suitanim
10-31-2011, 03:34 PM
The numbers don't back them up. Time to pack up, and get that job waiting tables, get a little cash flow going and ride the bad economy out like everyone else (including those of us WITH a sense of personal accountability and responsibility)
http://www.ohio.com/business/how-much-can-the-99-percent-squeeze-out-of-the-1-1.242916
Of course, 2009 was a bum year for those in the top 1 percent. Their income fell from $2 trillion in 2007 to $1.3 trillion in 2009, a loss of $700 billion. During the same period, the income of the bottom 75 percent fell from $2.75 trillion to $2.67 trillion, a loss of $75 billion.
Can the top 1 percent afford to pay more? You bet, and probably should. With a starting point of $343,927, the bottom of the top 1 percent is very well off, even if private jets and mega-yachts are beyond reach.
But that’s beside the point. It’s way more than the other 99 percent have. So how much of their $1.3 trillion can we take? And, once taken, what can we do with it?
Here’s the arithmetic.
Only $1 trillion is left because they’re already paying $318 billion in taxes. Since the official federal deficit is estimated at $1,315 billion for the 2011 fiscal year, it should be clear that even if those in the top 1 percent paid 100 percent of their income in taxes, the federal budget would not be balanced. In other words, there would be no spending “dividend” from taxing the 1 percent at 100 percent. Any lesser tax would leave an even larger deficit, suggesting that we have a serious “can’t get there from here” problem.
Then there is the persnickety question of whether $1.3 trillion in income would actually show up once the 100 percent tax rate was known.
Let me guess. It’s unlikely. The top 1 percent didn’t get to the top 1 percent through stupidity. The bottom line here is simple. The 1 percent versus the 99 percent is a powerful sound bite, but it’s deeply trashy economics.
http://www.ohio.com/business/how-much-can-the-99-percent-squeeze-out-of-the-1-1.242916
Of course, 2009 was a bum year for those in the top 1 percent. Their income fell from $2 trillion in 2007 to $1.3 trillion in 2009, a loss of $700 billion. During the same period, the income of the bottom 75 percent fell from $2.75 trillion to $2.67 trillion, a loss of $75 billion.
Can the top 1 percent afford to pay more? You bet, and probably should. With a starting point of $343,927, the bottom of the top 1 percent is very well off, even if private jets and mega-yachts are beyond reach.
But that’s beside the point. It’s way more than the other 99 percent have. So how much of their $1.3 trillion can we take? And, once taken, what can we do with it?
Here’s the arithmetic.
Only $1 trillion is left because they’re already paying $318 billion in taxes. Since the official federal deficit is estimated at $1,315 billion for the 2011 fiscal year, it should be clear that even if those in the top 1 percent paid 100 percent of their income in taxes, the federal budget would not be balanced. In other words, there would be no spending “dividend” from taxing the 1 percent at 100 percent. Any lesser tax would leave an even larger deficit, suggesting that we have a serious “can’t get there from here” problem.
Then there is the persnickety question of whether $1.3 trillion in income would actually show up once the 100 percent tax rate was known.
Let me guess. It’s unlikely. The top 1 percent didn’t get to the top 1 percent through stupidity. The bottom line here is simple. The 1 percent versus the 99 percent is a powerful sound bite, but it’s deeply trashy economics.