Think about it

That would take actual work to accomplish.

Yes it would but I'd rather have my taxes pay for someone to do that work:)

The amount of government waste, is too damn high!

Lol!

Lol!

Unfortunately, people in the government don't want to risk getting their jobs cut by voting to cut government spending. It's a vicious cycle.

Yes, some would lose their jobs, but what if we just started with eliminating the $500 hammers and things like that?

People would be surprised to find out how wasteful the government really is if they really started making the effort to look into things. People need to get more involved in their local communities and start digging into the financials of how their communities run. People also need to attend counsel meetings, commission meetings, and start looking at the financials and asking questions. It's easy for people to sit back and bitch (and I'm not implying that you are doing this, just people in general) and educate themselves on what's going on.

Yes, I used to work for the county and saw so much waste. Never understood how this was allowed. We Need more accountability.

I couldn't agree more!:)

Why not both...

Because that would make sense. Cut waste and have everyone pay their fair share in taxes - but that would mean that everyone would be the winner instead of one side or the other.

Yup,so true!

I don't think tax rates should be based on income--I think we should pay a flat rate--that, to me, is fair. Besides, wealthy people have the means to find the loopholes and not pay any taxes. This way, they'd pay their share. You asked, and that's my answer:)

Sounds okay either way to me, because I belong to the apparently nonexistent middle class, not the upper or lower class who would be affected by taxes...

I mean, we aren't affected as much as the upper or lower classes...

I see it differently--I feel like the middle class are pounded by taxes whereas the wealthy can find the loopholes and the poor get so many breaks. For example, I had a tenant who got back almost $18,000 from federal, but she barely even made that much and sure as heck didn't pay that much, yet got a "refund". And she gets that nearly every year.

I'm insane so the facts don't matter!

I think most people are starting to realize all the loopholes the wealthy use, but I don't think a flat rate is the answer. Despite the economic growth possible with capitalism, one of its hard to deny flaws (and even countries more socialized than the USA capitalism to some extent) is that the system works best for people that need the least help. Progressive tax rates help make things less one sided in favor of money, and taking a higher percent from a very wealthy person is still asking very little sacrifice in terms of their lifestyle.

IDK, but I'd sure like to give the flat rate a try and just see if it works:)

The majority of tax payers in any flat rate system would see a dramatic increase in their actual tax rate, while the top 1% would see a tax decrease. The current progressive tax system the US has in place now works better than any other reasonable alternative.

Also, FYI, waste and fraud combined make up somewhere around 1% of the total federal budget. Some departments, like the VA, actually spend more fighting fraud than they recoup not paying fraudulent claims. The only real way to decrease the federal budget by a realistic amount is by cutting military spending, something the party in power will never do.

Someone already asked that:)