said by viperlmw:said by jfd15:it is theft, at the point of a gun(and threat of incarceration) and you know it is...so sad to see how many on here hate "the rich" and willing to have the gov't steal from them on their behalf...
So you are saying that the assessment and collection of taxes by a constitutionally elected government is equivalent to theft? The rich shouldn't pay tax? That's just ludicrous!
He didn't say the wealthy shouldn't pay any tax. Just that the tax should be flat. You pay 10%. They pay 10%.
We don't have a flat tax, and never did. There are reasons against such a tax, which could explain why no credible movement for such a "flat" rate exists. The largest intellectual deficit of such a tax system is that even those who propose it don't really propose a "flat" system. They propose 0% for the first $16k of income, and 18% for every dollar over that amount.
That's two rates. Not "flat." And, it validates the point behind progressive taxation: that lower-income dollars are more "essential" and "basic" than high-income dollars.
It doesn't make any sense to exempt the first $16k because it's "essential" to a basic standard of living. But, the $10 over $16k isn't. Or, worse, that the $10 over $16k is equally essential to a basic standard of living as the $500,0000 over $16k.
So, "jfd15" was engaging in a bit of hyperbole.
1. He suggested he supports a tax system he probably doesn't. Or, at least not one that would ever have a chance of existing.
Therefore, in the absence of a truly "flat" income tax, we're left with progressive taxation and the questions that naturally arise concerning how levels of income are more or less essential to a basic standard of living.
2. He suggested that everyone who supports such progressive taxation is a "socialist."
But, he didn't want to talk about how he uses zoning laws to "steal" from his neighbor. (See my earlier reply to him for more details).