Corporate profits are up. Top executives are raking in eight-digit compensation packages. But the paychecks of most people haven’t budged. Median household earnings are actually below what they were in 1999. Meanwhile, the costs of energy, health insurance, and college tuitions are skyrocketing.
It's time to bring fairness back to the economy.
Agree?
2006-11-02 20:51:33 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
First, the rich are now paying a smaller percentage of their income in taxes than at any time in the last seventy-five years. That they pay a lot of taxes nonetheless is a by-product of the mind-boggling increase in their income and wealth relative to most other Americans. Second, if you consider not just income and capital-gains taxes but all the taxes people pay – including payroll taxes and sales taxes – you find that middle-income workers are now paying a larger share of their incomes than people at or near the top.
2006-11-02 20:55:52 · update #1
PPPfffftttttt!! You made me spit out my beer. What possible interest would El Presidente have in narrowing that gap? I have said it before, and I will say it again. If you make less than 200k a year, Dubya does not know you exist. You are not important to him. Dubya envies the Mexican situation. 0.001% of the population is wildly wealthy, everyone else struggles to survive. This is the Dubya dream for America.
2006-11-02 21:00:44 · answer #1 · answered by chad 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Approximately 10% of the richest Americans are paying over 50% of the taxes, so if they get a bit of a tax break, I have no problem with that. And one often overlooked point of tax cuts, is that when corporations have more money, they expand and create more jobs. It's called capitalism and works everytime it is tried.
As to paychecks not budging, there are certainly many reasons. One BIG one is the rising cost of health care. While some corporations are passing the cost on to the employees, many are absorbing most (or all) of the cost, but at the expense of more frequent pay raises.
Overall, though, the dollar is buy more than it has in a long time. Whether you want to believe it or not, my friend, the economy is doing quite well...which is even more amazing in that it is in the middle of a war.
2006-11-03 09:08:15 · answer #2 · answered by kathy_is_a_nurse 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The question is phrased rather improperly,
It should be" Does the president have the will to do something about the increased inequality gap?
No neither he wants to nor does he wish to.
And even by fluke or a whim did he wish for something like that, Can he?
Never,
Economy and the equations involving equality and economy are not dictated or acted upon in a day, they are the result of a sustained program and a contious action with the right and just intentions over decades.
Although it takes a couple of centuries to build a city, it takes minutes to destroy one these days,
Same goes for the economy too.
2006-11-03 05:28:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok I do not know what world you live in, but my pay has almost doubled in the time frame you mention and I am not anywhere close to a corporate executive. Most of the people I know have also seen significant increases in pay in the same time. Fairness translates to I don't like the rich and because they make more than I do they should have to pay. It's called capitalism, it is the system we live under. Deal with it or move to a socialist culture like Canada or Europe. Government intervention in business does not decrease prices or increase salaries. In fact it has been proved time and again that it does the exact opposite. Too many people are locked into this idea that we can just tax to death anything we don't like. Taxes do not decrease costs. When a company is taxed they will not just take it, they will increase the costs of goods and services in order to maintain the profit margin. This is economics 101, learn it, know it, understand it.
2006-11-03 05:02:48 · answer #4 · answered by Bryan 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I'm pretty sure this is what he has in mind....did you miss the part where he called the richest people in the country His people? I love how these people don't get it. If a politician creates breaks and changes laws to protect the rich and hurt the poor if he hands out corporate welfare as opposed to aiding in education. He aids the problem of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer it is stupid to think that politics doesn't play a major role in this.
2006-11-03 04:55:30 · answer #5 · answered by djmantx 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Disagree.... If you want a raise then why not ask your boss. If he/she says no, then go work somewhere else. The President doesn't control how much your employer decides to pay you.
2006-11-03 05:03:37 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
"It's time to bring fairness back to the economy."
Translation:
It's time to play Robin Hood. Government should look upon all wealthy people like fat pigs, stick 'em all with forks, and let the blood trickle down on to everyone else.
That's fairness.
2006-11-03 05:11:08 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Sure I agree. However, I disagree as to whose responsibility it is. If you want the paycheck of a top executive, then do what you need to to become a top executive. Don't blame others who have done the work.
2006-11-03 04:53:57 · answer #8 · answered by kitty fresh & hissin' crew 6 · 3⤊ 3⤋
This ain't no socialist country, you set your own limitation here, want more get off yourass
2006-11-03 05:04:16 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
No. He doesn't really care because he doesn't know what it's like to struggle paycheck to paycheck.
2006-11-03 05:23:16 · answer #10 · answered by JIVE TURKEY 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋