Reply to What really needs to be fixed in the tax code?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Eliminate ALL deductions and exemptions.  Institute a flat % tax.[/quote]

No, this would be patently unfair.[/quote]

If everyone is paying the exact same %, how is that unfair?  Seems to me it's the very definition of 'fair'.[/quote]

No, it's "equal." You're conflating the two. "Equal" and "fair" are not synonyms. Our tax code is progressive for a reason.

If I earn $50,000 and the flat tax is, say, 15%, I have to pay $7,500 (plus payroll taxes, but I'll leave that out for now), so I'm left with $42,500. But if someone earns $1 billion, he pays $150 million and is left with $850 million.

I know, I know, you think that's fair. The problem is -- the rate cannot be 15% in order to be revenue neutral. It has to be closer to 30%. So, now I'm left with $35,000 (plus payroll taxes). The billionaire is still left with $700 million.

I don't think that is fair. He has a greater ability to pay than I do without affecting quality of life. That's the issue.[/quote]

OK, you simply want the rich to pay their "fair share".  Got it.

Life isn't fair.  But our forefathers stated "all men are created equal".  We should be taxed as such.[/quote]

That doesn't even track logically.

Our forefathers made a lot of mistakes. And that "all men are created equal" rhetoric was undercut by another document a decade or so later called the US Constitution, which defined black men as less than equal.

It isn't me who wants the rich to pay a higher share. It's a founding principle of the income tax.

You want to discuss a different method of taxation, I'll have that conversation with you. But if you're a conservative and you love this Republican tax plan, then I know you're an idiot because only five years ago Mitt Romney's 47% gaffe had your jock strap in a twist because you were absolutely FURIOUS that nearly half of all Americans don't pay income taxes (although it never occurred to you that the reason for this is they are TOO GODDAMNED POOR TO DO SO, and why that might be a problem.) And now you've got the dotard literally bragging about removing more people from the rolls.

BTW, do you even know that the "flat tax" by definition exempts non-wage income from tax?[/quote]

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