Great Explanation of Faulty Capital Gains Taxes & Why We Gotta Stop This!

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An investment manager's view of the top 1%

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/investment_m

Guess who benefits the most from low taxes on capital gains? The people who earn most of their money on capital. That is the upper half of the top 1%, who are generally captains of industry, or come from the investment industry of our financial districts. Steve Ballmer get paid peanuts in salary (relative to his net worth). His real income are his hundreds of millions in dividend checks, which isn't taxed as regular income, but at 15%.

The reason why this is a concern isn't because the rich is getting richer. It's because the of the political influence the 0.1% have on the system. They were the ones who lobbied to have this tax code changed in their favor. They were the ones who lobbied to break up financial regulations that would have prevented the financial meltdown of 2008. The more influence these people have on policies, the more damage they can inflict on the greater economy. Just like too much risky leverage can destroy a bank. There's an orgy of evidence right in front of us with the financial collapse of 2008.

We need to get the money out of politics and put back the glass steagall regulations that keep our financial districts from falling on their own sword. Greed cannot be trusted to regulate itself. That is obvious. However, getting money and lobbying out of politics is going to take nothing less than a revolution.

The second best thing we can do is to expire this 15% capital gains tax, which is just designed to maintain perpetual wealth for the very few people who earn their entire living off of capital.