April 12th, 2012
10:55 AM ET
10 years ago
Millionaires' effective tax rates top most
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - A lot gets lost in the rhetoric about the Buffett Rule, which would impose a minimum 30% tax on millionaires.
And at the top of the list is this fact: Most millionaires already pay higher effective tax rates than just about everyone else.
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I say Obama go for it. It is time we find out the impact it will have on the economy, jobs, programs, etc... All we can do is adjust to whatever changes it brings.
Once again Obama is wrong "Always wrong Obama" will be his legacy.
Yes, we know the truth. The rich already pay FAR MORE than their fair share and have been for decades.
Now about this "Buffet Rule". If it is going to be named for Buffet then it should reflect what HE has done. You see, he earned all his money and has fought paying taxes and now after accumulating massive wealth decides to cheat his beloved country out of their estate taxes by contributing it all to charitable foundations. So the "Buffet Rule" is actually a formula for the rich to pay the government NOTHING by dodging estate taxes.
He could have been paying far more in taxes all the while but he didn't. He could have left the government a large chuck of money, but he didn't. Warren Buffet is nothing but a hypocrite.
Ban the Federal Income Tax and impose a USER tax of 15% for everything sold in the US. We are a CONSUMER NATION, not a TAXED TO DEATH NATION!!
The biggest problem is what Bush did to the capital gains rates, and the loopholes that he added for investors that allow people like Mitt Romney to pull a salary and declare it as capital gains.. If I was CEO of a company that sold widgets, then I would have to declare my salary as earned income. Because Bain Capital sold capital, then the CEO is allowed to declare his/her salary as earned income. If that isn't the government picking winners and losers, then what is?
Another problem with the tax codes is a allowing privately owned, multi-billion dollar companies to be able to declare themselves as a "small business", which allows "the owner" to file the company taxes on their personal return. Try doing a web search for " S-Corporation " to learn what I am talking about. A "small business" is defined as the number of owners, not the size of the gross or net profits. The Koch brothers qualify as an S-Corporation, which allows them to evade corporate tax rates.
Since Obama is all about,"fairness", then it would seem he needs to raise taxes on lower income earners.The irony is that this is his key message, as weak as that is with respect to America's real issues. Again he has no idea what David Axelrod is telling him to talk about. He is a political hack. We can and will do better. This year.
Romney/ Ryan 2012
Sssssshhhhhhhhhhh.... don't tell anyone facts, CNN... you'll blow a democrat talking point....
Neither have half of the people that vote for democrats because if they did work they wouldn't be voting for dependent party!!!!!!
Hey, please don't confuse us Dems with the facts, just give us the MSNBC talking points and the late night comedy news, that is all we need to decide that we need bigger govt. holding our hands and we want the rich to pay for it.
@ Rudy –
What say you about Sen. John Kerry and his ketchup heiress wife making millions each and every year from interest on tax-free municipal bonds... and paying ZERO on said income?
What I find most ironic is the whole "pay their fair share" of taxes talking point came out of the right wing, complaining about how nearly half of all Americans pay no taxes. Once again, the hypocrisies of the right wing comes to light.
CNN – try recalculating this on disposable income. You can start by only considering income above the poverty level as disposable. You will probably get a muc different result. Also, if you use IRS data, you do not get effective tax rates of 25% for people with incomes over $1 million. I suggest you double check the calculations before you accept this as gospel.
SURCHARGE is the key word here. Once it get passed the progressive socualists can lower the pay level and up the surcharge any time they can muster the votes. Obama's thinly veiled use of fairness is so transparent it equates to a bold face LIE.
Fair is Fair asked on page 1:
@ Rudy –
What say you about Sen. John Kerry and his ketchup heiress wife making millions each and every year from interest on tax-free municipal bonds... and paying ZERO on said income?
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The rate encourages domestic investment in our infrastructure.
What say you about the loophole that allows Mitt Romney to earn a commission off of someone else's investment, and be able to call his commission capital gains instead of earned income?
If his company sold widgetts instead of capital, then his commission would be earned income. Is that fair? Or is it the tax loopholes picking winners and losers?
Rudy says –
"The rate encourages domestic investment in our infrastructure."
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And the 15% capital gains rate encourages investment in private industry. The very same private industry that the left crows about the fact that there's been job growth in. Can't have it both ways, Rudy.