# Would you have bought a Powerball ticket with Bernie’s tax on it of 90% **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 14, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162 "2016-01-14T19:54:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/1 "2016-01-14T19:54:50Z")
A very simple question. Would you purchase Powerball tickets for a 1.5 billion jackpot lottery if the tax rate was 90% on the jackpot ? I am curious as to the answers. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/2 "2016-01-14T19:56:56Z")
Bad premise: > [@](#): > > SANDERS: So we pay for this by do demanding that the wealthiest people and the largest corporation who… > > QUESTION #3: Well, let’s get specific, how high would you go? You said before you’d go above 50%. How high? > > BERNIE SANDERS: We haven’t come up with an exact number yet. But it will not be as high as the number under Dwight D. Eisenhower which was 90%. But it will be-- (LAUGHTER) > > (OVERTALK) > > BERNIE SANDERS: I’m not a socialist compared to Eisenhower. (LAUGHTER) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/3 "2016-01-14T20:01:33Z")
How the hell am I supposed to feed my family on $150 million? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/4 "2016-01-14T20:03:55Z")
Even at 99%. That’s would still leave 15 million dollars. At the actual 50% rate he may be proposing I’d buy a ticket now and then for a much smaller jackpot. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/5 "2016-01-14T20:10:00Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > A very simple question. Would you purchase Powerball tickets for a 1.5 billion jackpot lottery if the tax rate was 90% on the jackpot ? > > I am curious as to the answers. Ask the right question first. Yours has a false premise. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/6 "2016-01-14T20:10:03Z")
Well, given that I didn’t buy a ticket under the current tax rate the answer is no. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/7 "2016-01-14T20:26:46Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > A very simple question. Would you purchase Powerball tickets for a 1.5 billion jackpot lottery if the tax rate was 90% on the jackpot ? > > I am curious as to the answers. Which “Bernie” are you referring to? Bernie Sanders never proposed any such tax, ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/8 "2016-01-14T20:30:33Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Would you have bought a Powerball ticket with Bernie’s tax on it of 90% So you define “Bernie’s tax” as the one tax rate Bernie _specifically excluded_? :dubious: Please report to the BBQ Pit and start a thread discussing your intelligence and intellectual honesty. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/9 "2016-01-14T20:41:34Z")
If we elect Bernie Sanders the government will be so bankrupted you would be lucky to get your $2 back. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/10 "2016-01-14T20:44:10Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > If we elect Bernie Sanders the government will be so bankrupted you would be lucky to get your $2 back. > > Regards, > Shodan Thank you for that bumpersticker-it was closer to being on topic than usual. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/11 "2016-01-14T20:44:31Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > If we elect Bernie Sanders the government will be so bankrupted you would be lucky to get your $2 back. > > Regards, > Shodan It’s true. Banks will close. Government employees will be hooking on the streets in order to buy food from the few grocery stores left open. The dead will rise from their final rest and feast on the blood of infants. Dogs, cats living together. I mean, I don’t want to be alarmist, but a Sanders presidency will unravel the very fabric of the universe. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/12 "2016-01-14T20:47:40Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > A very simple question. Would you purchase Powerball tickets for a 1.5 billion jackpot lottery if the tax rate was 90% on the jackpot ? > > I am curious as to the answers. Do you have a cite that Bernie has proposed a 90% tax? I’m no fan of the man, but that’s pretty ridiculous and sounds like complete horseshit, so why don’t you start by backing that up first? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/13 "2016-01-14T20:50:01Z")
Bernie’s highest tax rate is 120%. If you earn too much money, he plans to take everything you earned that year, AND sell off some of your property. But that’s only if you’ve earned between $100,000 and $10 million in a year (he’s after those six-figure fat cats, you know). If you’re at more than $10 million, the tax can’t be expressed in percentages, because he’ll take everything you earned, plus all your property, and then he’ll execute you and grind your body into a nutritious paste, which will be how he feeds all his college-aged zombie minions. I’m sorry, I’m straying from the OP’s question. Absolutely I’d buy the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/14 "2016-01-14T21:00:16Z")
To be fair, the socialist ninny in question has changed his mind, and is now admitting that his previous statement that [a 90% tax was not too high](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/26/3662773/sanders-90-percent-tax/) was either dumb, a lie, or both. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/15 "2016-01-14T21:00:24Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Bernie’s highest tax rate is 120%. If you earn too much money, he plans to take everything you earned that year, AND sell off some of your property. > > But that’s only if you’ve earned between $100,000 and $10 million in a year (he’s after those six-figure fat cats, you know). If you’re at more than $10 million, the tax can’t be expressed in percentages, because he’ll take everything you earned, plus all your property, and then he’ll execute you and grind your body into a nutritious paste, which will be how he feeds all his college-aged zombie minions. Um, no one ever said it would be nutritious. Now just go back to your bowl of twigs and low-fat sugar-free kale butter, hippy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/16 "2016-01-14T21:03:09Z")
I think the OP had demonstrated the idiocy of all those claims that high taxes would destroy the economy. Because the obvious answer is “Duh, of course I would.” Everybody would. Who would refuse to win $1.5 billion dollars even if there was a 90% tax on it? You’d still have $150,000,000 afterwards. Nobody is going to refuse to be wealthy just because taxes are high. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/17 "2016-01-14T21:11:20Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > To be fair, the socialist ninny in question has changed his mind, and is now admitting that his previous statement that [a 90% tax was not too high](http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/26/3662773/sanders-90-percent-tax/) was either dumb, a lie, or both. > > Regards, > Shodan To be fair, that’s not remotely what happened. If you need an explanation, of course, I’m happy to oblige. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/18 "2016-01-14T21:14:35Z")
The OP didn’t ask if anyone would refuse to win $1.5 billion. He asked if you would buy the ticket. A lot more people bought tickets when the jackpot was $1.5B than when it was $10 million. The bigger the payoff, the more tickets you sell. Ergo, if there is a 90% tax on something that reduces the demand for it. Put a 90% tax on high paid work, or investments, and Jack Kemp’s law goes into effect. > [@](#): > > If you want less of something, tax it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/19 "2016-01-14T21:23:40Z")
Anything above a certain number is basically Monopoly money. There is no substantial additional marginal utility to me of any dollar above $150 million, or for that matter $15 million. A dream’s a dream. I do play our lotteries, and the jackpot ranges from $5 million to $65 million (that’s as high as the Lotto 649 has ever gone; it has no official limit.) I always buy one ticket per lottery, no matter the jackpot. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162/20 "2016-01-14T21:32:34Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > A lot more people bought tickets when the jackpot was $1.5B than when it was $10 million. The bigger the payoff, the more tickets you sell. Ergo, if there is a 90% tax on something that reduces the demand for it. Put a 90% tax on high paid work, or investments, and Jack Kemp’s law goes into effect. What a pity - fewer people wasting money on the lottery. I’m not sure our Nation could withstand such a crisis. But even by your logic, if a few people want to buy lotto tickets to collect $1 million on a $10 million jackpot, more people will want to buy lotto tickets to collect $150 million on a $1.5 billion jackpot. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-have-bought-a-powerball-ticket-with-bernie-s-tax-on-it-of-90/743162.md?page=2)