Last month, Hillary Clinton accepted the presidential nomination for the Democratic party. She gave a very inspiring speech at the Democratic National Convention. One particular line she said was:
“Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich are going to start paying their fair share of taxes.”
According to a recent Gallup poll, 63 percent of Americans think the distribution of wealth is not fair. In 1984, 60 percent of people said this.
Here is a diagram that shows what the wealth distribution is like:
Accurate depiction of wealth distribution vs. perceived wealth distribution vs. ideal wealth distribution in America pic.twitter.com/qm7CChmCPH
— Chronicles of Zen (@iAM_Zenn) May 11, 2016
For those of you who spend a lot of time on the internet, here is a chart that might be easier to understand:
Here is our wealth distribution of America depicted using cats and pizza. pic.twitter.com/QEbTDqc7wr
— ??? (@lindsayownsthis) October 20, 2015
The top tax rate right now is 39.6 percent. Between the 1930s and the 1970s, it was 70 percent. During this period, our country’s wealth was more evenly distributed.
In the ’70s, the economy slowed down and the income gap widen. The people at the top were making more money, and incomes went down for people in the lower and middle classes.
This is one of the most highly contested issues in our country today. Some people say that raising taxes on the rich will cause them to move their money overseas. They say that if the rich people can’t keep their money, then the economy will slow down.
These fears may be unfounded. With the top tax rate now, people are not creating new businesses with the extra money they are keeping. Historically, raising the top tax rate reduced inequality.
Where do the presidential candidates stand on this issue?
Hillary Clinton says that she will implement a “fair share” surcharge for multi-millionaires and billionaires. She will make sure that the wealthiest people are paying more than middle-class families. She is also in favor of tax relief for people who are facing ridiculous out-of-pocket costs on healthcare.
Donald Trump’s website doesn’t have fully written articles on all of the issues. There are just short videos of him talking about the issues. In the “Positions” section, he has a few more in-depth articles about certain issues.
He says in the article “Economic Vision” that he wants to limit business taxes to 15 percent, and lower taxes for everyone. He also wants to go from 7 tax brackets to 3. He also wants to “streamline” deductions. His “summary” of these positions ends with:
“Trump is the candidate of the future. Hillary Clinton is the candidate of the past.”
He doesn’t mention wealth inequality at all.
Here is John Oliver’s informative and funny take on the issue:
Image via Pixabay.
