Commanders Post at The Warpath - View Single Post

JoeRedskin · 10-20-2011, 08:52 PM

Taxes are simply the overhead we pay for living in a society that (1) is subject to the rule of law; (2) operates under an essentially free market capitalist system; and (3) recognizes the interdependence of citizens within that society.

There have been many "tax the rich" threads/discussions before and I am not going to rehash the research but, for all the loopholes, the top 10% of income earners pay about 50% of the federal government's income. Those may not be the right percentages, but you get the gist. A small minority of individuals is subsidizing the funding that benefits us all.

I got no problem with a progessive tax system. The more you benefit from a system that promotes and protects your ability to create and retain wealth the higher proportion of your created and protected wealth you should pay. With a flat tax rate, the underlying assumption is that we all benefit equally from the taxes collected i.e. a person making 25,000K receives a value of approximately 10% from the government performing its function as does a person who makes 250,000 and a person making 2,500,000. I would humbly suggest, however, that a person making 250,000 or 2,500,000 receives a significantly higher proportional benefit from living in a society ruled by laws and supporting a free market economy than the the guy making 25K. There is a reason that the US has one of the highest ratios of millionaires per capita - it's a good, safe place to become rich and that should be worth a proportionally higher premium than being safely poor.

With all that said, I think it's a rough balance. When does "paying overhead" in proportion to your ability to accumulate and retain wealth become straight up "wealth redistribution" - I'm just not sure. I'm okay with the system in place - I think it needs some tweaking but, in general, everybody's paying taxes of some form or another (sales tax, licensing fees, etc.) and those that make the most, pay the most.

The biggest problem is that for the last 20 years we have spent vastly beyond our means and somehow that deficit needs to be made up.

10-20-2011, 08:52 PM	#12
JoeRedskin Contains football related knowledge Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Second Star On The Right Age: 62 Posts: 10,401	Re: Whats Fair When it Comes to Taxes? Taxes are simply the overhead we pay for living in a society that (1) is subject to the rule of law; (2) operates under an essentially free market capitalist system; and (3) recognizes the interdependence of citizens within that society. There have been many "tax the rich" threads/discussions before and I am not going to rehash the research but, for all the loopholes, the top 10% of income earners pay about 50% of the federal government's income. Those may not be the right percentages, but you get the gist. A small minority of individuals is subsidizing the funding that benefits us all. I got no problem with a progessive tax system. The more you benefit from a system that promotes and protects your ability to create and retain wealth the higher proportion of your created and protected wealth you should pay. With a flat tax rate, the underlying assumption is that we all benefit equally from the taxes collected i.e. a person making 25,000K receives a value of approximately 10% from the government performing its function as does a person who makes 250,000 and a person making 2,500,000. I would humbly suggest, however, that a person making 250,000 or 2,500,000 receives a significantly higher proportional benefit from living in a society ruled by laws and supporting a free market economy than the the guy making 25K. There is a reason that the US has one of the highest ratios of millionaires per capita - it's a good, safe place to become rich and that should be worth a proportionally higher premium than being safely poor. With all that said, I think it's a rough balance. When does "paying overhead" in proportion to your ability to accumulate and retain wealth become straight up "wealth redistribution" - I'm just not sure. I'm okay with the system in place - I think it needs some tweaking but, in general, everybody's paying taxes of some form or another (sales tax, licensing fees, etc.) and those that make the most, pay the most. The biggest problem is that for the last 20 years we have spent vastly beyond our means and somehow that deficit needs to be made up. __________________ Strap it up, hold onto the ball, and let’s go. Last edited by JoeRedskin; 10-20-2011 at 08:55 PM.