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Is America’s tax system fair?
The Coach's Team ^ | 1/17/18 | Amity Shlaes

Posted on 01/17/2018 8:32:25 AM PST by Oldpuppymax

Tax the rich some more. That recommendation comes from many politicians.

It seems obvious to tax the rich. We tell ourselves they won’t miss that little extra bit we take. And after all, it’s only right that they pay their fair share.

The technical name for taxing the rich more is progressivity. And it’s hard to oppose a concept that shares its roots with an optimistic word like progress. But this surface logic obscures some important truths about progressivity. So let’s stand back.

The first thing we see when we take our distance is surprising. It is that many people don’t know what progressivity is.

Suppose you pay five dollars in tax on your income. A rich man pays ten dollars, because he makes twice as much as you. This arrangement sounds like progress, right?

But that is not a progressive tax schedule. It is a proportional one—a true fair share. What was once known as the tithe, but is now commonly called now a flat tax. Under a flat tax, everyone pays the same rate no matter what they earn.

In the 1980’s a poll by political scientist Karlyn Keene suggested that Americans thought flat proportional taxes were fair taxes. And as we know from architecture and art, humans are wired to like proportionality. A progressive tax structure by contrast is actually disproportionate.

Progressivity resembles a flight of stairs. Each individual starts out at the bottom, paying the same rate, say 10 percent. When his income rises to a certain line, the taxpayer moves up a step on the staircase...

(Excerpt) Read more at thecoachsteam.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: incometax; incometaxes; nixon; politicians; taxcutsandjobsact; taxreform; tcja; wealth

1 posted on 01/17/2018 8:32:25 AM PST by Oldpuppymax
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To: Oldpuppymax

Flat tax.


2 posted on 01/17/2018 8:36:41 AM PST by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: Oldpuppymax

Plank #2 of the Communist Manifesto: A heavy progressive or graduated income tax, AKA “tax the rich.”

http://www.libertyzone.com/Communist-Manifesto-Planks.html


3 posted on 01/17/2018 8:39:50 AM PST by E. Pluribus Unum (<img src="http://i.imgur.com/WukZwJP.gif" width=800>)
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To: bgill

“Flat tax.”

I don’t see how anyone can dispute that.

Not on a moral, logical, economic, or any other basis.


4 posted on 01/17/2018 8:57:13 AM PST by Paulie (America without Christ is like a Chemistry book without the periodic table.)
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To: Oldpuppymax

Not if you actually PAY taxes


5 posted on 01/17/2018 9:02:12 AM PST by SMARTY ("Nearly all men can stand adversity...to test a man's character, give him power." A. Lincoln)
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To: Oldpuppymax

I wish we still had the income averaging.


6 posted on 01/17/2018 9:54:41 AM PST by BuffaloJack (Chivalry is not dead. It is a warriors code amd only practiced by warriors.)
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To: Oldpuppymax

Nope. It’s communist. It is heavy and progressive, just like commies love. I would go for a flat tax, or what’s called a fair tax. What we have now is just pure crap.


7 posted on 01/17/2018 10:31:16 AM PST by vpintheak (Freedom is not equality; and equality is not freedom!)
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...
Thanks Oldpuppymax. Flat income tax, high personal exemption, 2% sales tax, $10/bbl tax on petroleum products going in or going out.

8 posted on 01/17/2018 10:46:29 AM PST by SunkenCiv (www.tapatalk.com/groups/godsgravesglyphs/, forum.darwincentral.org, www.gopbriefingroom.com)
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To: Oldpuppymax

No taxation without representation, and the more you are taxed, the more you should be represented.

My idea is that everyone gets one vote, but then you get one additional vote for every $1K in income taxes paid to the feds and state.

So, a person who paid $12K in income tax would get 13 votes, the person who pays no income taxes would get 1 vote.

Let those who pay the taxes decide how the taxes should be spent.


9 posted on 01/17/2018 10:48:07 AM PST by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: Sergio
additional vote for . . . taxes paid to the feds and state

I've long thought that way. But have taken it a step further. You pay up as you go in to vote. If you want more votes, you pay more as you go in.

10 posted on 01/17/2018 11:08:40 AM PST by T. P. Pole
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To: Oldpuppymax

Tariff to offset and/or replace income tax. Tariff are the most non progressive tax that there is plus it promotes US industry, win win.


11 posted on 01/17/2018 11:10:50 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
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