I am tired of every tax cut being framed as a "hand out to rich." That is only true because the rich pay most of the taxes. If you have a problem with that then try to change the income distribution
Not taking money is not a handout.
Status quo bias is a really powerful thing. Shrinking government is hard when you can frame things like "robbing 20 million poor people of health coverage to give the rich handouts"
But don't the rich get their own car lane for paying more taxes? Oh wait, no..
They are forced to pay more for the same product, and being called greedy in the process. These filthy rich people.
I beginning to believe more and more each day that taxation is theft, and that the media and state sector is addicted to the spoils of what the government has looted.
If you assumed otherwise, think again; shrinking the government will be no cake walk.
Very true. As Maggie Thatcher said - socialism is great until you run out of other people's money. Tax certainly is theft. There will never be progress when they steal from the productive sectors of the economy and give it to the unproductive. That can only last for so long.
Gotta love Maggie.
Have a follow.
Lets start from the fundamentals. Nobody likes to be told to pay more taxes - regardless of whether one is "rich" or "poor" (where these terms usually refer to the moderate ranges of each scale).
However, there are a number of things that are off here - on both sides of the spectrum.
The poor look to the rich and feel that they should pay more taxes - but complain should they become entitled to the kinds of social services that they sometimes benefit from.
In fairness there is two sides to even this. Yes, the percentage of a rich person's earnings taxed tends to be less than that of a poor person.
However, per capita, they still contribute the greatest slice to the State - and it is only fair that they have the option of utilizing those services spawned from such.
On the other hand, the rich look upon the poor as being free-loaders who want to mooch off of their hard earned earnings.
In fairness for a poor person, often saddled with the debts fashionable so as to get modestly qualified and yet conveniently economy-shackled, that slice of tax that they pay may be substantially smaller in magnitude than that of the rich person - but it eats into their disposable income in a way that rich persons never have to worry about (they don't ever have to contemplate the prospect of something as simple as never eating out so as to make ends meet).
Also - yes, a fair number of poor persons do end up on welfare... and some have grown accepting of the status quo - but the story that is never told is the dreams that they had to learn to give up on as they exchanged them for a shoe-cupboard that they call their home - if lucky. And this without mentioning the stresses of an unappreciative workplace where employees are esteemed as one might a disposable tissue. Disposable tissues without a cushion of richness to fall back upon.
There is more to these issues than a single perspective and an effort at mutual understanding will make for a kinder World.
I want a flat tax all around. People may hate it but it would simplify the tax process and you can't say they are giving the rich money when everyone is taxed an equal percentage.
I don't think it will ever happen though.