Thom Hartmann: It's Time to Outlaw Billionaires

[thomhartmann]

David Laska, Republican Party of New York State, joins Thom Hartmann. the Koch Brothers are collectively worth $100 billion dollars. Why would anyone need that much money? Wouldn't it be put to better use in the hands of everyday people? U.S. billionaires control as much wealth as 26.6 million average American families. Does that seem like a fair system to you? When tax rates on the wealthy were at their highest, our economy was at its most productive? Why not go to back to what worked?

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[handmade34]

1. thanks Thom!

[Half-Century Man]

2. Billionaires add no value to a society.

In fact, they are a bottleneck to any advancement to a society.

Let them die out of existence.
Max cap on inheritance, 7.5 million dollars in wealth.
Max increase in wealth per year (outside of an inheritance), 5 million dollars.
Max cap on lifetime earnings 100 million dollars total wealth.
Forced retirement at 75 million dollars total wealth.
Forced exclusion of any form of retirement at 10 million dollars total wealth.
No cap on SS contributions.
Complete repayment of any/all social safety net benefits used, mandatory at 7.5 million dollars.
Personal incorporation for reasons of tax evasion outlawed.
Wealth concealed, forfeit upon discovery.
Sentencing guidelines for crimes tied to value of said crime. 1 year of incarceration, per every $100,000.00 involved.

Redefinition of wealth to include properties, stocks, stock options, monies, and benefits received as compensation.

[TupperHappy]

3. So will you be willing to see George Soros frogmarched into the federal pen?

Or any of the other lefty deep pockets out there?

How about Billionaire Michael Bloomberg?

[Half-Century Man]

4. If I cannot break the law, why should they be able to?

If they have broken the law, arrest and charge them. If they have not broken the law, live long and prosper. But the establishment of dynasties ends now.

[Rafale]

5. Irony

Ironic that Thom's notion was encouraged by Russian billionaires. While we are at it, let's take a global approach to outlawing billionaires, break up the mega-media empires, and enacting a Constitutional Amendment that says corporations are not people. There's your core agenda, folks. Get on it. Stop getting distracted by worthless issues like a murder trial on the other side of the planet or a missing airliner. Just sayin'.

[Ken Burch]

6. Laska is basically a Chihuahua in a suit with "talking points" n/t.

[erpowers]

7. Do Not Get Rid Of Billionaires; Make Them Pay Their Workers

The problem is not the billionaires. The problem is billionaires refusing to pay their workers a fair wage. I do not see anything wrong with someone coming up with an idea and becoming a billionaire as a result of that idea. However, I think billionaires should not send jobs overseas in order to pay workers 20+ cents an hour, bring people from foreign countries to America because those people will work for less pay, or make agreements with other companies that would hold down wages.