# In a nutshell what's wrong with this country: "Elon Musk Throws a S--t Fit Over the Possibility of Being Taxed His Fair Share"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-nutshell-whats-wrong-with-this-country-elon-musk-throws-a-s-t-fit-over-the-possibility-of-being-taxed-his-fair-share/953357>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 28, 2021, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-nutshell-whats-wrong-with-this-country-elon-musk-throws-a-s-t-fit-over-the-possibility-of-being-taxed-his-fair-share/953357 "2021-10-28T05:52:01Z")\
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**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2021, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-a-nutshell-whats-wrong-with-this-country-elon-musk-throws-a-s-t-fit-over-the-possibility-of-being-taxed-his-fair-share/953357/215 "2021-10-30T15:02:17Z")

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> [@Oredigger77](#):
>
> But just as every old person bitching about losing their home due to property taxes going up discovers its stupid to charge taxes on the value of an asset that doesn’t put cash in your pocket

Rebutting an argument which has, as its basis, America’s wealth inequality and the silly arguments the wealthy wish the middle class to believe, with a counter which has a _different_ example of America’s wealth inequality and the silly arguments the wealthy wish the middle class to believe… is not the rhetorical win you may think it is.

Why do the old people lose their homes?

1. In Texas, the state is funded by property and use taxes, no income taxes.
2. Their incomes have been increasingly depressed vis-a-vis the wealthy since 1975, so that a middle class person now earns _only_ $8,000 a year more than they did in _1975_, adjusting for inflation of course, while a 99%er had their income increase $504,000.

I would argue that we are better served to have a society where grandma and grandpa can earn enough surplus income throughout their lives as to easily afford those property taxes but Reaganomics took that away from us to the tune of a $50 trillion wealth transfer to the 1%.

Cite on point 2:

[https://www.rand.org/pubs/working\_papers/WRA516-1.html](https://www.rand.org/pubs/working_papers/WRA516-1.html)

[![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51394269043_925a5af977.jpg "Rand") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/51394269043/)

Cites for ‘Reaganomics took that…’

[![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51641717768_fdbd21187f_b.jpg "Reagan") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/51641717768/)

[![Imgur](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51642353585_e0f19e76c8_b.jpg "Reagan") ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/68782016@N08/51642353585/)

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