Tax the Rich

For decades, Millionaires have been lobbying and buying their way to lower tax rates.

As Warren Buffet has pointed out, there are thousands of very wealthy people that actually pay a lower tax rate than their secretaries. This is partly because much of the 'capital gains' investment income goes to the very rich and is taxed at only 15%. The so-called "Buffett Rule" is intended to address this discrepancy.

But Millionaires have also had their federal income tax rates cut drastically since the times of Ronald Reagan or Dwight Eisenhower.

In fact, if income tax rates today were the same as they were during the Eisenhower administration would bring about a balanced budget.

There is finally recognition that we need to restore some basic fairness and sanity to our economy and tax code. Two examples of proposals include:

* a millionaire surtax, along the lines proposed by US Rep. Jan Schakowsky

* a Financial Speculation Tax, which is like a tiny sales tax on buying and selling speculative investments like derivatives, futures, stocks, etc.

Of course, closing loopholes or simply enforcing existing tax law would be a plus, as well.

PS: People, including most news reporters,often seem to be confused about how tax rates work --including what 'marginal rates' mean. If George's income is $30,000, LaDonna's is $300,000 and Beth's is $3 million, all three pay the same tax rate on the first $30,000 of income. LaDonna and Beth pay the same rate on their income from $30,001-$300,000. If there is a surtax on oncomes over $1 million, only Beth would pay the surtax, and only on the portion of income over $1 million (i.e. it does not apply to her first $30,000 or $300,000, or even $999,999 in income).