Why the poor should be taxed more heavily.

[alan1]

" I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
-- Benjamin Franklin, November 1776

Just maybe, if the poor were taxed more heavily than the wealthy, it would encourage them to better their position in life so that they could avoid paying so much in taxes.
The government frequently taxes things to discourage it. Things like tobacco and alcohol come to mind. The cap and trade will be a tax to discourage certain types of energy usage the government doesn't want.

 

[BasicGreatGuy]

If you are speaking of the federal government, I don't approve of the tax setup as it is, As such, I can't say yes to your idea. If you are speaking of the respective states, I would say that is their call.

 

[The T]

" I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
-- Benjamin Franklin, November 1776

Just maybe, if the poor were taxed more heavily than the wealthy, it would encourage them to better their position in life so that they could avoid paying so much in taxes.
The government frequently taxes things to discourage it. Things like tobacco and alcohol come to mind. The cap and trade will be a tax to discourage certain types of energy usage the government doesn't want.

Good post. It's Much akin to "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime..."

Franklin was a wise nman, as were much of our Founders. Too bad their lessons are rebuffed as being old.

I'd like to see something like this happen. But I doubt it ever will. Liberals will see it as heartless because it USURPS their power over the POOR...

 

[alan1]

If you are speaking of the federal government, I don't approve of the tax setup as it is, As such, I can't say yes to your idea. If you are speaking of the respective states, I would say that is their call.

The federal government has already decided to use taxation as a method to discourage certain behavior. Why haven't they discouraged poverty via taxation if that is such a good method?

 

[Care4all]

actually doing such to the wealthiest might WORK.... just make the ones with the power and money and control over congress pay the taxes and be certain they can DO SOMETHING to stop congress!



and no to the other idea!

care

 

[BasicGreatGuy]

If you are speaking of the federal government, I don't approve of the tax setup as it is, As such, I can't say yes to your idea. If you are speaking of the respective states, I would say that is their call.

The federal government has already decided to use taxation as a method to discourage certain behavior. Why haven't they discouraged poverty via taxation if that is such a good method?

Two wrongs don't make a right. In my opinion, calling on the feds to tax the poor would be enabling them and producing more bad behavior. I don't agree with the so called sin tax. It doesn't make sense to turn a blind eye to that as it were, just so a tax on the poor can be promoted. Why not denounce what they have already been doing, instead of calling on them to do more?

I understand your frustration. I disagree with your manner of implementation.

 

[oreo]

I think a fair tax is the only option. I was quite surprised to learn that a whopping 40% of this country fall under the bar & pay no federal income tax what-so-ever. And that less than 1% of the population in this country pay 65% of the entire tax base. Yet--these same people (under the bar--want the rich to pay more???)

More than likely Obama voters--who continually want their way paid for by others.

A little dose of contributing to this country--may wake them up to reality--& get them to become more productive citizens themselves.

 

[Modbert]

Question is, what are you going to tax from the poor? They're poor, they have nothing to tax.

Unless of course you wish to tax poor people, which will drive them to being unable to afford simple necessities if they cannot already.

That would be like saying lets tax the rich so they will be encouraged to earn more.

(I do hope you're not serious.)

 

[alan1]

actually doing such to the wealthiest might WORK.... just make the ones with the power and money and control over congress pay the taxes and be certain they can DO SOMETHING to stop congress!



and no to the other idea!

care

It's already being done to the wealthiest. Their response has been to hide money in offshore accounts and to move their companies overseas to avoid taxation. It's not working out to well now, is it?

 

[Big Black Dog]

I think everybody should be taxed the same way - rich or poor. A poor man is just as much of an American as a rich man. Only difference is one has some money and the other has little. So why should the rich man pull the wagon alone? Pony up folks. We should have a flat tax in the US where everybody pays the same taxes. If we did this, at least half of the IRS deadbeats could be fired and save the government loads of cash. Then everybody would be being treated equally.

 

[rightwinger]

" I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it."
-- Benjamin Franklin, November 1776

Just maybe, if the poor were taxed more heavily than the wealthy, it would encourage them to better their position in life so that they could avoid paying so much in taxes.
The government frequently taxes things to discourage it. Things like tobacco and alcohol come to mind. The cap and trade will be a tax to discourage certain types of energy usage the government doesn't want.

By all means tax the poor.......you might add an additional .01% to the economy

If the wealth in the US were looked at as a pie cut into ten pieces...

One American would be taking nine pieces
The other nine Americans would be fighting over the remaining piece

The poor would only have a crumb and the republicans would be griping that they have that much

 

[obama2ndterm]

Stay off my roads!

 

[BasicGreatGuy]

I think everybody should be taxed the same way - rich or poor. A poor man is just as much of an American as a rich man. Only difference is one has some money and the other has little. So why should the rich man pull the wagon alone? Pony up folks. We should have a flat tax in the US where everybody pays the same taxes. If we did this, at least half of the IRS deadbeats could be fired and save the government loads of cash.

How about returning to the Constitution's tax plan? Repeal the XVI Amendment preventing it from becoming law again, and return to the Constitution. Of course that would mean that the size of the federal government would have to be reduced etc. A win win situation.

 

[alan1]

Question is, what are you going to tax from the poor? They're poor, they have nothing to tax.

Unless of course you wish to tax poor people, which will drive them to being unable to afford simple necessities if they cannot already.

That would be like saying lets tax the rich so they will be encouraged to earn more.

(I do hope you're not serious.)

If you knew that if you were going to be taxed 30% if you made less than $40k in income, but only 15% if you made over $40k in income, wouldn't you do your damnedest to earn $40k?

 

[Said1]

Some are poor due to unpredictable circumstances ya big meanie!

 

[Modbert]

I think everybody should be taxed the same way - rich or poor. A poor man is just as much of an American as a rich man. Only difference is one has some money and the other has little. So why should the rich man pull the wagon alone? Pony up folks. We should have a flat tax in the US where everybody pays the same taxes. If we did this, at least half of the IRS deadbeats could be fired and save the government loads of cash. Then everybody would be being treated equally.

A flat tax is obviously favorable for the rich. It also depends where you put the flat tax rate at. However, it can be assumed that the rate will be higher than what many people pay who are poor while the rich for the most part will pay much less taxes.

 

[oreo]

Question is, what are you going to tax from the poor? They're poor, they have nothing to tax.

Unless of course you wish to tax poor people, which will drive them to being unable to afford simple necessities if they cannot already.

That would be like saying lets tax the rich so they will be encouraged to earn more.

(I do hope you're not serious.)

40% of the people in this country are NOT poor--but they fall under the bar to pay federal income taxes. Either with lots of dependant right-offs--deductions, etc.

They basically get a free ride on the backs of others who acted more responsibly--& earn more.

These are the EXACT same people that continually want to tax--tax--tax the 1% of this country--(the wealthy) who already pay 65% of the entire tax base in this country.

The majority of these people can contribute also--& I don't care if it's $100 to $1000 per year--they need to be "patriotic" (as Joe Biden stated) & get on board.

They don't appear to mind soaring deficits to get everything they want--so they can pay too.

 

[Vast LWC]

Wow, just wow.

Did you ever think that what is holding the poor back is the fact that they're poor?

It's pretty hard to invest in your favorite stocks when you're working two minimum wage jobs to feed your kid.

It's also pretty hard to send your kids to a good college when you have no money.

But your brilliant plan is to take away more money from the poor, so they can have even less to work with to try and better their position in life and that of their children.

Great. Good work.

 

[Polk]

I think a fair tax is the only option. I was quite surprised to learn that a whopping 40% of this country fall under the bar & pay no federal income tax what-so-ever. And that less than 1% of the population in this country pay 65% of the entire tax base. Yet--these same people (under the bar--want the rich to pay more???)

More than likely Obama voters--who continually want their way paid for by others.

A little dose of contributing to this country--may wake them up to reality--& get them to become more productive citizens themselves.

The top 1% pays 22.7% of federal taxes, which isn't much larger than their 14.8% share of earnings.

 

[Modbert]

If you knew that if you were going to be taxed 30% if you made less than $40k in income, but only 15% if you made over $40k in income, wouldn't you do your damnedest to earn $40k?

Except when Wealth is concentrated like in this country, that is becoming more and more impossible.

Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power

Here are some dramatic facts that sum up how the wealth distribution became even more concentrated between 1983 and 2004, in good part due to the tax cuts for the wealthy and the defeat of labor unions: Of all the new financial wealth created by the American economy in that 21-year-period, fully 42% of it went to the top 1%. A whopping 94% went to the top 20%, which of course means that the bottom 80% received only 6% of all the new financial wealth generated in the United States during the '80s, '90s, and early 2000s (Wolff, 2007).

Look at Figure 5, just one example of what I'm saying.

As much as you'd like to think that taxing the fuck out of the poor will help them, it won't. What happens to those who are retired? What happens to those who are disabled? The ones who are sick?

By saying we should already burden a group of people further makes about much sense as holding someone's head under water to try and encourage them to escape by themselves.