Posted on 11/25/2024 7:36:06 PM PST by econjack
One of the planks in the Harris platform was “The rich don't pay their fair share!” Really? In part, this plays on the emotion that most people don't like the rich. On the other hand, by-and-large, most people seem very supportive of the poor. Why is that? Were you hired by a poor person?
First, let's look at the “fair share” part. The “rich” (i.e., the top 10% of wage earners making approximately $450,000 and up per year) pay about 72% of total IRS tax collections. The top 1% ($660,00/yr and up) pay 40% of all taxes. The bottom 50% (about $45,000/year or less) pay less that 3% of tax receipts. Kind of makes one ask: “What is fair?” Fact is, the rich pay a disproportionately high level of taxes, while almost half the country gets a free ride. That's not fair either. Nobel prize economist Milton Friedman says a flat tax of 17% on individuals would be fair. Those who say millionaires pay no taxes, under a flat tax they would pay $170,000 on each million they earn. The tax code would be so simple, you could file your tax return on a postcard.
Another common theme is to cut taxes on individuals and make up for it by raising taxes on corporations. One flaw in that: Who do you think gives the corporations the additional dollars to pay those higher taxes? The consumer does. That's what the gov't does: Take money from one group and give it to another group. It doesn't really produce anything; it simply redirects dollars from one use that you and I like and redistributes it to some other group that it likes. Personally, I think I can spend my dollars better than the gov't can.
This is a fatal flaw the Democrats make when it comes to economic policy. They want the distribution of income to be more equal. And they see the policies to accomplish that as goal as a zero-sum game. That it, giving more dollars to one group means fewer dollars for the other group: net gain...zero. A simple example can illustrate this.
Suppose we think of the economy as a thousand dollar pie and there are only two people to share the pie: you and me. At the moment, lets say I have $800 of that pie and you have the remaining $200. The democrats typically suggest they want to tax me, say $50, and give it to you. I now have $750 and you have $250. You've had an increase in your standard of living and I've experienced a matching loss in mind. The pie is still $1000 hence, a zero sum game. Now consider an alternative.
Suppose there are no taxes and that, instead of giving it to the gov't and then giving it to you, I invest as much as I can in new plant and equipment because I think the investment will be profitable. Let's say the business is a good one and I make $100 on my investment. Now the economic pie is $1100. I take my 80% of the pie (or $800 + $80 profit) and you take your $220 share of the larger pie.
Note, we did NOT change the distribution of income, our slices are the same relative size. However, we both came out ahead because economic growth increased the size of the pie. It's not the distribution of the pie that's important, it's that both of our standards of living increased! An economic policy that promotes economic growth creates new jobs and greater output to be shared among the system's members.
Raising taxes on corporation and individuals is typically self-defeating. Just ask the leaders in Venezuela, Cuba, South Africa, India, and dozens of other nations who thought they could survive by raising taxes on the rich. Consumers and corporations tend to prosper more under low tax rates than high tax rates. Indeed, the Laffer Curve shows that lower tax rates often leads to large tax receipts. This was the case with the Kennedy, Reagan, and Trump tax cuts.
And for those who bitch that people like Bezos make too much money forget he wasn't always rich. Instead of living a lavish life style, he plowed the profits back into Amazon and expanded the company. And in the process, he lowered the cost of many goods and services we all enjoy. So until you provide food, clothing, and shelter for more than 250,000 souls, I say sit down and STFU.
Graduated income tax was designed to keep Jews and Irish (the up and comers) out of the country club.
What did socialists use before candles?
Electricity.
Truth be told, corporations are uncompensated tax collectors for the IRS. Those taxes are collected from the customers who buy the goods and services from these corporations. Anyone with a brain should understand this simple concept. Raise the rate on corporations, and you raise the cost to the consumer.
You might have some great ideas and thoughts but why not just spell out “government”?
The late Walt Williams, RIP, was advocating for poll tax.
Everybody just paying the same amount of money.
He made good arguments that this is the most fair tax.
Graduated 🎓 income tax is an excuse for the Fed to set out on an inflationary economic policy. It’s called bracket creep. Inflate income earners into a higher level of taxation. Uncle Ron taught us that.
Another good way to cut taxes is to cut spending.
If you don’t spend so much, you don’t need as much taxes.
Class warfare. Sounds good and plays toward a clueless base.
Someone said the poor don’t create wealth.
Just a common abbreviation I use. I’ve written 20 books and use proper English there, but I consider writing here to be more informal.
As I understand a poll tax, it’s a fixed amount which makes it a regressive tax. That is, the percentage of one’s income used to pay the tax decreases as your income goes up. To me, a proportion tax is the most fair, since everyone pays the same percentage of their income to the tax.
I would also love to see Trump come out next January and issue the following Executive Order:
Effective tomorrow, every gov't agency and program, save the military and social security, will see their budgets cut by 10%. Those savings will be directly applied to the current US deficit. I expect the administrators of those programs to perform at current or higher levels of service. Those who cannot do this will be replaced by someone who can. Have a nice day!
These discussions always amuse me.
Imagine you were a shop-keeper in Al Capone’s Chicago.
What is the “fair tax” you should pay to Al?
Lol.
Poll tax means everybody pays the same, fixed amount of Tax, regardless of income. Seems fair to me.
The uniqueness of the American experience is the ability to move up and down the social/economic ladder.
This has been our heritage (MAGA) and it still exists, but it is a remnant.
The centralized govt is the major problem. Focus on moving power back to state and local.
There are Dummies over at the DUmp who work for the government and say there are mass attrition by retiring going to happen, as if that is going to screw us over because they’re so essential and hard working.
I can provide you a link if you want.
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