taxidermy. First he fleeces you, then he stuffs you. I think that no government would dare to impose a 100% tax rate above whatever level of earnings.