Forum Post: To all the idiots here who think Warren Buffet is on your side...along with a wake up call.

Buffett is NOT on your side! A flat rate would kill the middle class and do nothing against the rich!

http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-flat-tax-is-unfair/

Wake Up Call

Let's PRETEND for a moment that only the federal income tax counts. That would mean that the most revenue being generated is from the rich as shown on the first chart (BURDEN) in this link - (in reality it ignores actual wages compared to rates, the cost of living, payroll taxes, etc. It does not ignore rates however.)

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/top-1-paid-more-in-federal-income-taxes-than-bottom-95-in-07/

However if you look at chart #3 from that same site, you will see that the RATES are higher for the "lower" class and that it is low for the "upper" class.

So...I know you're against taxing the rich and all, but according to your OWN data, taxes are needed from the rich! According to your OWN data, taxing the middle and poor classes are pointless because it doesn't generate enough revenue! So how would siting the tax burden for federal income be "pro-rich"? Wouldn't it be anti-rich and pro-middle class? (tax rate on poor is lower than middle)

Because thanks to "free" trade, the income for the top percentile have soared while they keep their costs low while the wages for us have either gotten lower, stayed stagnant or turned to zero entirely (unless you qualify for unemployment or some other benefit which is still making substantially less than if you had a McDonald's job) after you were laid off.

What does "free" trade have to do with this, you ask? Well many or some in the Tea Party respond to "Raise the rates on the rich!" with "They'll just move overseas! Do you want to scare them off and cost us our jobs?", which they already did and are currently continuing to do under the Obama administration. (It's our tech jobs this time folks - the South Korean FTA will kill Bay Area electronics jobs)

Then shouldn't we be protesting this so-called "free" trade that favors freedom-hating countries like China over the USA? (Note - I don't hate the people I just hate their government.) Because right now NO "major" candidate that we have now genuinely supports ending this Slave-Powered Trade. NONE of them have put out a genuine effort to stop this, both from the Democrat and Republican side. NONE of them truly favor tariffs on imported goods.

The most that both sides ever do is either -

A. Deregulate banks so that more people can borrow outside of their means, so that they can "spend spend SPEND!" to stimulate the economy...China's economy. Instead of making a genuine effort to STOP those countries.

or

B. "Stimulus stimulus STIMULUS!" or "Subsidy subsidy SUBSIDY!" for companies that are failing because of the "free" trade countries (such as China) flooding us with subsidized goods that were made with slave labor. Instead of making a genuine effort to STOP those countries.

I'm not being pro or anti-taxes here now. But the fact that people here have advocated a flat tax rate, (aka get rid of all Bush tax cuts) which would also kill the middle class and especially the poor show me just how "informed" many people here are. Now I'm not a smartass or anything, but it seems to me that the open source nature of this movement is also its greatest vulnerability.

Fix the cracks.