Jaerose,
The income tax margins were irrelevant in the 90s because the most successful made money from capital gains on the sale of their investments, not salary. Think Enron's Ken Lay got filthy rich on the 1st and 15th of the month? No, he got rich after illegally pumping up the price of his stock holdings and selling it. This is how most people increased their wealth in the 90s and this tax rate went down under Clinton and no one complained.Now some CEOs who got their tax cut got rich not by creating wealth through increasing productivity but by accounting dodges which no longer work are now clammering for tax cuts on dividends and income. Taxes are not a limitation on business innovation as Republicans would have you believe, its actually the incompetence of many businesses to increase productivity that's the true deterrent.
As far as you creating your own wealth, you don't deserve all the credit. Try creating your wealth in a third world country. You'll pay less in taxes I'm sure, but you'd have a hard time finding healthy, educated workers without good public schools and hospitals. Your products wouldn't move very far on dirt paths; you'd need a good infrastructure of paved road, rails and bridges. Crime and fire would probably would be a detriment to business without police and fire protection. The concept of private property wouldn't exist without an extensive court system to interpret laws and arbitrate differences. Your hard-earned tax dollars pays for all this and more. You'd have a difficult time creating wealth without any of these including transfers of wealth to the poor and working classes.
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Mongol General: ...Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!
Mongol General: That is good.
The income tax margins were irrelevant in the 90s because the most successful made money from capital gains on the sale of their investments, not salary. Think Enron's Ken Lay got filthy rich on the 1st and 15th of the month? No, he got rich after illegally pumping up the price of his stock holdings and selling it. This is how most people increased their wealth in the 90s and this tax rate went down under Clinton and no one complained.Now some CEOs who got their tax cut got rich not by creating wealth through increasing productivity but by accounting dodges which no longer work are now clammering for tax cuts on dividends and income. Taxes are not a limitation on business innovation as Republicans would have you believe, its actually the incompetence of many businesses to increase productivity that's the true deterrent.
As far as you creating your own wealth, you don't deserve all the credit. Try creating your wealth in a third world country. You'll pay less in taxes I'm sure, but you'd have a hard time finding healthy, educated workers without good public schools and hospitals. Your products wouldn't move very far on dirt paths; you'd need a good infrastructure of paved road, rails and bridges. Crime and fire would probably would be a detriment to business without police and fire protection. The concept of private property wouldn't exist without an extensive court system to interpret laws and arbitrate differences. Your hard-earned tax dollars pays for all this and more. You'd have a difficult time creating wealth without any of these including transfers of wealth to the poor and working classes.
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Mongol General: ...Conan, what is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women!
Mongol General: That is good.