Divided indeed! The half that pays all the taxes doesn't want to give any more away to the free-riders. The half that doesn't pay wants the half that pays to pay more.
One definition of pure democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
“Americans Divided on Taxing the Rich to Redistribute Wealth”
It sounds like this is up for debate, or something, when the truth is that no matter what happens with the debt, tax cuts/hikes, entitlement reform, etc., the U.S. will never, ever go back to a time when “the rich” weren’t deliberately taxed in order that wealth be redistributed. No significant group of thought opposes it.
"Do you think the government should take more money from you, and give it to people who have behaved irresponsibly?"
Ask it that way and see how divided we are.
VIVA LENIN!! VIVA CASTRO!!!! VIVA STALIN!!! (sarcasm)
Maybe Democracy DOESN’T work. Maybe once the number of non-productive social parasites, spawned and supported by government hand-outs, grows to a critical mass, it can undermine the entire system and destroy those who work every day to fund with their taxes those selfsame social parasites.
3 guys on an island...
1 guy climbs a tree and grabs a coconut...
the other 2 guys vote to take it away from him.
Yup, that’s democracy for you.
To clarify these poll results
47% think they’re going to get something for nothing
and 49% know they’re going to give up something for nothing
EAT THE RICH! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=661pi6K-8WQ
The olde system which allowed voting ONLY by white male property owners provided a better answer.
Shifting away from that time tested standard has, predictably, brought about the present situation; the takers desiring the belongings of the makers.
The remedy is for the makers to cease production of goods, payment of wages, etc.
The much maligned Laffer Cure wil come back into discussion.
Years ago, high taxes and fees drove the Yaght builders out of business (or forced them to move), producing less, not more revenue for the states involved.
I suspect if they asked respondents whether they believe the government should be allowed to take the money they earn and give it to whomever they want, the answers would be very different. It’s always easy to give away other people’s money, the “rich,” especially when you’re the recipient.
These results concerning Big Brother using taxation to redistribute wealth and the differences by party affiliation are oh so predictable! The poll is pretty much much about a major tenet of socialism. This is a question that pretty much separates the socialist from the anti-socialist about as well as any one question can.