It seems like every couple of months the algorithms of my life present me with some multimillionaire who is outraged he isn’t being taxed enough. Here’s the latest incarnation of that manipulation.
Up until recently, these self-flagellating pleas for more taxation used to annoy me. What makes anyone, let alone a One-Percenter, believe the government would be a better steward of his charity than him?
If I were a billionaire, and I wanted to help my city, the last thing I would want to do is surrender more of my money to the government. Government is the mother of all blackholes. More money in doesn’t mean more help out. It simply means more money for useless bureaucrats, consultants, and NGOs. Nope, if I were a billionaire, I would pick one or two problems that really affected the quality of life for the working class and devote my wealth to fixing those problems. Paying a crew to clean up vacant lots and paint over graffiti, or picking up the dental tab for a thousand new smiles every year, would do infinitely more for my city than giving my mayor and councilmembers more tax dollars to spend.
No more. I’m done protecting Morris and his rich buddies from their mindless faith in government. But only on one condition. The total tax obligation of the bottom 99- or 90-percent is capped at 25 percent. The total federal tax bite (including FICA taxes) can’t be more than 15 percent of any non-rich person’s income, and the total combined state and local tax bite can’t be more than 10 percent of any non-rich person’s income. As long as these caps are in place, I’m all for giving the rich what they want. Tax the mother-effing shit out of them! Someone has to pay the 400K salaries of all those nepo-relatives running all those useless NGOs. It might as well be the commie rich.
I’m afraid the evidence shows that too much progressiveness in income taxation also has detrimental effects. In Britain a large chunk of revenues come from a very small amount of people, and as the government increased taxes substantially on them, many left, creating a shortfall in tax revenues.
The best answer to this is to simply move towards consumption based taxation with a progressive rebate, that way it would be efficient and everyone would pay their fair share. Governments can and should move away from taxation to fund themselves over time, too. Finally, anyone is welcome to send the government a cheque if they feel that is the best use of their money.
You’re making too much sense, Duarte. I love it. And believe me, I’m right there with you. I much prefer consumption taxes to all the other taxes we endure, especially property taxes. The time has come to limit the government’s taxing and spending authority. We’ve reached a kind of fleeceflation. More taxes and spending for worse services. Half the government could shutdown tomorrow and most people wouldn’t notice. The only people hurt by “austerity” would be the scam artists running all those government-funded NGOs.
“Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you. ”
Pericles
The dirty Dem commies always have an interest in taking both your money and freedoms.
Ain ‘t that the truth, Fred! We live in Washington State and can see both our money and freedoms being stripped away almost daily. It’s awful! Every day, my husband and I are looking for jobs and real estate in Idaho. The terrible part is leaving family and friends. When are the people going to learn to vote differently? Apparently, not until they are both penniless and homeless.
Thank you, Melissa. I really appreciate your contribution to our conversation. For too many Dems their politics is their identity. How they vote is how they proclaim their moral superiority to the world. And they’re never going to give that up. Looking down at MAGA is way more important to them than stopping the collapse of their community, state, and country.
Gotta give the Dems credit, though. They figured out the great unwashed wouldn’t accept outright chattel slavery, but they would accept paycheck slavery and Competition Crow. Why take on all the headaches of being a slaveowner when you can just own everyone’s paycheck and ability to advance? It’s an ingenious workaround. Just campaign on “taxing the rich” and making America more “equitable,” and the great unwashed will vote for their own servitude.