.cb new_rayz said:
-The rich aren’t going to be taxed 70% or 90%, EVEN THOUGH they control over 90% of the wealth in this country. And as you may already know, we have a progressive tax for a very good reason. The rich get more out of the government. Yes I am saying it, the rich get more from the government.
Beyond all this, the federal budget is top-heavy with corporate welfare. Counting tax breaks and expenditures, corporations and the rich snuffle up over $400 billion a year- compare that to the $116 billion spent on programs for the poor.
Can I take it that you agree that 70% to 90% taxation is unfair? What guarantees are there that the tax rate won’t go up on the rich to those excessive levels? During the 60’s and 70’s the top tax bracket bounced around between 70% up to 90%. These “evil” rich couldn’t stop it then, so I seriously doubt they could stop it now. I guess that they would just have to quit buying their toys like jets and yachts. Oh wait, I forgot, Americans’ jobs depend upon the rich buying these toys. I live in Wichita, KS, the “Air Capital.” When the rich don’t have money for planes, our whole economy goes to *edited*. This affects everyone from the engineers to the assembly line workers to the janitors. Confiscatory tax rates on any segment of the population affect everyone, even if it is not directly.
Corporate welfare is a terrible thing, you and I can agree. However, I believe your numbers are extremely flawed.
Looking at this chart, you can see that, by far, the Department of Health and Human Services gobbles up the most of the budget. I’m not exactly sure what sort of Corporate Welfare they dole out, but I do know that the rest of the welfare, the programs for the poor come through this office. So instead of the “measly” $116 Billion it will be $700 Billion for 2009. That is the cost of the first bailout. Tack on the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Labor and you have a good chunk of our money being spent on welfare, not for the greedy evil rich corporations, but for the poor. In 1964, President Johnson declared war on poverty. 45 years later, after trillions were spent and more being spent each year, we still have poor among us. Before we pull out of Iraq and declare defeat, maybe we should consider withdrawing from a more expensive and longer lasting quagmire.
A word on terrorists. Yes, they were training for their mission here in the US at our own pilot schools, however, they also trained previously in Afganistan, in terrorist “boot camp” if you will.