JFC, Ed Schultz just said that "there's no way that the top 2% can pay for all this"

[Duer 157099]

Is he out of his frikken mind????

How can he say that?

JFC, the top 0.01% could pay off the whole deficit IF they were taxed properly!! (including the corporations)

cripes, sometimes Ed just makes me shake my head...

[billybob537]

1. It's time to tax corperations, no more loopholes period

[Fresh_Start]

28. I'm looking for something more radical

I think corporations shouldn't exist.

Corporations kill people and no one goes to jail because neither the owner or the people who execute the actions are responsible.

[Hello_Kitty]

2. Maybe if we're just talking about their income. It's time to tax their WEALTH too.

Raise the capital gains tax and bring back the estate tax.

[JDPriestly]

27. He wants to cut back on old defense projects that really are

producing weapons that are no longer really useful. That will put people out of work temporarily. But with their skills and experience, they should easily find work in the manufacture and development of new technology to lead to energy independence. So, some of the spending will actually be moving money around from one project to another.

[Beetwasher]

3. They Won't Have Too; Last Night O Said He ALREADY Identified 2 Trillion

In savings by taking hatchet and scalpel to the budget, and he's just getting started. That coupled w/ the expiration of the tax cut on the top 1% will go a long way to paying for what we need.

[Andy823]

11. Exactly!

It's obvious that if they came up with 2 trillion they can cut, and there could be even more, plus the end of the Bush tax cuts, it will go a long way in helping us get out of this mess. I also think that if they can get the names of americans who have been hiding money, such as the UBS thing, off shore, they could really come up trillions more in back taxes with interest, plus fines for what they did! The president also said no more tax breaks for those who outsource american jobs, and that will help also. It can be done, it just takes congress having the guts to pass the bills, and the having those bills enforced!

[BonnieJW]

26. Or just go to that building in the Caymens.

That little building probably houses the entire national budget for years.

[Winterblues]

30. Over ten years.

But it most definitely is a start.

[Lex]

4. How much percentage of all the wealth does the top 2 or 3 percent

own?

Most all of it I do believe.

[omega minimo]

5. Why do people think Schultz is some sort of "lefty" as he calls himself. He's a shill!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. Plus his voice reminds me of Limbaugh's .

:puke:

[omega minimo]

12. yeah he gets that hysterical edge to it.........

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Well they can't/won't if they aren't made to pay their fair share.

I am guessing that he is one of the top 2%? :evilgrin:

[mfeher1971]

7. Why not?

They should have plenty of money sitting around after the last eight years of "Bonanza" starring Chimpy.

[phantom power]

9. Hey Ed, we just want you to pay your fair share. Does that frighten you?

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. !

:thumbsup:

[Double T]

10. The time has come to drain the wealth from the filthy rich as they have done.........

to the middle class AND working poor for at least the past 40 years.

[RedCappedBandit]

13. He is full of shit

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2003/07/14100.php

[jgraz]

14. Big Eddie's not known for his cogent economic analysis

[burythehatchet]

24. aye

[Greyhound]

15. He's a "Raygun Democrat".

Big dumb and happy to be that way. He's also in his own words, "a coal guy", pro nukuler, and certain that if we just make up our minds we can fix this whole economy mess.

Also remember that he is pretty rich.

[madrchsod]

16. oh no! ed`s a republican....another one bites the dust because

he thinks the top 2% can`t pay over a trillion dollars in taxes.

oh well....the pc police strike again


i guess i`ll start listening to limpballs because there`s no difference between them. plus limpballs is a lot more entertaining than big ed...

[bridgit]

17. Maybe it finally occurred to him that the top 2% *hasn't* been paying for it

[Captain Hilts]

19. It was the wealthy press that convinced people that Clinton raised their taxes. Heeere we go again!

Schultz is a tool.

[Born_A_Truman]

20. Where did he read that they were the only ones that pay?

AFAIK, Obama didn't promise to end taxation on the other 98% of taxpayers.

[leftofthedial]

21. Ed is a dolt.

But I like his commitment to unions.

[county worker]

22. Sounds like the guillotine is going to come out of storage!

[burythehatchet]

25. whatever your preference..

;)

[tanngrisnir3]

23. So, can you supply any figures that show that....

it, indeed, could?

Or, for that matter, what level of taxation it would have to be to make sure that that segment could?

[zeemike]

29. Here you go

Table 1: Distribution of net worth and financial wealth in the United States, 1983-2001
Total Net Worth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 33.8% 47.5% 18.7%
1989 37.4% 46.2% 16.4%
1992 37.2% 46.6% 16.3%
1995 38.5% 45.4% 16.1%
1998 38.1% 45.3% 16.6%
2001 33.4% 51.0% 15.5%

Financial Wealth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 42.9% 48.4% 8.7%
1989 46.9% 46.5% 6.6%
1992 45.6% 46.7% 7.7%
1995 47.2% 45.9% 7.0%
1998 47.3% 43.6% 9.1%
2001 39.7% 51.5% 8.8%

And that is just until 2001. Do you think they lost some in the last eight years?

[tanngrisnir3]

32. Thanks, but I was looking for a direct link that shows that....

0.01% is valid.

I somehow doubt that the 1/100th of 1% could pay off that bill.

[zeemike]

33. Where do you get the 1/100 of 1%

That would be a 1 percent tax increase on the 1% But he was talking about the top 2%
And if you look at the top 2% and how much of the money they have and say make it 10% I can guarantee it will come to more than the cost of Medicare....
But if you are really interested you can do what I did and google wealth distribution in the US
And find all kinds of statistics.
But sorry I should have given you a link

[zeemike]

34. But here are some facts that may help.

Historical tables on income inequality

Since 1973 the average income of the top 1% of Americans (income at least $90,000) has doubled, and the income of the top 0.1% (145,000 taxpayers with income at least $1.6 million) has tripled. (from Class in America series in the New York Times, May 2005).
http://www.endgame.org/primer-wealth.html

Now if my math is correct 1.6mil times 145,000 is 232 Trillion dollars and that times just 1% would 2.3 Trillion and 10% would be 23 trillion and I believe that is enough to do the job.

Edited to note that my math was not correct it is billions not trillions. But still 23 billion every year would cover a lot of SS. And that is just 10% of the top 1%
And I don't feel sorry for them because 10% increase in their taxes would not effect their life style at all.

[taught_me_patience]

31. I agree with Ed here.

Taxing wealth is not the same as taxing income. Wealth should not be taxed, as it is accumulated from post-tax income. The even raising taxes on the top 5% to 50% will not even come close to closing the budget gap. If the programs benefit everybody, then everybody has to pay.

[PVnRT]

35. We do tax wealth - property taxes & estate taxes

To say that we don't tax it at all is incorrect.