Why should wealthy people pay more taxes?

[Jack Ryan]

[JW Insider]

More than what? More where? The United States? More than when?

Here's how the tax rate was structured under Eisenhower, a period of excellent growth and employment numbers:

I say it should not be more than it was under Eisenhower

During the eight years of the Eisenhower presidency, from 1953 to 1961, the top marginal rate was 91 percent. (It was 92 percent the year he came into office.) - http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/15/bernie-s/income-tax-rates-were-90-percent-under-eisenhower-/

That was, of course, for people making over $1.7 million in today's dollars. Greed, combined with an unhealthy disdain for the working class, has so far proven to be unavoidable in all capitalist societies. In the United States it has resulted in the top 1% to 5% spending BILLIONS to get laws and loopholes that help themselves and tend to hurt everyone else. It has resulted in continual political and ideological propaganda to brand the poor as a worthless drain on the economy, brand the upper classes as too important to the economy to pay taxes, to promote voter suppression to keep it that way, promote the idolization of the upper classes and corporations --  and therefore the bulk of the tax burden shifts to the middle class. There has been a huge transfer of wealth, especially since Reagan's time in office, shifted almost directly from the lower and middle classes.

So, there's no reason to tax the first million that anyone makes in any 12 month period, but the second million should be taxed at about 40%. Remember that untaxed income to the middle and lower classes is not saved but goes right back into the economy (food, gas, rent, car payments, insurance, etc.) but the untaxed income from upper classes goes into investments and inert financial vehicles that are not geared to help the economy (stock market, excess family real estate, savings accounts, trust funds).

A reasonable rate would be 0% on first million, 39% on second million, 43% on third million, with 1% added for every additional million up to a 70% cap. That's 21% lower than under Eisenhower. Without loopholes, this seems to be able to bring in much more revenue than the current system. Of course, a thousand variations can be proposed and a thousand other factors have to be considered to make a total tax system fair.

[Guest]

I love that scenario. It would almost immediately bring back a strong middle class and solve a few other issues along the way. 

[Marra McDonald Johnson]

We can get smart again!