6 ms·
> The societies of North America have totally abandoned the middle class and They've totally abandoned the the middle class and the lower class. That's why we'
by lapcat 3y ago
> The societies of North America have totally abandoned the middle class and
They've totally abandoned the the middle class and the lower class. That's why we're having these problems. Pitting middle class against lower class allows the upper class to get away with sucking every last penny out of society and abandoning the greater good.
- WalterBright 3y agoHow does that reconcile with Washington State just passing a 7% tax on capital gains exceeding $250,000?
- dragonwriter 3y agoComes far from even closing the gap on the net favorable tax treatment of capital gains which itself favors the wealthy, but, sure, “totally abandoned” the classes below the haut bourgeoisie may be a slight exaggeration; there is some concern which occasionally manifest is some small policy measures.
- WalterBright 3y agoIncome is not taxed in Washington, so there is no favorable treatment of capital gains. Quite the reverse.
- dragonwriter 3y agoWashington is not separate from the United States, and income is taxed in the United States, and 7% at $250k plus doesn’t close the gap between it and normal (or, a fortiori, specifically labor, which has additional taxes on top of general income tax) income. The fact that Washington wasn’t further widening that gap between labor capital taxes by taxing regular income before adopting its capital gains tax is tangential.
- WalterBright 3y agoThe top 1% pay 42.3 percent of federal income tax receipts.
- dragonwriter 3y agoSo what? “federal income tax” is only about 2/3 of federal taxes on income, and the other 1/3 is the much more bottom-weighted payroll tax. And in any case, yes, high end earners of normal income (which can include some of the top 1%, ~$700k non-capital income isn’t unheard of) get heavily taxed; capital income is favored, not high non-capital income.
- sgerenser 3y agoPayroll taxes are dedicated to pay for Medicare and Social Security programs. The amount you get in old age is directly proportional to how much you paid in (with a formula that favors lower earners via “bend points”), so its disingenuous to just lump it all in with regular federal income taxes.
- dragonwriter 3y ago> Payroll taxes are dedicated to pay for Medicare and Social Security programs. Yes, and doing that as a dedicated levy on labor rather than general revenue is a policy choice. It doesn't somehow not count as a tax. > The amount you get in old age is directly proportional to how much you paid in No, its not. Especially not for Medicare.
- sgerenser 3y agoYes, sure, for both the benefits are weighted more towards lower-income earners (in other words, they get back much more, on average, than they paid in). I don’t know how that supports the thesis that those with lower income are overtaxed compared to those with higher incomes.