This article discusses President Obama's plan to improve the state of the economy. One of the major components of his plan is to impose $1.6 trillion in new taxes on the wealthy. Some see this as controversial because this number is far greater than the amount that was negotiated with House Speaker John Boehner.
I know that something has to be done about the economy but I'm not sure that solely raising taxes on the wealthy is going to be the solution. First of all, it's not right. Just because a person is wealthy doesn't mean that he owes more to the government than someone who’s not. I believe that everyone should pay an equal percentage of their salary. They already pay more than their fair share. They are wealthy because they worked hard for their money and the government shouldn't be allowed to take it as they please. Is it right that the top 20% pays 94% of taxes? I don't think so. That being said, I'm not saying that taxes being raised on the middle or low classes are the solution either. I think that a flat tax rate is the most logical system.
I like Obama's idea of these tax cuts. I have read and herd that the rich wouldn't even mind being taxed more. If we tax the rich more, they will still be getting richer, but taxes will cut how fast they are getting money. I don't see a problem with that. It prevents a gap between the middle and upper class, which is now growing faster than before because of what Bush left Obama to clean up. It is going to take longer than just 8 years to fix this mess people, so hopefully the next president will continue what Obama is doing.
ReplyDeleteI see where Nicolette is coming from and how it seems unfair, but I don't agree with her statement. Even though the rich are getting taxed more, they still are getting a higher income in a week than most middle class people do in a year. Now that is unfair, but if you tax the upper class more, they are contributing the same amount (just on a higher scale, percentage wise) of their money as do the middle class. So really, the percentages will be the same, but the upper class will have more money than the lower and middle class, thus making it seem like they are actually contributing more, even though it is the same percentage of there yearly wage.
If that even makes sense. I can explain it in person, but online is much more difficult.
DeleteI too see where Nicolette is coming from, but I agree with Aubrey. Raising taxes shouldn't be the only solution, but the gap between the wealthy and middle class is just going to get bigger if something isn't done. The upper class definitely works hard for the money they make, but it's also not right when there are other families who can barely afford basic necessities. I believe that raising taxes on the people who can afford it isn't the ideal thing to do, but it's necessary. Preseident Obama's is trying the benefit the majority of the people and better the economy.
ReplyDeleteI also see where Nicolette is coming from. On one hand I agree with her in regards to it not being fair they pay higher taxes. Wealthy people statistically donate far more to charity, and they did work hard to get where they are. On the other hand, I also see where Jackie is coming from because there is a significantly disproportional difference between the wealthy and the middle class which is just growing larger and larger everyday to the point where we don't have much of a middle class. I'm afraid raising taxes on the wealthy, however, may take away bits of their incentive to go out and buy those expensive things they have bought in the past that contribute to the stimulation of our economy.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing we can do is raise taxes on the wealthy. Do you know that there was a time when the top 1% were paying a smaller percentage than the other 99% of Americans. If we do not solve the fiscal cliff issue by the end of this year, than every American's taxes will automatically go up in 2013. Raising taxes on the businesses and people who make over 250,000 a year is the only way to fix the fiscal cliff problem and to help with our deficit.
ReplyDeleteAnd the most wealthy of Americans would not even notice the increase. In fact, many of the countries richest people, like Warren Buffet are saying it is idiotic not to raise taxes on the wealthy. And for those who are just over the 250,000 mark, it still will not be that much because the additional tax will only be put on only the money above 250,000. The 250,000 will be taxed as a middle income family.
As for a flat tax rate that has proven time and time again not to work. That is not even what the GOP wants to do. They do not want to raise taxes on anyone, they want to drastically cut spending, the Obama has done, but they want to do it to the point where entire government agencies that are very important would be gotten rid of. Is that right?
On the topic of the view that the wealthy would slow or stop spending do to this tax increase it is just ridiculous. They have enough money for the rest of their lives. The people who are going to do that are people like Donal Trump who is going to try to prove a point by stop spending and job hiring ( which by the way they didn't do when they had low taxes either). Why don't we look back at the Bill Clinton era and see that with his plan, we ended up with a surplus and do something like that again.
I am sorry Nicolette but I completely disagree with you. While I understand where you are coming from, you are making a broad assumption about the wealthy. Have you heard of or wacthed the Jersey Shore or The Real Housewives? These people make more then many hard working Americans and their job consists of being annoying, dramatic, and cursing at eachother. Just as well many people get amazing jobs in business because of their family or friends which is not fair either. Now I understand that not all wealthy people are like that, but there are a lot of wealthy people who come from this background. My main argument though, is that these people have much more money to spare than others and still have room to live comfortably. If I make $50,000 working my tail off as an accountant and have to pay 50% of that, I only have $25,000. Then you have say Snooki who makes $600,000. After taxes she still have $300,000 dollars of spending money left. Is that fair for me? No it is not and there are plenty of people who work much harder than others and make less money, but I do concede that there are people who go out and honestly make their money. In my belief, the rich should be taxed more so the middle class can grow and have more money to spend which would grow the businesses of America, so wouldn't the rich still be making plenty of money? You could also rewrite the tax code and give the businesses clear incentives to offer Americans jobs seeing many businesses go over seas for cheap labor whoch would give Americans jobs and in turn you could give the businesses tax cuts. Finally many of these people have more money than they know what to do with (just look at the super PACs). Is it really too hard to ask them to pay more for the betterment of the country?
ReplyDeleteIt may seem like a biased opinion, but I too agree that the rich should be taxed more. Just as Brian explained in his opinion, the upper class has the liberty to give more money and still live a comfortable life. As you get lower on the social ladder, I believe that each dollar becomes more valuable to a person, making it harder to live without it. However, I also see where Nicolette is coming from. I agree that everyone works very hard for their money, and everyone wants to retain as much of it as they can. A flat rate for all classes seems more benefitial for the upper class.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem like a biased opinion, but I too agree that the rich should be taxed more. Just as Brian explained in his opinion, the upper class has the liberty to give more money and still live a comfortable life. As you get lower on the social ladder, I believe that each dollar becomes more valuable to a person, making it harder to live without it. However, I also see where Nicolette is coming from. I agree that everyone works very hard for their money, and everyone wants to retain as much of it as they can. A flat rate for all classes seems more benefitial for the upper class.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem like a biased opinion, but I too agree that the rich should be taxed more. Just as Brian explained in his opinion, the upper class has the liberty to give more money and still live a comfortable life. As you get lower on the social ladder, I believe that each dollar becomes more valuable to a person, making it harder to live without it. However, I also see where Nicolette is coming from. I agree that everyone works very hard for their money, and everyone wants to retain as much of it as they can. A flat rate for all classes seems more benefitial for the upper class.
ReplyDeleteAmerica cannot get out of debt without raising taxes. It is mathematically impossible for us to solve all of our fiscal problems with closing loopholes, and the draconian cuts some House Republicans like Paul Ryan are suggesting will impoverish our seniors.
ReplyDeleteWho should contribute more? Someone who's struggling to put food on the table or pay medical bills, or the super-rich that are set for life. The American public believes the latter should contribute more, but House Republicans, insulated in their gerrymandered districts, fail to see the writing on the wall.
Like John said, it is necessary for the U.S to raise taxes at some point in order to get out of debt or even just cut the deficit. In fact, just increasing taxes on people making over 250,000 hardly helps at all. In order to effectively reduce the deficit and the debt, we would need to make large cuts and large tax increases, but this will most likely not happen all at once but rather gradually over time so the economy eases into the small changes rather than one sudden shift. I think that raising taxes on the wealthy is a start though to solving our debt issue.
ReplyDeleteJust because someone doesn't make a lot of money doesn't mean they aren't working hard. There are people who work more than twelve hours a day and still barely make enough to support an entire family. The wealthy are going to naturally have a surplus of money while the poor won't. To me, it makes sense for them to contribute their surplus towards the economy. Each dollar is worth so much more to the poor than the rich who make thousands by the hour. Some of the wealthy still don't see that as being fair and refers to any policies that would raise taxes for them as socialist ones. If you look at the consequences of raising the taxes of the lower-class, some of them could end up being homeless while raising the taxes of the extremely wealthy will barely be an inconvenience for them.
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