Is IT ReLLY Fair To Tax THE WealThy?

Question

I am usually liberal on economic issues, but lets really think about this. The wealthy use the least amount of public services, yet we tax them more?

Is it right to tax people more just because they have more to give?

I know when there are tax breaks, they get the biggest break, but is that really reliable considering they have to wait for the break to come along.

It just seems like a really bad deal for rich people

Is there anyone out there that could come up with a legitimate reason as to why rich people should pay more taxes?

Answer 1

Rich people tend to be employers rather than employees. In a capitalist society you will always have layers where, at the bottom, you have a lot of people earning a little and at the top a few people earning a lot. In order to maintain this and sustain a workforce the lower paid workers must have certain services provided to them which they would not otherwise be able to afford, eg a bus service to work.

As many companies may have different goals and needs it is left to government to provide the basic services such as health care and schooling.

On another level, while rich people pay more tax they still have more money as take-home pay.

Answer 2

I didnt even read your essay. All I have to say is that the rich can afford what ever amount they get taxed on. There argument with this is that they were able to earn all that cash by working hard, being educated, having a good job, etc only to have to give it back during tax season. Thats unfair dont you think?

I am poor and I could care less if the rich pay more. Once I get rich, i would have to re consider. For now.....I am still poor.

Answer 3

"Fair" is in the eyes of the beholder. (or receiver)
Tax breaks go to the wealthy because they pay the most taxes.

This essay demonstrates taxes well. Kudo's to the author, but I don't know who it is.

Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100
If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh $7.
The eighth $12.
The ninth $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement -- until one day, when the owner threw them a curve.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."
So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.
So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?
The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal.
So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! They were $52 short!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

(my add: nowadays, the poorest would get paid to go out to dinner)

Answer 4

in the US, i'm assuming...

why do wealthy people use less public service? they actually use more public service because of their influence that their wealth affords them. In all reality, they are the public infrastructure. They decide land development, because it is their wealth that buys the land, builds the development and sells/manages/makes money from the lands uses. It is the wealth that the public service cater to.

If by public services you mean low-income "free" services... no they don'tuse these... but these are the least funded and drain the least from our taxes. Police/fire/military/public works (roads, sewers, airports), these are the big items. And do the police keep the poor neighborhoods safe from crime or the wealthy neighborhoods?

The wealthy, especially the elite wealthy... of which there are now over 10 million in the US... make the public infrastructure to secure and generate more wealth FOR THEM based on the capital generated from the taxes of everyone, as well as from the relatively cheap labor of the poor and middle-class.

If you think the rich people have a bad deal because they have to pay more taxes, then you haven't seen how the rich live. Trust me, they are not hurting or suffering for it.

Chomsky calls it "welfare for the rich." Government subsidizing on special interest lobbying. My taxes on my measley salary goes into "public projects" that benefit the already wealthy elite who thru congression tax breaks, cuts and loopholes pay half of the taxes i pay even though they make 10x to 100x more than i do.

If you don't believe me or want more info on just how much the wealthy are stealing our tax dollars to increase their personal wealth and drive the middle class deeper into the poor (the ever widening gap between rich and poor), here are some suggested readings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_for_the_rich

Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent.

Zinn's People's History of the United States

Marx's criticisms of capitalism (very valid criticisms despite his solution of communism which is just as bad as capitalism)

Michael Moore's Sicko

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Nader/CutCorpWelfare_Nader.html

http://www.nader.org/releases/63099.html

http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter3.htm

"The Corporate Welfare State: How the Federal Government Subsidizes U.S. Businesses," by Stephen Slivinski. Cato Institute, 2007.

Nader, Ralph. Cutting corporate welfare (Seven Stories Press, NY, 2001).

Jansson, Bruce S. The $16 trillion mistake: How the U.S. bungled its national priorities from the New Deal to the present (Columbia University Press, 2001)

Mandell, Nikki. The corporation as family : the gendering of corporate welfare, 1890-1930 (University of North Carolina Press, 2002).

Glasberg, Davita Silfen. Corporate welfare policy and the welfare state: Bank deregulation and the savings and loan bailout (Aldine de Gruyter, NY, 1997).

Lewish, David. Louder voices: The corporate welfare bums (Lewis & Samuel, 1972).

Whitfield, Dexter. Public services or corporate welfare: Rethinking the nation state in the global economy (Pluto Press, Sterling, Va., 2001.)

Folsom Jr, Burton W. The Myth of the Robber Barons (Young America)

Rothbard, Murray N. Making Economic Sense, Chapter 51: Making Government-Business Partnerships ISBN 0-945466-18-8 (1995)

Perkins, John. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. ISBN 1-57675-301-8 (2004)

Answer 5

i think it is fair. i mean they are rich for god sake

Answer 6

How many times are you going to ask the same question?? Please post your questions ONE TIME ONLY!

Answer 7

they have more to give?