Bring Back the War Tax

[tecelote]

Is it even moral to profit from war? If war is business then it should be highly taxed.

Since WWII, business interests have tried to convince us that profit from war was business as usual. It seems we have bought in to it.

It's time we reintroduce the tax on war profits if for no other reason than to take care of our Veterans. However, the profits from war are massive and these taxes could help Americans in many ways.

Excess profits tax

In the United States, an excess profits tax is a tax, some say excise tax, on any profit above a certain amount. A predominantly wartime fiscal instrument, the tax was designed primarily to capture wartime profits that exceeded normal peacetime profits to prevent perverse incentives for manufacturers to engage in war profiteering and warmongering.

Snip...
The Korean War induced Congress to reimpose an excess profits tax, effective from 1 July 1950 to 31 December 1953. The tax rate was 30 percent of excess profits with the top corporate tax rate rising from 45% to 47%, a 70 percent ceiling for the combined corporation and excess profits taxes.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Excess_profits_tax

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Take the profit out of our wars and they will end tomorrow.

[SoCalDem]

1. Wars should always be voted on by the entire congress and if they say "WAR"

the have to provide 4 members of their family into the infantry..There would soon be NO more war

[tecelote]

2. Exactly.

As long as it is our sacrifice and their gain the wars will continue.

[n2doc]

3. Yep. Make the top 5% pay for it all

And you will never see another war of aggression. Guaranteed.

[TexasBushwhacker]

4. There should be no such thing as war profiteering

There should be no such thing as cost plus contracts. The DOD should be audited. All government contractors should be required to pay no less than $15 an hour, with benefits.

[tecelote]

5. You have my vote.

'Priorities are in the right place.

[3catwoman3]

6. So, right-to-lifers have been successful in blocking...

...their tax dollars being spent on abortion. I fanatically object to war, and so do lots of others. Can we please be extended the same consideration?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

7. LBJ got a 10% surtax to pay for his little venture in Vietnam to save us from the bogeyman.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/25/shared-sacrifice-war-taxes-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html

In 1968, a 10% surtax was imposed to pay for the Vietnam War, which raised revenue by about 1% of GDP. And there was conscription during both wars, which can be viewed as a kind of tax that was largely paid by the poor and middle class–young men from wealthy families largely escaped its effects through college deferments.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. An all volunteer military is disproportionately poor kids too

I don't know how it can be changed unless they just don't allow college deferments. The wealthy will always be able to afford to keep their kids from being shot at, even if it means sending them to another country, like a religious mission to FRANCE!