Everyone does pay taxes to some extent.
You seem to be suggesting more taxes need to be paid to a wasteful, reckless spending corrupt government.
Those on the lower end incomes or fixed incomes are being squeezed to death, with skyrocketing food, gas and increase of nearly everything going up except their incomes. The government knows this, and why their going after the wealthy, who can obviously survive the hit as opposed to those who can't even afford to fill their gas tanks.
Would it not make more sense to dramatically reduce the size of government and radically cut government spending, cutting government programs at all levels, giving even the wealthy a break?
I think the idea that EVERYONE should have some SKIN in the game is correct.
The game is our gov’t and their spending.
Here’s a horror story coming to a country under your feet.
Q. Who are the top 3 EMPLOYERS in the world ?
Answer:
1. The India railroad
2. The Chinese Red army
3. The UK Health Services
Where do you think the US will fall ?
“Would it not make more sense to dramatically reduce the size of government and radically cut government spending, cutting government programs at all levels, giving even the wealthy a break?”
Absolutel. And this time let’s not make our usual mistake of putting the cart before the horse and giving ourselves a tax break before we cut spending.
Of course it would be important to reduce the size of the gov’t. We can all agree on that. Yes, people pay taxes in other areas, but they are usually consumption taxes like sales tax, etc. The vast majority of revenue from taxation, however, comes from the income tax. If 50% of the people aren’t paying a red cent there, then they have no skin in the game. Meanwhile, the 50% of us that are paying income tax are paying through the nose because we are paying for 100% of the people.
Look, I get there are fixed incomes, etc...that’s part of the point. Taxation is a penalty in many ways, so a little penalty for everyone would get people pissed off. That’s what I want. I want EVERYONE pissed off at the gov’t waste that is going on, but when you don’t pay any income taxes, you don’t care about gov’t waste because you aren’t paying for it. If suddenly a fixed income person has to spend $250 on income taxes, you can bet your ass that they are damn pissed off when their money is wasted because now they have skin in the game.