That would certainly help. But as I just said on another thread, people are just going to have to come to terms with the reality that we are operating in a global economy. Wages have to go down some for average workers. We have to compete and that is a hard reality American workers need to understand. We have to get rid of unions and illegals. At the same time, you cannot simply make up for it by raising taxes on the top income bracket because they will just leave eventually and/or park the money offshore. We see that happening now. As for someone making 25-35k a year, they can afford to put a little into the pot and forgo the big screen tv. I am torn on the flat tax though. I do think we could keep a progressive system in place but the lower 50% have to take part and we have to get the rates down for businesses and frankly, stop taxing capital gains at all. Taxes were already paid on that money. If we did that and privatized Medicare and SS we would positioned to cpete and keep business here.
So, what is right about a progressive tax? Why penalize success? What about all that democracy and equality stuff?
As a nation, we are slaves to the tax code and it is the spoils tool of the politicians used to curry favor, show favoritism and punish rivals or threats.
Why a progressive tax? Who has the right to say that you or anyone else has earned more than his “fair” share and needs to have it confiscated out of proportion to his earnings? Do the successful get more benefits, use more of the roads or get better defense in disproportion to their earnings? If they pay for these things in disproportion why isn’t it “fair” for them to get more or a better deal?
True, we are part of the world economy but we are also not competing on level ground. Again, tariffs are the tools of politicians but in this case on a world stage.
If we are to truly be a part of the world economy we need to have a standard of living like the rest of the world that we compete in. Their labor can’t afford what ours does. Their dependents of the state not only don’t have what ours do, they have nothing and they die. World competition demands that you either lower the standards here, compete and produce more value per worker. The only other choice is wealth transference which will ultimately lower the standards here as well.
I have said that the wages in this country are too low and that corporations and the rich are keeping too much and it is because there are easy alternatives to cheap labor many of which are facilitated or even encouraged by the government. Those should be removed.