>>>>>>>>>No kidding today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed.
>>>>>>>>>I got into the restaurant and again no kidding my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference--just imagine the coincidence.
>>>>>>>>>When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in
>>>>>>>>>disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight.
>>>>>>>>>I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I 've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful.
>>>>>>>>>At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more.
>>>>>>>>>I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>You might try this experiment yourself
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>The waiter earns over 250 grand?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I guess you missed the speeches recently where 250,000 went to 200,000 and then 150,000...? It keeps going down. His original tax plan was 40,000 but that changed pretty quickly. It will be interesting to see when he is in office what the final point will be.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>You're right. I did miss it. Still, picking on a waiter, who is probably living lean, for supporting Obama is about as petty as it gets.
>>>>>
>>>>>You take the story in too literal way. Try to be more flexible and look in perspective. When "ultra-rich" (by your side definition) get taxed more they have to change their spending habits. It may include less restaurants and lower tips. Would it affect waiters?
>>>>
>>>>The story seemed pretty literal to me, but maybe it was meant as allegory. If so, I don't think it was a very useful allegory.
>>>>
>>>>How it will change the lives of those earning over 200M (or whatever) in the long run will, I suppose, depend on how large a tax is involved, whether or not people will be able to find ways to avoid paying it, and how the economy itself moves along. I haven't seen anything to suggest what the size of the tax might be (could be I missed that too).
>>>
>>>I just typed a reply to another message that has some estimates. Also, I gave some information in another post this morning about my personal tax/income situation that not necessarily unique.
>>>Actually, as you maybe missed, the major point is that reduction in 'top-level' discreationary spending will affect every person negatively unless this person is in completely dependent state, i.e. welfare recipient.
>>
>>Increased taxes always affect people negatively. The real question though, is whether it will affect people negatively enough to change their lifestyles. I suspect we are about to find out.
>>
>>Marcia, for example has already stated that she intends to earn less deliberately so she won't have extra taken away from her to be redistributed. Sounds a little like cutting off one's nose to spite one's face, but people make decisions that make sense to themselves and to their own lives. On the other side of the ledger though is the fact that more money may become available for spending by those who spent less out of necessity until this change.
>>
>>I doubt that how this all pans out is quite as predictably black and white as many people seem to fear.
>
>Sadly, history has proven that to be untrue. The tax rebate distributed this year did not go out to spending on the economy as it was hoped it would. Most applied it towards revolving credit not towards purchases or entertainment.
Here are a couple of very interesting opposing links. The 2nd one does a better presentation (which does not necessarily mean it's more accurate).
http://branjen.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/comparison-of-democratic-and-repulican-economies/http://donttrustthisguy.com/2008/09/13/150/
