Slate explores the terrible burden the six-figure set will have to endure under Obama’s planned changes in the tax law.
Say you’re a CNBC anchor, or a Washington Post columnist with a seat at the Council on Foreign Relations, or a dentist, and you managed to cobble together $350,000 a year in income. You’re doing quite well. If you subtract deductions for state and property taxes, mortgage interest and charitable deductions, and other deductions, the amount on which tax rates are calculated might total $300,000. What would happen if the marginal rate on the portion of your income above $250,000 were to rise from 33 percent to 36 percent? Under the old regime, you’d pay $16,500 in federal taxes on that amount. Under the new one, you’d pay $18,000. The difference is $1,500 per year, or $4.10 per day.
$4.10! A DAY! ARE YOU MAD! Clearly that’s the end of capitalism! We must instantly go to poorly attended protests about tea parties and engage in Ayn Rand cosplay!
(via)
I’d suggest that the pain felt here is that of suffering one less Starbucks latte per day, but then I remembered that only Volvo-driving socialists drink those.
So when I said a person making $300,000 would pat $2300 a year more, I was overestimating the tax increase.
Wild.
I just hope this doesn’t throw the U.S. into an economic tailspin like we had in the 1990s.
$2300 a tear assumes that the marginal rate over $250k goes from 35% to 39.5%. Or, less than a week of profits.
I was trying to look up the rates of this plan and I found A guy who claimed that the top rate would really be about 55%. Not to link to the clown but he assumed that payroll and self-employment taxes would be extended ad infinitum instead of being capped at a hair over $100k. Adding 39.6 to 15.4 gives you 55%, even though his assumption isn’t based in the slightest realm of reality.
Conservatives. What can you do with ‘em?
“Conservatives. What can you do with ‘em?”
I still think Soylent Green is the way to go. Sure, they will taste bitter as hell, but what else can you do?
But nevertheless we should encourage folks to follow their bliss! We should have all these folks bitching go “John Galt”… We should by all means have Malkin, Limbaugh, Larry Kudlow, Rick Santelli and the entire population of Wall Street move to some isolated island somewhere cut off from the outside world which will naturally collapse without them…
I haven’t done an exact calculation, but I would estimate this will provide the Treasury with tax revenue close to the amount it loses when these same folks take their capital loss deductions for the decrease in the value of the investments they’ve dumped in 2008 and 2009.
Ayn Rand cosplay! The mind boggles. I would soooo use that if I could find an occasion for it.
Ayn Rand cosplay!
So full of win.
How about Obama’s plan to reduce itemized deductions on $250K and above filers from 100% to 28%? For someone paying $12K a year in interest that means their tax bill just went up by $3360, or $9.20/day. For someone paying $20K in state income tax (welcome to CA), that means your bill goes up by $5600 or $15.34/day. That’s a total of $8960/year or $24.55/day.
And what about Obama’s proposal to eliminate the cap on FICA taxes for everything above $200K? For someone paying $350K like the Slate example that means you’re paying an extra $9300 or $25.48/day.
So all total, that would be $18,260 in additional taxes, or $50.03/day.
Oh, plus the $4.10/day that Slate calculated would bring us to $54.13/day.
$54 a day? Why that’s chump change. Why would those stoopid people be upset? HAR HAR!
I still think Soylent Green is the way to go. Sure, they will taste bitter as hell, but what else can you do?
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Canadian Health Care System. Everyone gets dumped on the conveyor belt, regardless of their ability to pay.
Coming soon to a country near you.
People who have been succesful enough to make over 250K per year in America should be thankful that they pay taxes that provide them with security (police and soldiers), convenience (roads, bridges, highways), and job security (relatively transparent financial markets, at least until the Bush administration deregulated everything), etc. And yes, we expect you to help pay for thing like public schools, so that the next generation has a shot at being wealthy as well.
Canadians live longer than Americans do, asshat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
If there health care system was so bad, this wouldn’t be the case.
there = their
Yeesh. I no spell gud today.
Canadians live longer than Americans do, asshat.
Must be all that Soylent Green they’re eating. Damn cannibals!
If there health care system was so bad, this wouldn’t be the case.
Right. Because you can totally ignore differences like crime rates and levels of obesity, alcohol and drug use and inherent illnesses related to ethnicity and other trivial factors like that. Because the universal health care magic wand makes that kind of stuff just ALL go away.
Idiot.
“obesity, alcohol and drug use”
These are health issues, ass-hat.
I’m not claiming the Canadian system is perfect, but it’s definitely better than what we’ve got in America.
But please, tell us your experiences of living in Canada. You must be a real expert on other countries and stuff.
People who have been succesful enough to make over 250K per year in America should be thankful that they pay taxes that provide them with…
Shouldn’t the people who make UNDER $250K, who get the EXACT SAME THINGS, be clamoring to pay taxes and be “thankful” too?
I’m guessing you think high-earners should be grateful to pay more because of how they randomly and accidentally just fell into a higher than average income or they lucked out and “won life’s lottery”. I’m sure the idea that any of them actually EARNED that money through skills, hard work or sacrifice is ridiculous.
It’s funny, I don’t recall anyone making the argument that people making $250K and above should pay NO taxes or even LESS taxes. They’re just asking for the justification for why they should be expected to pay MORE taxes than they already are. The “fairness” argument falls apart pretty quickly when it’s noted that 40% of Americans (soon to be 50% thanks to Obama) don’t pay ANY taxes, and in fact, many of them get extra money back.
“Sacrifice”? Shouldn’t we ALL be sacrificing?
“Giving back”? People above $250K are already giving a higher percentage of their income.
Next?
Let’s take a look, then, shall we?
Smoking trends are the same in U.S. & Canada
U.S. & Canada have same rate of diseases related to alcohol abuse
Slightly lower rate of obesity in Canada than U.S.
And I’m pretty damn sure that the majority of Americans and Canadians both have Anglo-Saxon roots, making the ethnic diseases moot.
Seems to me that the health care is the biggest difference.
“Shouldn’t the people who make UNDER $250K, who get the EXACT SAME THINGS, be clamoring to pay taxes and be ‘thankful’ too?”
I made under 250K in America, and I paid taxes. I wasn’t ecstatic about it, but as a reality-based adult I understand that I benefit from living within a stable civil society, and that stable civil societies cost money.
People who “make it” in America do it for a number of reasons: hard work, luck, benefits of public education and public universities, etc. Of course, some rich people don’t work at all — they just inherit it.
People who make more money should pay more taxes. Yes. Why is that so shocking a concept?
Why do you hate America?
Seriously, tax rates are going back to their 1990’s levels. How did people get rich under Clinton if the tax burden was so damn horrible? In fact, people (myself included) did much better under a Democratic president. Given the choice between being poor and paying few taxes and making over 250K but having to pay more, I’d happily choose to make over 250K. That’s called adult reasoning. Sorry you and your fellow “Galtian” bed-wetters are incapable of it.
But please, tell us your experiences of living in Canada.
I have close family members actually living in Canada and stuff. Does that count?
And what is YOUR experience, Jaim? You must be an expert or something with your Oh-so-wise statement that “it’s definitely better than what we’ve got in America”. How so? Based on what?
You must be a real expert on other countries and stuff.
Well I’m clearly no Jeenius like you. Douchebag.
I made under 250K in America, and I paid taxes. I wasn’t ecstatic about it, but as a reality-based adult I understand that I benefit from living within a stable civil society, and that stable civil societies cost money.
Sorry, you don’t sound very “thankful” to be paying those taxes.
People who “make it” in America do it for a number of reasons: hard work, luck, benefits of public education and public universities, etc. Of course, some rich people don’t work at all — they just inherit it.
So because some small few just inherit it, let’s just call the whole group “rich” and tax the bastards even more.
People who make more money should pay more taxes. Yes. Why is that so shocking a concept?
I guess you’re a little slow or have some reading comprehension problems. As I said above, no one is making the argument that people making $250K and above should pay LESS taxes.
Why do you hate America?
Ha ha, this is the funny.
Seriously, tax rates are going back to their 1990’s levels.
No they’re not. Did you forget about the itemized deduction reductions and FICA cap elimination? See my 2:55am comment above.
Seriously, Jaim. Why are you such a clueless asshole? Is it genetic? Were you just raised that way?
“Based on what?”
Based on the link to life expectancies by nation, maybe?
I feel like a cat batting a dead mouse around.
Unlike diaper-shitters like you, I’ve lived abroad at varios times in countries with socialized health-care. In both cases, the residents of those nations lived longer than Americans (fact) and, in my experience, were generally healthier and fitter (i.e., not obese).
Canadians I’ve known (I’ve visited, never lived there) prefer their health care to America’s, thank you very much. If they didn’t, you’d think they might have changed it to the (horribly broken and expensive) American system by now. Funny — they haven’t.
People who are wealthy should be glad for their wealth, and realize that their taxes provide many things that allow for personal wealth creation to happen in the first place –security, roads, schools, a military, etc.
Life ain’t Ayn Rand, fuckwit. If you’d step outside of your mom’s Cheetoh smeared basement, you might realize that.
I have close family members actually living in Canada and stuff. Does that count?
I have no way to verify this one way or the other.
Dave in So Cal: “Right. Because you can totally ignore differences like crime rates and levels of obesity, alcohol and drug use and inherent illnesses related to ethnicity and other trivial factors like that. Because the universal health care magic wand makes that kind of stuff just ALL go away.”
So what you are saying is Canadians don’t commit as many crimes as Americans do. Aren’t drugs addicts like Americans are. Aren’t alcoholics like Americans are.
Why do you hate America?
Dave in SoCal: “Well I’m clearly no Jeenius like you. Douchebag.”
No, you are not. But you insist on acting like you are one.
Everyone gets dumped on the conveyor belt, regardless of their ability to pay.
Each according to his ability. Each according to his feed.
As I said above, no one is making the argument that people making $250K and above should pay LESS taxes.
No? TAX CUTS TAX CUTS TAX CUTS!!
The
No, you are not.
The proof? The lack of teh funny that was Left Field Sports. For the love of God SHUT IT DOOOOOWWWWN!!!
What?
It is cutting comments off at apostrophes. It has happened to Dennis, Quaker and myself, as far as I know. I have been very careful to not contract any words in this comment…
I’m unable to replicate the error, for me and I can’t find it anywhere. Try logging in, I guess?
I have also noticed that when one copy and pastes an apostrophe, one gets a few random characters (including a trademark symbol) in its place.
“I’m unable to replicate the error, for me and I can’t find it anywhere. Try logging in, I guess?”
You know what error I am getting? I can only see the first page. There is not even a link to a second page anymore. There used to be a link to a second page, but it would just take me to the first page.
How about Obama
How about Obama s plan to reduce itemized deductions on $250K and above filers from 100% to 28%?
Wrong on the facts again, Davey. The reduction is from 35% to 28%.