Wealth taxes?

[jayc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bUU A fourth option is to start vigorously negotiating with those who provide what the government pays for, either directly or indirectly, forcing prices down wherever there are significant profits being earned at the public expense, as Medicare already does.

Well I tried that recently when cutting my expenses. So far lowes, krogers, and Costco are being very stubborn about helping me. Maybe they will bend a little in order to support a nanny state government.

[bUU]

How about calling it what it is, a responsible government that places the basic needs of its citizens over the comfort and luxury of those self-focused, as a matter of human decency.

[Gatordoc50]

Many on this board have found that if they don't consume what they don't need and invest the savings, they can retire comfortably and early. If they can legislate the costs down of the things they do need or get subsidized for the things they do need, even better.

[bUU]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatordoc50 Many on this board have found that if they don't consume what they don't need and invest the savings, they can retire comfortably and early.

Indeed there are some folks who are so lucky, and many other who despite hard work and savings are effectively structurally precluded from doing so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gatordoc50 If they can legislate the costs down of the things they do need or get subsidized for the things they do need, even better.

Yes, very true, that would be good for those who would enjoy the lower costs, to of course we also need to consider the impact of that on those who would necessarily receive less revenue as a result. Such measures need to make sure that the effect carries through the entire supply chain, achieving the lower costs not by ignoring people's access to satisfaction of their basic needs, whether we're talking about providers or consumers, but rather by capitalizing on opportunities to reduce cost where the cost is nor relied on for satisfaction of basic needs.

[Fermion]

We could just quit beating around the bush and implement "to each according to his need, from each according to his ability".

[bUU]

Or just as easily implement "me my mine - let everyone else just die in the streets."

However, I think most folks would support a hybrid approach, i.e., different criteria applied to basic needs versus comfort and luxury.

[Theduckguru]

Right now, you couldn't get congress to agree to elliminate carried interest let alone pass a wealth tax.