Quote from texrex2002:
These days it seems the "tax obligation" is largely decided by people that only benefit from other peoples' taxes paid.
That's one of the fundamental problems with democracy I think. The 90% that are chronic underachievers get to decide how to extort the remaining 10%, and allocate the extortion proceeds as they see fit.
I'm sort of happy that some productive elements have said "enough is enough," and moved some of their wealth out of reach of all these entitlement fuckheads who deserve all kinds of free benefits simply for existing, or want to flush money down the toilet in Iraq, or give hundreds of billions of dollars to SocGen and Deutsche, or make my healthcare suck, etc etc. (please note that I'll likely change my position racidally should I become needy, a bank employee, or lose and be unable to replace my healthcare coveage
)
In principle I actually think it's healthy, to some extent: if the regime becomes too oppressive to those who achieve, the achievers just pack their stuff and go somewhere less oppressive. Knowing this, the regime should aim to retain its productive elements, not drive them away by penalizing success...
No need to type up all the competing theories. I've heard most of them, and agree that many do have some merit (just not enough to totally overcome my own opinion).
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Actually there is a very simple solution....
If the US were to have a 15% Consumption tax....No other taxes....
10% STATE, 5% FED by State mandate....
The US tax take would increase many fold....
One would pay for what one consumes....
One would not pay for what one does not consume....
The securities market would skyrocket....(no taxes on securities)
The best jobs would flock and domicile in the US....
There would be no need for tax havens....
The IRS would be eliminated....
The lobbyist system would no longer exist....
FREEDOM AND PROGRESS WOULD ACTUALLY RETURN TO AMERICA
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Otherwise.....
The US is fast approaching the point that 60% of its population will pay no Fed taxes....but yet has voting power....
Care to guess where this leads to ....?
http://www.escapefromamerica.com/2009/06/tax-revenues-tanking/