America Now Has Fewer Millionaires: Liberals Want Income Equality – They Should Be Thrilled

Before It's News ^ | 08/20/2011

[SeekAndFind]

There are fewer millionaires in America today – can you hear the celebration at the Blue Heron farm on Martha’s Vineyard where the Obama family is spending someone’s millions?

Obama at Blue Heron Farm - 2009 Pullout quote:

For the past three decades, the political left has obsessed about income inequality. As the economy experienced one of the largest and lengthiest economic booms in history from 1982-2007, the left moaned that the gains went to yacht club members.

Well, if equality of income is the priority, liberals should be thrilled with the last four years.

Wall Street Journal (great article – read it all here):

In 2007, 390,000 tax filers reported adjusted gross income of $1 million or more and paid $309 billion in taxes. In 2009, there were only 237,000 such filers, a decline of 39%. Almost four of 10 millionaires vanished in two years, and the total taxes they paid in 2009 declined to $178 billion, a drop of 42%.

Those with $10 million or more in reported income fell to 8,274 from 18,394 in 2007, a 55% drop. As a result, their tax payments tanked by 51%. These disappearing millionaires go a long way toward explaining why federal tax revenues have sunk to 15% of GDP in recent years. The loss of millionaires accounts for at least $130 billion of the higher federal budget deficit in 2009…

The millionaires who are left still pay a mountain of tax. Those who make $1 million accounted for about 0.2% of all tax returns but paid 20.4% of income taxes in 2009. Those with adjusted gross income above $200,000 a year were just under 3% of tax filers but paid 50.1% of the $866 billion in total personal income taxes. This means the top 3% paid more than the bottom 97%. Yet the 3% are the people that President Obama claims don’t pay their fair share. Before the recession, the $200,000 income group paid 54.5% of the income tax.

What does it take to make believers of tax and spenders? We raise tax brackets on those who produce and hire and, it’s simple, they will hire less, and what they produce will cost more, which affects the sale of what they produce. Here’s a example:

Tax Policy Blog:

In 2008, Maryland added four new income tax brackets, including a top rate of 6.25% on income over $1 million. (This is in addition to county income taxes, which average 2.98%.)

As we and others have noted before, the Comptroller of Maryland has reported that the number of “millionaire” returns tumbled sharply between 2007 and 2008, a 30% drop in filers and 22% drop in declared income. Rather than income taxes from this group rising by $106 million, they fell by $257 million.

The recession is certainly a contributor: everyone is earning less. But the Comptroller did an interesting additional analysis: how many people filed as millionaires before the tax increase, then did not file at all the following year? The Wall Street Journal explains the findings:

One-in-eight millionaires who filed a Maryland tax return in 2007 filed no return in 2008. Some died, but the others presumably changed their state of residence. (Hint to the class warfare crowd: A lot of rich people have two homes.)…

Thanks in part to its soak-the-rich theology, Maryland still has a $2 billion deficit and Montgomery County is $760 million in the red.

In the meantime, the personal wealth of Congress grows significantly.

[Winstons Julia]

Brilliant. I really am glad I asked for feedback. Sometimes you want to knock someone upside the head, but the best tactic is to make them consider what they are advocating. And if others happen to read then maybe they can see sense too.

[Steel Wolf]

I don’t mean to speak for MrB, but I believe the specific fool-in-folly he was referring to was my hypothetical liberal victim, not to you.

[Winstons Julia]

Oh, I’m sure that’s what he was referring to ... it’s just that we’ve all been fools about one thing or another at some time.

We are in the age of enclavism where many people seem to think that they only want to read things from their preferred sources. Some people prefer to engage in dialogue and reading at right-wing sites. Some people prefer to do it at left-wing sites.

I even read a thread here where people were telling someone they should defriend a Facebook friend because someone ELSE was being politically argumentative in the friend’s comments.

There’s a time and a place for everything and I can’t blame people for throwing up their hands and thinking it’s futile, but there’s also a new generation out there who might be hungry for alternatives to mainstream leftist thinking. I enjoy nothing better than reading testimonials from liberals who woke up and realized the totalitarianism inherent in progressive thought. There was a person, someplace, that got through to them.

A debate that isn’t had can never be won.

[ully2]

Looks like that trickle up poverty is starting to work.

[Graewoulf]

I see by your handle
That you are curious
I see by your posting
That you are perplexed.

This is not rocket surgery! All ya gotta do is remember
the mantra of The Liberal Intelligensia Elite (commonly
Known as the L.I.E.):

We Liberals (sigh) are driven to help people.
We Liberals believe that rich people do not need help.
We Liberals (sigh) believe that that poor people do need help (sigh).
So the sooner we Liberals can make the righ people poor,
THE SOONER WE CAN HELP THEM! (Loud cheers!)

[SideoutFred]

bttt

[jmcenanly]

I think the very high echelons of both governments would qualify as millionaires

[Graewoulf]

Yep. 28% of the US House and sli. less than 50% of the Senate have reached the American dream of being millionaires. But I digress, money means nothing to these fine public servants.

[MrB]

If fools are never answered, how can they realize they are fools?

That is exactly the right question to ask, Julia.
The scripture I refer to is Proverbs 26:4 & 5.

4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will be like him yourself.

5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
or he will be wise in his own eyes.

Verse 4 says to not argue with the fool based on their false premise. Verse 5 says to expose their false premise to them so that they realize they are fools.

That's what I was getting at. We must point out to the fools that what they are arguing really isn't the point, but is simply a cover issue for what they really want.

With most libs, what that "really want" consists of is feeling good about themselves for being caring, without having to make any actual personal sacrifice to implement that "caring".