This issue is more properly understood as a LESS regressive tax system. The whole line that dems must be communist because they advocate for a fairer tax structure shows how ridiculous the GOP is nowadays. Distribution of wealth has shifted dramatically upwards in the past 30 years.
Most corporations and many wealthy individuals pay a lower marginal tax rate than average individuals, because of shelters and exclusions. There are so many loopholes in the definition of income that the tax system as a whole has become regressive to the point where it’s disgusting.
How is it that sophisticated operators, large corporations and wealthy individuals, can avoid paying taxes year after year? As in ZERO tax. As in Shirking Freeloader Assholes.
Bottom line, we have to pay for the services our government provides. If you have more money than others, perhaps you should be paying a little more than the family down the street. It’s the neighborly thing to do. You might not agree, but from an ethical standpoint, you should absolutely be paying your share instead of engaging in tax avoidance, legal or otherwise.
Speaking of neighbors, my next door neighbor is being sent back to Iraq next month. His family, they aren’t wealthy. They have a small child, two year-old girl. They’re underwater on their house back in the midwest. And his wife is going back to work now to help pay bills. It’s tough, all the way around.
So I have a huge problem with corporations and wealthy individuals paying a lower marginal rate of tax than average people. I am in favor of a LESS regressive tax structure. I am even in favor of a flat tax if it diminishes tax avoidance, which is the real issue underlying the inequality.
bob2007: I run a business, a reasonably successful one, and I have no complaints about a LESS regressive tax structure. Formation of a strong middle class is the greatest wealth multiplier in the history of societies and economics. Fact is, we’re going to need a strong middle class to deal with the challenges posed by globalization in the years ahead. That’s smart business.
