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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am a democrat, but I'm not sure I understand the justification of the wealthy paying such a high tax rate.  Can someone explain this to me?  We are middle class and pay about 12%.  It seems like 39% is quite high, even for the wealthy.  This seems like more than their fair share.  What am I missing?  [/quote]

I'm in that bracket...and a Republican.  However you may be surprised by my answer:

You're not missing anything.  Instead of using "unfair" I'll just say that is is not proportionate.

I don't mind paying more taxes - I can afford to do it, and we ought to do it b/c the country needs help.

However - what I bristle at is that people who pay nothing, get to criticize me for "not paying my fair share".  In that regard it probably is just semantics, but if you're paying zero and I'm paying more than zero, how do you get to criticize?  :-)     I think Mr. Obama should have made everyone pay something  even if it means "$100" as a token below a certain income level.   While it may not cure the debt problem we have, the "token" amount will make people like me more willing to pay a disproportionate amount of taxes.

Taxes aren't even the problem - it's a spending problem.  Even if we all pay what we're supposed to pay - it's less than a ladle-full of water in a bucket.   We need to reduce spending in order to close the gap.[/quote]

Who are the people who "pay nothing", I'm curious. (Hint: payroll and sales taxes are "tax")
[/quote]

Hint: payroll and sales taxes contribute basically nothing to education, to healthcare, to roads, to defense, to foreign assistance, to the common good...people who don't pay income taxes don't pay the taxes that build this country. And it is indeed worrying that over 50% adults in the US pay no income tax. That doesn't happen in any European country, where the vast majority does pay income tax.[/quote]

How can you say that.  Payroll taxes fund Medicare.  And nobody's income tax pays for education, property taxes do.  Property taxes are paid by property owners and ithrough rents collected by renters, so basically everyone.  And pretty much everywhere Sales Tax goes into a state or locality's general fund, so it absolutely goes to the common good, including state and local roads which gets to another point.

So all you have left is defense and foreign aid.  Maybe we should think about cutting that.  Stop paying the bills for the defense of other countries.[/quote]

You don't get it. Payroll taxes don't even fund Medicare for the beneficiary paying those taxes, much less for other people who need health care. Income taxes fill that huge and growing gap, as they do regarding education expenses given growing role of federal government there. Sales tax may help pay for some road maintenance but not for road or infrastructure building. And, while I am all for cutting costs in defense and other areas (not the little foreign aid we give), that is always going to be a significant cost line.

So, I'll repeat it. It is worrying that so many people don't contribute to the common good via income taxes. [/quote]

Relief from taxes is one of the few (maybe the only) means of financial support the government gives to the [b]working [/b]poor.  Making them "contribute" to the common good will do little to fill in the costs you are so darn worried about.  As a matter of public policy, I don't think your personal feelings on the matter are a good reason to change.  Thank goodness your ideas are too petty even for politicians.  Oh wait, no, this is a new Republican idea, so scratch that.[/quote]

The funny thing is that this is not a Republican idea. It is a Scandinavian one. And a key reason why the safety net had broad social support there - EVERYONE contributes their fair share, both at the top and bottom income levels. [/quote]

Oh, so you want Scandinavian tax rates now?  Sure, I'm on board with that.[/quote]

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