Why don’t you move to Somalia, Mexico, or any of those no-tax/low-tax countries? Based on your logic, the effective absence of taxes means that unemployment rates in these countries should be some of the lowest on earth, right?
FWIW, if you really don’t understand why we have progressive tax rates, you need to stop calling other people ignorant.[/quote]
CA Renter, you’re really stuck on this Somalia thing I see.
Three questions for you: Why do YOU think we have progressive taxes? How progressive/how much is enough? How much of MY hard earned wages is YOUR fair share?[/quote]
Countries without tax revenue (all taxes all fees) have no infrastructure, no safety nets, and a very low quality of life for most of their citizens.
If you think that YOU are responsible for all of your success, try to duplicate it from scratch in a country with no taxes; let’s see how you do.
The reason we have progressive rates is because poor people have no disposable income since most of their income goes toward basic necessities, so every dollar paid in taxes is more valuable to them than to someone who has hundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) in disposable income.
Additionally, people who make the most tend to receive a greater benefit, per capita, from the government. While a “welfare queen” might get ~$12K in benefits a year, people like Steve Jobs receive a far greater benefit from our govt in the form of intellectual property protection, government-sponsored R&D (~70-80% of all basic research is funded by the govt), military protection (what do you think would happen to all those cargo ships without military protection?), physical infrastructure (think ports, roads, railways, etc.), tax credits and incentives, financial regulations and enforcement (without which there would be no financial market), etc., etc. [edited]
BTW, YOUR wages aren’t going to ME. I simply know that there is a cost — both to you and me — for living in a civilized, democratic society, and I’m more than willing to pay for it.
