Report: Tax Returns of the Top 25 Wealthiest in America

[Dontrike]

It seems like you forgot about that "caring about freedom" part of the equation.

Oh so you don't care, but you do care. Here I was worried you were going to be hypocritical, but you have put those fears to bed.

They are already taxed, and pay (on average) a higher rate than the average American.

Nice little asterisk with that "on average" bit.

[Machismo]

Oh so you don't care, but you do care. Here I was worried you were going to be hypocritical, but you have put those fears to bed.



Nice little asterisk with that "on average" bit.

No need to deliberately misconstrue what I said, I mean what I write. I am under no obligation to conform to the straw man you built in your mind.

I was going by the average, because tax policies are a blanket action. Those averages based on income level have been provided. I'm not going to argue that literally every single 1%er pays a higher tax rate than every single person making $100k a year... because I don't have the data to back it up, and even a single example (Like Bloomberg) would be able to refute it.

So, take Bloomberg, his tax rate was very low. My guess is that it was due to either campaign expenditures, or simply deductible re-investments.

So, that's why I went by the average, considering the push is to raise taxes on all the wealthy.

[Dontrike]

No need to deliberately misconstrue what I said, I mean what I write.

Yes, and you said you don't care what their financial status is all the while you grab your shield and defend the dragon's hoard with "Ye shall not take the dragon's gold....I mean freedom."

That "freedom" came from them buying politicians to allow them to have more "freedom" and abuse the poor. Sorry, but I don't feel bad for taking the money the poor had to fork over so they can have a Russian nesting doll of a yacht and you declaring it "freedom" is asinine at best.

[Machismo]

Yes, and you said you don't care what their financial status is all the while you grab your shield and defend the dragon's hoard with "Ye shall not take the dragon's gold....I mean freedom."

That "freedom" came from them buying politicians to allow them to have more "freedom" and abuse the poor. Sorry, but I don't feel bad for taking the money the poor had to fork over so they can have a Russian nesting doll of a yacht and you declaring it "freedom" is asinine at best.

I have no problems defending the liberties of poor people. I don't see you complaining when I do that.

So, all wealthy people bought politicians? Or, are you simply making broad generalizations? That's like saying all poor people are socialists.

[Glorious Leader]

I have no problems defending the liberties of poor people. I don't see you complaining when I do that.

So, all wealthy people bought politicians? Or, are you simply making broad generalizations? That's like saying all poor people are socialists.

The broad generalization is that concentrated private capital has enough influence and power to distort the political process creating whats called a virtual senate. In some instances this is blatant like the koch Brothers for example. Theirs a wealth of research thats been done on this topic.

[Machismo]

The broad generalization is that concentrated private capital has enough influence and power to distort the political process creating whats called a virtual senate. In some instances this is blatant like the koch Brothers for example. Theirs a wealth of research thats been done on this topic.

In that case, the issue would be corruption, more than anything else. We see it a ton at the local level, where politicians are even cheaper. The solution to that would be to make the process more transparent.

We're not going to get the money out of politics. As much as I'd like to, it's here to stay. If it's not the Koch Brothers, it's a teacher's union. Politicians are often shills for their biggest contributors, which is why I have such little respect for most of them.

[Ivanstone]

In that case, the issue would be corruption, more than anything else. We see it a ton at the local level, where politicians are even cheaper. The solution to that would be to make the process more transparent.

We're not going to get the money out of politics. As much as I'd like to, it's here to stay. If it's not the Koch Brothers, it's a teacher's union. Politicians are often shills for their biggest contributors, which is why I have such little respect for most of them.

Except the wealthy have no interest in transparency.

The Teacher's Union is also a hell of lot more public about their expenditures.

[Machismo]

Except the wealthy have no interest in transparency.

The Teacher's Union is also a hell of lot more public about their expenditures.

If a campaign receives money, then release the names of the donors. If it's a PAC, and their advertising is about specific campaigns, then release the information.

We're drifting off topic, because this really isn't just a billionaire thing, but a corruption thing.

[Ivanstone]

If a campaign receives money, then release the names of the donors. If it's a PAC, and their advertising is about specific campaigns, then release the information.

We're drifting off topic, because this really isn't just a billionaire thing, but a corruption thing.

Except that information comes from non-profits. We know who donates to the PAC, we don't know who donates to the non-profit. Which is secret. By design.

We're really not because the tax code was written by the wealthy.

Lets get back to my rock and moon analogy. Yes, I can do certain things that the wealthy can do. I can contribute to politicians. I can also take out a loan against my primary asset. However, my influence would remain infinitesimal and doesn't really require much in the way of special rules to manage. The wealthy wields much greater influence and therefore requires special rules to manage. When building near the water you have to take the tides into consideration or you can just ignore it and wait for the moon to fuck you.

[Machismo]

Except that information comes from non-profits. We know who donates to the PAC, we don't know who donates to the non-profit. Which is secret. By design.

We're really not because the tax code was written by the wealthy.

Lets get back to my rock and moon analogy. Yes, I can do certain things that the wealthy can do. I can contribute to politicians. I can also take out a loan against my primary asset. However, my influence would remain infinitesimal and doesn't really require much in the way of special rules to manage. The wealthy wields much greater influence and therefore requires special rules to manage. When building near the water you have to take the tides into consideration or you can just ignore it and wait for the moon to fuck you.

I would get rid of all non-profit protections.I have long said they are nothing more than tax dodges, shifting the burden onto others.

That goes for churches, PACs, charities... all of it.

I firmly believe that having equality under the law is the fastest and easiest way to get rid of bad laws. We may have different goals in this, but our way of getting there will share some of the same tactics.

Highlight who is spending money on politicians, and act accordingly.

[Shadowferal]

Except the wealthy have no interest in transparency. .

Big business, the wealthy elite, libertarians, they all amount to the same thing; corrupt politicians. Think congress will see Trump's tax returns anytime soon?

[Ivanstone]

Did this thread really go through the same exact bullshit for... a third time? >_>

Why is it even still open? Shut this shit down.

Because ProPublica keeps on adding my shit.

https://www.propublica.org/series/the-secret-irs-files

There's about dozen different articles and I very seriously doubt they're done yet.

[Glorious Leader]

In that case, the issue would be corruption, more than anything else. We see it a ton at the local level, where politicians are even cheaper. The solution to that would be to make the process more transparent.

We're not going to get the money out of politics. As much as I'd like to, it's here to stay. If it's not the Koch Brothers, it's a teacher's union. Politicians are often shills for their biggest contributors, which is why I have such little respect for most of them.

Public funding of all elections and campaigns.

[JohnBrown1917]

We're drifting off topic, because this really isn't just a billionaire thing, but a corruption thing.

Which is mostly thinks to billionaires.
Makes you think.

[Machismo]

Public funding of all elections and campaigns.

That's not going to happen in our lifetimes.

- - - Updated - - -

Which is mostly thinks to billionaires.
Makes you think.

Plenty of "normal folk" are corrupt as shit, or did you forget about Jan 6th?

[JohnBrown1917]

Plenty of "normal folk" are corrupt as shit, or did you forget about Jan 6th?

Trying to overthrow(?) a government is not what corruption means.

But its true small time corruption exists, but it has nowhere close to the same damage that billionaire corruption achieves. The corruption shell enables does not come anywhere close to a inspector or whatever looking the other way for 1000$ or whatever.

[Machismo]

Trying to overthrow(?) a government is not what corruption means.

But its true small time corruption exists, but it has nowhere close to the same damage that billionaire corruption achieves. The corruption shell enables does not come anywhere close to a inspector or whatever looking the other way for 1000$ or whatever.

Yes, the anti-democratic fascists are corrupt as shit.

[Glorious Leader]

That's not going to happen in our lifetimes.

[COLOR="#417394"][SIZE=1]- - - Updated - -

Aside from the fact that that wasn't the fucking point did you ever stop and ask yourself why?

[JohnBrown1917]

Yes, the anti-democratic fascists are corrupt as shit.

I get it, you have no idea what corruption actually is. Its not everything you disagree with, its a very specific action. Overthrowing a government does not fall under it. We actually have proper words for those actions.


So i'll stick to billionaire corruption causing way more damage than any small-time criminal could even wish for.

[Machismo]

Aside from the fact that that wasn't the fucking point did you ever stop and ask yourself why?

It's nto going to happen, because most people don't want it to happen.