His ■■■■■■■■ is so bad it doesn’t even stink. 
Thomas is a real schnorrer. WASHINGTON, June 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took at least three additional trips funded by billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow that the conservative justice failed to disclose, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee said on Thursday.
Does he ever open his own wallet?
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I wish I had rich friends.
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What do you have to trade for the free stuff?
When I had rich “friends”, I guess it was shooting skills and willingness. Work ethic maybe? Organizational skills?
But no seat on the SCOTUS. Too bad.
So what?
Come on now. You know what I mean.
My job was to keep them alive. Which is more powerful?
So in your opinion, spending money to influence the court is NOT having business before the court. Do you think the person investing in influencing the court has an interest in what the court decides?
According to a 2021 White House study, the wealthiest 400 families in the US paid an average of 8.2% of income in income taxes. The average across all the US was 13%.
White house study? Can you say narrative driven? Where is this mysterious study and the numbers they used.
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when you come up with something Thomas traded let us know.
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Well, the top 1 percent take home about 26% of all income generated in this country, which is a fair chunk. Their net worth is more than the entire middle class of this country, which is fairly massive. They own 2/3rds of all new wealth in this country as well. So, it seems they are doing very well these days and the divide is only growing greater. It’s a good time to be a rich person in this country, no doubt about it.
I don’t think having a minimum income tax rate above what a teacher or policeman typically pays would be too devastating to them. They game the system and pay less because they can afford accountants and know how to hide their income. But fair is fair and the country is treating them well.
This is what I’m talking about. A minimum rate should be in place for the ultra wealthy. Not exorbitant, but 15-20% isn’t unreasonable.
This isn’t one of those that counts appreciated assets that are not yet realized, is it? Because if it is, it needs to add unrealized appreciation of houses to income in the calculation for the 13%.
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That is exactly what they are doing, claiming unrealized gains as income.
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Stimulating conversation.
It’s not only my opinion, it’s the definition of “business before the Court.” An amicus brief is the equivalent of a being an expert witness in a criminal trial.
Then you should place your focus on those 400 families and not the 1% who on average pay 45.8% of the taxes in spite of those 400 bringing down the average for the rest of the group.
Here is something I just ran across:
"August 20, 2021
On Wednesday, the Tax Policy Center (TPC) released estimates on the portion of households with no federal income tax liability, finding that in 2020, about 60.6 percent of households did not pay income tax, up from 43.6 percent of households in 2019."
Increasing Share of U.S. Households Paying No Income Tax.
A lot of that can be attributed to COVID, and undoubtedly the percentage who pay no taxes has shrunk back to closer to the previous number, but the fact remains that close to half of wage earners pay little or no federal income tax. The rich are carrying over a quarter of the tax burden and the rest is proportioned out over the remaining 49% of the income earners. That 13% average you cited includes everybody, rich and poor.
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