A Cunning Proposal
Well it probably has as much to do with A Modest Proposal as a “cunning plan”, but there are a few tweaks to the tax system that might help pay for all of the largess we are expending on the markets.
Obviously there will be a lot of action on capital gains, but as the bulk of the capital being gained comes from the taxpayers, it would be appropriate to limit the special capital gains tax rate for investments of five years or more. Less than five years and you are gambling, not investing. This would also eliminate the current loophole enjoyed by hedge fund managers.
While I opposed any government limit on pay scales, which are a matter between employer and employee, I see no reason taxpayers should subsidize excess, so I would limit the expense deduction for individual employee compensation to an amount equal to the salary of the President of the Unites States, currently $400,000 per annum, i.e. pay whatever you want, but only the first $400K may be taken as an expense against the taxable income.
The interest deduction needs to be changed. The current practice of deducting only the interest on “mortgages” has led to “home equity lines of credit” [HELOC] which are part of the current problem. The practice is discriminatory and needs to be corrected. All or none, and an end to this preferential status. [I would prefer all, like it was before Reagan.]
Of course, the personal and corporate income tax rates need to be reset. Obviously no one was bothering to invest the money they received from the “tax relief”, so let’s have some “deficit relief” by implementing a realistic system that pays for the government without deficit spending. After this round of throwing money at the problems the interest on the national debt is making its way rapidly to the top of the budget hierarchy.
6 comments
a tax regime like the one, any of the ones, that we had anywhere between 1936 [?] and the 1970s.
for all executives of publicly traded companies, or those we bail out — salary cap = to the president’s salary, and a cap on total perqs [no stock options allowed] = to another president’s salary. that’s close enough to an employer/employee relationship if you ask me. heck, you should have seen me argue [back in the day] for capping executive pay at $1/year.
i still get phone calls offering me a heloc [they’re less numerous now though], even though i’ve never owned a house in my entire life.
I’m saying $400K for everything. Let them try to justify taking the excess from shareholder profits and see how long the salaries stay high.
I’m trying to come up with a reasoned tax plan, but it isn’t easy when you start with the nonsense we currently have.
I still laugh every time I think of da peepul paying Bushmoron $400k! LMAO There truly is a sucker born every minute! 😉 Amazing. 🙂
To make it even worse, he is receiving twice as much as Clinton. The pay was doubled in 2000. Talk about money for nothing.
Yes. And the truly delicious irony of it all is… ‘da stoopids'(tm) are not only paying the criminal $400k/year… they are paying him to screw them all and make their lives a living hell! I doubt you will find any time in history where anything more stupid has ever been done by any citizens of any Nation. Criminals everywhere must truly be in awe of Bush, not for his intelligence (or lack thereof), but the fact that someone could actually get away with being paid to steal everything in plain sight and get away with it! LMAO
He may be a fool… but it begs the question about who the real and true morons are! 😉 History is going to have *a field day* for centuries just on the last decade! And the Shrinks must be almost in orgasmic ecstacy about the whole range of study and insights into group dynamics and group control this period represents. They’ll be in money for the rest of their lives! LOL
Amazing. 🙂 If this were a book… nobody would be interested! It’d be too unbelievable to buy. LOL
I have no idea when my life will end, but I’d give *ANYTHING* to be able to come back for an hour in a Century or so to see what they make of this, assuming anyone survives of course. 😉 😀 They’ll probably make a sitcom and it’ll have reruns for centuries! LOL
The truly amazing thing is that the sequence is reversed from all of the other times this has happened. The normal progression is economic instability which leads to a whacko leader who starts a war which results total collapse.
This guy has gone from peace and prosperity to a war that leads to economic collapse and a total disaster.
We may have to re-evaluate who won the Cold War before this over because “Comrade Shrubbery” is rapidly becoming a bigger socialist than Lenin.