i agree with nootch, i think. i have always heard that a flat rate of any kind, sales or whatever, would have to be such a high rate that it would be impossible. the only way the government can continue to function at or near its current rate is to tax the pants off the rich. i know some of you argue that through loopholes the rich are actually paying an effectively lower rate. i do not find your arguments convincing.
You need not worry. The statists and lickspittles will continue to have it their way far into the future. tgsam
here's a thought jackass. instead of being a dick about it, tell me HOW it would work. i've given you my reasons why i think it wouldn't, let's hear why you think it would. and i mean give actual reasons and examples of how it would work.
I have heard 25% from credible proponents, but I don't know if that number can be supported with some economic facts. Conceptually, I can support a flat tax, but only if: 1. All deductions, credits, avoidances, and other loopholes are eliminated so that everybody pays. 2. It has to cover expenses. Setting it too low for political expediency is a recipe for debt and is fiscally irresponsible.
Taxes will only come down once most of us figure out the govt. isn't your freaking mother and you can stop sucking on her tit. Personal responsibility left the room a long time ago.
i thought it was 17-18% though thats just federal. state and local will tack on what they want. it seems to make sense, but im no economist and the people pushing the idea scare me. the country should figure out how much it needs and set the rate. allow for exemption for the first 30k or so.
The problem is that low-income workers would have to spend 100% of their income for essentials while most of the middle class has to spend a very large portion of their income on essentials. However the very rich can eat as cheaply as anybody. Bread cost the same for them. They spend a very small portion of their income to pay for even lavish essentials, allowing them to put the vast bulk of their income tax-free into investments that can compound and make them increasingly richer and taking a larger piece of the pie while the other 90% of us would be taxed on virtually all of our income, greatly reducing what our meager investments can make. Sales tax only is a super-rich get richer scheme. To be fair, we must tax people on their income, not their spending. Furthermore such a practice would be an incentive to discourage spending, hampering the free-market economy greatly. A system where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer, and the middle class shrinks is a recipe for social discontent. You end up with many who have nothing and a few who have it all. Throughout history it has led to uprisings, insurgencies, coups, and revolutions.
In spite of what might be found in some dictionaries, fair and just are not interchangeable. Philosophically, just trumps fair. Legislation based on appeals to fairness wreak much tribulation and actual injustice in America. It’s time for America’s Atlas to shrug. tgsam
