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The Tax Code and Retro Dave Chappelle Remind: Rich People Write All the Laws
I can’t find the clip anywhere – but I was once on Tucker Carlson’s Fox News Channel show.
Tucker – who is a genuinely good and nice guy – had me on to debate why rich people pay a lower tax rate than poor people.
Which occurs because rich people don’t pay the higher income tax rate. Because they set themselves up – to not make any income. They set up their remuneration – so as to pay the lower capital gains rate.
Tucker wanted to raise the cap gains rate. I began my response with something like “We can leave this segment arm-in-arm. By agreeing to lower the income tax rate – to match the cap gains rate.”
I explained that government is a shotgun – not a rifle. Raising the cap gains rate – would inflict a LOT of non-rich-people collateral damage. Like tens of millions of retirees cashing out stocks, selling their homes, etc – in order to, you know, live.
Oh: And the cap gains tax – isn’t indexed to inflation. Which is yet another advantage government gets – from inflating its money. Beyond just diluting the tens of trillions of dollars of debt they owe? They get to collect a LOT more on the non-indexed cap gains tax.
So retirees are paying a cap gains tax – on a house they bought in 1958. And was priced for 1958 – in 1958 dollars. $1 in 1958 – is $10.91 today. An inflated “increase” – of 991.01%. (more…)
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