Ronald Reagan: Tax the Rich!

This clip of Ronald Reagan (uploaded by PrioritiesUSA) indicates how far the Republican Party has moved to the right. Warren Buffet recently came out against these same loopholes and conservative commentators are still attacking him for it. This also evidences why Occupy cannot and should not be reduced to one or two issues. Dealing with Corporate Personhood and the Fed - this is important, but there are other important battles to be won.

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  News & Politics

[UtherPendragan]

Nobody will ever define what "fair share" means. Is it 50% or 70% how much should rich people pay to the government? What does "rich" mean? Is it a million dollars a year?

[OccupyIdeas]

This is because "fair share" has changed over the years. We no longer ask the rich to pay 90%. Most Americans would be happy if they simply payed the same rate they did during the Clinton era.

[UtherPendragan]

I think asking anyone to give more than half what they make in taxes is crazy. I don't care how rich someone is the government should not take more from a person than that same person makes in a year. We should get rid of the entire tax code and make things simple. If you make less than $100,000 you pay nothing, if you make more than $200,000 you pay half. Anyone between the two amounts gets pro-rated. We save billions in enforcement and paperwork.

[OccupyIdeas]

Wow, over 200,000 50%? That's pretty high. Dems are just trying to get the top income bracket to pay 39.6% instead of 35%.

[UtherPendragan]

The point is keep it simple and put everyone in the same boat. You have a system that really is fair. Nobody can complain, nobody can cheat, no reason to bribe, I mean lobby congress. Everyone is in the same bracket. Those that are doing well pay, and those that are just getting by don't pay. No deductions no exceptions, no wiggle room. If you make over 100 but, less than 200 you give anything over the 100 in taxes. Simple and easy.

[OccupyIdeas]

1) so get rid of all social engineering (tax deductions for home ownership, children, veterans, disabilities)? 2) But you do want gradations between 100 and 200,000?

[Daniel Henderson]

He wasn't talking about the rich paying more than anyone else, he was clearly just talking about getting rid of the loopholes that allow a lot of rich people to not pay anything, which I agree with.

[Ali Adeeb]

Of course we don't want millionaires to pay nothing, but the higher the tax rates are the less they pay. The problem is that "fair share" has come to mean the top one percent pay a symbolic 39.6%.

[Tony Martin]

Steve Jobs created Apple (in a garage) when the tax rate for corporations was at 70%. Today the tax rate is below 20%. Lowering taxes on the 1% does not create jobs!!! That is a myth because the real job creators are the middle class.

[keepemseperated19]

Considering all the tax increases and tge liberals he had in his economic team to go along with guys like Art Laffer, Ronald Reagan would have never made it through one 24-hour news cycle as a Republican in today's Republican Party. That's how far right they've gone in the past 20 years.

[Whitecrackertrash]

OBAMA SHOULD USED THIS AD FOR HIS CAMPAING SHUT THE GOP MOUTH

[Dan Hannk]

A flat tax would be fairest to all, regarding Income tax and I would HATE the Clinton tax rates (way too high - oppressive).

The best thing to do in the end though would be a Fair Tax (eliminate Income and Capital Gains taxes altogether and SHRINK govt back to reasonable size). See FairTax dot org.

[Hirnlego999]

Nope. Reagan is closer to the dems these days and the republicans have moved extremely much to the right.

[James Phillips]

This is such Bullshit. You take short sound bites out of context and try to pass it off as word. Despicable, and childish.

[StillJaguar29]

Some Repubs are so crooked they con people into thinking the same income tax rate should be equal for everyone. Of course, the richest 2% make up a huge chunk of the income, so iy's just another excuse so rich people can live like kings and forget the rest of society. The lobbyists are doing a good job.

[z352kdaf8324]

yeah , buffet doesn't pay his fair share

Buffett’s NetJets Countersued by U.S. for Unpaid Taxes

By Andrew Harris - Fri Mar 09 20:51:29 GMT 2012

NetJets Inc., the private-plane company owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A), was countersued by the U.S. over $366 million in taxes and penalties. l