Greenspan in favor of raising taxes

Yes, we should all listen to Alan Greenspan????

""I am in favor for the first time in my memory of raising taxes," Greenspan told an audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York."

Wow.

A socialist telling a bunch of socialists that he's in favor of taking more money away from the Middle Class.

What's the next newsflash? That Nixon resigned?

We should only raise taxes on the wealthy, and we should do it by closing loopholes that they use to avoid paying their fair share.

Why tax us at all? When you pay taxes all the gov't does is reduce some numbers in your bank account. When they spend money they just write some numbers back in. Same thing when we sell to the Chinese, we just write some numbers in their bank account. Stop taxing!

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/02/warren-mosler-obvious-answer-to-problem.html

You're right, Riversider. In fact, we should also turn off all traffic lights, because they just keep you from getting where you want to go.

actually, keep the traffic lights and don't tax, the gov't can just print money and credit accounts. this tax thing is rediculous.

There's a massive tidal wave coming in November. The left has absolutely no idea what is about to hit them. Taxes will not be raised for the next 20 years and spending will be drastically cut. The entitlement welfare state will end in 7 weeks.

There's a reason why Gold is up and the dollar down against the Yen , Franc, and other currencies...

flat tax!!!!!

"Wow.

A socialist telling a bunch of socialists that he's in favor of taking more money away from the Middle Class."

Greenspan was quite vocally an admirer of Ayn Rand, and was appointed by Reagan for just that reason. He is as far from a socialist as a central banker has been in any of our lifetimes.

"Greenspan was quite vocally an admirer of Ayn Rand, and was appointed by Reagan for just that reason. He is as far from a socialist as a central banker has been in any of our lifetimes."

Then he married andea mitchell of the political operative class at nbc and became an apologist for the welfare state.

Greenspan is really old so he's probably going senile.

he drools.

Leave him alone: old Jewish men are supposed to drool.

So by riversider and juliag's definition, anyone married to a potential liberal is a socialist. This is a problem for Mary Matlin and millions of other republicans (and libertarians) married to democrats.

If we go on a spectrum from socialist to libertarian, about 95% of people in this country are more socialist than Alan Greenspan. If that makes him a socialist, it makes 75% of the GOP Maoists.

most importantly, what does it make julia?

other than, of course, the ugly one.

So by riversider and juliag's definition, anyone married to a potential liberal is a socialist.

Did I miss something?

yes.

everything.

There's nothing wrong with being an admirer of Ayn Rand. There is something wrong with the head of the federal reserve refusing to regulate when it is part of the job of being a head of the federal reserve. that said, very few heads of the federal reserve truly acted that way. the last one was Paul Volcker.

Let's see the median purchase price of a 2BR Apartment in NYC is $1.595 Million, and a 1BR $847 Thousand, who's buying these? People making $35K a year? Lots of people make their living off of Real Estate and its not going to get any easier when the total marginal tax rates in NYC on top earners goes 50%. I don't think this will make the sales pitch easier next year. Let's review the 2011 Tax Situation :

Fed Rate = 39.6%
Medicare = 1.4%
NYC Income Tax = 3.684%
NYS Income Tax = 8.97%
(*) Total = 53.654%

(*) Not including social security, plus .7% in 2014 added to Medicare or the proposed new marginal tax rate of 11% being discussed for NY State.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/228.html

Raise the tax rate and the value of the deduction grows... Not sure I agree that higher taxes is a negative for a tax-advantaged investment.

What is the Alternative Mimimum Tax ? For individuals, deductions are capped. For people making the decision to live or not to live in NYC, higher taxes is a net negative. The city is a better place to live if real estate is owner occuipied, as opposed to properities being bought up by investors. In addition a tax deduction is not a return on investment, it just means that expesnes have a higher write off rate. No return is made if there is no income. No income over the long term = bad investment. Higher taxes on return means less incentive to invest.

http://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/irs-tax-return/5855.html

this is where we differ. if the person/couple is going to live in nyc. higher tax rates tilt toward ownership, vs rent which have no deductions.

"Fed Rate = 39.6%
Medicare = 1.4%
NYC Income Tax = 3.684%
NYS Income Tax = 8.97%
(*) Total = 53.654%

(*) Not including social security, plus .7% in 2014 added to Medicare or the proposed new marginal tax rate of 11% being discussed for NY State."

We need to abolish the income tax.. This is a disgrace.

Hey in the Republican Primary, how did Columbia County vote? Palladino or Lazio?

yo, whazzup julia?

that greater than 250k is the highest bracket,such that bill gates and my dentist pay the same rate, is ludicrous.

and matt, to call alan grenspan a socialist reconfirms what has been reconfirmed so frequently re you.

wbottom; you are seriously ill-informed. at the level of bill gates, mr bloomberg, or steve jobs you don't earn money off of "salary". most of the above get a salary of $1/year and subside on their long term capital investments. nice try though.

Which goes back to the fact that higher taxes lessen the incentive to live in NYC. Lets tax a realstic example and calculate the tax bill. A couple making 500K (where each partner makes over 106K
For example if a couple is making 500K , lives in an apartment in NYC with $1200/Month Taxes with a 500K Mortgage at 5%, then taxes are approximately:

Social Security Tax :(7.65% on 1st 106.8K ) = 8,170.00
Social Security Tax :(7.65% on 1st 106.8K ) = 8,172.00
Medicare Tax ( 1.4%): = 7,000.00
New York State Taxes: = 40,418.00 (assumptions below)
New York City Taxes: = 16,582.00
Federal Tax: = 157,295.00 (* its actually higher because this hits ATM)
Total Income Taxes = 237,635.00 (47.5%)

Total Taxes (w/property tax) = 252,036.00 ( 50.4%)
Does not include sales tax, fees ,etc.

Income Deductions
500K 15K Deduction for married filing jointly
20K Mortgage Interest
14.4K Property Tax
500K Income 49.4K Total NYS Deductions

NYS Taxable Income = 450,600 , NYS Tax = 40,418 = ( 450,600 * 0.0897)
NYC Taxable Income = 450,600 , NYC Tax = 16,582 = ( 450,600 * 0.0368)

Federal Deductions = 11.4K (married filing joingly) + 20K (mortgage) + 14.4K + 16.58K + 40.41K = 102.79K
Federal Taxable Income = 500K - 102.79K = 397.21K
Federal Tax = 157.29K + ATM (because this example is hit with ATM!)

cc couldn't vote, he was picking up his gov't checks.

"Which goes back to the fact that higher taxes lessen the incentive to live in NYC"

Then how come the population is growing?

Social Security Tax :(7.65% on 1st 106.8K ) = 8,170.00
Social Security Tax :(7.65% on 1st 106.8K ) = 8,172.00
Medicare Tax ( 1.4%): = 7,000.00
New York State Taxes: = 40,418.00 (assumptions below)
New York City Taxes: = 16,582.00
Federal Tax: = 157,295.00 (* its actually higher because this hits ATM)
Total Income Taxes = 237,635.00 (47.5%)

stevehx How much more blood do you want to suck out of the wealthy? When will the 'progressives be happy?

JG, have they no deductions?

"JG, have they no deductions?" Do you know what the amt is steve? The 'rich' pay much more then their 'fair share'. How about other people stepping it up and producing more.

stevejhx
11 minutes ago
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JG, have they no deductions?

enlighten us, what deductions are those?

JG, the mortgage interest deduction is not subject to the AMT, and the AMT phases out so the TRULY wealthy don't pay it. You're also taxing this "married couple" as two single people, which is a higher tax rate.

And it's "AMT," not "ATM."

http://taxes.about.com/od/1040/a/minimum_tax.htm

"And it's "AMT," not "ATM."" Wake up steve!!!!!!!!

good come back steve, so rate is 46% instead of 47.5? still waiting to hear about the magical deductions

Also, JG, your tax rates are WAY too high: you forget that there are tax brackets:

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/tax_brackets.htm

So your federal tax of $157,000 is actually $145,000, and that is if $500,000 is actually their TAXABLE income, which is a very different thing from gross income.

Deductions? 401k, mortgage interest, state, local taxes are some of the major ones.

The problem remains that Julia and her followers only offer slogans that start and end with the word no.

Julia suggests that others step up and produce more.

How?

If you're a cashier at the local walmart, how do you step up and produce more?

If you're in construction and nothing is being built, how do you step and produce more?

By the way, what do most high income finace professionals produce?

People, steve is not good with numbers. Don't get too frustrated with his confusion.

I'm good enough with numbers, LICC, not to have to take the #7 train to get into Manhattan.

That's good enough for me.

steve, you don't seem to be qualified to comment on this level of income tax rate

Why, SE? Because I don't live in Long Island City?

"If you're a cashier at the local walmart, how do you step up and produce more?

If you're in construction and nothing is being built, how do you step and produce more?"

Then stop demonizing the wealth creators who start companies and create jobs. Stop, demonizing the working 'rich' who pay all the taxes. You should be thanking them for paying the taxes and creating wealth. But, you parasites want more and more and more.

My my my, JG - you sound bitter for such a wealthy person. You should thank your lucky stars you can afford to pay so much in tax (or move to Texas, where there isn't any income tax).

"or move to Texas, where there isn't any income tax)" They don't have to pay the federal income tax either? Let me know when steve and i'll move to Texas.

"How do these people step up and create more?" They work really hard and get an education and work themselves up. It they are unable to do this because of their limitations then they should appreciate the people that created a job for them.

Julia, you sound like you're 12 hrs old.

They should work really hard?

They are.

It's way, way tougher to work a construction job or a warehouse job on your feet all day than sit behind a desk pushing buttons and looking at a screen.

So, how do they produce more?

By appreciating rich people?

That's your advice to an unemployed construction worker?

Appreciate rich people? Give them a break because they deserve it?

Or cc, they can do it your way. They can FEEL entitled to a job, an education and money. They can blame the 'rich' and capitalism for all their problems. They can complain and demand and extort and steal the wealth of others.

steve is good enough with numbers to live in a dumpy rental building in the theater district. Thus, not very good.

Julia, ugly one.

There are more than the two choices you've outlined.

I don't advocate giving anything to anyone.

Asking people who make $250 k or more to pay a greater share of taxes, ironically equal to the percent we used to pay, is the issue.

The country is deeply in debt and all your wild rantings about abolishing income tax are simply wild ravings. Making the problem worse by continuing to give the highest earners a break makes no sense.

"The country is deeply in debt and all your wild rantings about abolishing income tax are simply wild ravings. Making the problem worse by continuing to give the highest earners a break makes no sense." STOP SPENDING

but no one can agree on what to stop spending on.

people like you say stupid things like stop spending on everything.

that's absurd.

other people say stop spending on everything i don't care about but keep spending on things i do care about.

that won't work because there are vocal and well funded lobbies to support every spending initiative.

when i suggest an open discussion for shared sacrifice, you sneer at it and revert to position two meaning that you don't want to spend anything on items you don't support.

and so we have and will have an endless nasty stalemate because people like you are far more interested in themselves than in solving the problem.

so keep advocating for unrealistic and downright nasty solutions that will never happen. which will allow you to keep harping and harping and harping but never solving anything.

well done.

Go back to the budget of 1999(that was a boom time) freeze it there for 10 years. The debt will be eliminated

more sophomoric suggestions.

so, all government payments revert back to those amounts. those who didn't get paid then won't get anything now?

how would that work? have you given it any thought?

of course not.

Let's go back to 1842. Things were much simpler then.

And there was no Long Island City (or there shouldn't have been).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY

Just a weekly reminder. The leader of the regime.

"Asking people who make $250 k or more to pay a greater share of taxes, ironically equal to the percent we used to pay, is the issue."

No, the issue is run amok government spending. A political class that has bankrupted the country with entitlements and wars. It's not a tax problem, it's a spending one.

What would you actually do?

Post more you tubes and photo of the WTC?

Ask poor people to thank rich people?

"It's not a tax problem, it's a spending one."

The federal government spends about the same percentage of GDP as it has on average for the last 40 years. Currently about the average for the Reagan years. And we are lower than 80% of the OECD. Quite being so needlesly apoplectic.

apoplectic, no the lunatic left apoplectic.

"(*) Not including social security, plus .7% in 2014 added to Medicare or the proposed new marginal tax rate of 11% being discussed for NY State"

Or the capital gains increases for most of us to pay for healthcare.

taxes will always go up. History has shown it.
When you have more people on the welfare system, someone has to cover it right? Most people on the system are not highly educated and continues to spread more seeds to put them on the system as well.
Just wait til the riches and middle class citizens run out of money.

"Just wait til the riches and middle class citizens run out of money." Also, think how many upper middle class and 'rich' are on the welfare/entitlement grid. Think of the 62+ 'folks' on the grid.

There is a difference between welfare and medicare for the 65+.
Alot of 65+ still pays taxes on their 401k/ira draws and does not depend on food/transportation/rental stamps.

ah, julia the ugly one.

is there anyone that you don't hate?

The individualist cc, the self sufficient. The people with integrity cc.

how do you qualify? who decides? you?

clearly you've decided that i don't qualify. why?

how do you qualify? who decides? you?

clearly you've decided that i don't qualify. why?

i don't understand.

i don't understand.

is this how you demonstrate your rugged individualism?

"the self sufficient"

Who on earth is self-sufficient, JG? For dinner, do you hunt your own wabbits?

And if so, are they Welsh Wabbits?

responsible citizens. not the ones scamming food stamps, transportation passes and collecting welfare checks while dealing on the side with cash.

stuy town has over thousands of scam artist that rents out their rent stablized apt for market value and collecting welfare checks, food stamps, mta passes, etc.

self sufficient--- people who WANT to take care of themselves and don' WANT other people providing for them or supporting them steve.

Then there's Bernie Madoff - add together all the other scams in the world by the poor, and they don't even come close.

Classist haters.

so....

as long as you don't want to receive any money from the government, its ok if you do receive it?

so....

as long as you don't want to receive any money from the government, its ok if you do receive it?

so julia is an ugly, sick duck.

"then there's Bernie Madoff - add together all the other scams in the world by the poor, and they don't even come close."

Steve, you're desperate with that argument.

so julia is an ugly, sick duck.

really?

wasn't bernie the epitome of what you worship?

at least until he was caught?

really?

wasn't bernie the epitome of what you worship?

at least until he was caught?

julia lg is a hypocrite and a liar.

julia lg is a hypocrite and a liar.

"Steve, you're desperate with that argument."

Okay, let's go the Lehman Brothers / Merrill Lynch route.

Or the AIG route.

Or the MCI Worldcomm route.

Or the Arthur Andersen route.

Or the Tyco route.

Or the Bear Stearns route.

Or the Michael Milliken route.

Or the Saloman Brothers route.

Or the Long-Term Capital Management route.

Do these not exceed the Welfare Mothers you so despise, JG of "self-sufficiency" fame?

it would appear that julia the ugly one has been overcome with the foam spewing from her mouth.

RIP.

it would appear that julia the ugly one has been overcome with the foam spewing from her mouth.

RIP.

I, julia, the ugly one am a blathering idiot who is ashamed and mortified at everything i have said.

I take it all back.

signed,

Julia the Ugly One

I, julia, the ugly one am a blathering idiot who is ashamed and mortified at everything i have said.

I take it all back.

signed,

Julia the Ugly One

A sense of humor is lacking in the dialogue between CC and JG.

au contraire.

i find it hilarious.

my very own talking puppet.

au contraire.

i find it hilarious.

my very own talking puppet.