Must disagree! The whole point of a "progressive" tax is to punish the "rich". Progressives do not see Government as a "provider of services". They see Government as a provider. The entire intent of the "Progressive" movement is shown by;
"1. To change other people by having them adopt the Progressive vision of middle class
behavior and thought...this particularly applied to issues of recreation and leisure, the
status of the family, sexual orientation and behavior. Progressives sought to revive a
sense of Victorian family and social values early in the twentieth-century
2. To end class conflict between the "have's"(the privileged class) and "the have less," (or
have not)
3. To effect a measure of control over big business
4. To segregate society into groups, based on occupation (labor, management,etc) race,
sex (laws protecting women insured secondary status in employment), and immigration
status. Segregation of the races was seen by Progressives as a method of stabilizing
race relations.
Four Main Goals of the Progressive Movement are-
1.Protecting Social Welfare.
2.Fostering Efficiencey.
3.Moral Improvement.
4.Economic Reform.
(Answers.com)
Progressives differed in their assessment of the problems and how to resolve them, they generally shared in common the view that government at every level must be actively involved in these reforms. The existing constitutional system was outdated and must be made into a dynamic, evolving instrument of social change, aided by scientific knowledge and the development of administrative bureaucracy. Presidential leadership would provide the unity of direction--the vision--needed for true progressive government. "All that progressives ask or desire," wrote Woodrow Wilson, "is permission--in an era when development, evolution, is a scientific word--to interpret the Constitution according to the Darwinian principle; all they ask is recognition of the fact that a nation is a living thing and not a machine." The Progressive Revolution in Politics and Political Science, (shows that Progressivism (seeks to) transform American politics. What was that transformation? It was a total rejection in theory, and a partial rejection in practice, of the principles and policies on which America had been founded and on the basis of which the Civil War had been fought and won only a few years earlier. When I speak of Progressivism, I mean the movement that rose to prominence between about 1880 and 1920.
(The Progressive Movement and the Transformation of American Politics by Thomas G. West and William A. Schambra)"
Furthermore, the entire postwar prosperity period 1946-1973 was defined by some of the highest income taxes in US history. If those tax levels were actually causing people to avoid investing the GDP growth seen over this period would not be occurring.
Its not staggering now? With projections to continue to grow! The numbers you cite are largely correct. Yet the deficit in 1989, though a large number was somewhat of an insignificant increase. The 1980 deficit was 2.65% of GDP and 1989 was 2.78%. The GDP grew from some five trillion to just over seven trillion
Your argument seems to more closely approximate the "Progressive" system of Wilson. This would not be good for the country as indicated above.
You are going to have to define "significant period". In looking at the debt data for the last century the national debt grew in 46 of the years. And the longest run of the debt reducing has never exceeded four years
Yet in that same period of time the number of people in the "middle class" and the group above that has increased, as well as the level of income! Covering exactly 30 years from today is difficult but 30 years from 2008 is 1978. Per capita income was $6,455 (1978 $), or $19,556 (2008) $). Per capita in 2008 $26,964. Using IRS data the people in the top 10% of earners increased by five million from 1986 to 2006. Those in the top 25% group minus the top 10% grew by three million. Miniumum income for the 10% started at $48,656 and grew to $108,904. The top 25% (minus the top 10%) minimum income rose from $32,242 to $64,702. So not only did the income rise but the number of people in each group also rose, significantly!
That is a direct plank from the "Progressive" agenda. Only Government can make the social "boo-boos" better.
I believe it was the message that generated your response about hidden monies. There exist a tax strategy that has been shown capable of returning all of that "hidden" money to the banks inside the country. As well as bringing back the companies that are now offshore as well. Not only that but will influence foreign companies to locate their operations here. It also will increase the tax base, by favoring no one!
The Mellon study sounds interesting do you have a link to it?
Getting hard figures for this kind of data is next to impossible but there are those that try to figure it out!
"Data on the value of wealth held offshore is hard to come by since neither governments nor the international financial institutions seems either able or willing to research the global picture.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS)1, an institution controlled by banks, records bank deposits by country. According to their estimates, in June 2004 offshore bank deposits totaled US$2.7 trillion offshore out of $14.4
trillion total bank deposits. This means that approximately one-fifth of all deposits are held offshore2. However, this figure relates solely to cash. It
excludes all other financial assets such as stocks, shares and bonds, and the value of tangible assets such as real estate, gold and even yachts held
offshore as well as shares in private companies. These assets are typically controlled through offshore companies, foundations and trusts, the latter not even being registered let alone required to furnish annual statements of account. The value of these assets is therefore unknown and harder to determine.
In 1998, Merrill Lynch / Cap Gemini’s ‘World Wealth Report’ estimated that one third of the wealth of the world’s high net-worth individuals (HNWIs as banks refer to them) is held offshore. According to their most recent wealth report, the value of assets held by HNWIs with liquid financial assets of $1 million or more was $27.2 trillion in 2002/3, of which $8.5 trillion (31%) was held offshore. This figure is increasing by approximately $600 billion annually, which brings the current figure to about $9.7 trillion."
There is more but in summary;
Summary
Our research suggests that:
Ø approximately US$11.5 trillion of assets are held offshore by high net-worth individuals;
Ø the annual income that these assets might earn amounts to US$860 billion annually;
Ø the tax not paid as a result of these funds being held offshore might exceed US$255 billion each year.
http://www.taxjustice.net/cms/upload...f_Offshore.pdf
Originally Posted by DuncanONeil
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