Quote:
Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn
Read Ann Coulter. She is saying that the GOP should take on the astronomically rich liberal by raising taxes on the top 1% of the top 1%. You know, the Buffets, the Gates, the Geffens, the Zuckerbergs, etc. She also said put the excise tax back on Hollywood that was there in the 40s. Buffet's income is now coming from dividends, investments, and capital gains so let him pay the income tax rate of 35-39% instead of the investment rate of 15%. Let Streisand starting paying her fair share, Beyonce too.
http://www.anncoulter.com/ |
You're touting Ann Coulter's tax policy advice? Seriously? Wow.
If you had read my previous post (#47) and the post to which I linked, you would have realized that Buffett would not be impacted more than a miniscule amount (relative to his net worth) by proposed increases in the tax rates on capital gains and qualified dividends. The same is largely true of people like Gates and Zuckerberg, who can maneuver in various ways to minimize their tax liabilities. For one thing, they can, whenever they wish, simply borrow large sums of money against their stock if they don't feel like paying capital gains taxes at the rate in effect at the time. And while doing that, they can protect their positions (against potential losses) by employing any of a number of hedging strategies. That's not quite so true of entertainers like Streisand, who no doubt has a bit more difficulty getting out of paying her "fair share."
Your (Ms. Coulter's?) recommendation of raising the capital gains tax rate to the high 30s has been tried before, and it backfired. In the post-Watergate days, liberals in congress tried to satisfy their tax-the-wealth zeal by pushing the cap gains rate to 39%, and revenues promptly declined. Consequently, congress passed a bill cutting the rate to 28%, and the president signed it. That tax-cutting Reagan, you might think? Nope, Jimmy Carter.
Most of the finance ministers of Europe's social democracies certainly are not lacking in desire to tax the hell out of the wealthy. But as the record shows, there's something of a consensus that capital gains tax rates in the 35-39% range are simply too high.
We need effective,
serious tax policy that produces adequate revenue without creating distortions and impediments to the flow of capital to its highest and best uses, not politically motivated "feelgood" legislation.
We've already done enough damage to prospects for healthy long-term economic growth by shoving through way too much of the latter.
