POLITICS: A breakdown on the effectivity of DOGE's illegal cutting of programs, and how much more effective tax increases on the wealthiest would be (even if much weaker than we've had previously)

For all the disruption these indiscriminate cuts to personnel are causing, how much are we cutting from the deficit? If we fired all of them, we would save 4% of the federal budget. That's every federal employee, being laid off.

These cuts are painful, but largely, theater, in terms of reducing cost.( In terms of material loss, they will be huge.) If you spread the cuts out equally over the year, it would be less than a half day's worth of savings. But you know what? I ran some numbers. Do you know what could HALVE the federal debt for the year?

Taxing all those who make over 652,000 at a 50% tax rate.

Currently their tax rate is ~25%, and that's not including investments, and borrowing against "worth", which is how much of the rich get things without spending money (which, I think taxing unrealized gains in that case makes a lot of sense. We are taxing unrealized gains now on normal citizens, when our property taxes go up for the current assessed value of a home, even when we haven't sold it), OR deductions. The actual federal rate for most of them is WAY lower than the means they are actualizing.

Did you know that from the thirties until Reagan came in, the tax rate for the highest earners was up to 90%?? Literally Reagan came in, and it was 50%. Here's some data:

1944-1945 (WWII): 94% top marginal tax rate on income over $200,000 (equivalent to about $3.5 million today).

1950s - Early 1960s: The top marginal tax rate remained around 91% on income over $200,000 (single filers) or $400,000 (married).

And I don't remember there not being rich people during that time, and there were plenty of mansions built. Even during that time, most high earners paid way less in taxes, due to loopholes. But the laws were there.

Currently, NOT INCLUDING DEDUCTIONS, the top 1% pay ~858 billion a year at their effective 26% tax rate, which many of them dodge since our judicial system is a pay-to-play system. Of course.

If they paid a 50% tax rate, much lower than throughout history, they would pay 1.65 trillion. The yearly running deficit is 1.6 trillion for 2024. If they paid a 50% tax rate, it would reduce that yearly deficit to 792 billion, effectively nearly halving it.

So why isn't DOGE saying tax the top earners more? After all, if they aren't benefiting from being a part of American society, why are they here? Why not run their businesses and homes from a coral atoll in the pacific, or mars? And if they are so concerned about our dropping birth rate, guess what: pay into a system that supports families, and it will be more likely to produce workers for your system. Or quit whining about us not wanting to bring children into a worse world.

Because they get much more from our stability and legal protections than they want to pay in. And I think it's time they reflect that. We already had a douchebags 1.0 with the robber barons, it's time to stop douchebags 2.0.