Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Those Darn Fat Cats on Wall Street.....


So, after viewing the video on "Class Warfare" we'd like you to respond to the following question in preparation for this week's Thursday Throwdown.
Considering that the once merely "rich" have grown obscenely wealthy over the past decade thanks to preferential treatment from the IRS and the government, is it now fair and just to increase the tax rate on the top 10% of individuals to help pay for the tremendous cost of the bailout which was brought upon by the greed of those same individuals in the first place?
In other words, do the wealthy have a moral obligation to their fellow Americans?
TBD......

16 comments:

Buckethead said...

I think that the wealthy should step up to the plate. If they are the ones who caused this financial meltdown, they should be the ones paying. "With great power comes great responsibility." The bailouts use the tax money of everyone to pay for the mistakes of the top 10% of the population, and so the top 10% should have to compensate the other 90%. If these rich people will not do the right things, then they must be forced to do it.

Unknown said...

i think that since their greed was a malor contributing factor to our current economic "crisis" they should have to help pay for it. plus, even if we increase their taxes they will still make millions to billions of dollars a year. this is way more money than they could ever hope to spend. that money is going to sit in a bank acount and in the stock market doing nothing. i hear many people say that why should we increase their taxes? its their money and they earned it. im not denying that fact, im just saying that they have the ability to pay massive taxes and still make massive prophits. plus it is the right thing to do if nothing else.

The dog lets Brandon bark at noon said...

Its moraly right that the wealthy should have to help the lower class in the mess that they created. REFERING TO THE VIDEO The wealthy shouldnt feel guilty though because they made the right moves. I think we all know that not ALL wealthy people are fat hogs that take everything they get their hands on. But if the wealthy really give a crap about the country that made it possible for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives they owe it to everyone else to help.

Howell's History said...

The wealthy americans that have so much money should have increased taxes much higher than the not so wealthy becuase the wealthy have that kind of money to help thier community instead of needless spending. some lower class families can't hardly afford food and these weathly individuals can just go and blow money on useless items when they could be fixing thier economy and community.

Anonymous said...

Captain's log: April 7, 2009. Reporting in on the matter of tax increase for the wealthy.

I believe that it is fair to raise the tax payment for the top 10% of finacially wealthy in America, due to the fact that the trillions of dollars spent on the bailout was brought upon our country by those wealthy people in the first place. Like ManBearPig said, "If these rich people will not do the right things, then they must be forced to do it." Perhaps the wealthy in America need to learn to take the iniative to do what is right. Otherwise, they might not be given a choice in the future.

Captain Slim Shady signing out.(BEEP,BLOOP,BLEEP)

NerdySkittles said...

We should increase taxes on the wealthy because if they are smart with their money they should be able to pay the money. It would also help those who are having a hard time. We could use that money that we get from the taxes to help pull our country out of the next depression.

The Number 12 Looks Like Brandon said...

Personally i feel the taxes for the less fortunate should be raised or at least the gypsies because they are the lower class. They are not the same i mean they are scum and trash in this world. Why should we help them, They had a chance but didnt apply so this is their reward. If you don't apply or you mess up for any reason I don't care YOU FAILED YOU DEAL WITH IT!!! So don't try to drag the rich down because it is your fault. If you aren't wealthy it isnt the Goverments job to give you money when people already had a chance.

themelancholynoodle said...

I don't think the top ten percent is to blame for the mess. As one pissed off person said in the video, they didn't buy thing they couldn't afford. They didn't add to the swirling awesome mass of debt; they could buy it all with cash if they wanted.
I don't know any millionaires, but I know a few friends who are better off than we are, and they're pretty pissed off. They might sit on their butts all day behind a desk, but they did work for those places and promotions, they went to college, they prepared for college for as long as they were in school doing activites and competitions and whatnot. And now their jobs are in danger of being stolen from them by big irresponsible fat cats who dealt with big irresponsible middle-lower class americans.

Enough of that, do the wealthy have a moral obligation to their fellow Americans?
Sure.
Does that mean they should be used as a ploy by the selfish fat cats to clothe and house poor americans and keep everyone happy?
No.
But can't they help other americans some other way? Any reason why they can't house exchange students or foster children? What if they wanted to donate program money towards their child's college? What about those PTA-membered moms who run around in their Gucci bags and Louis Vutton sunglasses delivering organic pasta to the elementary school and pretend they don't know anyone when they walk down the halls?
Oh. That's besides the point.
What I'm getting at is those fat cats never wanted donate their own money, so they'll just try to get their rich friends to do it for them.
end.

We Middle East Beasts Plays For Keeps, yoe foows said...

First of all, under my professional opinion I must say that the rich are not completly at fault. If anything that are at the bottom of the list. What percentage of the “rich” are CEOs of top banks and businesses. Does anyone remember the last two months of economic? Let’s stop ranting and remember...huh lets see, it wasn’t just one person's fault. Everyone with or without a job, any amount of money and even the people with no money are at fault. Second you can’t classify the "Rich" as AIG CEO Bankers. Have you ever been to any lake? Ever know anyone with a nice house? (Hummm lets remember the poor people who thought they were rich) Know any store managers and CEOs, any type of engineer, any relatively smart person in the medical field (radiologist technicians [someone who operates the X-ray machine] - $79 per hr), all the people who have worked hard for their well earned masters and PhD’s. Do they deserve to be labeled "corrupt greedy bankers"? Many of which deserve to be respected, and are there because they worked hard and suffered to be there. They manifested their destiny and took the time to make the most of America, and you cant punish them for the mistakes of other Americans rich or poor...................................hummmmmmm......hungry..............krill.............exhale............inhale.......swim.....hummm......whales.....so...hummmmm...to much time to think.....hummmm

Space man said...

I do not know if it would right or incorrect to tax the rich even more. It would be good to tax some one how can Pay their taxes and have an abundance of money left. But wouldn’t it be like a Socialist act to tax people who have worked for their money for it to be abstracted from them to be used for some one of a lower class. I know that some of the richer classes have swindled to gain money but would it be right to tax the people how have worked hard to get there wealth or who where smarter than the average person.

ジョル said...

I guess it's our initial response to look at the super wealthy as a bunch of evil people who stole and lied their way to the top. The truth is, a lot of wealthy people got that way playing by the rules. Now I'm not defending the fat cats at AIG and the mortgage brokers that caused this meltdown, but is it really fair to throw a punishment tax at an innocent person just because they're better off than we are? I mean with higher income comes higher taxes, but there is a limit.
What we seem to be forgetting is that along with the investment bankers and mortgage brokers that caused this mess, there are fortune 500 CEOs that are taking huge losses because of this crisis. They played by the rules and still got burned. Just like the person who bought a house they could afford, and worked hard to provide for their families. Should these people also be taxed more?
We seem to be ignoring the cause and using the super wealthy as scapegoats. Let's face it, it's easy to hate someone who has more than you. Especially at a time like this.
Let's punish those responsible and help those who got caught in the crossfire. Regardless of class.

Trogdor said...

To answer the question of is it right to increase taxes on the wealthy then you have to think about how much they are already taxed. The wealthiest 10% of the people pay more than half of the income taxes and now we are thinking about taxing them more. That is not to say they can't afford it, but should they have to give up more money so you can have the government services you want. If you think about it they bailed out AIG, not necessarily main street.
this website has a few table that can give you a sense of who pays what percentage of taxes.
http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=6

We Middle East Beasts Plays For Keeps, yoe foows said...

.......whales.......hummmmmm

well formed error said...

I think they should be buried six feet under and their money goes to the goverment. how can they live with themself? how can their loved ones love them?

well formed error said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JuiceBx said...

We are under the rule of not only the government but also the wealthy? That sounds bad to me; personally I think that we should be a “People’s Government.” True it would be difficult at first, maybe impossible, but the people need to be more apart of the government or have more rights. For example, people in Spokane County are only allowed to buy one type of dishwasher soup, that is a “no, no” in my book. Cigarettes have two or three types of different taxes on them in Washington, which is against the law but now ironically it is apart of it. I don’t know much about other states around the United States but I do know enough to retaliate. I think we should talk about the pirates in Somalia, that is a Robin Hood run country. GO SEATTLE SEAHAWKS!