As your resident 1%er, I'm delighted to have President Obama propose to raise our taxes...

[brooklynite]

This year, we have an opportunity to change that. Let’s close loopholes so we stop rewarding companies that keep profits abroad, and reward those that invest in America. Let’s use those savings to rebuild our infrastructure and make it more attractive for companies to bring jobs home. Let’s simplify the system and let a small business owner file based on her actual bank statement, instead of the number of accountants she can afford. And let’s close the loopholes that lead to inequality by allowing the top one percent to avoid paying taxes on their accumulated wealth. We can use that money to help more families pay for childcare and send their kids to college. We need a tax code that truly helps working Americans trying to get a leg up in the new economy, and we can achieve that together.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

1. Yeah, but you are not an asshole, so you dont count

You are also smart, as a one percenter you KNOW you are better off if you pay more in taxes ...

It makes sense to someone who isnt a greedy asshole, but we covered that already

[Enthusiast]

7. +1. I like non-assholes.

[demosincebirth]

22. What ever this is worth, without assholes we'd all be full of shit.

[closeupready]

2. Good on you. K&R

[sabrina 1]

3. Good for you ... and I know you are not alone.

[OKNancy]

4. just as long as there is a low end cap

no increase... or even a decrease on people who earn less than...? 40,000? I don't know what a fair low end would be, but people who sell stocks who are not wealthy tend to be retired people. ( lol - like me!)

[msongs]

5. or when you sell a rental house with 10% equity and the feds take 50% nt

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

9. What?

[SickOfTheOnePct]

14. How did that happen?

Capital gains are nowhere near 50%.

[mountain grammy]

16. Re-captured depreciation?

It's a nice tax break while it's a rental, but gets you when you sell.

[yeoman6987]

31. Oh my God!

Does that mean if you sold your house for 140, you'd have to pay 70 thousand out of pocket? I know it is a rental but still...

[mountain grammy]

34. No, the tax is a percentage of profit and there are lots different circumstances,

but selling a rental can mean a tax hit for sure. Check before you sell so you'll be prepared.

[yeoman6987]

39. Ok thanks...I think I had a little worry there for a moment

[Recursion]

42. Not in general, but grammy is right that selling a former rental property

can mean a huge tax hit. That's why you should always rent through a property manager, because the good ones will escrow some of the rent money for that.

(There's an implicit carrot and stick here: the government doesn't want rental properties to dilute the owner-occupant property pool.)

[JDPriestly]

79. Right. And home ownership is a social value worth protecting.

Neighborhoods in which most people own their homes are better maintained and maybe safer too. Parents are probably more active in the schools, etc. That is why as a nation we want to make home ownership possible for as many people as we can and why I am still angry that banks were bailed out while homeowners were forced into bankruptcy. I suggested an alternative that would have saved people's homes -- changing bad loans into longterm land contracts with the option to buy the property if certain goals were met. The loan-payments/rents could have been lowered according to the buyer's income. The bank could have sold the property and the government -- at the point of sale -- could have bailed out the bank for its loss selling at less than the value of the mortgage. We would have had a lot less social disruption.

I'm not explaining my plan very well. But in Europe people used to and maybe still do have a lot of very long-term leases on their apartments and houses. We could have done that here. But our banks are too powerful. And for them the bail-outs were very profitable as we now see.

[AndreaCG]

44. Just curious

What's the tax rate on owner occupied sales? I got my coop at a foreclosure and it's worth nearly ten times what I paid for it. (The person foreclosed on married someone rich and basically abandoned the studio so I didn't have to displace anyone!)

[karynnj]

75. It's complicated and it changes over time

I was going to answer without googling and am glad that I didn't - as the rules have changed.

Note that they are speaking of the gain - which nets out the amount you paid at the beginning or for capital improvements to the unit.
http://www.irs.gov/uac/IRS-Issues-Home-Sale-Exclusion-Rules

I think you can still roll over gains from the house you are selling to the house you are buying if it is more expensive. (At least that used to be the case.)

[snooper2]

62. that is a deal the "feds" usually take 90%!

[Jamaal510]

6. K&R

Posts like yours are why I don't consider it a "1% vs. 99%" thing we've got going on. There are many other people in the 1% income bracket who are willing to do what is moral and patriotic. Pres. O is a 1%er, for example, but he has pushed for higher top taxes and more jobs. The same with Warren, Sanders, Webb, Clinton, and most D politicians in general. Even many celebs and athletes are 1%ers who don't mind having their taxes raised. As many of us know, there are also far too many 99%ers who act against what would be economically better for themselves and others (essentially any non-wealthy Republican voter).

[yeoman6987]

33. Hmmmmm. You do know there is a block on

The tax form that allows anybody to donate extra taxes to the treasury. I don't hear anybody doing that. If they really wanted to pay more taxes that is an easy solution for them.

[Ms. Toad]

48. Please identify that block.

It's not on any tax form I've ever seen.

[BlueCaliDem]

51. That's what Republicans come back to me with each and every time I bring up raising

taxes on top earners in our country who get away with almost paying nothing. Fancy that, yeoman.

[yeoman6987]

55. I gave our resident 1 precenter DU member and option

To the problem they claim to have had. I was not saying everyone needed to do that. Read the tread first please. You may not criticize me as much. Lol.

[BlueCaliDem]

57. Yes, I know you gave brooklynite "an option" - just as Republicans do when I bring up that

subject. Perhaps you need to reread brooklynite's post and then your response again. Nowhere did brooklynite claim to have a problem. That's what you make of it...sneeringly, I might add and using a RWer's tried and true response to boot.

For accuracy's sake? I wasn't criticizing you. In light of the type of board we're on, I was making a salient and proven point.

[yeoman6987]

71. Ok. Have a great day!

[NCTraveler]

54. Easy yet stupid.

No one in their right mind would pay more than legally required. No one. How stupid would one have to be to send Uncle Sam money for no reason when they could give it to the charity of their choice, put it directly in the economy, or put it is some form of investment vehicle for retirement. I have heard so many republicans on tv and on the radio say the same thing. They say that all these latte liberals who want to pay more taxes can do so. They just send the IRS more money. It is a foolish argument on face value. It is not an easy solution for them. It would be foolish.

[BlueCaliDem]

58. + 1000

I can't believe that a DUer would actually use a Republican talking point on a Democratic Party board. Unless, of course...

[stevenleser]

81. I wish folks would remember Occupy's take on this and think about it. "We're not against the 1%...

... we are against those who advocate policies that advance the 1% at the expense of the 99%"

That's the right way to be IMHO.

[JustAnotherGen]

35. Thanks you!

And I'm with brooklynite.

[TBF]

8. This we can agree on. K&R nt

[eridani]

10. Check out the Responsible Wealth Network for compatriots

http://faireconomy.org/responsible_wealth

In WA State, Bill Gates Senior tried to get an income tax on high earners only, but opponents suggested that the cutoff would be eventually lowered so everyone would pay. It lost.

[secondwind]

11. We are both 1%ers, and we wholeheartedly agree...

[lovemydog]

12. K & R. A stronger economy helps all of us.

You're good people brooklynite. It makes good sense for all of us.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

13. I have no issue with an increase on the 1%

Even though I'm not one by any stretch.

I am concerned with the proposal to tax earnings in 529 accounts. It wouldn't affect me, as current plans would be grandfathered, but I don't think people that are able to save for college should be taxed on those earnings.

[HereSince1628]

15. it'll never happen. But, it's ok to dream about how it could be spent

Also there is now no limit on what can be said dreamily, because the 1% and the wannabe 1% on Wall St are all protected from the threat of it...for a period of time that makes it effectively forever for all but those not yet old enough to vote.

[Marr]

17. Talk is cheap now that he has zero chance of seeing it done.

This might have been inspiring if it had been a priority when the Democrats actually held Congress-- even part of Congress. Now it's just words, spoken alongside calls for things like the TPP, I might add.

Still, congratulations on finding another opportunity to mention your money.

[WinstonSmith4740]

24. I don't know...

I'm not sure he would have had any success when the Dems held sway in the House & Senate. There were too many "Blue Dogs" that sided with the Republicans at every turn. They were the reason Rethugs were able to filibuster as often and successfully as they did. And as much as it pains me to say this, seeing as how he's my Senator,I think Harry Reid was the cause of so many of Obama's problems. I don't think he ever really had his back.

[harun]

26. True but he should have advocated for it all along. It's just BS now.

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. heh

[brooklynite]

40. Probably why my wife and I worked to get Elizabeth Warren elected...

...and to hold onto our Democratic majority.

I've been an advocate of higher taxes since I started here.

[Rex]

50. It's a great story to tell to people on the internets!

To think that a .01% of the 1% has all this free time to post on DU!

[benz380]

68. Maybe his butler is posting for him?

<---butler

[bigwillq]

18. Unlikely any of this gets passed.

The whole speech was just meaningless words.

[pasto76]

19. Andre Kerry spoke at my school in 2004

he said hey, I was bron rich. I have a high paying job. Raise my taxes if it helps. I can and will always make more money


made me realize the psychology difference between him and republicans. Pubs think this is the last dollar I will ever make I have to hoard it

[karynnj]

76. Do you mean Andree Heinz? (Teresa's son)

[mountain grammy]

20. First, it's good to know we have 1%er's on DU.

Second, I wish you had the influence of the Kochs, etc. Those guys have been building their vast right wing network for years, starting before Reagan with the Powell memo in 1971. The corporations and the Kochs have been busy, buying up all the influence from the local level to the federal, and with Citizens' United, their reach is as limited as their wealth, which is unlimited.

As a 99%er, I just wonder why? What is wrong with a vibrant middle class, good education, good roads and public transportation, universal health care, etc? All off these things increase the well being and size of the middle class which increases the wealth at the top.
The answer, we all know, is pure greed. There is no other explanation. Making everyone poor so a few can have it all just doesn't make sense.

I don't care if I'm ever rich. We have enough to live on and are reasonably secure. I feel lucky for that. I didn't work any harder than others in much worse shape, I was just lucky to have a good union job during my working years, my husband too.

[erronis]

37. It's not the 1% vs. the 99%. It is the kleptomaniacs vs. society

The Koch(suckers) are not defending their multi-billion hordes. Even if the gov't passed sweeping tax increases on the wealthy, they wouldn't lose a penny. Their wealth is well tied up in assets that probably wouldn't disappear without global revolution and the klangs of guillotines.

They (the KS) are psychopaths who really want to see the destruction of most of society. I'm sure they have some "real" friends and maybe even some loving family members, but there is nothing that I've seen them do that indicates they give a rat's @ass about you, me, the less than the %0.01.

Even the Rockerfellers, Carnegies, Mellons had some merit - if somewhat self-serving. I don't know of anything that the KS, the Romneys, the Murdochs/Scaites/etc. have done to show that they care about their fellow humanity.

[mountain grammy]

41. Well, there is that hospital wing.....

Yes, I believe you are right. They don't care and really have nothing but contempt for the rest of us, even the voters who keep their puppets in office.

[AndreaCG]

45. Same for Bill Gates

Tons of charity donations, some self serving like computer donations, some misguided like charter schools over public, but some purely good and I give him credit over Steve Jobs who was notoriously stingy about charity.

[YoungDemCA]

56. It's impossible to measure the political views of the richest 10,000 or whatever people

For one thing, how would you get a statistically meaningful sample? Unless you somehow interviewed all of them....

Though I reckon that the Kochs are pretty extreme in their views, even by gazillionaire standards..,

Put it this way...there are no socialists in this group.

[DFW]

21. What are the membership requirements?

I mean, sure, if you have a net worth of a billion dollars, it's easy, but I doubt all of the 1% are billionaires, so how do you know for sure when you've crossed the threshold? I've always wondered how you know when you're part of the one per cent.

Sounds like a start of a joke thread, actually:

"You KNOW you're part of the 1% when.................... (Mitt Romney and Sheldon Adelson call you by your first name, e.g.)

[drray23]

30. slightly over 500k a year in income.

Over 100k puts you in top 20, over 148 in top 5 at leadt according to them :

http://www.usfunds.com/investor-library/frank-talk/what-does-it-take-to-be-in-the-top-1-percent-not-as-much-as-you-think/

I have seen various numbers and thresholds depending how they do the calculation i guess. In any case its defined relative to income not assets.

[erronis]

38. Thanks - but let's make sure we understand it's income, not wealth

And no top %0.01 (top 0.0001) arrange their world so they have taxable income. Those yachts, private jets, multiple vacation homes, wine cellars, jewelry aren't taxed at anything close to fair rates.

Yet most of those assets were probably "obtained" without any taxable transactions.

No wonder the poli-asses want to eviscerate the IRS. Even less scrutiny for their generous overlords.

[DFW]

77. Interesting that they don't take into account what taxes take out of that.

In Texas, you can live like a king on $520,000, as there is no state income tax, and the cost of living is relatively low compared to New York, Massachusetts or coastal California. Here in Western Europe, you're lucky if you get to keep 50% of that, so to live like a Texan making $520,000, you would probably need a gross income of at least $650,000 in NY, CA, MA or more here in Western Europe.

Nice problem to have, of course, considering how many people are barely scraping by with a twentieth of that.

[whatchamacallit]

23. What makes you think you're the only one?

[hunter]

25. I'm 1% on the world scale.

It was an accident of birth, I swear.

Nevertheless I support highly progressive taxes.

And I do believe this world's uber-wealthy ought to be taxed out of existence.

[panader0]

27. I'm certainly no economic whiz, but it seems to me, as one in the bottom percentile,

that if the middle and lower classes had a bit more money, they would buy more things--a new refrigerator, a new car,
on and on. The money would move more and the rich could still make out.

[F4lconF16]

83. It's been proven time and time again.

However, short-term greed wins every time at the expense of society, making a very few massively rich instead of a lot of people very rich.

[Android3.14]

28. Yup. Nice "proposal"

I'm sure a capital gains tax will go exactly as far through Congress as Obama intended it to go, which won't be near as far as it would have gone if he had "proposed" this six years ago.

"Proposal", in the context of this most recent State of the Union address, is just like when a five-year old tells his Mommy he wants to marry her. It's sweet, but Mommy is the last one who should take the "proposal" seriously.

But hey, I'd love to be wrong on this one. I'd also love to be wrong on the proposal to make community college free. Each of these proposals are, bar none, win-win smart things we could do as a free and prospering country. If one or the other or, (here's something to pray for) both somehow happen while Obama is in charge, someone should please throw this post in my face while I eat digital crow.

These folks are just manipulating us.

[Tarheel_Dem]

29. K&R!

[JustAnotherGen]

36. We are too

And I'd like to see an immediate end to the cap on Social Security earnings. I don't miss the money the months it's taken out of my paycheck. The easiest and best way to shore up the Social Security fund AND give our Seniors a raise is to not cut it off in May.

It's not going to hurt me or anyone else in that tax bracket. It's not.

Do it.

I was reading a post /responded to a man at DU who is about 51, single, and had his best year ever at a little over 31K last year. He still was able to save for his retirement - but he's going to need help.

Raise taxes across the board and do that little extra for Social Security. He's worked hard all of his life and he deserves to be able to relax and not have to worry about how he is going to eat in 30 years.

[JI7]

43. can you send me 100 thousand dollars ?

i will be ok with 25 thousand also

[benz380]

67. I know someone in Nigeria...nt

[Rhinodawg]

46. I'm a 62.88749 %

[moondust]

47. You'll never become the first trillionaire with that attitude.

Isn't that considered treason in the land of sociopathic moneygrubbers?

[Rex]

49. Kewl story bro!

[benz380]

53. You better NOT show up at the salon today! n/t

[LawDeeDah]

59. toot toot

[benz380]

60. yep! nt

[snooper2]

64. you spelled "cool" wrong

FYI...

[Rex]

82. Dam those public schools!

[Newest Reality]

52. As a member of the...

ZERO-percent, I am sincerely delighted that you are delighted and wish for more delight along those lines.

By zero-percent I mean, having no assets, long-term unemployment, homeless, no resources, older, etc. There are many of us who are pushing 60 and waiting for retirement as our only relief, i.e. cremation as our place to retire and maybe a scattering of ashes as a vacation.

Freedom is another word for nothing left to lose.

[BlueCaliDem]

63. Oh wow. Your post made me sad.

I hope, sincerely hope, you're just kidding.

[Newest Reality]

74. Well thank you,

for caring. I appreciate that.

No, I was not kidding. I am not that small of a minority, as you may already know.

This phenomena is growing and you may have even read some of the devastating missives from some people here at DU where they were clearly frustrated, desperate and just about to go over the edge, e.g., lost job(s), older, no savings, no family to rely on, friends to broke to help, foreclosure, stack of bills, debt, etc. That is the most difficult part to face because people have no idea what will happen and even though "stuff" isn't everything, it is a part of your life and you usually lose it all in that kind of falling down.

Then there is the discovery, (and some people have outdated assumptions about it) that there aren't really any services or a safety net if you have no dependent children. No, the net consists of a few strands of dental floss and that consists mostly of SNAP. What is there is not only paltry concerning your immediate needs and transition to the streets and shelters, but it is downright empty of ways or means to get back into The Matrix, or anything that resembles your former, more stable life. For instance, HUD and other, subsidized housing programs have very long waiting lists in terms of years, not weeks or months. There is an extreme shortage of affordable housing and little to none is being built at this time.

I am more used to it, but it really does scrape away many layers of your views living in uncertainty from day to day with no place to live from as your "base of operations". Whatever money you can beg or work for is subject to a fatiguing and paralyzing decision making process that leads to burnout: should I spend it on this necessity or that one? One little disaster can be the size of Mount Fuji whereas, it would be trivial to people who are situated and have some resources, (and the working poor here know that all too well). While nobody can be a hundred-percent sure of where they will be or have any absolute security, both of those factors melt down like a glacier does from global warming. That foments anxiety and induces depression, of course.

I do find myself being more "present" and that is very practical and good, on the other hand there is the consideration of the future, where you are going, what you need to do for that, etc. Well, future plans and goals melt in proximity of the hot firebrand of immediate necessity that comes with living in survival mode. Survival might actually work fine in a hunter/gatherer environment, but in the context of modern culture, it is not conducive to the situation at hand.

Again, thanks for your comment on that.

[YarnAddict]

61. As far as I know,

there is no law against freely donating $$$ to the federal government, so, have you???

[benz380]

66. He can make his check out to the Bureau of the Public Debt. Over $200,000 donated this year so far.

http://www.treasurydirect.gov/govt/reports/pd/gift/gift.htm

[randome]

73. That's not how human beings work and you know it.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]You have to play the game to find out why you're playing the game. -Existenz[/center][/font][hr]

[Agschmid]

80. Yup.

[BlueCaliDem]

65. And we're delighted to have 1%ers like you on our side, brooklynite!

[LanternWaste]

70. Say hello to the Admiral and the Lady Sofia Camilla Placenta for us if you go to the club tonight...

Say hello to the Admiral and the Lady Sofia Camilla Placenta for us if you go to the club tonight...

[benz380]

72. It's called a 'salon', not a club. nt

[samsingh]

78. me too