Raise Minimum Wage? Progressive Taxes? Let the Rich Decide!

There is so much debate over whether the U.S. should raise the minimum wage or make income taxes more progressive. I say we should just let the rich people vote on what to do with their money.

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"The Rich Also Worry about the Wealth Gap" from CBS Money Watch:

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About half of America's millionaires favor boosting the federal minimum wage, which stands at $7.25 an hour; only 38 percent oppose giving low-income workers a raise.

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Meanwhile, about 41 percent of millionaires are against raising taxes on the country's top earners, while 44 percent said they support the idea.

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The rich seem to know what is best for their money; it's about time we let them decide what the U.S. does with it.

Are you suggesting I vote Republican? Those guys would ruin my union, and I would be the worse off for it....even if I did make a slightly better minimum wage than I would now. Plus I would cost the government more since I likely would be on Medicaid instead of private insurance. Nobody on minimum wage can even afford Obamacare.

I'm not suggesting anything.I'm pointing out that even many of the wealthy see wealth inequality as a problem they are willing to spend money to fix.

Yes, but the way they try and fix things never benefits the ones directly below them on the economic ladder. They will usually spend their money wisely...creating jobs for the poor...so that they end up with either cheaper labor or more efficient social programs. There is no such thing as true equality, in my mind. There is always competition. Always people on top and people on the bottom.

I agree - give them one vote apiece, just like everybody else.

I'm not sure why this topic is so difficult for you, Phat.We have had plenty of threads here that dealt with wealth/income inequality. The method to fixing the problem has always been higher pay for regular folk and higher taxes on the wealthy.The article tells us that even many (though not a majority) of wealthy people agree with this. The point is that it is not us versus them; it's us plus a good chunk of them versus a small chunk of them.I think the observation offered in the article leads to a lot of interesting questions, such as: if the solutions are so obvious and even a large number of the wealthy seem to think it would be good to pay their employees more and be taxed at a higher rate, why are we still moving in the opposite direction? Or: if so many wealthy people think wealthy people should pay more taxes, why do so many poor people think they shouldn't?Edited by Jon, : No reason given.

The rich have always been willing to give a little to the poor and middle class in order to prevent a revolution. Their only concern is how little will they need to give this time.They are rich because they -- or their parents -- stole the profits from the workers who made it.EnjoyEdited by RAZD, : .

Bullshit.

I suppose you don't think that the grocery workers at your local store are worth much more than minimum wage.

The reason the ultra rich are so rich is because they are incredibly effective at make money for themselves.I would suggest that they are the last person to ask.

(1) read your history -- the real history, not the pap in school textbooks ... A People's History of the United States (2) perhaps you can tell me why one person's time is more valuable than another's? When someone works for you, every hour they spend means you do not have to spend that hour doing that work -- isn't the value the same whether you do it or someone else does it?Enjoy.

This is not a zero-sum situation.Example: without Bill Gates, what would all of those workers have done? Crossword puzzles?

Build computers for someone else, obviously.

You think Bill Gates started from nothing? He had a very privileged childhood. Chances are without his family's wealth he would not have been able to achieve what he has achieved.

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His father was a prominent lawyer, and his mother served on the board of directors for First Interstate BancSystem and the United Way. Gates's maternal grandfather was JW Maxwell, a national bank president.

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Bill Gates - WikipediaDo you think just anyone can attend Lakeside School?

I keep asking you, "Does Donald Trump work a thousand times harder than I do?" and you never answer. Does he work harder than Dillinger?