Obama and (Even) Higher Capital-Gains Taxes

Republican Hypocrisy

Wow. You Republicans run up the bills higher than anyone could imagine and then when Democrats are forced to pay the bills you freak out and wet yourselves. President Reagan would be so proud. What a lame excuse for a party. That's why I left the Republican Party, what a joke. The Republican party stands for: out of control spending, waste, corruption, sexual predation, destruction of Family Values, and bigotry. Well there's a party people can trust. It's a pathetic excuse of a Party.

Bob Green of IN @ Apr 22, 2008 16:20:28 PM

it amazes me

people who want to tax people out of existence. not everyone on the stock market is rich or can afford another 30 percent tax. using uber--rich warren buffet to justify a tax increase shows his ignorance and elitism.

joe of LA @ Apr 22, 2008 15:31:35 PM

Capital Gains Tax

Somebody might want to consider that "capital gains" don't come out of thin air.

They represent either higher prices the next guy must pay for something (a stock, a house, an acre of land, etc) or for some, a lost opportunity to be able to buy at all and hence participate in the "runup" in value. The lower the taxes on capital gains, the higher go the prices due to the incredible incentive on the seller to make the largest buck at the lowest tax ----for a while anyway to the final blowup point.

If you don't believe this, consider the housing bubble that occurred after cap gain tax was virtually eliminated on sales of average-sized (owner-occupied for at least 2 years) single family residences. With more cap gains tax, there would have been less "flipping" of houses. Worse for sellers? Yes. Better for buyers? Yes.

Better for government revenue and our woeful deficit? Yes. Better for less of a roller-coaster ride of boom/bust? Probably.

Keeping taxes low on cap gains is a holy grail for Republicans and sharpie business people. Good for everyone else? Not so much.

Daniel David of NM @ Apr 22, 2008 13:24:15 PM

Let's put the tax debate into perspective ...

The spending-tax cut debate can no longer take place without considering the broader economic and political context. Our national prosperity depends on it.

The U.S. is a debtor nation, the largest in history.

Every tax cut offered to the public, and new spending program, not to mention improvements to healthcare or whatever, must be financed by foreign not domestic creditors. Over the past few years, that has meant becoming beholden to China, Japan, Russia, Opec countries and others to finance our conspicuous consumption. The inevitable result is, as any honest student of history will admit, the decline of pax-Americana and the youth of American being saddled with unprecedented debt burdens and lower standards of living in future (see the Fortune 2003 article by Warren Buffett and Carol Loomis).

We are now debtor-extraordinaire to our key economic and political competitors. Of course, the US could one day default on that debt. It has done so in the past, history shows. If not, our creditors merely need threaten to turn off the spigot, albeit briefly, to force Washington politicians - the People's Representatives - to play "their" game and not ours.

So, how is the US Government going to survive without raising taxes; and how is the country going to survive economically without saving and investing for tomorrow? The US has been pursuing tax cut strategies year after year, while the US Government and consumers have built a mountain of unsustainable debt based on fairy-tale economics.

Nothing is free nor certain in this world, as any student of the Depression and two World Wars will attest. The longer we believe in fairy-tales - that we can spend beyond our means as a country, and not save and invest (e.g., infrastructure and education) for our children's future - the more sudden and frightful will be our awakening as a country. This is a competitive world. And what appears to be prosperity can quickly collapse into real-world national demise and despair if we aren't careful.

Perhaps it's time for a national reality check, and proper national debate on how best to move forward for ourselves and our children.

It will not be an easy debate, I'm afraid ...

s of OH @ Apr 22, 2008 12:56:48 PM

If people up top are taxed, Hedge Funds are going No Where

That is by far a bluff about people talking about selling whatever. It won't happen because even though they finally get a fair taxation, they are still going to make their money.

Guys quit being greedy, Earth isn't the final desitation once you are dead. Learn to be a sheep and not a goat.

Shade of IL @ Apr 22, 2008 12:22:12 PM

Debate

Obama said that it's simplistic to state that "history shows that when you drop cap gains, revenue goes up."

Cap gains were increased in the 1980s, revenue went down. You don't think the crash of 1987, in which 23% of the stock market's value was lost in a SINGLE DAY had anything to do with people trading less?

Cap gains were reduced in the 1990s, revenue went up. You don't think that the inevitable computer revolution, in which the internet drove huge increases in productivity and led to a stock market dotcom boom, had anything to do with people trading more?

Cap gains were reduced further in the 2000s, revenue went up. You don't think that the massive influx of capital to corporations as a result of the Iraq war (similar to the Vietnam-related infusion that drove the prosperity of the 1960s) had anything to do with people trading more?

Know your history. Don't vote if you don't know a thing about our country. Please.

John of CA @ Apr 22, 2008 12:19:21 PM

Real fairness in taxation vs. Obama variety

In response to the person who signs themselves, "Greed," a little grasp of our current tax system and economic reality may be in order.

Currently 40% of Americans pay over 99% of the income tax. The remaining 60% together pay LESS THAN 1% of America's tax bill. And that 60%, lead by Obama and Clinton, can't wait to raise taxes more on the people who are already bleeding from overtaxation. It's time to get back to rewarding self reliance and personal responsibility instead of punishing productivity with exorbitant taxes!

Now let's talk about that 40% of overburdened tax payers (most of them small business people) that Democrats refer to as "the rich." FACT: They are the people who actually create nearly all the jobs in this country.

When they have less money (READ:TAXES) to invest in their businesses, they create fewer jobs. It is harder for them to compete against companies in other countries and the ultimate impact is the decline of the American economy against global competitors. Bye bye jobs.

This is why McCain wants to reduce US corporate taxes which are now the 2nd highest in the world at 35%. How can US companies compete and create jobs when European companies pay as little as 20% in corporate tax? The only way is to make the dollar worthless against the EURO.

Wake up, America! It's time to roll up your sleeves, whack US income tax, capital gain tax and corporate tax, and make American competitive again in the global economy! That's the kind of "change" this country really needs! While we are at it we need to whack government spending across the board. We need a President with the courage to veto EVERY bill with an Earmark in it.

Let's drown out the voices of the tax industry lobbies and demand that we REPLACE income tax with a flat tax (sales tax) on consumption, excluding food.

No more wasted productivity filling out tax forms from our 66,000 page tax code!

No more letting drug dealers and pimps off tax free! Those who spend more, pay more - plain and simple. That's real fairness.

Common Sense of CO @ Apr 22, 2008 12:15:50 PM

A strong Equalizer

If Obama manages to achieve this, it will be beneficial for the economy as a whole because now the goverment will have funds to maintain itself and it can cut back on the Middle and Lower Class Americans.

This only affects those who are strongly involved in the stocks and Hedge Fund arena where most of the money in the world is anyway. It is a very fair move and I wish that more people understood how important this is.

Hillary is obviously not for this because of her status and her daughter Chelsea involvement in Hedge Funds. It is public knowledge that Chelsea makes well over 6 figures working at a Hedge Fund called Avenue in New York with Marc Lasry.

I recently saw articles with Robert Johnson who is the founder of BET talking against Obama. The only reason is that Mr. Johnson has his own Hedge Fund as well.

If you have been keeping up with the articles, when Nancy Pelosi was making a case to end the Democratic race, these guys spoke up against her to let the race keep moving. If you do some homework, you will find out that they are Hedge Fund People.

To me, this will be a strong equalizer and it will benefit America's economy. I wish that the people in Pennsylvania knew the truth and not look at color because who they choose can prove to be all the differences in the world in this country. It will far benefit them more if they can be taxed less by the government, which will allow them to move up in the economy as well as a host of many other hard working Americans.

Shade of IL @ Apr 22, 2008 12:11:40 PM