The Rich Really Do Pay Higher Taxes Than You

What is best for people is definitely not to support them from cradle to grave. This will result in laziness and low productivity, and eventually lead to mass poverty. This isn't very good for the nation as a whole and I don't support it. When people are just being supported and aren't working for anything, they also tend to feel a lack of purpose and depression. Another reason to oppose it.

We definitely shouldn't be trying to push any kind of justice with our tax system. If there are wrongs to be righted, then we should use laws to do that instead.

We should use taxes to pay for things that benefit the country as a whole. We should set up our taxes to minimize the harm they bring to the people in general. Generally when the things the taxes pay for are better for the people than the harm the taxes bring to the people, and there aren't alternatives that are even better, then those taxes should be done. Else, they should be done differently or not at all.

 

Good. Thanks for the honest conversation.

Don't you think that the federal obligations, and the fact that nearly 50% of our country doesn't contribute to the cost of them, would also impact people negatively?

But we do. In trying to create solutions, we have instead created environments where people elect not to work for fear of losing government benefits. It is not uncommon for people to evaluate government programs as a means of "winning" handouts from the government. All the while, people who rely heavily on the government aren't obligated to the costs. That's a problem. I am all for social safety nets, even progressive tax schedules, but we are way past what the intent of these programs was.

So long as those things are authorized to the federal government to provide per the constitution I agree.

 

The low-income people who aren't paying income taxes are contributing to other taxes like payroll taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, and property taxes. Most other taxes hit the poor harder than the wealthy. These people also are barely getting by financially. Taxing them more wouldn't get us much revenue anyway. Maybe we really need to be asking why much of the population isn't earning enough to pay income taxes.

Instead of giving people free money to help them scrape by we need to fix the problems that produce so much mass poverty, and also realize that some people aren't going to get their lives together and its ok to let them figure out their problems for themselves.

 

I did 't see any rates posted by you. Where they in ended in a link?

 

Message number 28

"Contrary to the narrative that seems to be forming on the political left, the U.S. federal tax code is very progressive. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the lowest-income 20% of households have an average federal tax rate of about 2%. Those in the middle 20% pay 14% of their income in federal taxes. Higher-income households face higher rates. The top 20% pay a 27% federal rate. And the federal tax rate for the top 1% is 33%. These data are for 2016, the most recent year available.

This is half of the story. When assessing the progressivity of the U.S. federal system, it makes sense to look at both taxes and the means-tested transfer payments — Medicaid, food stamps and Supplemental Security Income — that those taxes fund.

If you subtract these payments from federal taxes paid, the tax rate for the top 20% of households (including the top 1%) is unchanged, as those households don’t receive means-tested benefits. The tax rate for households in the middle 20% drops considerably, from 14% to 9%. And the rate for the bottom 20% of households plummets to minus 70%. Those households receive $49 in transfer payments for every $1 they pay in federal tax."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rich-really-pay-higher-taxes-123005474.html

 

Ok! But why is the first sentence so partisan? Then the second sentence says "According to the nonpartisan Congressinal Budget Office." .....bllah blah blah. An article which is supposed to be a statement of facts does not need a partisan preamble. Not saying that the rates noted are wrong but with a partisan opening I would be suspicious.

 

Only 5 states have no sales tax. https://www.thebalance.com/states-without-a-sales-tax-3193305 While it is inevitable that some will bother burning fuel in the equivalent of the savings in sales tax, hunting to find the place that doesn't charge it, it isn't the norm. Some sales tax can also be deducted on Federal income taxes, if you itemize. https://www.thebalance.com/sales-tax-deduction-3193004

Again, paying sales tax on what you spend, is less damaging then an income tax on your earnings.

 

Quote: Clinton's tax rate increase slowed tax revenue growth from the strong upward curve he inherited even with the differed revenues.

QUESTION; What slowed revenue growth from 9% to 6.1%???????

1997 1,579.2 8.7% -> Gingrich/Kasich tax rate cuts
1998 1,721.7 9.0%

to

1999 1,827.5 6.1%