Liberals: How do you define "rich" and how do you define "successful"?

Everyone should pay the same percentage in taxes. Let's make it across the board, no write offs, no loop holes.

The rich is the same no matter where they are located, sir. (Bill Gates or the Saudi Prince)

Success is an individual definition.

I am successful but I am not rich. I have accomplished most of what I strove for.

I am now retired, I'm happy and I am enjoying my life immensely

Yes, everyone should pay the same percentage tax. However those who fall below a certain income should pay a much lesser tax or none at all.

For example those who earn less than $10k/yr.

There is a base minimum that an American must have to live in this country without having to sleep under a bridge or something

I'm a Libertarian, so I have a fairly unbiased view. Conservatives generally believe in upholding older moral views, but as far as government is concerned, Republicans have increased it's size, even though Republicans and conservatives are "against" exapanding government. Conservatives are generally thought of as the working class and the hicks in the sticks (people have that wrong though, most "rednecks" are democrat here in Alabama anyway, because they favor the entitlement programs). Liberals are thought of as caring people and very open-minded (which is less true than one might think though, just take a look at some of the liberal's answers to this question). Liberals generally favor big entitlement programs. Both have their faults and when it comes to politicians, they are all so screwed up it hardly even matters anymore. But just because someone labels themselves as liberal or conservative, it doesn't mean they agree with everything on their side of the fence. Personal experience can change a lot of that.

"Rich" is not an "either you're on the boat or not on the boat" quality. I am much more "rich" than the fellow living under a bridge but much less "rich" than the folks living in penthouses. If you are looking for a "natural breaking point" where almost everyone falls clearly on either one side or the other then the wealthiest 0.2% of Americans would be considered "rich" with the rest of us range from very poor to very well off indeed. The "rich" would be those who enjoy a TAXABLE income of several millions of dollars year after year, with no end in sight.

Beware of people who define "success" in terms of material wealth. They lack character.

Rich and successful can have both qualitative and quantitative variables.

You can be rich in love and support, although this cannot be valued, hence not taxed.

You can be successful career wise, but that doesn't always translate into wealth, which can be taxed.

Tax should be applied to actual income earned, taxed on a progressive basis.

Everyone should be taxed the same percentage on the same amounts of income.

(ie. on the first $100,000, everyone should pay $x at y%. After that tax rates go up, say to 50% on the rest of the income earned.)

Elected ones define "rich" as anyone making enough to pay taxes and "successful" as being elected to Federal office.

Obama's definition of rich:

200k/year for individauls

250k/year for couples

My definition:

Being capable of retiring from work while maintaining a reasonably comfortable standard of living.

As for how much they pay in taxes:

You may find it unfair that the rich have to pay a higher percentage in taxes but quite frankly "sympathy for the rich" is not an effective campaign message because the world has bigger problems.

I think that question is relative. Everyone has a different opinion about what "rich" is or what "successful" means. You can't ask a question like this to liberals or conservatives and the tweeners because you'd get 300 million different opinions.

How to define "rich and successful?"

Politician.

They're all wealthy, and very successful at raising our taxes and squandering our money---particularly when it benefits their cronies and special interests (and themselves).

Have you ever seen a bunch of greedier people than Congress?

Not content with wasting our tax dollars, they overspend, borrowing from other countries, mortgaging the future or our country, our children, and our grandchildren.

And the rich get richer, the taxpayers get poorer.

rich people i would tend to lable as people who make so much money.. that common necessities are not a financial burden to them ..

ie they can pay cash for a house.. they can have as many cars as they want.. they dont care what the price of gas is.. most dont drive themselves anyway.. they dont care what th4e price of food is.. because their cooks cost more than the food does.. they generally have employee's working for them in their personal life.. as opposed to workers hired to support a business.

if someone works a 40 hour workweek.. they should be able to afford a house.. a car.. .. children .. be able to support a spouse.. afford college education for their kids.. health care for their family etc.. mabye even have a few dollars left over for some sort of quality of life items or activitys. in the 50's and 60's this pretty much was a reality.. as the GREAT social program called the GI BILL .. pretty much created the modern day middle class in america. it created a wealthy america.. (thank god for social programs)

now how much taxes should these people pay? .. not so much.. that they can no longer afford ANY of the things i listed above.

this means the tax burden should be scaled.. so that those who can afford to pay the most.. without effecting their lifestyle .. SHOULD.

and those who are below the poverty line .. should pay none.

working .. middle class.. has been getting screwed.. steadily since the 60's.. by greedy people who are destroying life in america.. turning us into a slave/prison state.. with fewer and fewer people living the dream.. and more and more slaves to serve them..

the goal.. and direction of the repulbican plan.. is to give all hte money to one person.. and everyone else slave for them.. thats the end game for all the republican propaganda .. misinformation and lies. tho this wont realistically happen.. it has been the trend for the last 40 years.. and it's destroying the middle class in america.. what made america great....

now .. cus we dont support education (except for rich) india and china graduate 10x as many engineers as america does..

now cus we dont support health care (except for rich) americas health care is ranked with the healht care in third world countrys

it's all going down the toilet.. cus of greed.. the super rich who dont care about the country or the middle class.. who are richer than EVER in history.. .. while the middle class bleeds out.

greed didnt make america great.. social programs did. the middle class did.. a decent weeks pay.. for a honest weeks work.

republican trade policy has been and is:

trade american jobs for ceo compensation and severance packages..

this has wiped out much of america's industry sold off for immediate profits (thus large bonuses) with an economic wasteland resulting.. and no jobs.. we canot sustain america's wealth.. by paying executives off to sell it off to communists etc.

the last power we have.. the military power.. will fall too.. we will be out designed.. out produced.. and out gunned. in our childrens lifetime.

but the "rich" wont care.. they will jsut pack their bags.. move to china or india.. or some other first rate country (when america becomes third rate) and bribe their politicians there.. to bring their countrys down too..

we could call this.. " the american way " .. but it's perhaps more aptly named the new world order or "republican way"

taxes should be based on ability to pay.. those who have reaped the best of what america has to offer.. the ones who own 90% of the wealth in america.. should pay 90% of the taxes...

and that's not the poor SOB who goes to work 40 - 80 hours a week.. yet cant even afford health care.

I define "rich" as someone who makes way more money than they know what to do with, not always deserved....

look at how many bad actors and models have a billion dollar portfolio...sheesh.

successful is someone who has accoplished just about everything they wanted to do in life and then some.