Right-Wing Challenge: Fair Income Tax For The Top 50% vs Bottom 50%

[Greenbeard]

If its not fixed it becomes insolvent in 2033.

It’s not going to be “fixed,” there’s not going to be any appetite for tax increases and larger wealth transfers to fund Boomer cruises.

 

[Delldude]

If its not fixed it becomes insolvent in 2033.

It'll be a voter hot potato. They'll fix it.

 

[kyzr]

It’s not going to be “fixed,” there’s not going to be any appetite for tax increases and larger wealth transfers to fund Boomer cruises.

We paid into SS and were told what our benefits would be. We don't take cruises, that is the upper incomes.
If the government defaults on SS & Medicare someone's party is going to get hammered.

 

[kyzr]

It'll be a voter hot potato. They'll fix it.

Exactly. You show me someone who votes against fixing THEM (SS & Medicare) and I'll show you someone looking for a job.

 

[Delldude]

Exactly. You show me someone who votes against fixing THEM (SS & Medicare) and I'll show you someone looking for a job.

Somebody tell Citygator...............and someone get me another cold one, Gator's buying.



Lifes a beach, thanks to Gator, I'm not working.

 

[Greenbeard]

We paid into SS and were told what our benefits would be.

The trustees have been promising since the mid-90s that the trust fund would be exhausted and unable to pay full benefits around 2030. And here we are.

Just because you ignored that reality your entire working life doesn’t mean it wasn’t conveyed to you. Boomers enjoyed tax cut after tax cut in the intervening decades, now they’re going to have to swallow the benefit cuts.

Hoping working people are going to volunteer for tax increases to prop up Boomer lifestyles at this point is foolish.

 

[kyzr]

The trustees have been promising since the mid-90s that the trust fund would be exhausted and unable to pay full benefits around 2030. And here we are. Just because you ignored that reality your entire working life doesn’t mean it wasn’t conveyed to you. Boomers enjoyed tax cut after tax cut in the intervening decades, now they’re going to have to swallow the benefit cuts.
Hoping working people are going to volunteer for tax increases to prop up Boomer lifestyles at this point is foolish.

SS is not just for Boomers, and it's Medicare too. If they are not fixed you guys are screwed.

 

[Greenbeard]

SS is not just for Boomers, and it's Medicare too. If they are not fixed you guys are screwed.

“Fixing” it to the Boomers just means evading their share of the pain by transferring it entirely to subsequent generations via higher taxes now and larger future benefit cuts for those generations.

Luckily the default outcome—one that requires zero action from the political system and occurs naturally in the face of gridlock—prevents the Boomers from escaping their share of the pain.

 

[kyzr]

“Fixing” it to the Boomers just means evading their share of the pain by transferring it entirely to subsequent generations via higher taxes now and larger future benefit cuts for those generations. Luckily the default outcome—one that requires zero action from the political system and occurs naturally in the face of gridlock—prevents the Boomers from escaping their share of the pain.

So without fixing SS, its just "money-in = money-out".
We'll see who has more political clout, don't be too disappointed if SS & Medicare are fixed.

 

[Greenbeard]

So without fixing SS, its just "money-in = money-out".
We'll see who has more political clout, don't be too disappointed if SS & Medicare are fixed.

Boomers counting on their tried-and-true lifelong strategy of voting themselves more benefits at their grandchildren's expense.

 

[Southern Dad]

Not sure what point you are trying to make?
Poor people don't pay a lot of income taxes because they don't have much income.
Do you want the "fair tax" where poor people pay the same tax rate as Elon Musk and other billionaires?

We have more important issues to deal with other than low income people don't pay much income tax.
The wealthy have the wealth, not the poor.

The point, which you admit you missed is that a good percentage of our population isn’t paying federal income taxes. You say it is because they don’t have much income… Why shouldn’t we have a minimum of 3% paid in federal income tax? As for the fair tax causing poor people to pay the same as Elon Musk, that isn’t how it would work. See the poor people spend far less than the rich people. Therefore they would pay the same percentage but far, far less in dollars. Whereas someone like Musk buys an expensive car, he’d pay those big taxes.

 

[Southern Dad]

I’d be for a flat tax rate if they eliminated every single deduction and loophole.

Everyone pays a certain percentage of their taxes. Period. No exceptions whatsoever

The problem is that the very wealthy do not need to take an income. Someone like Elon Musk could just forego an income, then you get nothing in federal income tax. He doesn’t need the money.

 

[GWV5903]

I laid all that out in the OP with an easy to follow graphic. The Top make all the money which is why they pay all the taxes.

View attachment 1230705

It’s not that simple, we’re a capitalist society, name a better system…

 

[kyzr]

The point, which you admit you missed is that a good percentage of our population isn’t paying federal income taxes. You say it is because they don’t have much income… Why shouldn’t we have a minimum of 3% paid in federal income tax?

The minimum tax rate is 10%

As for the fair tax causing poor people to pay the same as Elon Musk, that isn’t how it would work. See the poor people spend far less than the rich people. Therefore they would pay the same percentage but far, far less in dollars. Whereas someone like Musk buys an expensive car, he’d pay those big taxes.

The "fair tax" means the same tax rate, say 25% on all income, for Musk or the working poor.
You are describing a "sales tax", not pertinent.

 

[Hector12]

Fairness is in the eyes of the beholder. I think it is unfair that billionaires keep getting richer while the standards of living for most working class and middle class people stagnate and decline.

 

[Hector12]

It’s not that simple, we’re a capitalist society, name a better system…

Scandinavian Social Democracy.

 

[SaxonJackson]

I prefer to pay no taxes at all but if I must pay, I'm all for a flat tax. I'm not for punishing successful people and rewarding lazy deadbeats who benefit the most from the tax coffers. And I'm a huge fan of eliminating the income tax.

 

[citygator]

It’s not that simple, we’re a capitalist society, name a better system…

I didnt say our system wouldnt work. We need more regulation to spread the economic benefits and the top needs to pay more taxes but neither of those is a system other than capitalism. I make all my own personal money in capitalism.

 

[citygator]

So you’d rather focus on who should have even more money stolen from them instead of the obvious solution of not spending that much.

We arent paying a normal amount of taxes. We were a balanced budget with 20% taxes of GDP collected and 20% spent. We need to do both. We are only collecting 16-17% of GDP as taxes. We'll go broke.

 

[Nostra]

It’s not going to be “fixed,” there’s not going to be any appetite for tax increases and larger wealth transfers to fund Boomer cruises.

Hey kid, you get to work (if you ever get a job) your entire life paying for older folks SS, just like they did.

Suck it.