Thread: Do you have the right to say that a “rich” person isn’t paying enough taxes?

Originally Posted by Ethereal

Your question does not make sense grammatically or contextually.

What was grammatically wrong in that question?
.

Originally Posted by drj90210

I find it infuriating when people who aren’t “rich” feel that they have justification to say that “rich people get paid too much and aren’t paying enough in taxes.” Do such people personally know every “rich” person on the planet on an intimate basis? Do they know each hardship and expenditure that each and every “rich” person faces? Of course not. Yet, it is commonplace to hear people exclaim that the “rich aren’t paying their fair share.” That’s BS of course, since the wealthy pay a disproportionately larger percentage of the tax burden.

It would akin to a White person growing up in the 1980s saying that, “Black people growing up in the 1950s Deep South had it really easy”. How is it fair to make such a generalized statement on such a broad cross-section of the population, especially when you are not a member of this cross-section of the population and have no first-hand experience to back up your assertion?

We know they're still rich, and we know that if they should pay more taxes, we can't expect them to advocate that plan for us. Right?

How can anyone have any problem with economic forms of discrimination under any form of Capitalism, but not Socialism?

Originally Posted by Unifier

People have the right to say whatever they want. But that doesn't mean it's true.

Legal right yes; moral right is a different idea.

What about the moral right to claim that the wealthiest should be paying the most taxes during any time of war, even our wars on abstractions?

In my opinion, merely paying for a War on Poverty or drugs on a generational basis, but not actually solving poverty should be considered for-cause criteria for higher taxes until the wealthiest convince our elected representatives to put words on formerly blank pieces of paper that have the effect of actually solving our social dilemmas and enact them with the force of law.

The simple answer to the OP is this, until we can completely revamp the tax code, the average consumer, small business (95% make less than 250K) and the poor cannot afford more tax. In fact, they cannot afford a sick hooker a hotcake. The only segment left are the wealthy who are doing quite well since the '08 bust. So, yes, we must tax them since there is no other revenue available and they are under-taxed to begin with.

In my opinion, artificial persons are the wealthiest and should be taxed the most.

Originally Posted by clarkatticus

The simple answer to the OP is this, until we can completely revamp the tax code, the average consumer, small business (95% make less than 250K) and the poor cannot afford more tax. In fact, they cannot afford a sick hooker a hotcake. The only segment left are the wealthy who are doing quite well since the '08 bust. So, yes, we must tax them since there is no other revenue available and they are under-taxed to begin with.

The poor don't pay taxes. The middle class is fine. They don't pay much taxes. The rich already pay more taxes, as they should. Overall, everyone can afford to pay more taxes to reduce the deficit, and invest money in better things besides drugs, casinos, and TV's.

Originally Posted by oldjar07

The poor don't pay taxes.

That is a bald falsehood. They pay sales taxes, excise taxes, gas taxes, etc.

The middle class is fine. They don't pay much taxes.

Two more bald falsehoods. The middle class pays the great majority of all taxes, and the increase in inequality, swelling the ranks of the poor, proves the middle class is anything but fine.

The rich already pay more taxes, as they should.

But they don't pay nearly as MUCH more as they should.

Overall, everyone can afford to pay more taxes to reduce the deficit, and invest money in better things besides drugs, casinos, and TV's.

One can always think of ways to invest more wisely. But that is not really relevant to the issue of where the tax burden should fall.

Originally Posted by oldjar07

The poor don't pay taxes. The middle class is fine. They don't pay much taxes. The rich already pay more taxes, as they should. Overall, everyone can afford to pay more taxes to reduce the deficit, and invest money in better things besides drugs, casinos, and TV's.

In my opinion, it is not so much that we have to pay taxes, but that many of our public policies don't actually provide for the general welfare and the general prosperity.