Absolute and utter garbage. The way Bernie and liberal groups have talked lately would make one think that "the rich" don't pay any taxes at all, when in reality, they pay the overwhelming majority of federal income tax already.
It's all about taking money from people who have earned it and giving it to people who have not.
My wife and I would literally have 27% of our income redistributed away from us, just by the Feds. Add in state income taxes and property taxes and you're looking at almost 40%. This means that all my work from January 1 to almost the end of May would be working to earn money for other people, and that doesn't even factor in payroll taxes. And then, after that's implemented, the left will still think taxes are too low.
Does it get more "entitled" than living in a developed country, benefiting from public services and (relatively) non-corrupt governance, and expecting not to pay for any of this? That is exactly what rhetoric about working until whatever date "to earn money for other people" implies.
It's Randian garbage, and few trends in American politics have been more corrosive to our politics than the emergence of this narrative as a leading concern for middle-class households. Living in this country, working in this country, being a citizen of the United States means accepting the obligations that come with that, including paying taxes on your income. It's a shame that even Democrats are afraid to talk about this in terms of our national duties.
Actually, I would argue that the actual libertarians oppose tax increases because they don't think the programs paid for by those programs should even exist - based on their understanding of economics (that these programs are economically efficient and thus undesirable from a social welfare perspective). That stance I disagree with but can 100% respect.
I am much less sanguine on the upper-middle-class liberal suburbanites who just don't want to pay for the programs they want.
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