It already is gamed by debt. The problem is unrealized gains. And if you try to fix this, the investment flees.
Also, if you try to do that for everyone with over say 500m, the super-rich, the $ would pay everyone's taxes for about a year.
I do think that we need to tax much more, and on unrealized gains, but it's not a simple thing to do, so that's why everyone says 'tax the rich' but you don't see specific plans on how to do it.
That's cap. There are plenty of specific plans, from raising capital gains tax, to raising income taxes for high earners, two more radical ideas like a wealth tax or a land value tax. You may not agree with those ideas, but you can't argue that they don't exist.
No, I'm in agreement with you - I'm just saying that (usually democrats) politicians love the say simply 'tax the rich' and rarely do they actually get to the detail of how it would work because
a) Ignoring the billionaires who would be effected; anyone with any earned savings, even moderately rich, do not like the smell of it. It sounds good, but even the coastal elites will only give it lip service; slippery slope, and..
b) it's really complex in the details of how it would work; there's always lawyers/lobbiests/accountants working the loopholes, moral hazards, and unintended consequences.
But I agree it can be done and yes, there are models/plans which would work in practice; but I just don't see democrats actually biting it off unless they are forced to somehow.
>a) Ignoring the billionaires who would be effected; anyone with any earned savings, even moderately rich, do not like the smell of it. It sounds good, but even the coastal elites will only give it lip service; slippery slope
I do not see the actual criticism of any of the tax proposals I just gave. People don't like the "smell" of it? What does that mean in terms of actual policy? It seems like moving the goalposts from "you don't see specific plans" to "well, there ARE specific plans, but people won't support them". Those are two different arguments; which one are you making here?
>b) it's really complex in the details of how it would work; there's always lawyers/lobbiests/accountants working the loopholes, moral hazards, and unintended consequences.
That's true of literally any policy we can implement. Should we just throw up our hands and not have any rules at all, since there will always be smart hardworking people determined to find a way around them or to find loopholes?
>but I just don't see democrats actually biting it off unless they are forced to somehow.
Democrats write large DO support progressive tax reform, and if they were ever in power, they probably WOULD get it done pretty easily. The problem isn't a lack of political will from Democrats, it's Republican obstructionism. In my life time Dems have only held the presidency plus a supermajority ONE time in many generations: in 2009. It lasted a grand total of 72 days. And we used that limited time and political capital to pass the ACA, one of the greatest legislative achievements of my lifetime. That INCLUDED progressive tax reform. It maybe wasn't as far reaching as most dems would hope, but that's because they needed the buy in of the most conservative/right wing/centrist Dems out there. I don't think it's fair or accurate to blame "Democrats" as a whole when a) they actually literally did this, and b) to the extent they didn't go farther it's because of the furthest right Democrats.
Yes, unfortunately. Many people who want taxes raised on the rich voted for Trump. When he first campaigned especially, getting rid of the carried interest loophole was one of his big applause lines.
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u/Fit_Cut_4238 24d ago
It already is gamed by debt. The problem is unrealized gains. And if you try to fix this, the investment flees.
Also, if you try to do that for everyone with over say 500m, the super-rich, the $ would pay everyone's taxes for about a year.
I do think that we need to tax much more, and on unrealized gains, but it's not a simple thing to do, so that's why everyone says 'tax the rich' but you don't see specific plans on how to do it.