Jeff AtwoodPlease do check my work on this, and cite what you have.. but from what I am seeing in the data, if we simply collected a fair tax from billionaires we could literally eliminate all poverty in this entire country at the 100% FPL level.
and I, for one, think that would be a good thing to do.
Robert Pluim 🇪🇺@codinghorror I know I harp on about this, but eliminating poverty does not require raising any tax revenue: taxes do not fund spending. Taxing billionaires correctly, whilst a laudable goal, is thus not a prerequisite to the government helping the needy.
Legit_Spaghetti@codinghorror Crazy, right? Just earlier I was grousing about how the top tax rate in 1960 was 91% on income above $400,000. Imagine the things we'd be able to accomplish if we went back to that. The science we could do. The education we'd have. The art people would make. The quality of life everyone could experience.
Tax excessive income.
ShnoofleBear /ʃnuːfɛlbɛːr/@codinghorror Desperate people better slaves make.
hobbs@codinghorror
anger shareholders with this one weird trick!
anger shareholders with this one weird trick!
Linus Gasser@codinghorror I proposed a few times with my friends to cap wealth at 1 billion. But they all think it's too much. 100 millions max wealth seems to be a good value...
Zaͩnͦsͤt̀́rͤa̅̆̈@codinghorror And research says one should eliminate all taxes, and replace it with tax on capital. Any other scenario the rich get richer... (was presented in a Dutch documentary)
Pait@codinghorror I believe that to sustainable eliminate poverty mere multimillionaires would need to pay more taxes as well. Which would be only fair.
Rich Stein (he/him)@codinghorror
Lots of policy issues there, nor have I checked the numbers — but you could stop with the first portion of you thought, "... if we simply collected a fair tax from billionaires..." and we'd — U.S. society — all be better off. Many great ways to use the additional tax revenue collected, all with positive societal benefits.
Lots of policy issues there, nor have I checked the numbers — but you could stop with the first portion of you thought, "... if we simply collected a fair tax from billionaires..." and we'd — U.S. society — all be better off. Many great ways to use the additional tax revenue collected, all with positive societal benefits.
@RunRichRun I think eliminating poverty is one of the most immediate and pressing needs other than basic universal health care. Can you really justify anything else at the base of the pyramid?
Ian Stevens@codinghorror I forget whether it was Offshore: Stealth Wealth and the New Colonialism or Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth where I learned if the US just collected the taxes the rich already owe and avoid paying, the resulting funds could increase the US budget by $470B.
@codinghorror It's apparently called a "tax gap", and increasing funding for compliance could result in a gain of as much as $20 for every $1 spent. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/quick-study-close-tax-gap-take-look-partnerships#:~:text=We%20calculated%20that%20for%20every,for%20itself%2C%20and%20then%20some.
@istevens what is the date on this? the IRS has been completely gutted in this regime. I agree we should collect taxes but how do we do this when the current party in charge is actively destroying the IRS.. can you explain how?
Maarten@codinghorror Piketty has claimed something along the lines of: if we implemented an estate tax of 100% above some modest amount, we could fund a “starter capital” that gives each citizen a nest egg to be received at (say) age 25 or 30, of.. $200,000
@thinkling @codinghorror I haven't read Piketty, but could anyone seriously justify needing to inherit more than say 10 million?
@rpluim @thinkling that is how much healthcare and education now cost in the United States
@codinghorror @thinkling After you've implemented the rest of the changes needed, they'll cost zero 😁
@thinkling why wait! How about once upon a time called RIGHT NOW? Who cares if you might get a worthless “baby bond” when that baby has died due to lack of sane parenting, lack of healthcare, or any food to eat?