Religion and Ethics and Health BBS

Religion and Ethics and Health BBS
[ Religion and Ethics and Health BBS ]

Should we have a limit on the wealth of Trillionaires like Elon Musk? - John Stossel Video

Posted by Ken C on October 6, 2026, 8:55 am

John Stossel has some good points in this video, but he only addresses the extremists who want to limit the wealth of rich people.

There are more reasonable moderate ideas for helping the poor without having any limits on the rich.

Maybe we could tax the rich a little more and use that money to pay down the national debt.

Maybe we should stop giving subsidies to the rich. In 2023 I was planning on buying a Toyota Camry, but then California offered me a $9,500 rebate to buy a Tesla. So the $9,500 rebate from California was really a subsidy encouraging me to purchase from Elon Musk.

The stock market even changed some of their rules just to help Elon Musk.

In Monopoly, the game ends with one person having all the money and everyone else bankrupt. Real life should not be like a Monopoly game.

Just go back to the pre-Reagan tax rates.

Posted by 7:77 on October 6, 2026, 11:07 am, in reply to "Should we have a limit on the wealth of Trillionaires like Elon Musk? - John Stossel Video"

The huge tax breaks for the wealthy that occurred at that time were predicated on the recipients of those breaks "trickling down" a substantial portion to the rest of the economy. The exact opposite actually occurred, with the rate of capital concentration ever upwards to a tiny tip-top of the pyramid occurring at an unprecedented rate today.

Revert to the old tax tables and legislate to prevent the hoarders from shielding/off-shoring capital. Penalize violations with confiscation.

Yes, as it happens this would cost me a not-insignificant amount of money. But it's the right thing to do.

Note: it was also during the Reagan years that import regulations were relaxed, allowing so much of our manufacturing industry to be (probably permanently) exported to China and other countries with slave-labor-tier wage costs. Another dismal, self-destructive legacy of those years...

We could go back to 1944

Posted by BornToFarm on October 6, 2026, 1:16 pm, in reply to "Just go back to the pre-Reagan tax rates."

To make this work, you have to multiply the numbers by 19 0r 20 as $1 in 1944 equals $19.03 today.

Standard deduction was 10%, up to $1000.

Brackets for Married Filing Jointly
Income Range Tax Rate

$0.00+ 23%
$2,000.00+ 25%
$4,000.00+ 29%
$6,000.00+ 33%
$8,000.00+ 37%
$10,000.00+ 41%
$12,000.00+ 46%
$14,000.00+ 50%
$16,000.00+ 53%
$18,000.00+ 56%
$20,000.00+ 59%
$22,000.00+ 62%
$26,000.00+ 65%
$32,000.00+ 68%
$38,000.00+ 72%
$44,000.00+ 75%
$50,000.00+ 78%
$60,000.00+ 81%
$70,000.00+ 84%
$80,000.00+ 87%
$90,000.00+ 90%
$100,000.00+ 92%
$150,000.00+ 93%
$200,000.00+ 94%

It starts off pretty steep. And there are no tax credits for child care, earned income credit, etc.

This would certainly put a clamp on rich people, but we would have a lot of complainers at the bottom end.

NOT a single dollar was actually taxed at the preposterously high rates.

Posted by DFM on October 8, 2026, 11:38 am, in reply to "We could go back to 1944 "

Loopholes guaranteed that the rich paid at no higher rate than the middle class. Because of the depletion allotment, most oil barons paid ZERO.

Do you solid evidence to back that up?

Posted by BornToFarm on October 9, 2026, 3:23 pm, in reply to "NOT a single dollar was actually taxed at the preposterously high rates."

All I could find was that it was unusual for people to actually pay that rate. And that was AI, which is frequently wrong.

The really shocking part is the rates at the bottom. The beginning rate was 23%. Now days, that rate doesn't happen until a person has a really good job.

And, they only got a 10% standard deduction or $1000, whichever is less. Personal deductions were $500. A young married couple of only 2, started paying 23% when they broke $1200 of income.

See THIS book

Posted by DFM on October 10, 2026, 4:53 pm, in reply to "Do you solid evidence to back that up?"

https://www.amazon.com/Free-Choose-Statement-Milton-Friedman/dp/0156334607

Oh you poor dear..

Posted by BornToFarm on October 11, 2026, 2:44 pm, in reply to "See THIS book"

You couldn't back up your statement.

I should have known.

You should have known: Right. I misremembered my source. Apologies.

Posted by DFM on October 11, 2026, 9:33 pm, in reply to "Oh you poor dear.."

However, loopholes reduce the amount actually collected at high rates far below expectations.

Posted by DFM on October 11, 2026, 10:09 pm, in reply to "You should have known: Right. I misremembered my source. Apologies."

The average Joe has virtually no tax write offs. 28% period. The tax codes are a mess.,

Posted by GOG on October 6, 2026, 7:46 pm, in reply to "We could go back to 1944 "

Nowhere close to 28%

Posted by BornToFarm on October 6, 2026, 9:12 pm, in reply to "The average Joe has virtually no tax write offs. 28% period. The tax codes are a mess.,"

Median family (Average Joe) income in 2025 was $87,460. That is the point where half the families make more and half the families make less.

Standard deduction for 2025 was $31,500, leaving about $56,000 taxable.

If this were a couple, the first $23,850 was taxed at 10%. The last $32,150 was taxed at 12%.

Nowhere near 28%. And then there are credits for a lot of people.

High taxes helped us pay down the debt from World War II.

Posted by Ken C on October 6, 2026, 2:07 pm, in reply to "We could go back to 1944 "
Edited by board administrator October 6, 2026, 2:08 pm

Now USA has a big national debt for no good reason. We are NOT fighting any big expensive war. Why can't we all unite and work to pay down the national debt?

Now it seems like we are letting the national debt get out of control just to avoid taxing the rich more.

I don't hate the rich. I don't want to limit their wealth. I only want to raise their taxes so we can reduce the debt and help the poor.

Yes, and love the “us”.

Posted by GOG on October 6, 2026, 7:48 pm, in reply to "High taxes helped us pay down the debt from World War II."

We could.

Posted by 7:77 on October 6, 2026, 2:04 pm, in reply to "We could go back to 1944 "

But the rate pre-Reagan (and after the 1964 Kennedy/Johnson changes) was 70%. There were also many more brackets...greater granularity. That's probably where I'd advocate starting reforms.

Oppressive government IMO. 94% ??????

Posted by Mondo Fuego™ on October 6, 2026, 1:54 pm, in reply to "We could go back to 1944 "

If you made $200,000, you would get to keep $12,000, which would be worth about $63,000 in today's spending power, which is a sparse existence IMO.

Not sure what the answer is. Government spending and inflation are out of control, and it seems that no amount of taxation is going to bail out the federal debt. Then there's the state debt and public pensions.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!

IIRC, that rate started AFTER the first 200k.

Posted by 7:77 on October 6, 2026, 2:09 pm, in reply to "Oppressive government IMO. 94% ??????"

Marginal rate...and I think the beginning rate was about 14% then. That could even drop lower - that is, the lower brackets set so that lower-income working people would be much less likely to struggle to keep their heads above water even though they work full time.

In Today's dollars, that would be about $4M

Posted by BornToFarm on October 6, 2026, 9:23 pm, in reply to "IIRC, that rate started AFTER the first 200k."

The lowest rate was 23%, much higher than the 10% we have now.

Average income people don't realize how much lower their taxes are today compared to years ago.

We need to do away with tax preference items like, capital gains taxes (that will really hurt me), carried interest, and oil depletion, to make higher income folks pay. I am sure there are other preference items I don't even know about.

Exactly! The problem is not the entrepreneur spirit.

Posted by GOG on October 6, 2026, 12:39 pm, in reply to "Just go back to the pre-Reagan tax rates."

The issue continues to be government insatiable appetite for red ink. It cannot manage a balance sheet. Part of the problem is socialism. 20,000,000 illegals poured across the border. Free everything. I’m paying for that at the federal and state level. And of course the damned non-stop warfare. The MIC’s gravy train, blood money. So, its government and not the $billionnairs(sp).

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