MITFlunkieApr 30, 2023
Robert Reich

A history of the top marginal tax rates on the wealthiest Americans:

1940: 81%
1950: 84%
1960: 91%
1970: 72%
1980: 70%
1990: 28%
2000: 40%
2010: 35%

For 50 years, corporate backed politicians in Congress have slashed taxes to line the pockets of their wealthy donors.

Apr 30, 2023 at 12:20amWeb
Show threadcmtinkerton 🇺🇸 🌊 🌎Apr 30, 2023

@rbreich saw this on CounterSocial Geroge Carlin explains a lot.

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=george+carlin+education#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:9a98edb2,vid:IfbbBAmuv3g

Bevor Sie zur Google Suche weitergehen

Show threadAstrobach Apr 30, 2023
@rbreich you can really see how Reagan, the daft bastard, ruined everything (well... Him and Thatcher).
Show threadMax H.Apr 30, 2023
@rbreich I like to use these visuals to demonstrate how badly we've screwed things up since the Nixon years:
Show threadDanSApr 30, 2023
@rbreich The average tax rate over the 70 years is 62-63%. For now, I’d totally settle for the average.
Show threadScenarioApr 30, 2023
@rbreich @artesianspring Our tax rate was about 22% forever. Then came the #GOPTaxScam and suddenly we owe $7200 a year more.
Show threadSFborn1940Apr 30, 2023
@rbreich This is the slow, deliberate destruction of American democracy to suit the greed of a minority.
Show threadMike FraserApr 30, 2023
@rbreich In 1980 the trickle down myth was introduced to the public. By 1990 it was economic policy. Its the most massive long con ever conceived and its still paying off to this day.
Show threadKathy E. Gill 🇺🇦Apr 30, 2023

@rbreich
And then there are deductions and loopholes that reduce their taxes so much that Warren Buffett, for example, pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.

In 2008, top 400 richest Americans (income > $110,000,000) paid only 18% of their income in income taxes.

#BuffettRule

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/Buffett_Rule_Report_Final.pdf

Show threadLegalQuiltsApr 30, 2023
@kegill @rbreich Which is also a big problem even at the current 35% if they actually PAID that, things would be different. Heck, if even paid the 1990 28% there would be a lot more money to go around.
Show threadRichservo Apr 30, 2023
@legalquilts @kegill @rbreich exactly. Effective and paid are VERY different.
Show threadAT-AT Assault 🏳️‍⚧️Apr 30, 2023

@kegill @rbreich

He probably also pays a lower rate than his accountant, and the accountant is the *one who calculates that*. I wonder how the accountant feels about paying a larger tax rate than their boss?

Show threadErik HaugenMay 1, 2023
@kegill @rbreich Which illustrates how nonsense @rbreich's point is. 😂
Show threadHelderwebApr 30, 2023

@rbreich

REPOST

A history of the top marginal tax rates on the wealthiest Americans:

1940: 81%
1950: 84%
1960: 91%
1970: 72%
1980: 70%
1990: 28%
2000: 40%
2010: 35%

For 50 years, corporate backed politicians in Congress have slashed taxes to line the pockets of their wealthy donors.

MY COMMENT

This is all you need to know about politics. See how well Nixon & Reagan killed the Middle Class with their TRICKLE DOWN voodoo economics.

Show threadThreadbaneApr 30, 2023
@rbreich
It should be pointed out that the US was at the zenith of its economic and military clout when the top rate was at 90%.
Show threadHarry CallahanApr 30, 2023

@rbreich What is the effective tax rate they paid?

If someone was taxing me 90%, I'd be buying politicians & judges, too.

Show threadGayaSaMundoApr 30, 2023

@HarryCallahan
Do you understand what *marginal* tax rate means? They aren't having all of their income taxed at that rate, just the top margin of it.

@rbreich

Show threadHarry CallahanApr 30, 2023

@gayasamundo @rbreich I completely understand. My two points:

1. What actual, effective tax rate did they pay? Compare it to the effective rate the rest of us pay. Mine's around 15%. The rich might be 1%-5%. Your's is likely different.

2. 70% plus tax rates seem absurd to me. Why would the government be entitled to more than half your income? How hard would you work for diminishing returns?

We need a simple & fair tax code free of loopholes w/effective enforcement & aggressive collection.

Show threadRichservo Apr 30, 2023
@HarryCallahan @gayasamundo @rbreich over a certain threshold 70%+ is perfectly reasonable. We could have healthcare and education paid for. Instead we have 1% hoarding all the money.
Show threadRichservo Apr 30, 2023
@gayasamundo @HarryCallahan @rbreich yup. And everything over $100 million should be a 100% tax rate. Wealth hoarding and wage theft should be illegal.
Show threadLady DarlingApr 30, 2023
@rbreich Americans are suffering to just nuy food. This is so a ridiculous. We need better people in politics.
Show threadwilanderApr 30, 2023
@rbreich Top federal marginal tax is 37% today. California adds 13.3% on top of that for a total of 50.3%.
Show threadMITFlunkieApr 30, 2023
@rbreich Where in this timeline do the "Make America Great Again" folks want to go? Because it seems like a good, healthy system of taxation leveled the playing field and enabled the American Dream (all while investing in the country and keeping national debt manageable). 🤔
Show threadken TaylorApr 30, 2023
@rbreich and in the 50's & 60's we had the most stable economy in us history. people were able to save money instead of going into debt. "father knows best" is an illusion, look at movies, music, poetry, books. when feeling economically safe---people challenged s.q. and appreciated others rights---one place that didn't happen--am. south. and union blocking led to resistance to change
Show threadJeff Shaffer CBET, retApr 30, 2023
@UnUtopianOptimist @rbreich We also had a top tax rate of 90% and income inequality was nowhere near todays levels. The debt was manageable and CEO’s made ten times what workers made. That CEO is now making 399 times an average worker now.
Show threadken TaylorMay 1, 2023
@CivilityFan i do remember those days. unions were strong in my area country, and being a nutcake and never liking having extra money I would drive up to chicago and gather up the poor living on the street and load them in my woody and take them to gino's pizza. then i could usually afford to put up 10 or 12 in a $5 a night motel. I was stupid, I guess cause i struggle now in retirement. it changed in the 70's when prices raise and my foundry shut down.
Show threadJeff Shaffer CBET, retMay 1, 2023
@UnUtopianOptimist Would argue that for most of us, it changed in the 80’s. There was inflation during Carter, but everyone got hurt by it. When Reagan re-engineered the tax code, it disproportionately hit poor and working folks. A glance at the tables that depict inequality show how poverty and social equity were on the rise from soon after LBJ’s Great Society legislation passed until It reversed with Reagan’s Trickle Down economics that shifted the majority of wealth to the top 1%. Reagan was the personification of evil and if there is an afterlife, I’m sure he is in hell
Show threadken TaylorMay 1, 2023
@rbreich read your bio here. A stoic, a deist, a taoist. I've never been as fortunate or as unfortunate, but never needed much. Father inherited a bit from his second wife---i asked to be removed from the will because i had to attachment. sometimes i regret, i would have liked giving it others, but i think they had the will set up to prevent that. i just don't understand why i need to have more than i have.
Show threadPaul MApr 30, 2023

@rbreich This helps explain the obvious and rapid rise in inequality in the US.

It's tempting to say this also explains how the US was able to afford the Space Race and the Cold War but that isn't exactly how taxes work #mmt

Show threadnn1ngApr 30, 2023
@rbreich and now the american dream is to leave the country.
Show threadWJJHApr 30, 2023
@rbreich It’s called the Robin Hood syndrome, steel from the rich and give to the poor, which created tax optimization and tax avoidance.
Show threadCarlos García DurazoApr 30, 2023
@rbreich
This applies to both dominant parties, which is indicative of a government in service of the wealthy. Unfortunately, Trump at al, have found a way to befuddle the masses, including working class, by playing the nationalistic trump card.
Show threadKarl Morant 🇨🇦  🖖Apr 30, 2023

@rbreich

Tax the rich!

Show thread2xfoApr 30, 2023
@rbreich
At least in this single regard I can agree with the red hats: make America(n taxes) great again
Show threadQuantumOrgasm~Apr 30, 2023
@rbreich And 2020?
Show threadRockyCApr 30, 2023
@rbreich So the MONEY didn’t “trickle down,” just the tax rates for the rich…
Show threadPK1048May 1, 2023
@rbreich but just as big a problem is the Capital Gains tax. ALL income, whether from earnings (work) or investments should be taxed the same!!!
Show threadDave DonleyMay 1, 2023
@rbreich they tell you it’s trickle down policies, but what they don’t want you to know is that the opposite reigns true. IT’S RAINING UP!
Show threadMichael RothMay 1, 2023

@rbreich

___D O E S N ' T___M A K E___A___D I F F E R E N C E___

... how much is the tax income of the state

because the state already takes in trillions

the problem is that the money doesn't reach downwards to the weaker half of the population

u need free items (especially sleeping place)

only then things get alright

thus u're all wrong, demanding more taxes, while being incompetent in efficiently sending the money to the sufferers

Show threadCraig ClarkMay 1, 2023
@rbreich
Show threadI hate Donald TrumpAug 26, 2024
@rbreich and if there were any doubts about who rules the world, this says it all. Concisely, precisely, exactly.