wrote in message
...
On Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:23:10 -0400, "Robert Green"
wrote:

That's the "oh the rate is so high for the uber rich" but as Warren
Buffet
has shown, that's just on paper too. With all the tax shelters and other
games the super wealthy can play, that "higher effect rate" is just a
political theater to make the middle class citizen feel better about
paying
more in taxes than some of the uber rich.

Warren Buffett is a special case since he makes all of his money from
long term capital gains. There may only be a few people in the
country doing that as successfully as him. If you go after that group,
you end up hitting a lot of seniors, living on their savings.
Your typical hedge fund manager makes a lot of money from money but it
is usually short term capital gains that get taxed as ordinary income
although they still duck FICA that is actually higher than the income
tax for most people by the time you take into account both sides.
A couple making $100k, no kids, no mortgage, using the standard
deduction only pays about 11% in income tax but they pay over 12% in
FICA, even with the current payroll tax cut.

What you say is true, but I am sure that the Tax Weenies at the IRS could
figure out how to differentiate from seniors with a nest egg (which the
government shoud encourage, because it takes a burden off them) from the
Buffets, Waltons and Kochs who are amassing enormous empires and using that
money to change the course of American government to their liking and
advantage with huge campaign "bribes."

I'm sure we have more that a few millionaires in this group, but doubt we
have billionaires. That's probably where at least one line could be drawn.
If you've got a billion bucks, you're not likely "just a senior with some
good investments." It's likely you're in the group whose assets have grown
at nearly 300% while most of us piddled along with a 40 to 60% growth in
income. The wedge is forming.

--
Bobby G.