Should the federal government tax capital gains as income? Alternately, at a less preferential rate?

Currently, individuals/couples* making over $379,150 this year are taxed at a 35% rate on regular income, but only 15% on capital gains, earnings from investments such as stocks, bonds, real estate, businesses they own a share in, etc. Effectively, this means that capital gains in excess of $34,500 per year are taxed at 15%, while regular income is taxed at that rate from $8,501-$34,500.

Warren Buffett, the third richest man in the world, criticized this system because he is taxed at a lower rate on his income of $46m last year than his secretary's $60k. His point that the ultra-rich can afford to give back to the society that gave them their opportunities certainly seems valid, and the man is speaking against his own interest, though it is only a fraction of his ~$52b net worth.
Reference: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax...icle1996735.ece

If you are clearly familiar with the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_gains...e_United_States

*clearly same sex couples, they aren't people in the fed's eyes.
**Buffett is the third richest private citizen according to Forbes recent list of top billionaires.

proalbay

profit is profit, and should be taxed as such
if you avoid taxes to invest in a trust (for example) then you should be taxed at the same tax rate as us regular folk who cant do the tax-shelter investments the rich can

i do love the conservatives though
"THEY WILL INVEST THE PROFITS INTO NEW JOBS!!"
yea, those new jobs are in china. gz.

Warren Buffet is one of the few, ultrabillionaires, that actually wants to make the world a better place.

He is also for the estate tax, as well as Bill Gates, to keep from families keeping money holed up for generations.

<typical average republican response: he can afford to give some money away>

the inheritance tax is the only bs one, you should only play tax once. but you should pay once.

question: how much tax did general electric pay in 2009? LOL WE PAID THEM

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-...rate-taxes.html

its inconceivable that our government is dictated by corporations. this is exactly what our founding fathers did clearly want. back then it was titles and estates passed from generation to generation. today it is corporations that are entities but clearly liable for their own actions.

im so mad

ya you seem to get more and more passionate about political topics lately

new jobs in china help our economy more than no job at all.

i like how mos tries to pretend he's knowledgeable about something that's clearly about wow or lol

i love capitalism, when way too rich ppl complain about paying too low taxes

unions: shutter down

typical gull
avoid current discussion/question
make outlandish statement sure to get a response
feels good man

you consider yourself to be an elite troll but you fall so hard for politcal trolls. my favorite part about what i believe is that i am educated on it. its just so much more fun to piss people off and make them think they have won

y/n?

1. ive never called myself a troll
2. did i seem angry? cuz i wasnt.
3. you claim to be this educated person but you never actually partake in the conversation about things. probably because then you may have to face the prospect of being wrong.
4. you only troll yourself

i dont partake in political discourse usually because i am quite radical and id rather clearly bury a good friendship over my beliefs, when in essence they dont matter on the basis of a friendship

Fuck the establishment, let's just try anarchy and the best of the best survive.

This post has been edited by sir_lance_bb on Fri - Mar 11 2011 - 12:16:25

i enjoy debate, and can still be friends with people i feel are wrong
i also realize we need these discussions. we got here because no one wants to have the discussion. and only having the discussion when its with those that agree is clearly having the discussion.

Too be honest, I got no problem with rich people voting or saying they want lower taxes, but to fucking cry about it and lobby against it and flooding politicians pockets, it's fucking stupid.

We really do need to almost outlaw all forms of campaign contributions. It's the only way to ensure some of our politicians don't get corrupted.

Our government is corrupt because of corporations and corporations are corrupt because of the government.

We are literally a Corporate Republic.

lobbying should be illegal
corporations should clearly be viewed as a person, protected by the constitution, and then the people running the corporations are exempt of punishment for its activities (this boggles the mind)

This post has been edited by blind_chief on Fri - Mar 11 2011 - 15:50:00

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...47c8049ebbfe3f9

putting this here, gull will appreciate

I don't know. Investing is one of the primary ways of getting money back out into the economy. It should be encouraged.
Maybe up the capital gains taxes but I don't know if it should be taxed at the same rate.
clearly to mention that corporations already pay taxes on their income. So the capital gains taxes for stocks are a second tax.

I understand with the idea of rewarding those who fuel the economy, but 15% is too low - if regular income at that level is taxed at 35%, then it can be 25-30%. Businesses don't succeed without the society they are in, and these people need to give back to the environment they flourish in. Capital gains brackets could also be higher than regular tax brackets - 15% around 100k, topping out at 30% for those making more than $1m per year. There is still an additional reward there, but they do need to give back to the nation. All sorts of businesses were hurt during the recent economic downturn, and all sorts of people were hurt - people making over one million dollars per year still have comparable base costs of living, even if they have nicer/bigger houses in nicer areas, more expensive cars that use more gas, eat more expensive food, etc.

what did you get on your sats spic?

bump for gull

Everyone here is trolling.

interest, capital gains, and dividends should clearly be taxed, because i owe money this year because of it.

fuck

/silver spoon

I know, I made 54,000 this year, mostly off my Hedge funds. Obama thinks I owe him, that fucking moron

but we have learned that no honest discussion could ever take place with evan and gull because they wont even talk about the issue unless it is predetermined that you agree with them

You don't owe anything right now. I also find it highly questionable that you're invested in a hedge fund.

just cuz u dont have capital gains doesnt mean you should automatically hate us

and limosine liberals can easily say they would gladly be taxed more because unless its 99.9% tax they will clearly change their lifestyles at all. however us upper middle class getting taxed the fuck outta us is clearly fair because we are having to live the same quality of life as the "inferior" populus

quality attempt

tried too hard

Haha
I love how you love to give your opinion because you're wealthy. But when someone wealthier than you gives an opinion, it doesn't matter.

whats politiks

having sex with prostitutes. that's how shit gets done in NY

what is a "limosine liberal"? is it anything like a soccer mom?

no i hate you because of the color of your skin

racial obama joke goes here

might as well