Stop Coddling The Rich Warren Buffet

After reading various articles about the Buffet Rule, I’ve become inclined to believe that it should not become legislation. My reasoning for this is that the overall idea behind the Buffet Rule is to close the gap between what middle-class workers pay in taxes and what those who make one-million or more pay in taxes, which, as Sahadi (2011) points out, may be more challenging than it sounds as it would require those high-earners to pay at least 30% of their income (Sahadi, 2011; Sahadi, 2015). The complexity of implementing the proposal comes from the variety of investing options available to those high earners and how to refine the benefits so that other areas of the economy are not negatively affected. The problem as I understand it would be how to tax investment incomes in a manner that is fair across the board, but also contribute to the 30% proposed by the Buffett Rule.

Did you know that an astonishing 43.4 percent of the people in America do not pay any income taxes" (McCullagh 1)? This is roughly 65.6 million people that aren't paying taxes and this is putting our economy and country at its breaking point. Our current tax system penalizes those that work and save money. People that pay no taxes still get to enjoy the benefits. The United States needs to look at which tax is fairer to the people and easier to administer by the government. Although some may disagree, the Flat Tax should replace the income tax to simplify and bring fairness to the system, increase income, and create jobs.

However, what people do not realize is that when Sanders is taxing these divisions, he is really increasing the tax for everyone, including the middle class. The Tax Policy Center analyzed that “Sanders would raise taxes by about $15.3 trillion over the course a decade” and that “tax hikes would be concentrated amongst high earners, just about everyone would pay more” (Suderman). In another article, it is stated that most of the tax burden would fall on the rich, with majority of the wealthy paying an extra $739,000 more than their pre-income tax and the top 0.1% paying about $4 million (Covert). This would seem favorable, unfortunately, the middle class will have a “tax increase of about $4,700,” thereby reducing their after tax income (Suderman). Sanders believed in a fair share of income, however, taxing the rich unintendedly lead to raising taxes for even the middle

There is no doubt that wealth inequality in America has been escalating quickly; the portion of total income earned by the top one percent has doubled since the beginning of the 1970’s. The wealthy are the main beneficiaries

Another huge problem is the way that the tax code works. As Warren Buffett explains, the “tax code is tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class.” It’s actually upside-down those with more pay fewer taxes, than people with less. Though the top rate for wage-based income is 39.6%, the rate for income from investments (capital gains) is only 20%. That means wealthy people pay a lower tax rate than the rest of us. Examples include Buffett, whose tax rate is about 17%, while

Our current income tax system today is very complex, unfair, inhibits saving, investment and job creation, imposes a heavy burden on families, and weakens the integrity of the democratic process. It can't be fixed and must be replaced. The U.S. income tax code is a long and complex system. The income tax system is so complex; the IRS publishes 480 tax forms and 280 forms to explain the 480 forms. The IRS sends out eight billion pages of forms and instructions each year. The administrative costs of the tax system far exceed those borne directly by the IRS. Each year Americans devote 5.4 billion hours complying with the tax code, which is more time than it takes to build every car, truck, and van produced in the U.S.

Why shouldn’t the wealthiest of Americans pay a higher percentage of their income for taxes? Certainly, things would get better if the wealthy paid more taxes. This philosophy is why welfare continues to exist today. People worry more about what is right for the other person without looking at themselves and taking responsibility. It is overrun with individuals who prefer to be on welfare than to work hard and contribute to society. This doesn’t mean welfare is not needed, but that it should not be a career. It offers no permanent solution, but only prevents a real solution from being realized. So why should the wealthy pay a higher percentage of taxes just because they can afford it? They work hard, so shouldn’t they be allowed to keep what they earn? This is not an example of scrooge-like behavior, but that hard work should have its rewards. The way to a better life should start with hard work and the desire for independence from government support. This would help people regain personal pride and become productive members of society, rather than a drain on its resources. It is not a crime for the wealthiest to earn high incomes. Shouldn’t hard work pay off? Why be penalized by paying a higher percentage of your income when you worked hard to make that income? Simpler solutions are required.

Taxation rate is a very controversial topic in America. Many people like Mark Rosenfelder, Author of Why the Rich Should Pay More Taxes, believe that the more you make the more you should be taxed. They justify this by saying that Upper class, well-to-do individuals take more from the government. They say because wealthy people have more, they have more to lose; thus they require more protection. Many believe that a flat tax, a tax in which all citizens pay equal tax regardless of their income, is unfair. Really? Taxing someone because they work hard and make more money seems to make less sense. Raising the tax rate just because they work hard and have more than other people isn’t right. The wealthy upper-class citizen did not make the lower class poor and shouldn’t be taxed heavily to support them. In his essay Rosenfelder focuses his attention on how to bleed the wealthy for their money through a progressive tax.

The “increasing concentration of wealth feeds on itself, becoming even more difficult to remedy” (Hiltzik). If the rich do not see the problem as to why they should pay more tax than the poor, then that is a huge problem that will need to be fixed before this stretches out to something even more serious than it already is. The rich and the poor need to work together and compromise on one thing, which is the amount of tax they should both

In America, most people are trying to get the government to raise the taxes on the rich, but why doesn’t the government raise the taxes on everyone? It is not fair at all to raise the taxes on the rich just because of how fortunate they are. If the government taxed everyone a little more and also made the poor pay their taxes, our nation would be in the same spot as if we made the rich pay a higher tax. This way is more equal and in today’s world we need to be as equal as possible so we can stay united as a country. The only thing that could go wrong with this plan is if the Americans who take advantage of the government’s money keep living this lifestyle. If these Americans would keep taking advantage of the government it would make all taxpayers

The middle class ($50,000-$99,999) paid 14.9 percent of individual taxes, while the poor class paid 0.1% of individual taxes. The 1%, rich class, paid more than the middle class and poor class combined, yet they aren’t paying their share in the eyes of so many. In 2011 the 1 percent, people who were making $100,000 and higher paid 23.8 % of the total tax liability and 9.1% in 2000. According to the National Tax Payer’s Union, in the tax year of 2014 the top 1% ($465,626 AGI) paid 39.48% of taxes, while the top 50 % -25% ($38,173-$77,713 AGI) paid 10.47%, and the bottom 50%(<$36,841 AGI) still paid the least with paying only 2.78% of

The vast wealth inequality in America (and the rest of the world) has been cited as a problem by Obama in many of his State Of The Union address, the Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve Janet Yellen, and many other liberal politicians and economists. Their talk about the problem of how the “1%” help perpetuate the wealth inequality has brought this issue to the forefront of society. In America, many citizens believe firmly in the idea of equality. The fact that some people have more money than they could ever spend, while others live in poverty on the streets conflicts with that value of equality. The most famous reaction to this rampant inequality was the Occupy Wall Street movement that started in 2011. Tens of thousands of people camped out next to Wall Street offices in New York and several other financial centers across the nation to protest the inequality between the 1% and the other 99%. This infamous movement gained media attention as the vocal protesters wanted to make it known that the wealth divide is unacceptable and politicians must rectify the situation. One important policy tool the United States has implemented to combat wealth inequality is a progressive tax. This means that people with more income are taxed at a higher rate than those with lower income. However this tax system has many loopholes in the United States, and the wealthiest individuals are routinely able to avoid being taxed at a higher rate by distributing their wealth in bank accounts

In the United States, there is a huge income disparity between the richest ten percent, and bottom ninety percent. The American tax, and political system favors the top 10% while neglecting the middle and working classes, suppressing living wages and exporting jobs overseas. A society where working 40 hours a week will not put food on the table. If the average hardworking American is working endless hours to try and support their families which is just slightly above the poverty line, while groups of 400 individuals, who are heads of the top 500 companies and financial institutions, who if even work, is less than 108 days a year, and are proud owners of 50% of U. S’s entire wealth. This is the reality of the United

In his article “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich”, Warren Buffett criticizes the fact that billionaires in United States actually pay less percentages of taxes than those working-classes. Buffett believes the government needs to stop protecting the “super-rich”.

When it comes to income taxes, the focus is usually on jobs, personal investments, and savings. The debate on who should bear the greater burden when it comes to income taxes is timeless. If all types of tax are aimed at developing the economy, it should be everyone’s equal responsibility to engage in taxation regardless of one’s economic class. Both parties involved proclaim the legitimacy of their arguments. The articles under discussion are representative of this debate. On one side of the debate, there are those who feel that the rich should pay more taxes. Then there are those who feel that the rich should not be punished by shouldering the burden of taxation (Benson and White 1). From an economic theorist’s point of view, both articles articulate valid arguments. However, this does not nullify the significance of the prevailing economic situation. The above debate can be based on various economic contexts.