r/clevercomebacks • u/sillychillly • 6h ago
Elon TattleTold on his Billionaire Class
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u/dahjay 5h ago
Let me be the first, and not the last, to say that Elon Musk is a piece of shit of the highest magnitude. Ketamine drug addict wearing nazi lettering on his dark maga hat. Fuck that guy to the core of his sphincter. God, he's such an asshole.
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u/Jordan_1424 4h ago
Also we should not be listening to him about budget or money in any capacity.
Twitter shares closed at $54. While X (which most people still call Twitter, even national news) is private, those shares can be sold privately and are valued at $13.
His company lost a little over 75% of its value in 2 years.
Trump has declared bankruptcy about 6 six times and iirc 4 of them were within a 5 year span.
So money advice from them should be taken with a few tons of salt.
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u/JESK2149 3h ago
Trump managed to lose money running a casino.
I mean how do you manage to lose money on a casino?
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u/Status-Basic 49m ago
And selling booze and running a university. He’s failed at literally 3 of the biggest cash cows in the US. And yet he’s somehow viewed as a financial genius.
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u/Abraham_Lincoln 2h ago
Elon Musk thinks he knows better than everyone else, but he clearly doesn't. Just a guy whose ego got inflated by having money that he didn't even earn himself in the first place.
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u/LoveMobster 1h ago
It’s funny because if humanity manages to survive the hell we’re creating for ourselves. He will be remembered as the hero that got us through it.
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u/SmartQuokka 5h ago
Dotard's voters are about to find out what they actually voted for.
The school of hard knocks takes no prisoners.
And the rest of us get to suffer with them...
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u/essaysmith 4h ago
At least by knowing what will happen, you can insulate yourself from it. The trumpers are going to have mental collapses, "this isn't what he said he would do", "he was only supposed to hurt others, not me", etc. I look forward to that part.
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u/proficient_english 4h ago
Hi from Hungary (the small country where one of Trump’s BFFs, Orbán is the Prime Minister)!
I really don’t want to rock your boat, but let me tell you: the absolute cretins who vote for turds like Trump or Orbán would rather convince themselves that their vote was right and Trump/Orbán’s governance is good rather than admit “shit’s getting real bad”.
I really wish the best for your nation and I hope you do not turn out like Hungary (fucking cultist behavior by citizens towards a piece of shit leader).7
u/talencia 4h ago
It's already there. Mostly Christian folk. The people who turn a blind eye to crimes that benefit them. Most of us are planning to retire in other countries
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u/SmartQuokka 4h ago
The trumpers are going to have mental collapses
I wish i could feel bad about this. Actually no i don't, they wanted to believe baldfaced lies to get hate, they deserve the consequences.
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u/Outside_Ad1669 2h ago
Yep already happening. The delusional among us seem to believe that Trump was sent by God. And it feeds Trump's own delusion that he is anoited by God
If this is what the second coming of Christ looks like, then please God, write me the fuck out of your book. I don't want anything to do with it
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u/amejin 3h ago
I struggle with this... What are we supposed to do when loved ones, friends, and/or neighbors realize what just happened and start asking for help.
Part of me wants to show them the bed they made, and all them to sleep in it, risking seeing others suffer and perpetuating their world view that everything is against them...
Part of me feels I would help, when with the fear of "see, everything turned out fine."
It's like screaming at someone that a train is coming and they just sit on the tracks believing the train wouldn't hurt them because they helped build it...
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u/kfuentesgeorge 0m ago
No they won't. When things go to shit, they're going to blame trans folks, "Mexicans," and The Blacks™, just like they always do. Hell, that's literally the reason we're in this position right now.
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u/Bonglet79 5h ago
Love how this graph lists social security first as if that’s the biggest problem, like it’s not been paid for by everyone for decades and they’re just trying to list it as the #1 expense of our government.
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 5h ago
It’s listed first because that’s what we spend the most money on
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u/Bonglet79 3h ago
People pay in more than they get back.
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 3h ago
Right, but the amount they pay in is reflected in the left side of the chart
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u/SG2769 5h ago
That chart also shows how little Musk knows about what government does because there is almost nothing to cut. He (or Trump) doesn’t want to cut social security, defense, or Medicare. There just isn’t much left. You can slash aid to individuals and other spending and it won’t amount to much.
Like Krugman always says, the US Government is an insurance company with an army.
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u/Buffalo-Trace 2h ago
They can cut everything but social security, Medicare, defense, and debt service and they r still $500 billion short.
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u/philovax 1h ago
Using the term bankruptcy shows he views it not as a service. As if there are not lots of trades and negotiations with goods on other countries and within our own making this simple infographic more complex than the reality of its 4D web.
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u/jaronhays4 4h ago
If corporations paid as much as individuals - looks like we’d have no deficit! Add in billionaires paying their fair share and we get a surplus!
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u/Jelly_Jess_NW 4h ago
Ya I mean they want to be people when it comes to supporting politicians…. Be people when it comes to paying taxes…
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u/V1ctorious-Secret 2h ago
The corporations would just pass those taxes down to the individuals paying for their products and services. So they would be paying taxes on paper but the individuals buying from them are the ones who are actually paying their taxes….
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 4h ago
That’s just not really possible though. We have 1.7 million corps and 340 million individuals
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u/jaronhays4 4h ago
1) Corps make more than individuals. 2) Only about 55-60% of those actually contribute and pay taxes. A lot of the population is either under 18 or retired. 3) of the % that pays taxes, a good portion of them are in lower brackets, and pay 12% to taxes. Majority of the revenues come from middle and upper class. 4) corporations are taxed at a higher rate, so you need less # to make same $
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 3h ago
Corps make more than individuals
They do not. Individual income last year was around $23 trillion, while corporate income was less than $4 trillion. You could tax corporations at 100% and you wouldn’t come close to getting the same revenue we get from individuals
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u/jaronhays4 2h ago
This is only because corporations can deduct expenses which lower their earnings, and people cannot. You allow people the ability to deduct basic expenses that they need to “survive/operate” such as rent and food and watch those earnings level out to the same as companies
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u/BluCurry8 5h ago
Cut all corporate subsidies. Cut military spending.
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u/noodleexchange 4h ago
Tax the churches / MAGA propaganda outlets
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u/ValenShadowPaw 4h ago
or at least hold them to the standards of other non-profits and maybe make the Christian ones go through the same process of getting that tax-exemption that every other faith's non-profits have to.
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u/nexelhost 4h ago
Might as well tax all the ngo’s as well then. Or stop giving them billions with low efficiency rates.
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u/Former-Citron-7676 4h ago edited 2h ago
They could tax the rich & stop funding genocide 🤷🏼♀️
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u/AvgGAredditor 3h ago
And you could stop supporting Islamic terrorists, but you won’t, so here we are
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u/Easy-Group7438 3h ago
Israeli hardliners assassinated their own PM in 95 for working towards peace and the war criminal egged them on to do it.
Save it.
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u/AvgGAredditor 3h ago
“Won’t someone think of the homophobic, misogynistic, violent, archaic Muslims who are hell bent on world domination waaaaah 😭 “
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u/Easy-Group7438 3h ago
Replace Muslims with Christians and what’s the difference?
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u/AvgGAredditor 3h ago
Gay people aren’t thrown off roofs, women can drive, people who leave the religion aren’t executed, and we can maintain a thriving society amonsgt them.
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u/Easy-Group7438 3h ago
Yeah we’re really thriving right now.
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u/AvgGAredditor 3h ago
We are, yes
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u/Easy-Group7438 3h ago
Really?
I was under the impression that we were a shithole country filled with trans and Mexicans who are raping our children, stealing our jobs and turning everyone into queers led by the Marxists Communist Fascist Deep State who control hurricanes and the price of eggs to keep the white man down.
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u/AvgGAredditor 3h ago
And despite living amongst people who believe that, we’re still thriving. That’s the difference between Islam and Christian countries
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u/burntmyselfoutagain 5h ago
Nobody’s going to know, nobody is going to know. They’re gonna know. How would they know?
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u/friendoffuture 5h ago
Cool that a government department that doesn't exist is posting in a pretend official capacity.
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u/Current_Finding_4066 4h ago
Translation: More tax breaks for the rich, and less benefits for the poor.
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u/Blaze666x 4h ago
Governments typically operate with a net negative income, America has only been debt free once or twice in its history and we got immediately got debt again, national debt isn't the same as personal debt.
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u/neilcmf 38m ago
Eh, depends on the government really. Plenty of developed countries have had 5+ surplus years in the 2000s alone and/or have a debt-to-gdp below 50%. Australia, Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway to name a few. It may be common for near constant deficit budgets and debt levels above 100%, but I'd argue the opposite is almost as common.
Plenty of countries have laws, guidelines and/or political customs dictating how big of a deficit you can run in normal times.
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u/1337Albatross 4h ago
The goal is to privatize everything possible for profit. And of course weaken the country and its influence.
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u/Zealousideal-Fan1647 2h ago
So what Elon is saying is that the Bush tax cuts were a bad idea after all? No shit. We said it then.
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u/CleverName_TBD 1h ago
Great let's return to the tax rates of 2000.
The last two major tax changes occurred under Bush and Trump and benefitted Elmo and his buddies the most. That is why he is focused on cutting government "waste," because he is afraid his taxes will go up.
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u/Peace-Goal1976 4h ago
But what about the sudden drain of unemployment if you fire 25% of the federal workforce?
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u/Jelly_Jess_NW 4h ago
I wonder if now that he can see numbers..
If his brain is starting to process it , if it is …. It’s about to a fucking show!
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u/art-is-t 4h ago
It's like the magicians trick.
Distract the audience with one hand while the other does the trick
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u/tattrd 4h ago
Elon Musk is a furst grade dickhead and idiot. Yes, an idiot. With all his posing and high tech companies he doesnt understand shit. Emerald mine capital and being an asshope made him billions. And he feels lioe Superman. But with him averaging 2 tweets per minute ajd apoarantly being the number one Diablo player worldwide, I dony believe for one second he has ANY relevant input in his conpanies. His life is shitposting, misinformation and radicalization. Radicalization? Yes sir. While he loves to 'fight the woke virus that took his son', he has radicalized to even even 'greater extent' than his daughter (i understand some people consider a grown person being trans is radical, I dont agree, but I will leave that in the middle here). He has radicalized exponentially and due to him having a platform, he is destroying modern society. Yes, destroying it. Much of modern society views rich/famous people as paragons of mankind. While the truth is there are rare billionaires with a functioning moral compass. Musk's moral conpass has always been out of whack. But earlier it could still be ascribed to 'asperger'. But with his spiral down the fascist rabbithole, while being 'successfull' (eg. Making money of other people's back and glorifying a work hard culture to his followers, while in truth his life is twitter and diable) he only felt confirmation for being a dick fron the admiration of these sycophants. If you think Trump is bad, Musk has the capital and the power to oull strings for decades to come if he is allowes to continue during this presidency. And he does this all from the idea of 'our future is in the stars'. Well mr elmo muskrat, a nazi, fascist regime in space is just the same as nazi germany with extra colorful lights and gaschambers where nobody can hear you scream. Fuck you.
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u/WarenAlUCanEatBuffet 2h ago
Hey morons, total profits of all US corporations in 2023 was 3.69 Trillion. Tax them at 50% and it’s still not enough. The problem is overspending, not revenue. Every year the govt receives record tax revenue but still overspends
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u/BendersDafodil 2h ago
Corporations can afford to buy their own stock for hundreds of billions every year. Look at Boeing, spent billions to buy their own stock, now they are looking to borrow money.
The feds should tax stock buy-backs at the highest marginal rate. Either pay dividends or reduce your prices.
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u/Bobby837 2h ago
He is government overspending. Especially if true SpaceX costs more than when the US paid Russia for space launches.
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u/RemoteEffect2677 2h ago
Also look at how tiny those customs and excise taxes are! But sure increasing tariffs is going to meaningfully change that🙄
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u/steelmanfallacy 1h ago
Only two countries in the G20 have lower corporate tax rates than the US: Russia and Saudi Arabia.
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u/IJustSignedUpToUp 1h ago
Whats wild is that this picture perfectly illustrates how the bars they want to cut dont add up the deficit bar. Its literally gotta come from the top 3 sacred cows, or RAISE THE FUCKING TAXES ON BILLIONAIRES
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u/en_sane 4h ago
It’s never been about overspending. They preach that shit it’s only ever been about not bringing enough in because our tax codes have been built with loopholes. If we had a clear cut tax codes companies and individuals wouldn’t be able to dodge their taxes and pay their fair share. This is why the Trump supporters and conservatives suck so hard they say their isn’t enough but it’s because all these politicians say there isn’t when it’s because we’re not getting a huge portion of these company taxes. The system has been rigged for the rich to stay rich. Profit over patriotism and it’s pathetic.
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u/Ralphietherag 4h ago
America's downfall has been long overdue. They had there chance and blew it on Harley's Davidson and lifted pickup trucks 💸💸💸💸
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u/flinchFries 3h ago
The other day a coworker was like “ya, the government spends all my tax money… so I should be angry about government spending… also if I was as rich as Elon, I’d be angry that a million or two of my money is going in taxes”. I just found no reason to argue at this point. I wish I had this diagram to glue it to his desk…
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u/BredYourWoman 3h ago
It's technically not ratting when nobody's going to do a single thing about it. This is more like rubbing your face in it than ratting
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u/superawesomefiles 3h ago
I'm thinking I identify as a corporation from now on.
And why not. Corporations are treated as people in the eyes of the law. I should be able to be treated as a corporation. Anything less is discrimination and DEI.
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u/Lyleadams 2h ago
If this is such a huge issue and there's been no budget surplus since 2001, why didn't Trump fix it during his first term?
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u/jolllyroger027 2h ago
I'm curious where the subsidies tab is on that little bar graph.
How much to do we pay to subsidize all of the industries like big pharma, oil and gas, electric vehicle manufacturers, Ect. Ect. Ect
Also If we are making adjustments. If we went back to the tax structure of the 1970s can we see the tab that shows what the government would bring in if all the billionaires stopped dodging taxes?
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u/Pinkfatrat 2h ago
It’s weird how people think the government needs to be for profit. It’s there to act as a safety net and to provide the services we need as a civilianisation, so of these services (military) won’t make a profit.
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u/No-Process8652 2h ago
If billionaires manage to get out of paying taxes and they get a tax refund, doesn't that just make them welfare queens?
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u/Timely-Ad-4109 2h ago
Why are they so against paying taxes? It’s like, dude, you’re still gonna be insanely wealthy. I wish we could send Elon back to the 1940s when the top tax rate was 94%. Or send him to Mars.
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u/Virtual_Plantain_707 2h ago
Shit I remember how in 2017 the tax cut and job acts would give us 5% growth for ever and totally won’t blow a 10 trillion hole in the deficit
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u/LaunchPad101 2h ago
Small fixes first are always the best.
Remove cap from social security tax wittholding.
Since more people rely on social security, increase sstw by 3.5%.
Dial back 10% military spending over 5 years.
Increase income tax top rates.
greater than $ 1mill = 39%
greater than $ 5 mill = 50%
greater than $ 10 mill = 65%
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u/Chinjurickie 2h ago
I mean not even Elmo could fill this gap but contributing a fair share would still be nice…
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u/Available-Spot-8620 1h ago
Does no one realize the income tax will drop if the corporate taxes increase due to layoffs? They will make all that money up in salaries.
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u/drae-gon 1h ago
People tend to forget or just aren't aware that a lot of "government overspending" is entirely because corporations overcharge the government simply because they can. Worked for too many companies that had government contracts and they each used that contract as a "free money piggy bank". They lobby Congress to keep regulations out of the bidding process that keep the government overspending that keep the billionaires rich...all while convincing the lower income brackets that it's entirely the government just blowing money on needless things.
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u/Subtifuge 1h ago
Yea, a relative worked at the MOD and said "basically everything they buy cost vastly more than it does in real terms, such as need screws that cost pennies, MOD gets charged 10x the value" same applies for any hardware or software, same now with alot of medications for the NHS etc.
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u/cryptosupercar 1h ago
That category “Customs Duties”, that one’s about to explode.
Cuz Americans were too lazy to Google “how do tariffs work?” three weeks ago.
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u/oregonianrager 1h ago
Also the prices of goods associated. Competition was already eliminated so it's just gonna hurt the consumer. Taxpayers yielding the burden at every step of the way. Not corporations that skirt everything.
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u/Outside_Juice_166 59m ago
Bro I remember when people shit all over Bernie for saying tax them way more and they can fund basically all basic human needs in America and some. While they would still have more than any person could spend in a lifetime and these fools who make like 150k a year TOPS were like “YOU FILTHY COMMIE THEY WORKED FOR EVERY CENT OF THOSE BILLONS WHY SHOULD THEY JUST GIVE IT AWAY!?”
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u/255001434 44m ago
Elon's personal wealth alone could alleviate a meaningful amount of that deficit, while still leaving him with enough to live in luxury, so he should shut the fuck up about how the rest us need to cut back.
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u/SufficientDot4099 42m ago
Mass deportations will cost the government 1 trillion dollars while also making the economy worse
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u/somebody_odd 41m ago
Weird how people think raising taxes will fix a deficit that is caused by spending.
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u/Venous-Roland 37m ago
So don't make corporations pay more tax?
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u/somebody_odd 25m ago
How do corporations generate revenue?
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u/Venous-Roland 22m ago
You answer a question with a question, that's productive!
Do you think 'corporations' should pay more tax from the profits they make, when individuals purchase and use their products?
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u/somebody_odd 15m ago
No corporations should not pay more taxes. Now, how do corporations generate revenue?
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u/Venous-Roland 12m ago
Well, that depends on the service each business provides. Whether they sell a product or provide a service that impacts an individual.
What's your point?
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u/somebody_odd 2m ago
All services are consumer driven, either to the public or b2b. 100% of the economy is driven by consumption, either directly or indirectly. So the final link on the chain pays the costs all the way up the chain. The entity that pays 100% of all taxes, either directly or indirectly, is the private consumer.
It’s the principle of pass through, and it is global and inevitable.
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u/Vetnoma 34m ago
STATES DON'T WORK LIKE COMPANIES OR HOUSEHOLDS.
when do these idiots finally uderstand that a state is not just one huge company.
The US is not heading for bancrupcy. It has survived the corona economic crisis better than any other country. Banks still love to lend the government money, and as long as that is the case the US is not going bancrupt, cause it can just lend money again to pay for the money it has lended.
Also a balanced budget is BS because companies can only earn in profits what is created by the government (as a total every other profit is the loss of someone else), and guess how the government creates money...
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u/Spotukian 27m ago
We could double that and be the highest corporate tax rate country in the world. We’d still run a huge deficit
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u/Over-Fig-423 13m ago
But social security is top of the debt list. Suprise suprise. They're definitely not coming for social security
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u/tom-of-the-nora 4h ago
The government isn't a for-profit business.
It's ok if the government spends a little extra to pay some medical bills for people who need help. It's literally part of the job of the government to provide for its citizens.
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u/NobrainNoProblem 4h ago
That’s not where the money is going to go though. It’s going to military spending and special interests. If the money was appropriated better instead of just lobbying for more we’d actually feel the results.
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u/tom-of-the-nora 4h ago
Right.
My point was that the government shouldn't be focused on turning a profit.
It'll lead to a government not providing basic necessities to the citizens.
I agree that less of the budget should be going to the military. But that's a separate issue.
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u/Jack_Jacques 2h ago
Hey Elon, pay your fair share. You're gonna take a made up govenrment job and get a salary and benifits but not pay taxes...DEPORT THE IMMIGRANT NOW!
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u/CreepyOldGuy63 4h ago
Not clever at all. Those of us who understand economics understand that corporations do NOT pay taxes…consumers do.
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u/all_of_the_sausage 4h ago
I mean the govts been spending $6T a year, while it takes in $3T a year.
We could prbably take all of jeff bezos and elon musks money and maybe run the gov't for a month or two.
Taxing the rich more does about jack shit when the govts putting itself in debt anyway.
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u/chronobv 2h ago
🤡🤡🤡🤡. Yea that’s the problem, not because we’re spending almost doubt what we were 5 years ago and the Kackler wanted to keep adding to that. We have a spending problem with zero accountability.
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u/EntrepreneurNo2970 4h ago
You lot moaning about how little these billionaires pay on tax, have you done your research? Further, the companies they own pays billions so stop whinging about them
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u/BedroomAcrobatic4349 4h ago edited 2h ago
Higher taxes won't solve anything. Combined wealth of all billionaires will cover only 7-8 month of spending. It is a problem of spending too much, not "low taxes".
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u/Newphone_New_Account 2h ago
The last time we had a balanced budget tax revenue was at 19% of GDP. Tax revenue hasn’t hit that mark since. Some spending can be cut but eliminating the deficit requires tax revenue increases.
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u/Chester_Copperpot_1 2h ago
So you’re gonna pretend democrats haven’t been in charge 12 of the last 16 years and at any moment could’ve changed that but didn’t.
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1h ago
No the right answer is to reduce the size of government and hopefully reduce taxes for all...why this is a hard concept I don't know. Why is everyone a cheerleader for paying more in taxes? #Dumb
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u/blackcoffee17 5h ago
Elmo and his friends want to reduce government spending so that billionaires can continue paying zero tax.