The Senate today is working on a bill regarding tax changes for Hedge funds & the $$ companies promoting them?

Question

How do you feel about this? Forget Iraq, Immigration but these huge financial corporations who pay less than a 15% tax already as we pay 30-35% support Presidential candidates. Each currently in the Senate. A vote is to be taken whether to increase their taxes. Is this a conflict of interest? It was on Good Morning America ABC NEWS this morning, Friday.
Do brave soldiers mean so little as these money folks are on the agenda and they are not? Each day they die for politicians to work on personal gain and agenda. Shame on them.
What do you think? Appreciate solid feedback and comments only please.

Answer 1

it's about damned time!

these guys take and take and take from the american economy - it's high frigging time they paid their fair share of taxes!

Answer 2

Just another case where Congress is putting a band aid on something that needs a tourniquet.

In paper form you can't carry the tax code for corporate and personal taxes in a half ton pickup without overloading it. The code has more holes than Swiss cheese.

What Congress should be doing is a complete rewrite for the tax code. If they didn't cut it down to something you could carry in your back pocket, scrap that bunch and get someone who can.

And get a dozen good CPAs to find out where we are wasting so much money. No one can tell me with a federal budget closing in on 3TRILLION dollars Congress why there should be a deficit?

Answer 3

Before rushing to judgment, keep in mind that you are talking about Congress targeting companies that invest in other companies.

The income of the companies you mentioned are taxed three times, once when it was earned by their holdings, once when it was realized via capital gains or dividends(15% rate you mentioned), and then once when earnigns are distributed to the owners of the holding company.

Example: ABC equity firm owns shares of Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart pays corporate taxes at the normal rate ~35%. Then Wal-Mart pays dividends to ABC, which are currently taxed 15% (the source of your ire), and then ABC pays them out to you, a shareholder of ABC, who has to pay 15-20% on these earnings.

Are you in favor of triple taxation?

Remember that an overbearing taxation policy slows down the economy as a whole, which causes the cessastion of job creation.

Taxing the "rich" hurts the "poor" just as much, only in an indirect manner.

Answer 4

Of course its a conflict of interest (in fact, not legally).

Personally, I'd ban any corporation from providing funds to anyone for any political activity--no exceptions at all. Leave politics--and funding--to the voters.

But as to your latter point, I disagree. It's not that I don't support the soldiers (and I think ending this misbegotten war is our #1 priority)--but like it or not, the rest of the issues and events in life can't just be set to one side.