The 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll found that 51% would support a tax of 50% on the wealthiest millionaires. Do you agree? (Poll Closed)

While I don't give much credence at all to polls, Americans do need a lesson in the Constitution and in economics....the primary reason that Americans enjoy the greatest standing of living in the free world and that we are the only remaining military superpower is freedom...freedom from the excessive taxation that has stagnated the economies of other countries around the world...freedom for entrepreneurs to take risks...save and grow their businesses and employ other Americans in the cause...freedom to give of their resources to those less fortunate... and the freedom to compete in markets that assure the most efficient allocation of resources...government control through excessive taxation destroys all of this...we must be conscious of the fact that the stage has been set to destroy our economic system...it is the tidal wave of over $40 trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities for Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security that will arrive in the next few decades in America...the CBO states that tax rates that are currently 25% will need to rise to 68% just to pay the increases in these programs...so if we do not reform and cut these programs, the 50% tax rate will be exceeded and not only for millionaires, but for all taxpayers in America thereby destroying our economy...

Wealth envy will destroy this economy. These results don't surprise me though since the bottom 50% of wage earners only pay about 4% of the income tax bill. It's a shame that so many people have such a poor understanding of basic economics. If they had a better grasp, they would understand how bad an idea "tax the rich" is.

I do not believe that the rich should be taxed fifty percent of their wages. I would not want to negate the fact that more than likely they are rich through hard work and ingenuity. However there are so many tax shelters available to rich and poor alike that ends up leading to the taxing of the middle class. The middle class has to eat a lot of the taxation for many of the programs that they themselves don't get to ever use, and to hear that we will not be able to take part in the one program that we as middle class have been paying for for the all of our working lives, social security, may not be available, that is even sadder. Hwat a shame that the middle class has to take the brunt of society's taxes to fund both the rich's lack of taxes and the poor's inability to pay taxes. It may be freedom, but in order to have some freedom everyone has to pay for it.

I wonder how many jobs the wealthiest people in this country have created relative to those who are standing around (correct that, sitting around) with their hands out wanting something for nothing............Further, we can thank our liberal "media" for even taking such a poll in today's current economic state. That's when envy is at it's worse.

What Mike said...

The people who vote "yes" in this poll are those that voted for Obama. These are people who want something for which they did not work; basically, something for nothing. These are people who voted for obama thinking, "If i vote for him he's goiing to take from them and give to me."

Here's my advice, GET A JOB.

The democrats float their wacko ideas through polls. They intend to tax us all in excess of 60%. This is their way of starting a one-way conversation.

I disagree completely. Our government should not decide who the wealthy are, because the government can change their definition of wealthy at any time. I feel all people are equal and should be taxed equally.

What, exactly, is surprising about this poll? I trust Vanity Fair conducting a poll on economic issues about as much as I'd trust Algore conducting a poll on the environment. It's all in the sampling, people - you have to know what you're reading.

Steven, you need to get your facts straight. The burden falling on the middle class is a media myth. The top 1% of wage earners pay 39% of income taxes collected. The Top 5% pay 54% and the top 10% pay 65%. So, the "rich" pay WAY more than their fair share and are way over taxed. It's time the people in this country learn basic economics.

It is disturbing that so many people in our society veiw wealth as some sort of communal pie in which we should all share equally regardless of the amount of effort put forth to obtain it. we must recognize the right of each individual to enjoy whatever he produces--and recognize that none of us has a right to something for nothing.

With all due respect to Steven Forster, his comment demonstrates ignorance of tax law that allows people to think it is ok to tax the "wealthy" because they have tax breaks and loopholes....the truth is that most tax breaks and deductions that the middle class enjoy, such as mortgage deductions, personal exemptions, and most other deductions are phased out as you make more money, until most high income earners end up with no deductions over $10000. Therefore, a 50% federal tax coupled with nearly 9% state tax, 3% medicare tax, local property taxes, 12.4% social security tax, and 9% sales tax would take nearly 80% of a wealthy persons hard earned income....as Mike said, what is the point in working. When you punish the producers, the producers stop producing, jobs go away, and the economy will sink to that of the third world socialist countries of the last century....is that what the bottom 50% want? I guess they want every one to be equal....equally miserable. God help the USA!

Most upper income people have worked hard and earned their money. We need a flat tax in this country. The current administration is encouraging handouts and laziness. How do we teach our kids to have incentive in this political climate?

This country has spent trillions of dollars to try to end poverty and as far as I can tell we still have the poor and in more numbers. All high taxes do is to create more poor (by destroying jobs), and more bureaucracy. If a man does not EARN it then it is of little VALUE to him.

Think of all the money spent on schools. The last numbers I saw indicated that the US spends more per pupil than any other nation. What is the drop out rate among the poor - nearly 50%! What is Washington and Raleigh's solution - more money!

As noted, this is a poll conducted by liberal organizations, and we know nothing of their methodology, which undoubtedly involves oversampling liberal respondents, but the results are still alarming. The liberal views of educators are showing up as "convertional wisdom" now after generations of drumming into students the evils of capitalism. A large proportion of the populace believes they are entitled to a good life rather than having to work to earn a good life. Most of those folks are Obamabots, mindlessly following, hand out, just give me money. Wealth distribution, as envisioned by Obama, actually requires that wealth be created. Unfortunately, in Obama's race to crush capitalism, wealth is will not be created, and we will all be poorer as a result. Poorer, but more "equal." Consider the 50% unemployment among youths, the falling tax revenues of every state and city with the inevitable postponement of roads and schools and other projects, the hopelessness setting in that not only will we see a "jobless recovery" but will experience high unemployment for years. Yep, Obama and the liberals are sure doing a great job of bringing hope and change.

When will the increased taxation stop? 50%? 75%? 100%? My guess is that as long as the sheep accept it, there is no end. The fact is, the government from the federal to the state and local, will continue to tax the rich and poor until we do something about it. The government simply cannot and has no reason to control their spending. Why should they? Who will stop them? The mass media is under their control. Voting does not guarantee it. Once some of the rhinos get into office, they begin paying off special interest instead of what their platform was.

We need more tea parties. People are learning. People are talking. People are listening. Maybe, for the first time, people are angry.

When you ask a certain group of people, you poll will reflect their opinion. I wonder who they asked, Obama voters, without a doubt, yes. When I hear or see a poll the first thing I think, what demographic did they ask? I never get calls or emails for polls? Do any of you responding against the 50% tax? What does that tell you? It speaks volumes to me.

Most of the comments have it right: the top 1% of earners pay 37% of the total income tax collected, top 10% pay 68% of income tax collected. And we need to tax them more? I'm not one of the top 10% or even 20% (I don't think), I am for a flat tax but that of course is not without its issues: it would eliminate a lot of jobs for CPA and reduce the size of the IRS, Horrors...

Exactly, this is the reason I have stopped working! I had decided that I have been subjected to unfair taxation all my working life until one day I said "NO MORE"! I am now in the process of liquidating my remaining investment properties and putting all my capital into tax free investments.

I can't tell you how many families I have supported in the past by creating jobs for people through my various businesses while I was being taxed for all my hard work. Now those businesses are closed and all those people had to find employment elsewhere. Basically, I have gone on strike! To all of you that support higher taxes for wealthier individuals, what are you going to do when they decide to do what I have done? Where are you going to find a "job"?

The constitution was amended to allow for an income tax on individuals and it is time to repeal that amendment! A persons wealth of any size should not be subject to confiscation by the government. Social engineering by tax policy needs to end now!

The greatest strength of a democratic system is that it is self-balancing. If a sufficiently large group of citizens perceives that benefits have mostly gone to one group, they can vote in a way that restores balance in their favor. I think that is what this poll shows, and the data support this.

Change the poll to ask if the people polled support a 50% tax on everyone and see what the results are. The people who voted yes are Obamanites and would sign up for anything he says. If the left wants to deepen the economic downturn, pass this law and you will see a real downturn. Who do people think create a large number of the jobs we have?

i've seen over the years that the more that you give to someone for free,the less they will work for anything.the people that want to tax the rich are the ones who don't pay taxes anyway.

Our deficit is too high, and the revenues have to come from somewhere. Poor people have nothing to give, so we have to get the revenue from the wealthy. This is not about envy at all; it's about balancing the budget.

This arguement based upon class envy is the same lie that brought us the Constitutional Amendment for the income tax. "Only 1/2 of 1 % , the richest people in US, would be taxed" "Why should a man work and work only to eek out a living while paying his bills to rich robber barons that are idle but reap the rewards"...Now time has marched on and every working man who is still eeking out a living and paying his bills is also paying income tax on top. What an ill concieved amendment, for in this one amendment it negates the rights of Americans. Your right to a fair trial to face your accuser is changed before the irs, they deem you guilty and you must prove your innocence IN THEIR SPECIAL COURT! Preachers must watch what they say, so freedom of religion and freedom of speech are infringed when the IRS threatens to take away their tax exempt status, the IRS makes criminals of private parties that agree to commercial exchange on their own, you no longer have a right to privacy of your papers and effects because the IRS can view it wll without a warrant...remember all the hooplah about Bush spying on Americans because we were intercepting foreign telephone calls? Well nobody seems to mind that the Federal goverment snoops through you bank records, employment records, court records, EVEN YOUR PURCHASES AT SAMS, COSTCO, etc . We have created an evil usurper of our rights all because people were sold "tax the rich people"..how sort sided, how much greed and envy is involved in that. We do it to day with almost every bill we pass before congress, and the Stimulus Bill, Healthcare overhaul, and Fannie May housing collapse is ALL class envy, same arguement. The land of opportunity is just that, it an opportunity to make something of yourself, but today we exchange opportunity for equal poverty and stolen freedoms.

I'm not surprised at all with these poll results, especially from a liberal rag like Vanity Fair. What's truly disappointing is that that such a large number of society's leeches think it's perfectly fine to hire an agency (government) to do something they probably wouldn't do themselves, and that's to steal the property of their fellow citizens and give it to them. This is far worse than asking something for nothing - it's legalized theft, and it certainly wasn't a main principal on which our country was founded. It's time to give serious thought to changing the last sentence of the Star-Spangled Banner to "land of the sheep" . . . Freedom seems to be a very foreign concept to many folks these days.

Of course the 60 Minutes Vanity Fair pole shows a majority of people saying they are in favor of the excessive tax rates on the wealthy. Since people of this wealth range are rare, those making less, which is a majority of the citizens, would LOVE for someone else to carry their tax burden. The simple minded pole results from these 51% reflects the fact they have NO understanding of how damaging these kinds of punitive taxes are on economic growth and prosperity. If you heard Limbaugh's "morning update" today, the point was expressed well.

Kathy, if our deficits are too high, maybe it is time to cut back on spending. What you are proposing is no different than if your children owe too much money, and you are too poor to help them out, then it is OK to rob your neighbor to give to your children. What you should have done in the first place is to teach your children to live within their means.

limbaugh is an idiot. making money off the feeble minded and enjoying it. keep drinking that drugster koolaid

"drugster koolaid", pratt? You must mean that admitted cocaine user, Obama.

Senior, I agree expenditures are too high, but I have yet to meet a politician who is willing to cut the programs that have enough funding to make a difference (military, social security, medicare, retiree and VA benefits). In fact, I have never met a politician who wants to cut a program that benefits his constituents. So, if they don't want to cut spending but we have to balance the budget, then we need higher revenues.

Kathy, we don't need higher revenue, we need different politicians.

Kathy, higer revenues will result from lowering taxes, not raising them, especially on the rich. Who cares though, I'm going to go on strike with Loafer because I'm tired.

Who is John Galt?

Kathy, the government could steal 100% of the income from the "wealthy" and it still wouldn't come close to taking care of the deficit spending, not to mention the national debt. Higher taxes on "the rich" are just a smokescreen, and very few politicians - whether D or R - have the guts to tell the truth. When 25-30% inflation kicks in soon, we'll all be wishing for the "good ol' days" of the Jimmy Carter years !

I remember those days, Mac. You had to shop quickly in the super markets so the price wouldn't go up from the time you took an item off the shelf to the time you went to the checkout. There were stories where workers would take items out of your shopping cart to reprice them. Price labels on top of price labels. Bar code scanning wasn't invented yet. ...Ah, the good old days of rationed gas, long lines at the pump, 16% interest rates on mortgages, double digit inflation and the Americans held hostage in the American Embassy in Iran.. What a great president we had in Jimmy "The Peanut Farmer" Carter! Those were the days my friend, we thought they'd never end.......

Kathy, do you know why you have never met a politition that is not willing to cut spending? It is because the only politition that you are willing to meet are the ones that are doing the spending-and you know why? Because assholes, like you, who admit to not taking the constitution literally (see Friday's poll), make them into polititians. And the reason that you do this is because you are a lazy bum who wants the government to take care of them more and more. Then you raise your children to do the same thing. THATS THE PROBLEM, KATHY.

Despite all the rage, WBT listeners are stills rats in a cage!

Dear RageintheCage,

You make a statement like that and you really think that you have added to the discussion? Are you trying to be funny, cute or are you so devoid of mental faculties that you have absolutely nothing to add?

@Loafer - I don't see you adding much to the discussion either. Let's keep commenting back and forth and see how long we can go on :)

Senior, you are right. That's why we have elections.

Mac, you are right. Only taxing the wealthy will not eliminate the deficit. We need to cut spending, too. In order to have an impact on the deficit, the cuts have to come from the largest areas of the budget. That means cutting military spending, social security, Medicare and retiree and VA benefits. Now, do you really believe there are enough politicians out there to vote to cut spending in those areas? I think not. We need new politicians who are willing to cut into those sacred cows. So far, neither Democrats nor Republicans have been willing to do that.

Willy, Willy, Willy, are you trying to set a record for how many ways to misspell "politician"?

RC, I second that!

Who is John Gault?

The looters are trying to ruin the producers.

If more of the WBT listeners stopped patting themselves (and the radio personalities) on the back and sat down and had a honest to goodness dialogue, things would be better in this country. White, black, democrat, republican, we're all human beings.

RageintheCage, How recondite, do you have a point to make or are you just bored?

No point, just bored. I've got to entertain myself somehow.

I really wish that everyone who supports a 50% tax on wealthy people would win a $1 Million lottery this week.

Then, we'll take 50% for income tax.
We'll take another 7%-9% for sales tax.
We'll tax whatever they buy with a property tax.
If they invest, we'll collect a capital gains tax.
If they give it away, we'll collect a gift tax.
We'll be sure to get them every summer with a hefty gas tax.
If they die and leave it to someone, we'll have an inheritance tax.
Don't forget Social Security and Medicare! Pay your fair share!
Of course, each one will need to make a substantial donation to charity this year - that is what most rich people do.
Now that the taxes are paid, and they've fulfilled their "moral obligation" to society, they need to pay OUR bills.

I wonder how rich those millionaires will be after they get their checks?

I have a right to a home, a car, an education, healthcare, food, clothing, cable TV, and just about anything I want at their expense. Hey, they owe me, because they are rich!

Kathy, I will take that as meaning; "You are correct, Will." Either way you can know this; You just got your ass kicked by a 19 year old. Also, you can add a category to your "need to learn" list: debating. This poll is a means for letting loose IDEAS, not practicing spelling, grammar, etc. I know how to spell-I just choose not to. Stick to the accusations, woman.

Willy, your age shows. Please point out where you present an idea. If it is worth it, I may respond.

You have got to be kidding me! Lets start with your comment: "I have never met a politician who wants to cut a program that benefits his constituents." Your ideology is to provide these "programs." Liberals spend, real Conservatives cut spending. You admit expenditures are too high, yet you continue to vote for those who continue to spend. What is your logic?

Willy, I am still waiting for your idea.

Why don't you answer the question?

I want the truth!

You can't handle the truth!

Willy, don't filibuster. Present your idea. But please don't regurgitate some worn-out conservative idea. I am looking for something new, creative, yours.

Kathy, you sound like obama and his worn out marxist speeches.

what really gets to me is that in the bush years we kept our mouths shut. and in doing so this world we call the land of the free, has been trun up side down. how to fix this problem ? i dont know. who can fix it ? i dont know, how long will it take ?i dont know. if we had more people who could admit there is a problem in this world that no one really knows the answer to fix it. just maybe then we can really think clearly. and find the answer.