New York Times:
House Democrats will ask the wealthiest Americans to help pay for overhauling the health care system with a $550 billion income tax increase, the chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee said Friday.
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Great idea. Now lets cut the waste in the military budget and quit wasting trillions in the ME.
Has anyone kept tract of how many programs the Dems want the rich to pay for?
They could take every red cent from everyone making 75k and up, and it still wouldn't pay for Obama's proposed spending.
Try a math course or two
Yes, all of them
Tax the rich
feed the poor
'till there are
no rich no more.
Oh THAT will go over well. I can already here McConnell, Boehner and Cantor. And the wealthy shouting. "just because we have money doesn't mean we have to take care of the lazy and the slouchy". I can hear it....shee
Just do it.
This is a good s t a r t but only a beginning. Wall Street needs to pay the lion's share of tax increases! If the Federal Gov't insists on not reforming the nature of allowable financial instruments, the manipulation of essential commodities markets and the short term focus on so much of the investment world, impose hefty transaction fees and tax the profits derived from driving up the costs of essential goods.
The investment world seems immune to the harm it causes to humanity and must be made to pay to play.
The "wealthy" are not always the most productive members of society.
It's about time the rich paid their fair share of taxes anyway -- most of them avoid paying taxes using top-notch accountants and tax shelters.
That's where the term "the idle rich" comes from. Many of the wealthy don't do anything productive.
YES!!!! Hello! Finally. Get going.
Lets not be vindictive and only attack one part of society. Let's make it fair and increase everyones tax to cover the cost of single payer health care. Everyone pays and everyone benefits.
Where were you living during the last 4 decades? It is time the Idle Rich start paying their share of the commons again. This disparity is a cause of this economic crisis, and the Great Depression of the 20th century.
good luck on that one - many will do what I just did - leave the country
"Joe The Plumber", is that you?
Love it or leave it.
money > America..
got it...
Bush tax cut for the top 2% was $1.3 trillion. Reverse it to pay for healthcare.
The Rich HAVE the money. Bush gave them the tax breaks and they've been living the good life. Who the hell else has the money, The Poor????? The Rich don't pay nearly enough taxes for the benefits they derive from living in the United States. They don't send their kids to the military, don't protect like the police, don't heal like nurses, don't donate to charities in the percentages that poor people do, and don't help with their time in national emergencies. Screw them! Let them pay. It's the one thing they can give.
excuse me, i am a physician i heel i take care of people who medicaid and no insurance already - i don't know what business or profession you are in but i doubt you perform your services for free or below living wage prices (like we do for medicaid)
i am sure i would be "considered" rich under this proposal, i am willing to pay my fair share and i completely support the efforts toward a public plan enough tho it will clearly cut into my income for the benefit of all
AND now you think i should pay for the program too
Given that 30 years spent catering to the desires of the people who may be taxed is what got this nation into the mess it is in now, I am singularly unsympathetic to any objections that they may have.
Would it be better to tax the poor to pay for the needs of the rich? That's been going on for decades with little or no outcry.
I know the arguments the rich will just take their money offshore. Guess what they already have. What was their excuse for doing that when they were receiving subsidises and tax breaks? Let them all move to Dubhai or the Caymans.
Once they are all gone, then the American people can get back to work actually producing goods without being manipulated by those that have no real interest in this society and it's welfare. We can base our banking on actual production and investment, not hedge funds and derivatives based on nothing but mysterious instruments that contain no actual value.
Wealth is like celebrity--it comes with a social cost and an undeniable responsibility so many rich people try to deny.
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First Posted: 07-11-09 10:17 AM | Updated: 07-11-09 10:21 AM