Adam Carolla Rants About the Occupy Mentality

This is a segment I pulled from the Adam Carolla podcast;
He went on a bit of a rant about the mentality of the "Occupy Wall Street" generation.
(STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING!);

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Adam
• Carolla
• Occupy
• 99%

[pdxtom]

Wanna know why we were all so poor?

Because we had Daddies that didn't want to work. We had Daddies that "weren't going to be pushed around by 'nobody!'". We had Daddies that would rather try to scam the system for benefits and only work the bare minimum they could possibly get away with. My wife grew up in similar circumstances.

Yes, we are now living the "American Dream" thanks to wising up & working hard.

When I think back on my parents whining about being "poor" it makes me cringe.

[brandoncaro82]

@brandoncaro82 For the record I work my tale off some times 24hrs at a time, I live just above the poverty level(finally) and struggle month to month to pay bills and clothe my children. But not because somebody held me back or got my share, it's because of stupid mistakes and stupid decisions I've made through out my adult life. Of course I wan't what "so and so" has but I don't want it handed to me, I want the satisfaction and sustainability of knowing I worked hard for it. (and payed cash!)

[pdxtom]

@Jnmcda0 You apparently didn't read down far enough.

Don't make me crawl man! ;-)

[Jnmcda0]

@pdxtom "So if someone's actual earnings are over $388,350 they pay 35% of the entire amount". No. If a married couple makes, for instance, $400,000, they pay 10% on the first $17,400, then 15% for the amount between 17,400 and $70,700, etc. They only pay 35% on the amount over $388,350 (in the case of a couple making $400,000, they'd pay 35% on the final $11,650).

I agree that we should abolish the income tax.

[pdxtom]

@Jnmcda0 BTW-I stand corrected on my comment about the percentage on gross income vs marginal tax rate. :-)

[pdxtom]

@Jnmcda0 The numbers I posted were the tax rate on all EARNED income. So if someone's actual earnings are over $388,350 they pay 35% of the entire amount.

You're correct about the 15% on Capital gains tax but that, again, is the return on investments. In all honesty though I don't think we (as a country) should even be debating who pays what on income; I would like to see a discussion about abolishing the income tax altogether. I think there are more ethical ways to bring in taxes.

[Jnmcda0]

@pdxtom I think the point those politicians are trying to make is that the capital gains rate should be progressive like the income tax is.

[Jnmcda0]

@pdxtom Many of those in the top tax bracket make the majority of their money through long-term capital gains, which are taxed at 15%. Also, the 35% is the marginal tax rate. They only pay 35% on the amount over $388,350. The average tax rate is lower. In my previous post, I was using the 15% capital gains rate to illustrate that even at that low rate, the person is paying way more in dollar amount, even though the tax rate is lower.

[pdxtom]

What has probably confused and misled a lot of people is when dishonest politicians throw the "%15" number around in partisan speeches; That is a reference to the Capital Gains tax...NOT income tax.

[pdxtom]

@Jnmcda0 Your percentages are incorrect. The only people who pay 15% of their earnings are those who make between

$17,400& $70,700 While the top earners pay 35% or roughly DOUBLE the tax rate.

Here are how the various tax brackets break down;

10% Bracket $0 – $17,400

15% Bracket $17,400 – $70,700

25% Bracket $70,700 – $142,700

28% Bracket$142,700 – $217,450

33% Bracket $217,450 – $388,350

35% Bracket Over $388,350

[Jnmcda0]

"The top 1% paid 50% of the taxes that came in." The thing is, many of those people are only paying 15% of their income, while much of the middle class is paying a higher tax rate. The top 1% pay 50% of the taxes only because their income is disproportionately high. If one person makes $50K a year and pay 28% of their income in taxes, they pay $14K in taxes. Meanwhile, a person making $5 mil a year and paying 15% in taxes, pays $750,000 in taxes. They pay more because they make more.