Futurama Fry

taxes =/= science =/= homophobia =/= border

Non-sequitur much?

And that matters ... how?
Fair doesn't treat one person differently, right? Fair means equal treatment under the law ... unless you're successful. Make a certain amount of money, and the IRS will forcibly take the fruit of your labor under penalty of imprisonment in order to give it to people who won't work ... and this is "fair?"

A flat tax, unlike our current progressive tax, requires each person to pay the same rate on dollars earned. A majority of Liberals AND Conservatives agree that a flat tax would be more fair and it's an easy call to make.

If the poor paid a higher rate than the rich, UNFAIR would be the first scream heard.

So if you're fine with the unfairness of the progressive income tax that squeezes more from one person than another due to their production, where should it end?

How much SHOULD the "rich" pay of all taxes collected? 90%? 95%? 100%?

Just remember, the average income in the US that was in the top 10% in 2012 was about $150,000. FAR less than most people believe. That amount is great in Jackson, Mississippi, but in many cities, it's a standard middle class income and in places like San Francisco or New York it's lower middle class.

average income figures are pretty meaningless but here's the result of a 2 second google search: Average CEO $13.8m... Ave worker $78k. and bear in mind the ave worker includes white collar jobs. Ave salary for blue collar comes down to $43k.

but, i would love to see what the figures are for your top 20% and bottom 80%. I think that would be eye an opener for a lot of people.

but...how does that matter?

well, the top 20% dictate how much they earn. the top 20% dictate how much everyone else earns and it's the top 20% who decide how much everyone else pays for the product/service the bottom 80% produce. those are the biggest contributors to the amount of tax a worker can afford to pay.

a fair tax rate should take into account, not just how much a person earns, but how close to the breadline that person is *after* tax. the closer to the breadline you are after tax, the less tax you should pay. the further from the breadline, the more you pay. so yeah, the rich should pay more tax...LOTS more. It doesn't have to be 80% or 90% or any fixed figure. If the figure was based on how far from the poverty line they are...they can have nothing to complain about. if wages and prices were structured more fairly and not sacrificed for profit nobody would have anything to complain about. in my opinion.

What's lost on you is the concept that "fair" to one person isn't fair to another.
The fact is, wage disparity is a motivator. It's proven time and time again.

there's nothing lost on me. wage disparity is only a motivator for the top 20% to get more of the bottom 80%'s money. pay them less, charge them more, bigger profits. unless you were talking about people having the motivation to not starve to death?

but anyhoos...i didn't say remove profit motivation. fairer profit. that's what's needed. if you don't rein in the profit, you end up with labour being carried out in third world countries for pennies/hour, still higher prices but less people who can afford to buy the product. so...you have to lower costs somewhere else to maintain the profit...profit isn't everything, fair distribution of profit to ALL workers who contribute to the product is the only way to get fair taxation

I'm in the top 20% as are tens of thousands of people. We're not after the bottom 80%'s money. We're engineers, professionals, sales people, and your allegation is disgusting, offensive, and flat out wrong.

There are so many areas to cover in your last two comments that I don't have time. I'm going to work to earn my profit and sell products at the highest possible price.

And I consider that fair.

what "allegations" are disgusting, offensive and wrong? That the people in the top 20% of earners are the people who decide on the wages of the bottom 80%? That the people in the top 20% are the people who decide the prices the bottom 80% have to pay? are you disputing this? you find this offensive?

Ah the good ol' class envy argument.
Sprinkle in some 'from each according to his ability; to each according to his need' and a Political class that's above it all and you have the modern "Democratic" party.

Got it. Thanks.

giving your employees a fair share of the profits from the products they make doesn't necessitate marxism. i'm no marxist and certainly no democrat.

you made a bold statement, i challenged you, you've sent four replies and said precisely...NOTHING

Giving employees their "FAIR" share is called wages. Profits belong to the business owner.

"taxes =/= science =/= homophobia =/= border"

Being Republican earns the Science Denying and Homophobia tag. You got Titles!

So it's fair to tax the poor like the French King did before the Revolution? Or tax like the colonists were taxed by the King of Britain? Because Taxing the Poor TOTALLY didn't result in a revolt. Being Rich isn't an escape route, kid. :[
#We'reDoomed2016

You've got labels! But no common sense.
Living in pure bliss I see.