A GREAT response to the question of why the wealthy should pay more taxes

[Lydia Leftcoast]

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/opinion/13wed1.html?sort=oldest&offset=3

This is a reader's comment. I don't know who Mr. Toribio is, but he makes I point that I hadn't thought of before:
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If you are inclined to listen to those who rail against taxing the wealthy, saying things like “Why should the wealthy pay more taxes than the rest of us?” Just consider how the wealthy live. They don’t eat at Wendy’s or MacDonald’s. When the wealthy eat hamburgers, they pay much more for them than most other people do. They consume the same beef, tomatoes, lettuce, etc., but pay much more for it, and they don’t complain. They also pay more for their automobiles, their homes their clothes and memberships in private clubs than most of us can afford. They generally drive longer distances and therefore consume more gasoline (and generate more wear and tear on public roads with their heavier vehicles). So why should they object to paying more taxes for “membership” in a society that provides them with such opportunity? It simply doesn’t make sense, “does not compute.”

And the wealthy do not become wealthy on their own merits. Nobody working alone, not even Warren Buffet, could amass great wealth; they are aided and abetted by many people who work with them and for them. Without people working on his assembly lines, Henry Ford would never have achieved his wealth. Without people working in steel mills, coal mines and oil fields, people like Dale Carnegie and Winthrop Rockefeller would never have achieved their wealth. And in the same sense that paying dues to the country club entitles members to enjoy the services of kitchen staff, waiters and other employees of the club, the paying of taxes results in much the same benefits. Think of how different our problems and our nation would be if congressional lobbies were restricted by the taxes contributed by the lobbyists and those they represent, and not by political contributions. . .
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Can we get some hearty cries of AMEN! from DUers?

[Cassandra]

1. The rich do eat...

better beef.

[Jane Austin]

2. Dale Carnegie?

Andrew, maybe. :)

[trof]

7. Yeah, that's the guy.

[raccoon]

16. You beat me to the post.

Dale Breckenridge Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. …he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936)...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie


Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur and a major philanthropist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie


But other than that, it's a great comment. Especially the 2nd paragraph.

[hedgehog]

3. " Mr. Sutton, why do you rob banks"? "Because that's where the money is -

"Go where the money is...and go there often."

[rurallib]

4. May I add

That without laws and courts that create the rules by which business functions and maintains order, that without utilities for power and heat, that without highways for them to move goods and bring customers to their stores which have much more value to them than to someone like me, they would not achieve their wealth. They get much more use and value out of most of what taxes pay for. The school systems supply an educated workforce. Since the wealthy get the most benefit, they should pay a larger share of taxes.

[zbdent]

8. and don't forget ... without all those nasty regulations ...

it wouldn't be illegal to kill them and take their money ... (as it wouldn't be illegal to kill me and take their money from me either, if I had killed them and taken their money)

not that I'm advocating doing such a thing ...

[Bigmack]

11. I've said things like that...

.. to Republicans I know. (note I did not say friends)

"Taxes are what you pay to keep the government between you and the people who would take everything you have."

[moondust]

5. Adding:

If you don't like paying higher taxes then give your money away to a good cause or don't get rich in the first place.

[dkf]

6. The top 1% made $1.7 trillion in 2008 total... Compare that to a deficit of $1.7 T

Moral of the story...if you think they can fund the deficit and increasing entitlements they have to make a lot more money first.

[JuniperLea]

9. 98% of the money generates 33% of the taxes...

We need to stop talking in terms of taxation of people, and move it to the taxation of income. Two percent of the population have 98% of the money. Now, some will tell you it's already wrong that 2% of the population pays 33% of the taxes. See how that works? You switch from talking about the taxation of income to the taxation per capita and the whole picture changes.

Stick to money talk! 98% of the money should generate 98% of the taxes! As it stands, 98% of the people are forced to squabble over 2% of the income... and from that paltry sum we are also to pay 67% of the taxes! Wrap your noodle around that pathetic BS!

[CanSocDem]

15. Good one!! (eom)

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Amen!

[Skidmore]

12. All that and can we include the fact that they use the infrastructure

developed by taxpayers to assist them in the accummulation of wealth too. Roads, railways, airfields, sewer systemes, water systems--the list goes on and on.

[raccoon]

17. +1000! nt

[nessa]

13. True, but just raising the federal income tax, doesn't do it...

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_16/b4224045265660.htm?chan=magazine+channel_11_16+-+how+to+pay+no+taxes_11_16+-+how+to+pay+no+taxes

We need to eliminate all deductions and loopholes. Everyone, except the poor, pays a percentage of their income. It can be a progressive percentage, but no deductions and no loopholes.

[n2doc]

14. because they pay a lower rate than the rest of us do

less than 20% on the top 1%'ers. Think about that one, folks.