I think the top third of taxpayers should pay 25%, the middle third 15%, and the bottom third -- all of them -- a token payment of 5%.
I have come to regard Bush's elimination of all taxes for such a large proportion of the poor to be a mistake. They do not feel invested in the nation in the same way as the rest of us. To them, government is merely a giant pinata to be beaten until it showers them with free goodies. Much better to make it one modest line item on the family budget, to which they will pay close heed when pandering politicians promise them the moon.
-ccm
Your “simple logic” makes a great deal of sense. But, of course, the Dems would demagogue it to death (see my tagline) and drone on about payroll taxes (the looming disaster that they refuse to recognize or engage on).
Bush has made numerous mistakes tactically with his various programs and efforts. Reducing so many millions altogether from the taxrolls probably was a mistake but now the Dems are faced with trying to undo those tax rate reductions and in the inevitable spillover to who gets dragged back into the tax code. They just seem completely ignorant to the “unintended consequences” of their actions.
“I think the top third of taxpayers should pay 25%, the middle third 15%, and the bottom third — all of them — a token payment of 5%.”
That makes sense to me.
Someone (Mellon?) came up with the low tax rate on upper income that fueled the roaring 20s. He asked the highly affluent of his time how much they would be willing to pay in taxes and it was around 20%. He figured that anything higher would lead to efforts to shelter income, etc.
On the low end, I think there is merit in having EVERYONE pay some of the expense of Government. We ALL benefit from having a nation, and that takes some level of expense. A case can be made that the poor benefit the most.
Better to be poor in America, than anyplace else. The national socialists of the 30s (NAZIs) would have exterminated them. The international socialists of the same time (communists) would have worked them to death in labor camps. Even today, it’s much better to be a poor American than, for example, a poor Mexican.