Forum Post: Please help me understand?
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 11:18 p.m. EST by Texanwithquestion
(7)
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I am a 1% 'er. I am 34 years old and I make ~ 1MM/year in ordinary income (not capital gains). My average Federal Tax rate was ~31% in 2010 after the deduction for mortgage interest and other very minor deductions (I paid 310K in Federal Taxes). I paid 25K in property taxes to the city/state government and I paid ~ 28K in sales tax during the year. All in all I paid 363K in taxes (36.3% of my income). I am not asking for sympathy, so save the "it must be tough" comments. We are not all created equal when it comes to resourcefulness and intelligence, that's reality. So, help me out: What is it that I am not doing for the 99% that I should be doing. Help me understand.
I have no objection to you earning an unlimited amount of income (not sure if I would object to it being passed tax free to your heirs though) and am in fact not personally advocating higher tax rates but I don't see way I shouldn't advocate for higher excise taxes instead of raising income taxes or accumulating debt. Or why I shouldn't desire the discharging of student loans in bankruptcy, or an abolition of a regressive sales tax. that you and I pay while large corporations establish bullshit Delaware subsidiaries for their online sales. I realize this isn't a direct answer to your question but I'm unconvinced you were asking. I usually only forget question marks when being ironic. I don't know you and can't very well critique your existence but I'll try and answer honest: paying taxes isn't enough.
The real problem is that the America has exceeded its carrying capacity in terms of the population*IQ. The lower IQ subset (below 100) for the last 40 years has reproduced at a much higher rate without any means to care for or educate their offspring. The higher IQ subset (above 100) has realized that they cant properly support many children in this world so they have lowered their reproductive rates dramatically. We are now experiencing the reality of this IQ skewing and the burden of carrying the entitlements necessary to placate this large set.
I am not going with the eugenics argument. You are assuming that IQ is heritable without proof, that it is an accurate measure of intelligence and that we couldn't or shouldn't educate "their" offspring so as to raise the "carrying capacity".
"We are not all created equal when it comes to resourcefulness and intelligence, that's reality." While this is true-and I thank you for recognizing that-it is also true that there are many 1%'er that have the power and influence to tip the scales and find or have created tax loop holes to drasticly reduce their tax obligation.
I make 40 a year as a single woman and pay ruffly the same tax rate. In addition to owing a small fortune in student loans; helping to care for my brother's family after he has lost his job and trying to ride the tide of healthcare costs (that NEVER GO DOWN).
If you decide to make a 25,000 dollar contribution to a politcal capmaigne, you get to have dinner and a conversation with the politician of your choice without the contribution making a huge difference in your lifestyle. That is infulence. (Even if you choose not to use it.)
The Supreme Court has essentially stated that because the 1%'ers own roughly the same collectivly as the bottom 60%, even on an individual bases, your voice is louder in the political and economic square that 5,000 of me.
The system is broken. the money from the highest economic group stays in that group. It revolves in a relatively closed system of high end service providers (millionaires patronizing millionaires). While the lower economic groups live hand to mouth under a commerce and commercial system set up by the 1%'ers.
Once you get to a certain economic range in this society, it is very difficult to be fully removed from it. There are not that many riches to rags stories for 1%'ers because of the way the system works.
I do your question a disservice by trying to explain it too throughly. There are too many issues for a blog post. There will (hopfully) be other responces that can help you "understand".