> I don't understand why everyone is saying the government is giving money to the rich. > The money is earned by these people.....it's their money
I had a friend that used to work for a small hedge fund. They had six people. The owners - two guys that spent most of their time playing golf, two money managers, a secretary and someone else - maybe an accountant. My friend told me what he did as a money manager. His daily recap of his portfolio consisted of 10 minutes going over charts in the evening. He had a lot of free time during the day to visit prospective clients, company heads and do radio shows.
I've made a lot of money last year and this in the stock market. It is a little bit of work but the rewards are way out of proportion to the amount of effort put in. My real job is more interesting and more real work and it actually contributes to building a product that is sold all over the world.
Is the government giving away money? It sure feels that way. You just have to know how to take it.
Companies that make things - I think that people, rich or poor, earn their money. There's a lot of activity that just moves money around. I don't know that it really does that much for the US. Perhaps folks in the US out-trading people from other countries or making deals for innovation are worthwhile.
Dstark and I used to have discussions in this area. I think that we agreed that Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison both earned their salaries. Especially when they were getting $1 per year. There are lots of other CEOs in the hall of shame though.
I agree on the problems of entitlements but we've gone down a path where it is really hard to turn around. We're all hoping for some magical growth to create millions of jobs. No, green energy isn't going to be it.
I know, it weirdly cracks me up when saying that people can continue to pay taxes at 35% (plus their state and medicare rate) instead of raising the rate, is "giving money to the rich." Okay. I think the truly wealthy don't pay those sort of tax rate anyways, they pay much lower capital gains rates.
And they don't mention that the people with trusts and good lawyers find a way to not pay estate taxes at all.
It is the entire philosophy that any money you earn, whether through risk or work, is not yours. It completely belongs to those who govern, to decide what they will allow you to keep, and what they will spend.
I don't understand why everyone is saying the government is giving money to the rich. The money is earned by these people.....it's their money.........the government is taking their money away in the form of a tax. After the Democrats and news media say it enough times, the average American actually agrees or believes it.
Plus they never mention that estate taxes are double taxation.
The more this government spends on social entitlements, the more its citizens come to expect it. The appetites just grow bigger.
So you knowledgeable stock traders out there....I have a small amount of money in an account to gamble with. What do I gamble? Does the market go up or down (and I'm sure alot depends on those tax cuts).
Man, these people (both sides) are on a spending binge even I can't believe. Though continuing the tax cuts can't really be considered an additional cost, it's just money they aren't bringing in. It's merely a temporary continuation of the status quo, so when they put it as a "cost", I say, huh?
But gee, let's just throw money at everyone. It's not like we're in debt or anything, right? Though it could help to stimulate the economy more.
