House Plans to Tax Millionaires to Fund U.S. Health-Care Plan

[dtotire]

Source: bloomberg

House Plans to Tax Millionaires to Fund U.S. Health-Care Plan
By Ryan J. Donmoyer and Kristin Jensen

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- House Democrats plan to fund the broadest U.S. health-care expansion in four decades by increasing taxes on the wealthiest Americans, imposing a surtax of 5.4 percent on couples with more than $1 million in income.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aUVZeh_GVBYM

No link yet.

---

The rate will still be considerably less than than the 70% marginal rate (and higher) t that was in place before Carter took office.

[callous taoboy]

1. with Mepublican gnashing of teeth to ensue..

[redqueen]

2. Your comment reminded me of this comic.

[Downwinder]

3. Where is the stool for smokers? Still outside? n/t

[LongTomH]

4. Great 'toon!

Conservatives have such short memories!

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

6. Must be old toon... I can't see w's being that high,

[dysfunctional press]

7. where are kennedy and carter?

[tomm2thumbs]

8. and the first bush for that matter

[redqueen]

14. I wondered the same thing.

We'd have to ask M. Wuerker.

[No Elephants]

29. My guess: If you don't see tthe Pres, no change in the tax rate occurred during his term(s).

[dysfunctional press]

76. then kennedy should definitely be there...

during his term, the top rate went from 90% to 70%.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[redqueen]

Did you intend to post this somewhere else?

Anyway... yeah, it sucks that it fines people... but it's most likely because as so many keep saying, we need it to be mandatory in order to work properly.

I don't agree with it either... but I also don't consider that flaw to mean that it is "retarded" altogether. It's just flawed, which is something I expected.

[sui generis]

28. that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.

:blush:

Okay, well then use the IRS to fine them, for not paying their taxes.

I really DON'T care about higher taxes, but I care about the ramifications of higher taxes on our political party. Just because we thought of it doesn't mean it's the best idea.

There better ways to go about this - but somehow this direction is less than innovative. I know from working with controversy at work that you HAVE to get buy in for a controversial idea to work. You can't just force it down half the people's throats, even if in reality it's not really that controversial, because in the next heart beat someone will use your unwillingness to build consensus as a tool to undo your vision.

Right from the beginning we have to make sense with how we execute on our good intentions - and it's absent right now, which makes the long term viability and effectiveness of the "solution" at risk.

[redqueen]

34. Ah, surely that's not the case.

I'm sure you've just forgotten... cause I know I've thoroughly enjoyed many of your posts, and said so.

As for the marketing, I agree that you have to finesse things... however I view this tax as something the majority of people will support. It won't be complete consensus, but if it pleases most independent and Dem voters, then it's good enough for me.

[JDPriestly]

48. There is a reason for the fine.

If you don't buy insurance and have to get healthcare, the cost of your healthcare has to be paid by all the people who buy the insurance. People who don't buy insurance usually don't have the net worth to cover their hospital bills. So, to lower costs for everyone, everyone has to buy insurance.

It's fair.

If you have insurance either because you purchase it yourself or someone purchases it for you, you are already paying for the kid who just graduated from college, doesn't have a job yet, is without insurance and, due to a car accident, runs up a hospital bill of several hundred thousand dollars. So, everyone is required to pay in order to make the insurance less expensive.

Everyone should choose to pay no matter what.

[county worker]

51. What they really want is a single payer system that they don't have to pay into.

Imagine thinking that you should get free health coverage. Not only is it unfair but it is selfish. It is similar to the wingnuts not wanting any tax increase yet they want greater military spending.

They think doctors and nurses should stand by just in case they get sick and need them and yet they feel they have no responsibility to pay for it?

[JDPriestly]

69. "They" should have to pay for some doctor's education

and wait until that doctor finishes medical school and residency before they get married and have kids -- like doctors do. This small fee is nothing compared to the sacrifices doctors make in order to have the privilege of helping you when you are in pain.

[ProudDad]

81. You obviously don't understand what single-payer is...

Please educate yourself...

http://www.pnhp.org/facts/single_payer_resources.php
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/key_features_of_singlepayer.php
http://www.pnhp.org/single_payer_resources/Myths-and-Facts-on-single-payer.pdf
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2007/july/_health_insurance_fo.php
http://www.pnhp.org/single_payer_resources/myths_as_barriers.php
http://www.pnhp.org/facts/myths_memes.pdf
http://www.pnhp.org/single_payer_resources/mythbusters_by_the_canadian_health_services_research_foundation.php

The quick version is that instead of the hit-and-miss (mostly miss) private system scooping up $2,300,000,000,000 dollars a year, 31% for profit, everyone pays into the pot according to their ability to pay and whoever needs health care gets it.

Sort of like the public, single-payer roads, schools, police and fire, etc.

Got it now?

------

On edit: you DO know that what the Congress is proposing is NOT single-payer health care and therefore hasn't a snowball's chance in hell of working!

They're only considering "plans" that are further subsidies to the health insurance mafia, equipment manufacturers (like GE) and the drug companies...

[inna]

86. +1! great post, thanks. nt

[Flatulo]

93. I think you've got it about right. They're doing this in Massachusetts now.

Unfortunately, people who have been laid-off still have no means to pay even the subsidized prices, which can still run $500 to $800 per month.

Forcing people to buy insurance is nuts.

It the insurance that's the problem.

[county worker]

97. I'm reading posts at DU and they tell me that many DUers think that single payer is

medical care paid for by the government and that their taxes will not increase to pay for it.

If everyone gets good coverage why do they care who pays for it? Because if it isn't the government it is them. Look at all the fuss about the idea that you will have to buy insurance or get fined. What is the alternative? It's free health care and that's what they want.

Raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for health care for everyone. Now that isn't what single payer is about but it's the single payer they are crying for here at DU.

[Amos Moses]

101. People don't want "coverage".

People want their tax money spent on health care, not health insurance. Why should I be fined for not wanting to subsidize insurance companies and their inefficient, unethical business practices?

This insurance "coverage" you're so fond of is nothing but a scam that results in preventing health care instead of making it available to the people that pay for it.

They're not asking for something for free. They're saying if they pay taxes for health care, that is what they should get in return instead of mandated participation in a broken system that doesn't address their needs.

[Psephos]

110. Something to think about

Social Security's trust funds have been completely spent. Trillions of dollars, poof, gone, already spent, nothing to show for it. Nothing in there now but IOUs, which means taxpayers (who paid the money into the trust funds in the first place) will have to pay again to replenish those "trust" monies. That will be a crushing burden *on top of* the largest deficits in the history of all countries through all time.

The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the government insurer of private pensions for those whose companies went out of business or bankrupt, is catastrophically short of money to cover its obligations. Where will the money come from? And guess what, the majority of states are also catastrophically underfunded for their lavish pension obligations. As in, there is no chance in hell they'll be able to pay their obligations.

The FDIC (guarantor of deposits in commercial banks) way underpriced its coverage, and is only now raising premiums to cover the red ink. Guess who is paying for their errors?

Federal flood insurance programs have had the perverse effect of incentivizing uncounted billions of $$ worth of development exactly in those areas where no development should be allowed...and the housing bubble blew the stuffing out of the liability estimates and reserve balances as extraordinarily expensive buildings got creamed by "unforeseen" natural occurrences. Taxpayers make up the difference.

I can go on, but you get the point, I hope. Federal insurance programs make private companies look like pikers when it comes to stripping our wallets clean.

A private company can be sued, regulated, taxed, and pressured in a number of ways. Government agencies cannot.

It's not hard to see what will happen with another mega government insurance agency. It takes equal parts of denial and naivete to think otherwise. We would be better off reining in private companies with strong oversight, dismantling the corrupting relationships between their lobbyists and our lawmakers, and working a private/public partnership on this where each party gets to do what it does best, instead of what it does worst.

[dflprincess]

107. A single payer system would cost less than this insurance bill

We'll still be paying more out of pocket than people in countries with actual health care systems pay in taxes to cover their plans.

I think most of us who support a single payer system understand that while it might be "free" at point of service we do understand there might be a tax increase to cover it. Though the tax increase might come out to be less than what we're paying out of pocket now. Though, I have to wonder, if we can afford wars in Iraq and Aghanistan why we can't afford health care?

[sui generis]

62. it's just about the most pro-free-market idea we could have come up with

if you include legislation and fiscal enforcement as a reason to make insurance companies in the healthcare industry continue to profit.

INSURANCE. I don't want insurance. I want health care. Insurance is one way to REDUCE the costs of healthcare within a risk group.

By definition, that means you have to exclude people with high risks from your groups. Anything else is a service.

We really have gone awry on this one. Elect your coverage from your employment elections. Don't fine people who are unemployed or make them pay "back insurance" as if you were enforcing back taxes. You pay taxes based on your earnings. Insurance pays coverage based on your contribution and your level of risk.

I don't advocate getting rid of private health insurance, but I am emphatically against guaranteeing their profits. This is not any such silly thing as socialism when it benefits a capital industry. It's theft.

I am a democrat and absolutely a progressive but this is so out-of-bounds absurd and ill-conceived the only thing it will do is languish or else be ineffective. I don't doubt that congress will make it happen, but don't EVER confuse insurance with healthcare.

[JDPriestly]

68. There will be assistance and subsidies for those with low incomes.

[sui generis]

124. it's wrong

it smells wrong it is wrong.

so what happens if you don't pay your fine? Do you go to jail? Do you lose coverage? does your fine accumulate interest at IRS absurd rates?

Just LISTEN to what we're proposing, we, democrats! You must purchase or have health insurance. The insurance industry is having an orgasm over this, and we're just sheepling our way right into it.

Ach du lieber.

We should not have people in the insurance industry proposing and writing laws for the health care industry. Period. This is probably the single biggest bone head thing we have every done, besides partially privatizing medicare.

I guess I'm getting old enough and experienced enough to know when what we're doing isn't good enough.

[inna]

87. +1!

good post,
well said.

we don't need (for-profit) health insurance, we need health care.

[ProudDad]

88. Then you want HR676 - Medicare for All (n/t)

[sui generis]

122. hell yes.

with a few changes. the government is the pharma industry's largest customer and has the largest collective bargaining price optimization bat to swing . . . among others.

[gorfle]

83. Why not allow opt-out?

If you don't buy insurance and have to get healthcare, the cost of your healthcare has to be paid by all the people who buy the insurance. People who don't buy insurance usually don't have the net worth to cover their hospital bills. So, to lower costs for everyone, everyone has to buy insurance.

It's fair.

If you have insurance either because you purchase it yourself or someone purchases it for you, you are already paying for the kid who just graduated from college, doesn't have a job yet, is without insurance and, due to a car accident, runs up a hospital bill of several hundred thousand dollars. So, everyone is required to pay in order to make the insurance less expensive.

Everyone should choose to pay no matter what.

I don't understand why everyone should have to buy insurance. Why can't people decide not to have insurance and if they get sick or injured, they just don't get treatment? I think this would be a pretty good incentive to buy insurance!

[county worker]

50. Obama did not write this!

You look like a complete fool when you post the anti Obama shit. It isn't even criticizing Obama for something he did. It's just foolish anti Obama nonsense.

[sui generis]

63. Yes I'm a complete fool

I'm SO concerned with your opinion of my opinion of Obama.

Obama has to endorse it and sign it into law.

Fool? Meet your mirror.

[county worker]

96. This is what you said "the guy out pops another ill considered idea"

Who the hell is the guy?

[sui generis]

123. oh pleeeeeese forgive me for DARING to

criticise Obama. :eyes:

jesus christ people get over your god damn hero worship. He does some things right, he does some things wrong. He's not the devil to me so quit being so FUCKING sensitive.

And learn how to fight. This passive aggressive shit is just juvenile.

[ProudDad]

79. I'd rather see automatic enrollment in the public

Medicare for All for those who don't have health insurance.

If they don't make much money, no charge...

If they're employed and make above a certain salary, it's taken out of their check like Medicare is now...

A fine is a STUPID idea -- criminalizing folks without insurance still leaves them without health care...

Fining employers however is a FINE idea...

[inna]

85. is it historically correct? seriously, 94%??

[redqueen]

91. Yes. During WWII.

It's been in the 90s at various other times too.

[Odin2005]

5. Good!

[AlbertCat]

9. One Million dollars!

Millionaires??!!

How about billionaires. Someone with, say, 3 million dollars is simply upper middle class these days, not richy-rich.

Well, I suppose this will include billionaires too.

[Demobrat]

17. We're talking income, not net worth.

A million a year is pretty damn rich, especially if it comes from investment income.

[AlbertCat]

73. A million a year is pretty damn rich,

My bad...

But of course, those making millions in yearly income are more than likely Billionaires.

[No Elephants]

31. Are you conflating net worth with annual income?

[AlbertCat]

72. Are you conflating net worth with annual income?

Yes....my bad.

It just seems like a million is nothing these days.... not like when I was in college...on the verge of a career, y'know.

[Vidar]

10. Kudos to the House.

[pleah]

11. K&R

[safeinOhio]

12. Next, take the cap off of SS tax and

pay for SS and MC.
That 5% of Limbaughs $400 million contract would come to about $20 million. He'll blow a nut over this.

[SammyWinstonJack]

21. +1

:thumbsup:

[No Elephants]

32. In his case, that might be a blessing.

[iris27]

64. +1

Exactly!

[inna]

89. tax caps are absolutely OBSCENE and it's just an evidence that

we live in a plutocracy.


tax caps is the most regressive form of taxation, their only goal is to benefit and further enrich the top earners.


i think it's simply immoral; i don't understand how the Congress and the American people allow that to happen.

What is the Social Security Tax Cap?

The Social Security payroll tax is 12.4 percent of wages - paid equally by the employer and the employee (6.2 percent each). The federal government currently imposes a $90,000 "cap" on taxable salary under Social Security. So President Bush - whose annual salary is $400,000 - will stop paying all his Social Security taxes on or around March 24, while American workers earning less than $90,000 will pay Social Security taxes all year long.

http://www.retiredamericans.org/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/1433/pid/473

[Mari333]

13. Tax em! nt

[kestrel91316]

15. Works for me.

[Name removed]

16. Deleted sub-thread

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[Deep13]

18. Finally! nt

[John Q. Citizen]

19. It's a bailout for the health insurance companies so I guess it's fair thier CEOs pay more.

[No Elephants]

40. There's a difference between a bailout and a giftt.

[John Q. Citizen]

55. Good point

[Xenotime]

20. Tax the hell out of the rich. Time for them to give back everything they have taken.

[No Elephants]

41. EVERYthing? I doubt the planet will last long enough for that.

[lib2DaBone]

22. Good idea... Get Goldman Sachs and AIG Pigs....

[sui generis]

24. oh goodie tax the evil rich

we are so damn juvenile.

how about tax everyone? I'm all for that. This is just lynch baiting, and yes I said that. To qualify that statement I mean, storm the bastille, guillotine the rich, etc. Form the mob.

gah.

some days I am not proud to be democrat - but I'm not going away either.

[Aramchek]

35. would you rather they spend it on a poor person's healthcare or a gold-plated toilet?

rich people waste their money because they can.
they can afford to pay more taxes.

[sui generis]

59. thief

poor people waste their time.

what a stupid argument.

[Aramchek]

77. oooh, we got a rich bastard here folks!

wipe your ass with a $100 bill for me, Warbucks.

anything over a million in income should be taxed relentlessly.

[mamaleah]

92. Not everyone is a class warrior

If you think thats what being a Democrat is all about....

[Aramchek]

94. do you believe these taxes for healthcare are unreasonable?

[Amos Moses]

95. It's only called class warfare

when the working class fights back.

[mamaleah]

99. No its not

Class warfare coming from either side is counterproductive and moronic.

[Amos Moses]

100. no

To pretend that the working class wages war on the wealthy is dishonest and moronic.

[mamaleah]

103. LOL

Posts that consist of "Yay! Yay! Screw the rich!" are moronic.

There are MANY wealthy liberals. There are many people with money from both sides of the aisle that are quite generous. The attitude of some that all people who have money are somehow evil is childish.

[Amos Moses]

104. I'm not saying the wealthy are evil.

I'm saying it's dishonest for them to pretend that the working class is somehow persecuting them.

[mamaleah]

108. I was referring to the comments

Dumb things such as, "oooh, we got a rich bastard here folks!".

It smacks of envy. And attitudes like that only make the working class look dumb and lazy, which we are anything but.

[Amos Moses]

109. It's not envy.

It's anger that comes from being told they are dumb, lazy, envious, stupid, juvenile, etc.. when all they are doing is arguing against a system that is geared to benefit the wealthy more and more, at the expense of the working poor.

This whole "You are poor because you are lazy" argument is taken straight from the GOP playbook and it's disappointing to see that BS being posted here.

[mamaleah]

112. You obviously misread my comment

I am not wealthy, and I do not think that anyone I know (all who are middle class, including myself) are lazy.

But "eat the rich comments" only make people think the middle class are ignorant and envious.

[Amos Moses]

116. You're the one that drug out "class war".

I pointed out that it's only class war when the working class finally gets pissed off enough to fight back. The wealthy say and do as they please with impunity and an ever increasing share of the profits.

BTW, you completely disregard the fact that the moron (your words) clarified his argument.

"do you believe these taxes for healthcare are unreasonable"?

I apologize if I've misread your comments but what you dismiss as ignorant and envious sounds like justified resentment to me.

[mamaleah]

125. No I do not think taxes for healthcare are unreasonable.

What I do find unreasonable is the "fuck the rich" attitude. MANY wealthy people are more than happy to help others, contrary to attitudes displayed by some here.

[Dutch]

118. No, but many rich people are very effective class warriors

Which is why they pay so little tax.

[Lorien]

37. Even Warren Buffet says that the rich are unfairly UNDER taxed

He has questioned why he -a billionaire-only pays 17% in taxes WITHOUT TAKING ADVANTAGE OF LOOPHOLES while his secretary, who makes 66k a year, pays 26%. How has THAT been fair?

[Abq_Sarah]

46. There is no law preventing Warren Buffet

From paying more than he legally owes in taxes.

If he were truly concerned, he'd write a check to the treasury instead of waiting on lawmakers to force him to do so.

[Dutch]

117. Indeed. So lawmakers have to come and make the unconcerned rich pay their share.

[LSK]

39. see post #2 - whos the one being juvenile?????

[sui generis]

60. ???

elaborate, with examples.

[LSK]

121. ok

Example 1: Businessman makes 480k per year, breaks down to 40k per month. 40k to have taxes taken out, pay the mortgage, pay the bills, pay the car payment, save from. $40,000 per month. Income.

Example 2: Working family making 48k per year, breaks down to 4k per month. 4k to have taxes taken out, pay the mortgage, pay the bills, pay the car payment, save from. $4,000 per month. Income.

Example 3: Working single mother making 24k per year at Walmart, breaks down to 2k per month. 2k to have taxes taken out, pay the rent or mortgage, pay the bills, pay the car payment, save from. $2,000 per month. Income.

So per month we have 3 examples.

$40,000 per month
$4,000 per month
$2,000 per month

Which of these figures seem TOTALLY OUT OF WACK with the norm in America?

How many people do you know can even SPEND $40,000 in 1 month????????????

[No Elephants]

42. Hope you didn't hurt yourself building that strawman. People are not taxed bc they are evil or

left untaxed because they are good.

[sui generis]

61. learned a big word today?

straw man? learn when to use it, it helps your credibility.

the fact that you do-gooders think that my post required five responses means you don't even really believe in it yourselves.

I personally think that "going after the rich" as if wealth were a crime is just absurd, as a means of adjusting for social inequity.

The real problem is not that everyone who is poor is noble, but that people who think life has been unfair to them think it should be equally unfair to everyone. You don't want a straw man. You want a whipping post.

[ProudDad]

82. Excessive wealth IS a crime!

It's a crime against those from whom it was stolen...

Most everyone who is rich is ignoble, by definition.

[Auggie]

52. I would not mind being taxed for health care, or rather, shifting what

I currently pay for private health insurance into a government run non-profit system. Granted, not everyone can afford this, and this is where the Dems's "tax the rich" strategy covers that void.

BUT, if we ALL contribute it would make for a healthier system and one in which I feel we would be more engaged.

[Demobrat]

98. I have no problem with it either.

I am perfectly willing to be taxed on, or for, my health care benefits when I'm working if it means I can count on having some form of health care when the inevitable layoff rolls around. This system where if you lose your job you lose your insurance right along with it has to end, especially with jobs drying up at the rate they are now.

[shawn703]

75. The rich can vote too

Unfortunately, their guy lost. If they don't like it, next election they can run on a platform of eliminating the health care expansion, or increasing taxes on the poor and middle class to pay for it so they can have their tax rate lowered. Poor them.

They also have the choice of renouncing their citizenship and moving someplace they think they can get a better deal. Just don't let the door hit them in the ass on the way out.

[ProudDad]

84. Unfortunately, their guy lost.

You're sure of that?

It's my impression that the other right-wing of the Big Business Corporate Party won.

They pretty much alternate...

[Dutch]

119. You really think you qualify to call others juvenile after that bizarre rant?

We are talking about a small increase in the tax paid by the richest people, to provide an essential service to poor and working people.

If that makes you ashamed to be a Democrat then, with all due respect, perhaps you should get lost and join the Libertarians.

[timtom]

25. Why not just get the hell out of Iraq

and Afghanistan?

And quit trying to build more planes.

(Geez!)

In addition to the tax-the-rich plan, of course (which I like very much, the greedy *&%#'s!)

[redqueen]

27. If only... (nt)

[craigmatic]

26. America has the biggest income gap between rich and poor in the western world. They should tax them

The rich have been screwing us over for years constantly backing repubs to get their undeserved tax cuts inspite of the loads of money they have but will probably never spend.

[Name removed]

58. Deleted sub-thread

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[happygoluckytoyou]

30. capitalism.... socialism.... WHEN THE GAME OF MONOPOLY IS OVER BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS WON.... we RESET

[Aramchek]

33. this is a great idea. the mega-rich have gotten out of paying taxes for too long.

[bluevoter4life]

36. Any way this plan can be exapnded

To include the taxing of businesses making more than $XXXXX/ year? You have your AIG, you have your Goldman Sachs, paying out billions in bonuses. You have your banks. Why not add an additional tax on top of their profits? They took OUR money to turn themselves around, its time they start paying us back.

[AlbertCat]

78. Why not add an additional tax on top of their profits?

Or...ANY tax on top of their profits.

Remember Exxon made the hugest profit ever....and paid NO TAXES.

Remember Clinton's "Minimal tax" that was manditory for big corps?

[bluevoter4life]

80. Thats what I'm talking about

I mean, if you tax a company making >$1,000,000 a year, that is a little unfair, as most businesses cannot operate with such a small profit margin. But take a company like you mentioned, Exxon or Wal Mart, making BILLIONS per year. Tax them at a set rate to help fund this program.

[Abq_Sarah]

114. This tax plan will tax companies making less than

1 million per year. Small businesses often use pass through taxation. This proposal will tax an individual business owner who earns over $280,000 ($350,000 for families) starting at 1% and increasing to 5.4%. Any shortfall in profits will come from cuts in business and that generally means payroll and benefits.

[Divine Discontent]

38. this is VERY encouraging..... they have tons of disposable income & that's thanks to their country

and the people within it. Remember this is a million INCOME a year, not worth. Many people are 'millionaires' I hear, and I can believe it with all the money tied up in stock, housing, retirement, but we're talking about people who get a MILLION each new year.

Tax the hell out of em - this is disposable income that should partially help go to fund the country they live in so nicely! Care for the poorest among us and make this a country we can be proud of, not get rich off of!

[No Elephants]

43. No one knows what the plan will look like yet, or how much it will cost, but they are announcing

this already?

[LoKnLoD]

44. 5.4 percent

5.4 percent of a million is $54,000. I have to work a whole year to make that. Fuck 'em.

[dd20045]

45. love this idea

we should tax churches while we are at it!

[Name removed]

56. Deleted sub-thread

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[closeupready]

47. It's about time.

:)

[DebbieCDC]

49. Now they can pay back all those millions shrub gave them in tax cuts

[lumpy]

67. Don't forget about Reagan's tax shelters, designed to

financially protect the progency of our financial aristocracy for life.

[GreenTea]

53. Cheers- The rich pay jackshit in taxes comparitively-under Bush they received tax cut after tax cut

while my working class taxes and everyone else I know went up each of the last eight years...Last year being the worst....Now maybe some of those corporate assholes and insurance corporations CEO & executives who have been stealing from the sick while rejecting even more of the sick will have to pay a little back to help others besides lining their own pockets.

Public option Universal Health Care for ALL (this includes the rich if they want it...but of course they can afford their own private doctors and care).

"The rate (for the rich) will still be far less than than the 70% marginal rate (and higher) that was in place during the Nixon & Ford years)"

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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[Ishoutandscream2]

65. Since you apparently have the answers

Tell us what kind of company to start. Oh, and give us some ideas on how to raise the capital. Someone who has pulled himself up by his bootstraps like you needs to educate all of us lazy libruls.

[iris27]

66. Hey, guess what, I DO own my own company.

I do NOT make enough to be affected by this tax hike, and neither will the majority of small business owners. The sort of business that Republicans call a "small" business is laughable. So STFU.

[sasquatch]

54. Can we call it the Guillotine alernative tax?

:bounce:

[Zorra]

70. Golly gee, how can anyone live on less than $5000 a week?

We can hardly make it as it is! How will we fuel our yachts? Cool our summer homes? Pay for our Prada? Buy new SUV's every year? How will be be able to pay for using up all our natural resources with reckless abandon?
:yoiks:
Oh, the horror! The horror! (Wailing and gnashing of teeth)
:sarcasm:

[BrklynLiberal]

71. If I could be guaranteed to make more than$1 million/year, I would gladly pay the tax!!!!

All those who actually do have some nerve complaining, since the richest are the one who use the services provided
by the government the most....infrastructure, clean air, clean water, police, firemen, paved roads, domestic peace, reliability
of markets and ownership in most cases, standards for quality of workmanship for things they buy, licensing of professionals on whom they depend .... I know there are more, but those are just what came to mind.

And while the corporate tax may be high as far as the book rate is concerned, considering all the loopholes, and all the offshore
"bookkeeping" that is done, the US businesses probably pay just about the lowest corporate/business taxes in the world.

The taxes for these folks can be lowered only if all the loopholes are hermetically sealed shut.

[felinetta]

74. We didn't see these folks complain when they got a tax cut during war!

[mr_smith007]

90. Bout damn time...

Been waiting for this to come out after months of hearing "how are we going to raise enough money for universal health care". Bump up the damn top marginal rates that were only half what they were just 30 years ago. I just hope once this passes the house, someone goes over to the Senate and holds a fire under Durbin's ass so he stops the "it hurts small business" BS. If you have a small business and have a net income over a million, taxing that doesn't hurt your ability to hire new employees or reinvest in the company. If you hire employees or reinvest income, it isn't part of your adjusted gross income and doesn't get taxed. Someone pass that on to the Limbaugh audience.

[allanrbrts]

102. Flat Tax

This is why we need a flat tax nationwide. The more you buy, the more taxes you pay. But the percentage is the same for everyone and fair. Plus all of those visiting this country, including the illegals would be contributing. And there would be no way for the illegals to get out of it.

[dana_b]

106. no flat tax

If I make $100,000 a year and pay a flat tax of say 15%, well $15,000 is no big deal. But If I only earn $20,000, then paying $3,000 is a lot harder to swallow.

edit* - or do you mean a flat sales tax?

[Kirk McPike]

111. Horrible idea

A flat tax would amount to a MASSIVE tax increase on the poor and middle class, and a MASSIVE tax cut on the rich. The poor tend to spend 95% to 120% of what they earn each year (this is why credit card debt piles up), so their effective tax rate were the flat sales tax set at 20% would be 19% to 24%. The very wealthy tend to spend more around 25% to 33% of what they earn, so their tax rate would be 5% to 7%. Not a good system.

[snake in the grass]

115. In a word...

...bullshit! The Flat Tax would unfairly burden low income families and individuals.

[Dutch]

120. If your plan is to screw over the poor and working class, then yes you need a flat tax.

If you have even the vaguest commitment to social justice, then not so much.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

105. Tax the Wealthy - Keep Everyone Healthy......I want a bumper sticker.

[808]

113. WE NEED A PUBLIC OPTION

WASHINGTON STATE RESIDENTS - CALL MARIA CANTWELL'S OFFICE NOW. Toll Free: 1-888-648-7328

Maria Cantwell does not support a single payer health care system, and she has remained UNACCEPTABLY VAGUE on supporting a public option. She is in the pockets of Big Insurance while millions of Americans suffer.

She calls herself a Democrat! Let her know you will not support her in the next election - if she does not support you now. She must show a spine and support Single Payer or a Public Option NOW.



SENATOR MARIA CANTWELL'S Office Toll Free: 1-888-648-7328