DC Council votes to raise taxes on the “rich”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why Tony Williams, our best Mayor ever, would be against this tax? Hmm.

Because it’s money out of his pocket, and rich people don’t pay their fair share.

Too bad. Pay up.

Most rich people in fact do pay their fair share. That’s who the taxes come from now. Flat tax. 25% total from all.

The share of reported income earned by the top 1 percent of taxpayers fell slightly, to 20.9 percent in 2018 from 21 percent in 2017. Their share of federal individual income taxes rose by 1.6 percentage points to 40.1 percent.

Since 2001, the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 1 percent increased from 33.2 percent to a new high of 40.1 percent in 2018.

In 2018, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.1 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.9 percent.

The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (40.1 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (28.6 percent).

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.4 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.4 percent).

First, those figures are highly suspect.

Secondly, if you earn a half million dollars a year and paid 40% of it taxes, you’re still clearing $275k a year after taxes. Compare that to someone making $35k a year, who might keep $25k after taxes.

See the problem now?


The person making $35k should not only pay zero in taxes, but should get an income supplement to bring them up to maybe $60k. And the person making $500k should be taxed to the point where they keep maybe $80-$90k after taxes. So they still earn more, but not vastly more, than others. This is how you eliminate wealth disparity in a society.

Anyone who earns an income should be taxed at 80% and that wealth distributed to those depending on the state for survival.

A bit of an oversimplification, but correct in its essence. That’s how you eliminate income disparity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why Tony Williams, our best Mayor ever, would be against this tax? Hmm.

Because it’s money out of his pocket, and rich people don’t pay their fair share.

Too bad. Pay up.

Most rich people in fact do pay their fair share. That’s who the taxes come from now. Flat tax. 25% total from all.

The share of reported income earned by the top 1 percent of taxpayers fell slightly, to 20.9 percent in 2018 from 21 percent in 2017. Their share of federal individual income taxes rose by 1.6 percentage points to 40.1 percent.

Since 2001, the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 1 percent increased from 33.2 percent to a new high of 40.1 percent in 2018.

In 2018, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.1 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.9 percent.

The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (40.1 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (28.6 percent).

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.4 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.4 percent).

First, those figures are highly suspect.

Secondly, if you earn a half million dollars a year and paid 40% of it taxes, you’re still clearing $275k a year after taxes. Compare that to someone making $35k a year, who might keep $25k after taxes.

See the problem now?


The person making $35k should not only pay zero in taxes, but should get an income supplement to bring them up to maybe $60k. And the person making $500k should be taxed to the point where they keep maybe $80-$90k after taxes. So they still earn more, but not vastly more, than others. This is how you eliminate wealth disparity in a society.

Anyone who earns an income should be taxed at 80% and that wealth distributed to those depending on the state for survival.

A bit of an oversimplification, but correct in its essence. That’s how you eliminate income disparity.

Are you serious? Then why work at all? I’m motivated to work hard by the prospect of making money, not to give 80% of it to the government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why Tony Williams, our best Mayor ever, would be against this tax? Hmm.

Because it’s money out of his pocket, and rich people don’t pay their fair share.

Too bad. Pay up.

Most rich people in fact do pay their fair share. That’s who the taxes come from now. Flat tax. 25% total from all.

The share of reported income earned by the top 1 percent of taxpayers fell slightly, to 20.9 percent in 2018 from 21 percent in 2017. Their share of federal individual income taxes rose by 1.6 percentage points to 40.1 percent.

Since 2001, the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 1 percent increased from 33.2 percent to a new high of 40.1 percent in 2018.

In 2018, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.1 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.9 percent.

The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (40.1 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (28.6 percent).

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.4 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.4 percent).

First, those figures are highly suspect.

Secondly, if you earn a half million dollars a year and paid 40% of it taxes, you’re still clearing $275k a year after taxes. Compare that to someone making $35k a year, who might keep $25k after taxes.

See the problem now?


The person making $35k should not only pay zero in taxes, but should get an income supplement to bring them up to maybe $60k. And the person making $500k should be taxed to the point where they keep maybe $80-$90k after taxes. So they still earn more, but not vastly more, than others. This is how you eliminate wealth disparity in a society.

Anyone who earns an income should be taxed at 80% and that wealth distributed to those depending on the state for survival.

A bit of an oversimplification, but correct in its essence. That’s how you eliminate income disparity.

Because a Congressman is essentially the same job as working the counter at McDonald's.

[Anonymous]

Honestly not surprising to see the poor logic of the “tax the rich” posters.

This isn’t the federal the OP posted about. It is the local rate in DC. If you make the rate too high, the highest earners will leave. Some to VA. Others to zero income tax states.

That Council member who opposed it said 0.7% of DC taxpayers earn >$1M and contribute 23% of DCs taxes. Given the earnings at the highest end of professional services, we’re probably talking about something like 500 taxpayers making $4M or more… contributing by my back of envelope math, something like 18% of the city’s tax base.

You can celebrate soaking the rich, but some of them are just going to move. You can celebrate that, but you’ve just crushed the net tax of this city and the services you supposedly care about.

It’s about being competitive and as OP said attractive in what is now more than ever a comparison between various places to live. The pandemic has re-written the rules for where “knowledge workers” need to be.

Wise up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly not surprising to see the poor logic of the “tax the rich” posters.

This isn’t the federal the OP posted about. It is the local rate in DC. If you make the rate too high, the highest earners will leave. Some to VA. Others to zero income tax states.

That Council member who opposed it said 0.7% of DC taxpayers earn >$1M and contribute 23% of DCs taxes. Given the earnings at the highest end of professional services, we’re probably talking about something like 500 taxpayers making $4M or more… contributing by my back of envelope math, something like 18% of the city’s tax base.

You can celebrate soaking the rich, but some of them are just going to move. You can celebrate that, but you’ve just crushed the net tax of this city and the services you supposedly care about.

It’s about being competitive and as OP said attractive in what is now more than ever a comparison between various places to live. The pandemic has re-written the rules for where “knowledge workers” need to be.

Wise up.

Who was the councilmember who opposed it? It's been such a long time since I agreed with any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why Tony Williams, our best Mayor ever, would be against this tax? Hmm.

Because it’s money out of his pocket, and rich people don’t pay their fair share.

Too bad. Pay up.

Most rich people in fact do pay their fair share. That’s who the taxes come from now. Flat tax. 25% total from all.

The share of reported income earned by the top 1 percent of taxpayers fell slightly, to 20.9 percent in 2018 from 21 percent in 2017. Their share of federal individual income taxes rose by 1.6 percentage points to 40.1 percent.

Since 2001, the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 1 percent increased from 33.2 percent to a new high of 40.1 percent in 2018.

In 2018, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.1 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.9 percent.

The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (40.1 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (28.6 percent).

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.4 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.4 percent).

First, those figures are highly suspect.

Secondly, if you earn a half million dollars a year and paid 40% of it taxes, you’re still clearing $275k a year after taxes. Compare that to someone making $35k a year, who might keep $25k after taxes.

See the problem now?


The person making $35k should not only pay zero in taxes, but should get an income supplement to bring them up to maybe $60k. And the person making $500k should be taxed to the point where they keep maybe $80-$90k after taxes. So they still earn more, but not vastly more, than others. This is how you eliminate wealth disparity in a society.

There’s dumb. There’s really dumb. Then there’s this post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who was the councilmember who opposed it? It's been such a long time since I agreed with any of them.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/July-Chairman-s-Update--The-Monthly-Newsletter-from-Phil-Mendelson.html?soid=1132587006269&aid=Qr6VbS92kqs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wonder why Tony Williams, our best Mayor ever, would be against this tax? Hmm.

Because it’s money out of his pocket, and rich people don’t pay their fair share.

Too bad. Pay up.

Most rich people in fact do pay their fair share. That’s who the taxes come from now. Flat tax. 25% total from all.

The share of reported income earned by the top 1 percent of taxpayers fell slightly, to 20.9 percent in 2018 from 21 percent in 2017. Their share of federal individual income taxes rose by 1.6 percentage points to 40.1 percent.

Since 2001, the share of federal income taxes paid by the top 1 percent increased from 33.2 percent to a new high of 40.1 percent in 2018.

In 2018, the top 50 percent of all taxpayers paid 97.1 percent of all individual income taxes, while the bottom 50 percent paid the remaining 2.9 percent.

The top 1 percent paid a greater share of individual income taxes (40.1 percent) than the bottom 90 percent combined (28.6 percent).

The top 1 percent of taxpayers paid a 25.4 percent average individual income tax rate, which is more than seven times higher than taxpayers in the bottom 50 percent (3.4 percent).

First, those figures are highly suspect.

Secondly, if you earn a half million dollars a year and paid 40% of it taxes, you’re still clearing $275k a year after taxes. Compare that to someone making $35k a year, who might keep $25k after taxes.

See the problem now?


The person making $35k should not only pay zero in taxes, but should get an income supplement to bring them up to maybe $60k. And the person making $500k should be taxed to the point where they keep maybe $80-$90k after taxes. So they still earn more, but not vastly more, than others. This is how you eliminate wealth disparity in a society.

This sounds like something my 12 year old would come up with.

And I congratulate you for raising a child with a social conscience. Not sure where they got it from, since clearly you had nothing to do with it. Probably her teachers, I’m guessing? Good. They’ll undue whatever trumpian influences you try to foist on her.

And the best part is, she’ll vote for people who will create a system of economic equality, rather than what we have now. The future is bright thanks to these kids.

Nope. Those kids have never had a job yet. When she gets a job she will look at her pay stub and then look at government services around her. She will quickly realize that “wealth equality” was just a ruse to cover for overbuying government and she will seek an optimal balance between personal freedom and societal needs. She is smart after all and as an adult your world view will make no sense to her.

[Anonymous]

Honestly not surprising to see the poor logic of the “tax the rich” posters.

This isn’t the federal the OP posted about. It is the local rate in DC. If you make the rate too high, the highest earners will leave. Some to VA. Others to zero income tax states.

That Council member who opposed it said 0.7% of DC taxpayers earn >$1M and contribute 23% of DCs taxes. Given the earnings at the highest end of professional services, we’re probably talking about something like 500 taxpayers making $4M or more… contributing by my back of envelope math, something like 18% of the city’s tax base.

You can celebrate soaking the rich, but some of them are just going to move. You can celebrate that, but you’ve just crushed the net tax of this city and the services you supposedly care about.

It’s about being competitive and as OP said attractive in what is now more than ever a comparison between various places to live. The pandemic has re-written the rules for where “knowledge workers” need to be.

Wise up.

Yep. And at those income levels, it is very easy to buy a Florida home (where there are NO state income taxes), declare that as your primary residence, make sure you work from there enough days to satisfy the IRS, and you still maintain your residence in Kalorama, Spring Valley, Georgetown, etc., it is now just your "second home". Losing your DC primary residence real estate tax exemption is worth it when balanced against what you are saving in individual income tax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Who was the councilmember who opposed it? It's been such a long time since I agreed with any of them.

https://myemail.constantcontact.com/July-Chairman-s-Update--The-Monthly-Newsletter-from-Phil-Mendelson.html?soid=1132587006269&aid=Qr6VbS92kqs

Ahhh. Yes Phil makes sense in general. I think he's too much of a liberal to really help make a bulwark against the lefties, but he's an able administrator and a sensible man.

[Anonymous]

It’s sad that so many people who likely think of themselves as progressives are so out and out opposed to building an equitable society where people are much closer together in terms of their standards of living.

All of you hate the right wing, but you practically agree with them when it comes to “your” money. We’re never going to fix this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad that so many people who likely think of themselves as progressives are so out and out opposed to building an equitable society where people are much closer together in terms of their standards of living.

All of you hate the right wing, but you practically agree with them when it comes to “your” money. We’re never going to fix this country.

I'm sick of upper middle class families claiming they are poor and wanting to tax others to subsidize their lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad that so many people who likely think of themselves as progressives are so out and out opposed to building an equitable society where people are much closer together in terms of their standards of living.

All of you hate the right wing, but you practically agree with them when it comes to “your” money. We’re never going to fix this country.

I'm willing to pay more, if it makes sense. But I am absolutely unwilling to pay more if the rich and corporations aren't going to pay more.

I like the G7 proposal to agree to set corporate taxes at 15% internationally to break down the gamesmanship of international tax avoidance schemes.
I think we need to add more brackets and tighten up/eliminate loopholes for the rich. I also think we could use more corporate oversight. I frankly do not believe that the corporate CEO of today is worth $10 million plus when his predecessor a few decades back was handsomely paid a fraction of that for doing the same job, honestly I think it's not just ripping the employees off, it's ripping of shareholders as well. There are many other examples where greed and excess seems to be spiraling out of control, and it needs to be reined in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad that so many people who likely think of themselves as progressives are so out and out opposed to building an equitable society where people are much closer together in terms of their standards of living.

All of you hate the right wing, but you practically agree with them when it comes to “your” money. We’re never going to fix this country.

I'm sick of upper middle class families claiming they are poor and wanting to tax others to subsidize their lifestyle.

People like OP and his ilk really have no politics other than being slightly less loathsome than the GOP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s sad that so many people who likely think of themselves as progressives are so out and out opposed to building an equitable society where people are much closer together in terms of their standards of living.

All of you hate the right wing, but you practically agree with them when it comes to “your” money. We’re never going to fix this country.

I'm sick of upper middle class families claiming they are poor and wanting to tax others to subsidize their lifestyle.

People like OP and his ilk really have no politics other than being slightly less loathsome than the GOP.

I agree with the OP.... like student loan forgiveness.... why do I have to pay higher taxes for student loan forgiveness? I'm sorry some people where foolish enough to take out boatloads of loans they are still paying off.