Why Do Kindergarten Teachers Pay More Taxes Than Hedge Fund Managers?

[Uncle Joe]

A popular meme that made the rounds last year revealed that the top 25 hedge fund managers in America made more money than all the kindergarten teachers combined. That’s right — just 25 men managed to take home more money in a year than all 157,800 kindergarten teachers in the entire country. These hedge fund managers make millions — sometimes billions — of dollars investing other people’s money with the expectation of realizing large capital gains. And a new video produced by Brave New Films points out an even greater absurdity: These millionaires and billionaires pay a lower tax rate than those teachers — and almost surely a lower rate than you, unless you’re part of the top .01 percent.

All this brings to mind a conversation Bill Moyers had in 2012, early on in Moyers & Company’s run, with former Reagan budget director David Stockman. The architect of President Ronald Reagan’s now infamous “trickle-down” economics policies, even Stockman thinks today’s Republicans have taken their anti-tax dogma too far. He told Bill he would like to see the elimination of the carried interest loophole, hedge fund managers’ primary route to reduced tax rates. “It’s really pretty shameful,” he told Bill.

“Taxes are the price we pay for civilization,” Stockman said, borrowing a quotation from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. “What they’re saying today is foolish, it’s irresponsible. How can anyone believe with the kind of deficit that we have — a trillion dollars, year after year after year — that we can keep taxes as low as they are?”

If you agree that the carried interest loophole should end, like or share Brave New Films’ video on Facebook, or tweet about it using the hashtag ##billionairesVSteachers.

http://billmoyers.com/2015/09/17/why-do-kindergarten-teachers-pay-more-taxes-than-hedge-fund-managers/

There is another video on the link of the interview between Bill Moyers and Stockman

[randys1]

1. Teaparty not only thinks this is the way it should be, they wanna do away with teachers

period.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Lobbyist's and

Senators on the Tax Righting Committee receiving special favors.

[Igel]

3. Sad.

I mean, I paid perhaps 6% in federal taxes last year.

I'm pretty sure the hedge fund manager paid more than that. Except their marginal rate was lower. After deductions, though, my effective rate on our salaries wasn't all that much.

Try this: Our 35% rate x 100k was actually 6% x 100k. Their rate is likely to be very close to their top marginal rate x 100,000,000.

That's not going to be $6000. Unless their tax rate under the law is 0.006% or so.

Somebody needs to go back to elementary school for remedial arithmetic.

Meh. Whatever justifies the outrage must be true. Truly, Americans don't think that something is true; they've largely stopped believing it's true; they now feel their way through facts to reach a emoti-clusion.

[fasttense]

4. Taxes are for the little people

The burden of funding the US government has fallen onto the shoulders of the middle class and poor. The rich no longer think they need to contribute much. And yet they still think the government should do for them. So they no longer pay for the services they control.

And that's the way the clowns and racists in the GOP are trying to keep it.

[Bill USA]

5. recommended, bookmarked!