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by dillondoyle 1773 days ago
I would say rhetorically that ex post facto (am i using that right? kind of like caused by definition) taxes on the ultra wealthy that don't achieve that aren't actually taxes that target the ultra wealthy, but rather just marketing.

I think Biden has tried get ahead of that issue with his no higher taxes on 400k pledge. We'll wait to see the reality though.
1 comments
refurb 1773 days ago
Biden's promise has already morphed into "household's making more than $400,000", not individuals.

Suddenly all those dual tech worker couples in Silicon Valley are wealthy!

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opheliate 1772 days ago
Context: According to [0], $400,000 is in the top 1% of individual income across the US. It's in the top 3% of household income within California [1] and top 2% in SF/Oakland/Fremont [2].

0: https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-calculator/

1: https://dqydj.com/income-percentile-by-state-calculator/

2: https://dqydj.com/2018-income-percentile-by-city-calculator/

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kortilla 1770 days ago
Right, this puts them in the category of lawyers, doctors, small business owners, etc.

It’s no longer a tax on the rich, it’s just a tax on successful upper middle class.

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dragonwriter 1773 days ago
Dual tech worker couples making more than $400k in Silicon Valley are wealthy, and always have been. There's no suddenly about it.

They aren't ultrawealthy members of the capitalist class, sure. But they are definitely wealthy, and pretending that they aren't is just phenomenally out of touch.

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kortilla 1770 days ago
“Wealth” is not income. Thinking like yours changes the calculus on if specialization is worth it.

Train for 10 years to be a doctor to make $400k a year for 10 years at 50% taxes or just work for 20 years at 150k at 30%?

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refurb 1773 days ago
I don’t disagree but plenty of people I know who voted for Biden didn’t think it applied to them.

$400k per year barely lets you buy a home in the Bay Area.

And regardless, what makes you think they’ll stop at $400k? That’s the point. Eventually a tax bill gets passed some couple making $150k need to “pay their fair share”.

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PenguinCoder 1772 days ago
Who cares about the price of a house in San Francisco when your income makes it a struggle to buy weekly food.

If you're talking about buying a house anywhere, you're already outside the "I'm poor" status.

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