Docadhoc Loc: Elsewhere

Gee, if everyone refused to pay taxes, they couldn't pay anyone to come collect any.....lol.

Docadhoc Loc: Elsewhere

Do.you think if all our politicians were Muslims they would refuse pork?

Sorry. Couldn't help myself.

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

I feel that paying taxes is need to hold this Nation together.

I feel that those that have the most should pay the most.

What those that have the most are doing the most to weaken or Nation.

They are using this Country to expense their costs & keep as much or the Profits some where else.

Yes we the General Public pick up the slack.

I say that there is a reason for the IRS auditing Trumps taxes in how he may have used assets of bankrupt companies for other businesses.

I would say that that happens more than it should.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

One way or another, we pay for it all. Pay $1 for a head of lettuce, do you think the farmer gets most of that? Nope, he/she gets about $0.12 a head. I wonder where the other $0.88 goes?

We pay for Congressional booze as well, tax exempt booze to be sure, but still.........perhaps if booze on the job was illegal, they wouldn't act like they were at a frat party all the time..............well, the few days they're actually AT work I mean.

Docadhoc Loc: Elsewhere

My comment was tongue in cheek.

If.you look at the tax break down you see that the rich pay a huge amount of tax. Somewhere around half the taxes collected comes from the richest 1--2%.

However on a 2nd look I think we see that figure represents gross dollars collected but not by % of gross income.

A flar tax across the board seems to be the proper way so that percentage wise the playing field becomes more level. The more yoy earn, the more you pay in gross dollars but the % remains static. I don't think it would discourage businesses or cause them to leave.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Amen, bobby...

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

I like it, let em live off the taxes we also pay in everything we buy, or do...

Flat tax is the only answer but government will never agree to it..They need the slush funds they set up to then squander it away with no one knowing so...

Even Cain's 999 wasn't a bad idea..

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

What is missed in the flat tax is it will save more for the rich & cost more for the poor.

One has to take in that most of the money a person has is spent in the market place & sales taxes.
Add to that all the fees to the total.

There is just not enough money in the hands of the average people to buy the goods & services that are need in a well run system.

Just look at what you total cost of living is & what you have left % wise & compare it to what some of the rich have % wise.

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

How do we answer the question "how much is enough"? Just how much money does an individual need in a lifetime? We don't set limits on a persons income - unless they're on social security and the like, of course, if you are a Senator, then drawing SS and Veterans benefits don't affect your income, but for we mere mortals...........

Capitalism is a viable socio-economic system - until it isn't. Our warped version of it here, says that anyone may make as much money as they possibly can, as quickly as they can, by virtually any means and keep as much of it as they can for themselves. Corporations and individuals may use their money as leverage - to make more - by modifying the system to favor such. Rules are made to control the behavior of the lowest people on the totem pole, the rich get a pass - because they've paid for it. Now, if the rich were to use their leverage to benefit society as a whole, we'd applaud them, but they don't, they use it to benefit themselves - yet we still applaud them. Why is that? Simply put, we've been bred to do so. We've been conditioned to admire and fear those with vast wealth, and even envy them - even when it is self destructive to do so.

If you or I robbed a bank, even if we made out with no money, we'd go to prison for 5-10 years. A bank owner can pillage his own bank, absconding with other people's money and not even be charged with a crime. Why? They did it legally, because they paid to have the law MAKE it legal. The Wall Street executives and chair members, stole billions of dollars of other people's money, ruined the Nations economy, impoverished untold millions of pensioners - and not only was no one charged with a crime ( a few low level flunkies maybe ), no money was recovered from the individuals responsible. In fact, the taxpayer paid off their debts, used their money to prop up the system, and to add insult to injury - those very same crooks stole MORE money by paying themselves lavish bonuses - with the taxpayers money. Indeed, after ruining the economy, Wall Street paid themselves bonuses which set a new record for it's largesse - and no one was called to account. Sure, there was an uproar, briefly, until the politicians managed to redirect people's attention to something else.

Capitalism should work for everybody, if it does not, then it is no longer Capitalism - it has become socialism - with the wealthy the beneficiaries. It is not a matter of forcing the rich to pay more, it is a matter of forcing them to abide by the same rules as everyone else. THAT is what being American MEANS, where all are equal under the law, the law applies equally to all - and NO ONE gets to buy special privileges.

bilordinary Loc: SW Washington

One other thing that capitalism needs to work properly is a STABLE CURRENCY!

lpnmajor Loc: Arkansas

Right, but to be stable, it has to be based on actual wealth. Our currency is based on "virtual" wealth - which isn't REAL wealth. Most investment banks "leverage" money, where a single dollar will be sold 20 - 30 times. That is the definition of a Ponzi scheme, where the first dollar is paid for by the sale of the 2nd and 3rd dollar - and the executives take any real profit OUT of the company, leaving it holding nothing BUT debt. When too many people want their money at once, the whole scheme collapses.

Docadhoc Loc: Elsewhere

One needs to understand that a flat tax as proposed has 3 tiers depending on gross income and up to the first tier there is no tax. The difference between this and our current system is that it eliminates deductions, breaks, and shelters. One must also understand that as income increases there is still incentive to earn. A $20k income has far less disposable income than a $1million income so as gross increases so does standard of living, however a tiered flat tax places more disposable income into the hands of the lower income earners..

Floyd Brown Loc: Milwaukee WI

I will go so far as to say that we do need a clarification on what & how our tax system works & should work. The greater your share of the money the greater the % you pay.

I isn't so bad to have much more than others. It is how it is used that is the basic problem.

Buying Politicians to have favorable laws should be looked at as what it really is. It is bribery in its pure form. If there is any tax deduction allowed in any form it is an added burden on other tax payers.

We need to have rules that take away any mention of Political Party on the ballots. It is a Public function. Candidates should only be listed as Individuals.

Because of the vary nature of Political Donations I say that PAC's should be taxed on money they receive.

We need to make the system more individual friendly. We should have greater input to who we chose to vote for with out being a Political Party.

I think we need to grow & improve on the Town Hall style of choosing who we vote for.

bilordinary Loc: SW Washington

Our monetary system is an inflationary model, a ponzie scheme!