why do we tax the rich more than every one else?

Question

should the rich have a penalty for being rich? i think that if there is a penalty for the rich shouldn't they also be rewarded for carrying the load for the rest of us? what if you were given 1 additional vote for every 10,000 dollars you pay in taxes? would that make it a little more fair?

you can tell the socialists by their ansewrs. i love it

Answer 1

you have a great point , why should they be penalized for being successfully , it makes no sense .

Answer 2

The fact is if you hike up the tax on the poor and low income families it hurts their ability to have a good quality of life. A few more percent on their taxes could mean the difference between buying a new family car, or going on a nice vacation.

The super rich on the other hand are multi millionaires. Even if you take an extra few hundred thousand dollars in tax from them it is not going to hurt or curtail their lifestyle too much. Maybe their next luxury yacht will be a couple of feet shorter, or they may only be able to afford to take a private jet to some of their vacation homes. But in reality their quality of life will remain the same.

Your question also makes the assumption that the elite of society have all worked hard for their money and should be rewarded for working hard. Well do you think that Paris Hilton has worked all that hard? How do you think that her 'jobs' compare to being a waitress trying to make ends meet. Do you think that minimum wage workers that put in 60 hours a week have it easy or are lazy?

As far as I am concerned the super rich in this country have done very well under Bush, and the rich poor divide is widening. This creates all kinds of social problems for America. In this country 35,000,000 live below the poverty line and that number is growing all the time.

The last thing we need to do is lower taxes for the rich and increase the burden to the poor and middle income families. Such a move would do nothing positive for the country at all. The fact that an average guy would even ask that question, shows that the rich republican machine has done a wonderful job of brainwashing you to give them all your money.

Answer 3

The dumb rich object to paying too much taxes.
The smart rich don't.
They understand that with that financial power comes responsibility.

I don't think its true to say the rich carry the load.
Everyone pays taxes, we all carry the load.

The rich already get something better than votes they get direct access to the countries leaders and more.
It only costs 10,000 or so to attend a fund raiser with the president. 100,000 will get you a seat at his table.

If the rich paid dollar for dollar the same as the poor then they would only pay in taxes less than the minimum wage and still have all the benefit that comes with being rich.

Thats sounds more like pre-revolution America.

Answer 4

The original idea was for everyone to pay their fair share, meaning a flat tax, a percentage of income. Frankly, 10% was first considered, probably because of the 10% tithe demanded by Christians and Jews. A rich person would pay more money because their income would be greater than a poor person. Unfortunately, only the rich can get into office, so all of the various tax loopholes were thought up by the rich, for the rich, so that they could pay less in taxes. I'm sorry that you consider yourself too good to shoulder your fair share. Did you also buy your way out of the military? I served for 34 years, in Viet Nam, Korea, Kuwait, Turkey, etc. I saw many people like you who bought their way out of serving their country, and now want to be rewarded for being selfish, spoiled and rich. In other words, unpatriotic and unAmerican.

Answer 5

Higher taxes on the rich is not a penalty; it's a cost. The rich have benefited the most from living in America, and so they owe the most in return. It is not a sin to be rich, and it is not a crime. It is a responsibility and a privilege. Those who can afford to pay the most should pay the most in return. There was a song in the 60s that went "Tax the rich/Feed the poor/Till there are no/Rich no more." Which completely misses the point. We don't want to keep people from being rich; we want to keep them from being poor.

Higher taxes on the rich isn't keeping anyone from being rich.

Answer 6

How do you intend to pay for the government?

In order to support the government there need to be taxes. These taxes are used to perform the tasks of governing, this includes not only things like law enforcement and military (although these are the most expensive parts), but also helping the less fortunate and those who need it. This second is a primary task of government. Government is there to protect the people; this doesn't just mean protect them from other countries, but also protect them from their situations and from other citizens.

Now, you may see welfare as a handout, and medicaid and medicare as fluff expenses, but a country is only as strong as its weakest constituency. If the poor have no way to pull themselves out of poverty, they will drag on the entire economy of the nation, if there even is an economy. And don't for a minute think that all the people on welfare, etc. want to be on these programs. Most are stuck in $5.15 an hour jobs (thus making a measly $206 a week, before taxes if they work 40 hours and only $10712 a year if they never take any time off) and cannot get a better job because they don't have time to do anything other than work in dead end jobs. To earn more than what is considered the poverty line these people would have to work 60 hours a week or more. But without these people, you wouldn't be able to get your hamburger from Micky D's or purchase your clothes from Old Navy.

Now, getting directly to your question. Tax for someone making $10,000 a year is around 20% (I am estimating), that equals $2,000 per year, leaving them with only $8,000 to live on. Now, I don't know where you live, but here the cheapest craptastic housing someone can get is around $400 per month rent. This leaves our example with $3,200 before food and utilities.

On the other hand, your sample rich person makes $1,000,000 per year and pays (I'm pretty sure this is overestimating) 40% per year in taxes (before tons of deductions). This leaves them making 600,000 per year. Lets say house payments for their house are $3,000 per month again before utilities, food, etc. this still leaves this person with $544,000 annually.

Now, you do the math, can someone who is keeping $3,200 per year before food and utilities afford to pay even 1% more in taxes, or can a rich person keeping $544,000 afford it more? Also, which will make the government more money, taxing 10,000 an extra 1% or 1,000,000?

It makes more sense, both economically and morally, to tax the rich.

Also consider for a moment the fact that the middle class of people (those making 30 - 60 thousand a year) are the ones that drive the economy. The rich invest, but without the middle class, businesses wouldn't make any money, since the rich already have most of what they need and the poor can barely afford it.

Answer 7

The rich are taxed more because they have more. Don't you think they have a moral responsibility to others with less? Especially since most of them did nothing to make themselves rich except get born lucky? There is no tax that takes away the majority of their money. They will continue to be rich, even if they pay all the taxes they should. However, most don't as a result of a variety of legal, and illegal, loopholes. And they already have more representation through PACs and bribes. They certainly don't need, or deserve any more power.

Answer 8

We have a progressive tax system, such that the rich can give back a comparable amount of taxes as the poor. The rich don't need much of that money as the normal 4 person family can live on about 150,000 a year. Noone needs that much money.

The rich are not being unfairly treated, its the poor who are... who are struggling to cling to life and feed their kids while they have to pay out 20-25% of their paycheck to Uncle Sam. 20-25% can be the difference between being comfortable and starving.

Answer 9

Basically, because poor people can't afford to pay taxes and rich people can. Think fixed costs.

Also, according to Bill Gates Sr., most rich people became rich through government funded organizations (SBA, grants etc.) and in a way, the rich owe it to America.

Rich people live the high life and do whatever they want when they want. They either were smart and lucky or born into their status (old money). Why do we middle class people care about rich peeps paying higher taxes?

Answer 10

No. The rich all hirer tax attorneys that know their way around the tax code and end up paying less than the middle class in taxes.

Did you know that even with a flat tax the rich would still pay more?

10% of $10,000 is $1000=bottom class tax

10% of $50,000 is $5,000=middle class tax

10% of $100,000 is $10,000=upper class tax

Answer 11

The rich pay higher taxes because they have more. If you take the amount the rich pay in taxes in proportion to how much of the wealth they own or control, they are not paying their fair share.
The rich already control the elections and all the campaigns. Usually whoever has the most expensive TV campaign wins the election.