Thom Hartmann: We don't need no stinkin' Capitalist gains tax!

[thomhartmann]

Conservative David Selig vs. Thom Hartmann. Right now - the capitalist gains tax is at the lowest it's been since the Great Depression. And as the President pointed out - this low tax rate on capital gains is sucking money out of our nation’s ability to pay for everything from schools to the military to our nation’s infrastructure. So, should we have more capitalist gains tax cuts financed with debt - or should rich people pay their fair share, so we can educate a new generation of scientists, engineers, and doctors?

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

[sellitman]

1. Selig was misdirecting his answers.

He never directly answered any of your questions. I love watching the Right squirm when you call them out on their phoney love of Ronnie Raygun too. Great job Thom

[stillwaiting]

2. David Selig is the PERFECT person to be having on TV for this debate.

I would be hard pressed to think of another individual that comes across as obnoxious, crass, and just vulgar in their presentation method.

It's like the Anti-Thom.

Right wingers are always so disingenuous when talking about capital gains. David flat out refused to admit that people who make money with their money and don't have wages (i.e. capitalists) paid less taxes (on a percentage basis) than middle-class working Americans. You can't really have a debate with someone when they just won't admit to a fact/reality.

Here's a solution David: Tax ALL capital gains income OVER let's say $500,000 at the same level as ordinary income. This would shield the elderly that are on fixed incomes and are relying on their investment income to survive (which is something I surely would love to see). I'm sure David would be thrilled by this proposition. Especially since David cares so much about the elderly on fixed incomes.

[glowing]

3. This big "seniors will be harmed" bs is what they resort to...

The "senior" investor's are such a small % of the market that is actually making large sums of money.. Many times its big firms and hedge funds... And there are ways of writing tax law on investment, as you pointed out, that could insulate the "senior investor" from having to pay a large sum of tax on their investments..

Correct me if I'm wrong, once a Senior get's to the point that they may start tapping into their IRA's or 401k's or even pensions if they still have one, they take a certain amount of money out monthly to live.. They don't take it all at once, which would lower their "income" from the year anyway. It wouldn't make sense to take all the money out once you hit retirement... One would want to keep money invested to keep making money.... Taking it all out and putting it in a savings account would equal very low interest returns.