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Monday, April 7, 2014

Curing Income Inequality


Consider the following excerpt from Were your parents rich? Maybe you should pay more in taxes, published in the Washington Post on March 28, 2014, and written by Yo Jeremijenko-Conley, a freshman at Stuyvesant High School in New York City, and Dalton Conley, a professor at New York University:
...We need a tax policy that accounts for how economic benefits and disparities are passed down from generation to generation. To do that, we could calculate tax rates based not just on what people earn now — as traditional progressive taxation does — but also on the income their families brought in during their critical childhood years....

Let’s introduce the Great Gatsby tax rebate for upward mobility....
Read the entire essay HERE.

Is progressive taxation on steroids the future of America?

27 comments:

  1. Note this paragraph from the article:

    Of course, income is not the only, or even the main, advantage that someone can grow up with. Parents’ levels of education and household net worth are each better predictors of how their children will fare. And then there are the intangibles: cultural and social capital. This includes being exposed to more vocabulary words, art museums and extracurricular activities — as well as social connections that are helpful in getting internships and other opportunities. (And then there’s getting published with your father, a university professor, in The Washington Post.) These privileges matter a lot, but they are more difficult to assess. And while they are distinct from monetary advantages, they are probably correlated with them.

    Given time, the bureaucracy will find a way to assess those intangibles.

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  2. Apparently far too many with too much time on their hands dreaming up so much absurdity.

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    Replies
    1. They probably have a federal grant to dream up this stuff.

      Delete
  3. They ALREADY want to oblige farmers to control COW FLATULENCE and will soon find a way to force you to pay a tax in the very AIR you breathe. Long ago I envisioned a scenario where the government will poison the air, then issue Gas Masks -- at great cost, of course -- to enable us to continue breathing. Those who cannot -- or will not pay -- will be left to DIE.

    And, yes, it IS getting JUST that bad. We'll be there before you can conceive and bear the Next Victim of Supreme Court Overreach and Government Run Amok.

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  4. Oh for Pete's sake... so after taking away the inheritance tax amount, we're going to punish them even farther for having hard-working parents? All this will promote is the desire to NOT work harder and thus not get punished for it!

    They assume that all rich people are born rich. Not true. My parents were both born in lower-middle class (being in large families in the 60's, and the South at that.) My father specifically had to earn his way through college and held jobs ranging from shoe-shiner (which he put on his resume) to journalist; and eventually through hard work got up to working as a Senatorial aide and then owning his own company. His hard work is what made the difference- college would have been impossible for him otherwise and half his jobs after that would be impossible without college!

    So I am to be punished because he worked hard? That my mother worked hard? That they kinda had us late and thus had more funds than is normal for parents? Ten years extra of duel-income kinda helps with paying for schools, extra curricular, etc.

    It's just seems to me to be a bit petty. Because these people either worked hard or had parents who worked hard, we will punish them and squeeze them for all they're worth. And yes, 2.4% now, but taxes have a nasty habit of increasing, not decreasing, as the years go on.

    Steriod taxes probably are the future, what with a two generations and counting being trained to hate the have's, and to take from then instead of, I dunno, working hard for money. Then again, everyone just tries "get rich quick" scheme's which really don't work. You only get rich if you work hard (luck money has a habit of being spent ridiculously and running out fast, if Hollywood and musicians are any indicator. Oh, and idiotic rich kids).

    -Wildstar

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  5. Was that written by a high school kid and his father? I can't believe I actually read what I read.

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  6. Sounds like just another excuse to expropriate wealth and use it for purposes we can ill afford.

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  7. Liberals wion't stop until they kill the Golden Goose that pays for all of their Social Fairness programs. We should mind if they wantt to commit suicide; but we must not let them take us with them.

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  8. By the way, I'm using my Wordpress blog ID today.

    mystere's moonbat slayer club.
    mystere's moonbat spanker

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  9. AOW, I think I've been pretty clear that i favor a fairly aggressive progressive tax system.
    The idea that dividends, capital gains and carried interest should be taxed at a lower rate than wages is absolutely insane and serves no useful purpose other than concentrating wealth.

    The concentrated wealth in turn limits opportunity in society at large and without taxation will continue to accumulate despite the right wings childlike belief that concentrated wealth creates jobs.

    Here's how the fringe right reasons:
    Business taxes are only passed on to the consumer.


    Now, assume your are a CEO and pay tax on your business profits.
    Do you then turn around and say you need to hike prices by that exact amount?

    Are you in an environment where there is no competitive pricing?
    Since you have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize profit why don't you simply raise prices regardless of tax levels?

    I'm saying that this is a much more complicated issue than the children who don't have any more imagination and intelligence than to call all opposition, "libtard", are capable of reasoning.

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    Replies
    1. Some capital gains investments involve significant risk over the long term. Also, in the case of one's primary residence and break in capital gains taxes, significant local taxes have been paid over time. Without breaks in capital gains taxes, our ailing economy would take another hit.

      Furthermore, who is deemed "wealthy" is subject to interpretation, particularly when the word is interpreted on a global basis. Even the poorest in America are wealthy in comparison to most living in certain Third World countries.

      As for businesses raising prices according to rising taxes, thus it has always been. When one runs his own business -- as I do -- one pays high taxes (SE, for example) to the point of losing about 30% in taxes imposed, so it's natural and right that businesses shouldn't have to take hit after hit to the profit line and raise prices (in my case, rates for services).

      Reliapundit pointed out on another thread the following important point:

      WHEN A PERSON CAN'T OWN THE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR, THEN HE IS A SLAVE.

      MOST PEOPLE TOIL FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND THEIR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN.

      Delete
  10. The Fair Tax is just that Fair. Of course politicians are against it because it removes one of their powers, to be able to punish by taxes.

    The current incompetent and his lemmings believe the rich should pay more for their success and hard work. What they fair to acknowledge is if weren't for the successful, they may have to pay their own way.

    Small business owners have been the subject of attack for five years. You are taxed on profits you don't take and the no nothing leaders seem to think this is fair.

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  11. AOW, you are confusing a tax on income with the business tax on profits.

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    Replies
    1. Duck,
      you are confusing a tax on income with the business tax on profits

      No, I'm not.

      I am taxed according to my business's net income after Schedule C expenses. My source of earned income is my business (licensed sole proprietorship) . Furthermore, net income for a business = profit. That figure is entered on the 1040 as income.

      With the local tax here (not draconian), I am taxed according to my gross receipts before Schedule C expenses.

      Delete
  12. @skud --- Small business owners have been the subject of attack for five years.

    ---
    Please point to the Obama administrations changes in the tax law on small business.
    In fact why don't you tell us about the passage of tax increases under Obama. It's always entertaining when a right inger tries.

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  13. tax increases on everyone. obammycare. ANd most of the taxes haven't even been implemented yet.

    Before you start chewing on your foot again duck, the Supreme Court calls obamacare a tax in order to make that evil POS 'legal'.

    Go back to the kiddie table duck where you can hold a conversation without embarrassing yourself. (If you could be embarrassed, apparently you can't)

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    Replies
    1. Kid,
      tax increases on everyone

      Exactly! Small businesses, big businesses, those without businesses -- everyone. We are all taxed according to the various tax tiers.

      Delete
  14. This is absurd. Punishing those that have worked hard all of their lives by paying more taxes, it's insane. They should be applauded that they are not living off of government handouts and teaching their children to be self-sufficient.

    Wow! Not even sure how to phrase my dismay over this.

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    Replies
    1. Yep, communism rewards failure and punishes success

      Delete
  15. Duck,

    Lets see, Obamacare TAX, Increase 4.5% in Income TAX, Increase in Medicare TAX. Just so you know, any profit in a small business is considered pass through income and is taxed as such. That also includes the "profit" you have to keep in the business to keep it running, that money is Taxed even though you don't keep it.

    Maybe you should risk everything you own, work 80 hours a week, be the last one to get paid and maybe make a profit. Try it and then tell me how evil profit in a small business is.

    On second thought, continue to play it safe with a salary, benefits and bitch about people who EARN a decent income for hard work and sacrifice.

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  16. You still don't get it do you Ducky?
    Like I said before, “HELL BEGINS” When humans cease to be truthful about the facts that be in their own back yard!
    For American to be competitive in the world of trade, we're going to have to make some changes in the way we do business with other nations such as China. Cutting our education budget, Reducing our investments in technology is not a good choice either. That will not help us compete with other nations like China. Adding $7 trillion to the debt that we currently have, is CERTAINLY not going to make us more competitive.
    I was trying to be somewhat discreet in pointing out the blatantly insulting and condescending nature of your comment!!

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  17. AOW, Yes, and literally new taxes on everything. Separately, the fact that prices are going up as a result can be added to 'the tax'. Food is double what it was 5 yrs ago. Especially basic food like a can of Campbells soup is more than double. Bread. Milk. Gasoline. Twice as much. Property taxes. Water bills, all competing to retain their profits in the face of the jack boot on their throats from obama and the democrats, in particular obamacare. Tax.
    Most explicitly a Tax on the Middle Class and below.
    yea, the demo-commies are for the middle class.

    duck probably believes that.

    and this isn't posted for his benefit, but maybe some confused young woul looking for answers. We've been educating duck for years now and the idiot is actually going in reverse.

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  18. "Yo" should be "Yo Mama". He is still tied to his mother's apron strings and his family wealth. Talk is cheap. If "Yo Mama" feels so strongly about income equality I suggest he forego his college fund, join the Peace Corps and invest his college fund into bringing potable water to villages in Africa. Of course, that will never happen. "Yo Mama" could not withstand the rigours of struggle to acquire wealth minus his parents network and income.

    His hypothesis in anti-Christian. Our scripture teaches that a righteous man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. To leave it to the government, is Marxism.

    His sophistry and lack of sincerity are laughable.

    Tammy Swofford

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