About your "tax cut"....
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  About your "tax cut"....
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Author Topic: About your "tax cut"....  (Read 1880 times)
cinyc
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« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2009, 04:48:25 PM »

Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low should put up or shut up.  Absolutely NOTHING is stopping them from paying more to the government.  Nothing.

I shall leave aside the utter idiocy of your position and point out that, simply not having any money prevents the great majority of people from sending any money to anyone.

Reread the statement again: Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low should put up or shut up. 

Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low AND doesn't have the money to pay the tax increase they propose is an idiot.
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opebo
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« Reply #26 on: March 06, 2009, 04:53:59 PM »

Reread the statement again: Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low should put up or shut up. 

I've never seen anyone claim that.  They always express a preference for higher taxes for both themselves and all their class equivalents.
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Beet
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« Reply #27 on: March 06, 2009, 04:56:02 PM »

Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low should put up or shut up.  Absolutely NOTHING is stopping them from paying more to the government.  Nothing.

I shall leave aside the utter idiocy of your position and point out that, simply not having any money prevents the great majority of people from sending any money to anyone.

Reread the statement again: Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low should put up or shut up. 

Anyone who claims that their taxes are too low AND doesn't have the money to pay the tax increase they propose is an idiot.

That's true to some extent, but there is the free rider problem. That's why taxes are mandatory. Suppose that I would be willing to pay 30% of my nominal income in exchange for a functioning government similiar to the current government.

Under a strictly voluntary system, would I pay the 30%? Of course not, because whether or not I pay the 30% has no bearing on whether there is a functioning government. I, and millions of others, even if we were all willing to pay and would all be better off, would end up not paying, and we would all be worse off.

This is why, some people may be willing to pay more taxes, but it is always contingent on others paying.
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cinyc
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« Reply #28 on: March 06, 2009, 05:26:24 PM »

That's true to some extent, but there is the free rider problem. That's why taxes are mandatory. Suppose that I would be willing to pay 30% of my nominal income in exchange for a functioning government similiar to the current government.

Under a strictly voluntary system, would I pay the 30%? Of course not, because whether or not I pay the 30% has no bearing on whether there is a functioning government. I, and millions of others, even if we were all willing to pay and would all be better off, would end up not paying, and we would all be worse off.

This is why, some people may be willing to pay more taxes, but it is always contingent on others paying.

If you honestly believe that your taxes are too low and state so publicly, the free rider "problem" shouldn't be an issue.   Perhaps the "others" don't think their taxes are too low, and ought not to be forced to pay more just because one of their peers wrongly thinks they are not paying enough.

If I were king for a day, I'd tax Congressional pay at the highest rate, subject to the same nonsensical phaseouts and limitations as those in the top group.  I'd also tax political donations at the highest corporate rate, subjecting them to the same nonsensical deduction limitations as companies in the real world.   
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