I don't know about you but I am getting sick of the wealthy in this country

[LogDog75]

44. What standard is used to define who is wealthy?

Don't get me wrong, but we too often use ambiguous terms like "rich," "wealthy," "uber rich," to describe those whose assets run into the millions or billions. What we don't do is quantify what it means to be "wealthy." For example, I live and owned a home in a small city where the average housing price is over $2 million; does that make me "wealthy" or "rich?" For me, someone who is wealthy are those who assets exceed $10 million and who make over $500,000.

We, supposedly, have a tax system that is progressive so those who earn more pay more in taxes but in reality the tax laws are written to protect those with tens of millions/billions of dollars and not the average or lower income earners. I believe those should and must pay more in taxes since they tend to use their wealth to influence government officials at all levels to benefit themselves and others like them. So, if they're going to use their wealth to unduly influence government then the price for that influence is higher taxes on them. I'm in favor of the federal tax rate of 45-50% with few deductions for those making over $500,000.

I know there's been talk of a billionaire's tax that is, IMO, unrealistic. The problem is how do you identify the assets of a billionaire? Does anyone actually think they'll tell the government all their assets? For me, it would be best to raise the tax rate on these people with few deductions and at the state level, impose a 1 - 5% increase in state tax rate. That way, the tax wouldn't be a one-time tax and the federal and state governments would receive more money to address the needs of their citizens.