Originally Posted by
Rascal
Do not accuse me of cutting and pasting what I read on CNN or FOX. You have your point of view and I have mine. I lived in 4 different countries you have not. Your perspective is built from one point of view and mine is not. What you are doing, is regurgitating information that you got from your precious CPA courses. All you know is the "american way" and I have a little more than that. I love America mainly for its people that value diversity and freedom but you seem to get steamed up because I do not seem think exactly the way you do.
Where did I say that people that make money are evil? I just think that we should tax people that can afford to pay taxes and not the people that are the backbone of this country. When I lived in the States I worked for a guy that was/is worth billions and I can assure you that percentage of income wise he paid less in taxes than I did. I live in Sweden now and things a little different. The owner of IKEA pays 90% of income in taxes but yet his company is very successful. Two different approaches to taxation... .
I am guessing that only reason why you getting so offended is because you naively think that someday you will be a part of that top 2%. Maybe instead attacking you should defending the people in your income class. Good luck bro.
There is never going to be a perfectly fair way to tax. Someone will always complain. Hell, a seniority list cannot even be merged without a similar response.
However, taxing someone more heavily as they succeed serves to dampen the motivation to succeed in the first place. As the progressive scale gets bigger, these same folks are able to maneuver within the system to end up with a lesser effective percentage, effectively flattening out the progressive nature of the tables.
The system you advocate is one in which the higher earners pay the heaviest taxes and those who are the "backbone" (as if the large businesses aren't part of that) as you say shouldn't have to pay as much. Honestly, that is about the way it is in reality - nearly 50% of lower ended wage earners pay nothing in federal taxes.
Your viewpoint is akin to communism which holds dear the mantra of "from each according to his ability and to each according to his need". So far, communism is batting zero.
It might sound great if you are the little guy, but merely serves to stifle will to succeed on the macro scale.
I am not going to swing back on your having lived in other countries. So be it. However, you obviously have some major misunderstandings about how businesses work (in this country anyways), what motivates people to succeed, and the inherent balance in the current system. The system is a tool that can be played in many ways. Some choose not to play and will merely complain about it and others will see huge opportunities and go out and create the next Google, Apple, or Microsoft. The lowest common denominator could be construed to be the degree of motivation one has to use the system to succeed. This is what the whole idea of "The American Dream" is all about. Its not "The American Guarantee". Some paths don't lead to victory - so choose wisely in a flawed system that is still the best one on the face of the planet today.
You are entitled to your viewpoint, though. We all are.