Taxing the wealthy actually makes them more productive, not less.

[Winterblues]

The wealthy like being wealthy, they like it a lot. They will work hard to stay that way. If you take away some of their wealth they don't just quit because they suddenly have less, they knuckle down and work even harder because they REALLY like being wealthy..Taxing the wealthy does not take away their incentive, it increases it...Want to make the most productive in society even more productive, tax them heavier...

[Cassandra]

1. I wouldn't call the wealthy...

the most productive in society (some are, some aren't) but I agree otherwise.

[Winterblues]

2. I wouldn't either but the right wing does and this is a response to them.

Their entire idea is that taxes make people/business less productive, and I disagree completely..

[Oregone]

3. The mechanism that increases production through taxation is a bit mis-portrayed here

The rich will not "work even harder". I'm not even sure how you quantify that; you must build that upon the premise that they work "hard" in the first place.

Rather, the rich will seek business investments to offset their tax burden. They will convert liquid wealth into active investments to retain the largest share of their wealth as possible after-tax. The rich will find themselves with a choice of either giving their money to the government or turning it into business capital, and they won't have to think long about that. What will result is a widespread increase in production

[Winterblues]

5. By productive I mean they make more money, by work harder

I mean they expend more energy making more money. They will not stand for making less..Whether that energy is as you say finding ways to invest, or developing some new gizmo, but they certainly don't just quit and cry that the mean old guvment is taking all their money as Republicans would have you believe

[Oregone]

6. I wouldn't even go so far as to say they will expend more energy

They provide capital (mostly inheireted, or built from inheireted or seed money). Most do not labor.

If they need to convert liquid taxable income into write-offs, the rich do what they do best and hire someone to help them do so. The will not automatically make less whatsoever when you raise the tax rate if they merely manage their assets accordingly (there is no need for them to therefore make more).

They will have just as much time to sit at their private pool and get their toenails done. But their wealth will simply be growing quicker because it isn't sitting dusty in their bank accounts, but rather be injected straight back into the economy.

[customerserviceguy]

4. You're right

They'll work harder at screwing us out of more of what we've got.

History has told us that if you want to discourage something, tax it at higher and higher rates. But in this situation, the rich simply will have to cope, they did OK with the tax rates of the Clinton years, they'll do fine with the rates that hopefully our current administration and Congress have the courage to impose.