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Reading various social media sites it strikes me how uninformed so many people are about money and economics. No, I’m not being a snob. I make no claim to expertise on either subject, but I do make an effort to obtain a basic understanding and check facts before I comment or initiate a post.
Billionaires and the wealthy are frequent targets. Did you know billionaires pay lower taxes than middle class taxpayers? They pay only 8% according to some sources or that’s what many people choose to believe. The problem is that is based not on earned income, but the unrealized growth in net worth (investments). No matter, it plays well for people who believe they are over-taxed despite the fact the effective federal tax rate for the bottom 50% income wise is 3.7%.
I often ask if people pay taxes on the growth in their 401k or IRA before withdrawals. I’m told that’s not the same, yup it is.
But one comment stated “thanks to the Tax Act of 1986 which requires us to pay tax on unrealized gains in mutual fund holdings.” I checked that and could not find any such thing. I never paid taxes unless I received a 1099 and I received the cash or it was reinvested.
Try and posit the relationship between tariffs, interest rates and tax cuts with inflation and deficits and you are besieged with denial.
I covered Social Security perviously so I’m not going there again, but the misinformation remains monumental.
Taxes too have been covered extensively on HD by me and others, but I am still struck by the number of people who see no need for taxes (especially property taxes), no apparent understanding of their connection with schools, and community services.
I often think of the likely reaction if a value added tax (VAT) is proposed as is used by European countries. 😱 Yikes, what about raising the FICA?
i don’t want to cast a pall on this subject, but like a lot of things that are wrong with our society and culture, you cannot fix the problem.
If you could collect a panel of 100,000 people who represented a true cross-section of US population in terms of age, gender, race, ethnicity, wealth, intelligence etc, and who would be willing to honestly answer questions about what they believe on a wide range of topics, you would find every wild, crazy, even idiotic idea represented within the group. From thinking that the world is flat, that the government is hiding little alien green creatures somewhere, etc, someone in the group would hold that notion dearly. Furthermore, if you then tried to offer evidence to the group on any of these off-the-wall ideas, you would find the believers in the group very resistant to change.
People believe what they believe, and when they see information that confirms their belief they feel vindicated, and when presented with contrary information they disbelieve that.
Most folks are against government waste and fraud. The problem is that some project that deals with vaccines, is necessary health measure to some, and waste to others. If you think that there is discrimination in the employment of seniors you support spending to address the problem, and if you don’t, it is waste.
You can pick almost any issue, and you will find a wide range of views, even to whether or not the issue is real. Just making a list of such issues would be too political for HD i think…..
From Paul Simon’s “I know what I know”
She looked me over
And I guess she thought I was all right
All right in a sort of a limited way
For an off-night
She said, “Don’t I know you
From the cinematographer’s party?”
I said, “Who am I
To blow against the wind?”
The best story wins. Not the best idea. Not the right answer. Just whoever tells a story that catches people’s attention and makes them feel good. George Packer wrote: “The most durable narratives are not the ones that stand up best to fact-checking. They’re the ones that address our deepest needs and desires.” This drives you crazy if you assume the world is swayed by facts and objectivity because it clearly isn’t.
As I view the various sites I am more overwhelmed each day at the anti-tax comments, the misinformation, the outrageous claims and most of all the failure to see the connection between taxes and the services and programs they pay for.
The worst group seems to be seniors who sincerely believe that making it to 65 somehow gives them a free ride on any obligations.
I think of my four children now all in their 50s. What right do I have to shift an additional tax burdens to them because I paid “my share” for the last 60 years or so?