Whoa!!!
As you yourself seem to realize, FICA taxes are NOT "income taxes". Words mean things. Please don't misrepresent the purpose of FICA taxes -- even if the government chooses to misuse them.
Yes, of course, everybody who is eligible for FICA benefits pays FICA taxes.
However, everybody who benefits from living in this country does NOT pay income taxes. Fact is, only about half do -- and half don't...whether they're actually earning income or not.
And these are the taxes that are supposed to pay for the government's basic operations -- including national defense -- which are of benefit to all. Why is it that only half of us are paying for these things -- and the rest are getting a free ride.
And, of course, that is not to mention the non-FICA entitlements -- food stamps, AFDC, etc. -- which benefit only the few, but are paid for by the enburdened half.
Moreover, you infer that people whose income might consist of "dividends, interest, capital gains, or rents" don't actually "work". You seem to have a very convenient definition of "work". Is it not "work" to manage a business and invest its proceeds intelligently? I mean, after all, people have jobs doing this -- are they not "working"? If one is doing it for one's self, is that not "work"?
And was not the capital invested in such ventures "earned" by honest labor -- i.e. "work"? And, as such, was it not already taxed as income once? And further taxed for FICA purposes. You honestly beleive that the term "unearned income" actually represents income which was, in fact, "unearned"? Nobody worked to achieve it?
Your presence on this board suggests a conservative mindset. Yet, with these populist, class envy opinions, you call yourself a conservative...???
“Yet, with these populist, class envy opinions, you call yourself a conservative...???”
I have no class envy. I am a major benefactor of the tax breaks granted to the wealthiest. I had my own business for 15 years in the 80’s and 90’s and was in the top 1% to 2% of earners for each of those years. I made enough money to retire in my 40’s and have not had any “earned” income since I left work 17 years ago. My income has come from rents, dividends, capital gains and interest.
I remember well when the top tax bracket was 70%, which was too high. Thanks to Reagan’s leadership, it was reduced to 28% But many forget that under his Tax Reform Act of 1986, he set the capital gains rate at 28%, the same as for the top income tax bracket. Now capital gains are taxed at 15% and many of our conservative leaders want to eliminate them entirely.
I don’t believe there is any brightline test for conservatives that says you have to support lower taxes on the wealthy. We want taxes to be fair. For many years, conservatives felt that it was unfair that the wealthy had to pay a higher tax rate, and argued for a flat tax. Now apparently, it is in style to say that the wealthy should not have to pay as much. This is where I agree with Buffett when he says, “It is class warfare, and we (the rich) are winning.” It is a bit incredible to me to hear middle income earners get so upset about the prospect of my having to pay taxes at the same rate that they do. It’s a mystery how this came about.