
Originally Posted by
Melonie
^^^ speaking to 'uber-rich' Democratic supports - no they'd be far better off with Hilary's or Edwards' continued offshore tax shelters, continued gov't subsidies and tax credits to various businesses they own or can invest in, continued unfunded federal mandates forcing states to issue more tax exempt muni bonds at ever higher interest rates to pay for federally mandated gov't services ...
speaking to the American middle class - as long as gov't spending isn't cut the 'real world' tax rates on the middle class have only one possible direction ... up. Managing to extract more tax dollars from the 'uber-rich', by whatever plan, is a practical impossibility. It's been tried, and has failed miserably with additional unintended consequences. You probably remember the 'luxury tax' which simply served to bankrupt US boatbuilders and to cost US automakers market share as the uber-rich promptly avoided the 'luxury tax' by purchasing their yachts overseas and floating them home as 'used' goods. Similarly, increasing the capital gains tax simply drove uber-rich investment money offshore or into muni bonds but out of American businesses that created jobs and produced American tax revenue.
If the 'poor' can't afford to actually pay taxes, and if the uber-rich can side-step taxes, guess who that leaves to pay those taxes !
Speaking to anyone's 'fair tax' plan, this is merely a short-sighted throwback to the failed 'luxury' tax ... with nothing at all 'fair' about the end result, which will be a 30% price increase on every item purchased in America that the 'poor' and the middle class must pay, but that the uber-rich can still avoid via purchasing their luxury cars, yachts and private jets from foreign suppliers, driving / flying / sailing them around Europe a bit, and then shipping them back America as 'used' goods exempt from tax.
Ultimately, somebody in media is going to have the 'balls' to finally point out that while the 'poor' and the 'middle class' are actually citizens of one particular country and subject to all of that country's laws, that the uber-rich are in effect GLOBAL citizens who are free to shift their money i.e. investments / purchases around the world as best suits their total after-tax rate of return / total costs. Same basically applies to large corporations who can easily outsource or border jump to evade the business laws / regulations / costs of a particular country, but not to the small businesses that are stuck attempting to remain profitable under whatever business laws / regulations / costs a particular country (or state) chooses to enact.
~
Bookmarks