Comments on: Dems Won't Rule Out Tax Hike On Wealthy

Pelosi Says Democrats Looking For Way To Pay For Middle-Class Tax Cuts

[lestb35]

Wasn't the federal tax originally for businesses only.

[randalds]

Our benevolent government officials keep us fighting amongst ourselves as to who is and isn't paying their fair share of income taxes that very few of us challenge the fact they are taxing our incomes in the first place.
Posted by OlGreyGhost at 01:08 PM : Jan 09, 2007

Well we could dump the income tax altogether and pay the government's bills based on a property tax or a form of possession tax? There really is no way to make an income tax fair for all.

[olgreyghost]

"...I believe that charging taxes based on the ability to pay as we do now is the fairest."

Try this: "I believe charging different prices for my customers based on their different abilities to pay is the fairest." How many businesses would stay in business with this philosophy (yes, hospitals are forced to act this way by law)?

Yes it hard for those who earn the least to pay but that is the point. Our benevolent government officials keep us fighting amongst ourselves as to who is and isn't paying their fair share of income taxes that very few of us challenge the fact they are taxing our incomes in the first place.

[randalds]

I certainly support the idea of thinking outside of the box OGG, but until we come up with a better alternative I believe that charging taxes based on the ability to pay as we do now is the fairest. I suppose it's not in the strictest definition of fair, but a equal percentage of tax hits lower income people much harder then it does higher ones.

[olgreyghost]

The fairest tax is for the government to determine the costs of its providing "essential services" to its citizens and then dividing the costs fairly amongst the population based on a census and sending each individual a bill for their portion. If everyone in this country received a bill like this we would have a great deal of clamoring to redefine what are "essential services."

When it comes to taxing income, the fairest is to tax everyone at the same rate with no loopholes or deductions. The poor need to pay 50% of their income to the government as do the middle and the richest earners. To tax one group at a higher rate than another is unfair and amounts to nothing more than thievery. Of course, taxing income is the not the fairest form of taxation to begin with anyway...

Think outside the box, people. It's are only hope...

[randalds]

If we are living in an economic boom, perhaps you can explain why we have to borrow money from China to make ends meet? Why the record deficits in the past six years?

As for cutting it in half, this is baloney. That figure is manipulated. It's half of what they projected they would borrow which was intentionaly inflated so that they could say, "look we are only borrowing half of what was expected".




Posted by frankly6 at 10:59 AM : Jan 09, 2007

It's amazing, even dumbfounding, how few Americans really understand that we are actually borrowing money from China and Saudi Arabia to pay our bills. Far too many of them seem to think that the national debt is just some sort of bookkeeping game and that we're sort of borrowing the money from ourselves or from our future. They honestly don't grasp that this is money we borrow in real time and pay a large interest on to boot. Again basic civics has left our classrooms and the government likes it that way.

frankly6

I completely agree. Individuals who make 500,000 a year will not hurt as much as someone making 50,000, especially when you tack on the high price of goods in america. I have seen our grocery bill increase steadily over the last couple of years (we make 45,000 a year). That is tough, esp. considering the high premiums we pay for good healthcare.

we need a tax break and the rich do not pay their part, mostly because they can save in tax-deferred accounts more than many people make in a year.

I have nothing against rich people. I think most of them earn their living justly. Capitalism is set up to reward the rich generously, and what it has left us with is a history of mostly poor people.

[frankly6]

The real income of the wealthy has risen about 200% in recent years while it's only increased about 2% for the average middle income worker.

If we have to raise taxes on the wealthy in order to stop borrowing ourselves into oblivion, then so be it.

[frankly6]

Xsoldier2

If we are living in an economic boom, perhaps you can explain why we have to borrow money from China to make ends meet? Why the record deficits in the past six years?

As for cutting it in half, this is baloney. That figure is manipulated. It's half of what they projected they would borrow which was intentionaly inflated so that they could say, "look we are only borrowing half of what was expected".

[netadmin1-2009]

xsoldier2 - making $60,000 a year doesn't put you in the rich tax bracket - that is the middle income bracket.