Obama's wealth redistribution plan

[chiph]

Got this in an email today, thought I'd share.
Chip H.


Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign the read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, again I laughed-- just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed off.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept, than in practical application.

[Eric]

This story is popping up all over; I suspect it started with that odious gasbag Limbaugh....

[Ken]

Got this in an email today, thought I'd share.
Chip H.


Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign the read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, again I laughed-- just imagine the coincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed off.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept, than in practical application.

What a brilliant exposition of Britain's New Labour. Chip, Gordon Brown would salute you.

Ken.

[chiph]

I can't take credit for authorship -- only distribution.


But it does seem to refute "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need", doesn't it?

Chip H.

[swamprat]

I like that story, although it is probably bullshit.

[chiph]

Yeah, probably.

I'll have to check on Snopes in a week or two to see if they were able to track down the source.

Chip H.

[Eric]

This whole thing is exasperating almost to the point of exhaustion.

In principle, I ardently support minimalist - and equal - taxes. No one - regardless of wealth - should be paying more than 20 percent of their total income in taxes (at all levels).

But that's not the reality.

The reality is we have unequal taxation; middle-upper income people (those earning around $80-$150k annually) actually pay more, as a percentage of income, than extremely wealthy people do - in part because of loopholes available to the extremely affluent that aren't readily available to the middle classes, in part because the extremely wealthy get much of their income from dividends/investment income, which is taxed at different (and much lower) rates.

Result? A middle class self-employed person with an income around $100k can easily end up paying nearly 40 percent in total taxes and FICA while a guy earning $5 million pays an effective rate closer to 28 percent. Yes, the rich guy pays more, as a total amount of income. But c'mon. Who feels it more? The guy earning $100k who only ends up with $65k? Or the guy earning $5 million who ends up with $3 million after taxes?

This isn't about "envy" - it's about the practical, bottom-line realities of self-interest.

I'd love for all of us to be able to keep what we earn - or most of it - irrespective of income.

But if we're going to be saddled with "progressive" taxation, then as i see it, middle (and working) class people should be paying less, as a percentage of their income, than super wealthy people.

If you are someone who earns a million bucks annually - or even half that - you are financially secure in a way that working and middle class people rarely achieve. I have less sympathy for such a person and his tax burden than I do for the guy earning $85k per year who is paying an effective tax rate of 30 percent - and for whom paying off the house is a process that will take 30 years and who lives in constant dread about what will happen to his family if his job goes away.

The GOP has had great success getting working and middle class people to vote against their economic interests by appealing to either their ignorance of the true nature of taxation as it exists in this country - or by appealing to their sense of fairness; that is, the idea that no one should be "punished" for being successful (which is to their credit). But the latter is a distortion - and manipulated mercilessly by double-chinned (and themselves well-paid) mouthpieces for the plutocracy such as Rush Limbaugh.

The whole thing makes me ill...

[chiph]

What makes me laugh is Obama (and McCain, to a lesser extent) saying we need a middle-class tax-break.

So, how did taxes get so high for the middle class, Senator?

Chip H.

[swamprat]

I have absolutely no opinion on taxes - other than the real rates are way too high for all of us. I don't believe that the tax code should be manipulated in the name of "fairness." I agree that Limbaugh and others blather on "punishing success" is a bunch of distorted tripe.

The problem is that taxes themselves have little or no effect on the health of the economy nor the business cycle (unless they are inherently unbalanced). If economic strength were a function of tax levels, the economy would have been in the proverbial trash can back in the 1960s and would be spinning quite well today. We wouldn't be defaulting on mortgages and the middle class would not be in fear of losing their jobs.

Instead it is the opposite. Both of these motherfuckers are tapdancing their way around the trade imbalance issue (although Obama makes side references that will be forgotten after Nov 4). Neither of these motherfuckers will address our pitiful levels of industrial output and would rather talk about plumbers, school teachers, and college loans.

Redistributing wealth upwards or downwards does nothing to grow the pie, and we are stuck with an econmy that looks like a 1 year old Pizza slice underneath the seat of Laurie the Laundromat babes car on her way to do the wash.

I am sick and tired of these trainwreck candidates and wish that a big meteor would hit their election day parties.