Why shouldn't the rich pay higher tax %'s?

Question

Now, I'm only in my 20's. I have a little college, and some military time under my belt, but I'm wondering this. What is the reasoning behind not making the rich pay more in taxes ?

We like to tout that this country is in danger and at war. So, it occurs to me that if this country were to come to true danger, where we were invaded, those people have a lot more to lose than I do.

Oh, I forsee the answers being "They do", "Typical Liberal" and "Because I worked hard ..."

So let's modify it a little bit to be "Why shouldn't trust fund babies pay a higher % of taxes than they do now?"

Answer 1

I completely agree with you. The rich should have to pay more, because they CAN pay more.

Ask the middle class to pay more they are in jeopardy of foreclosing on an already smaller house or sell their middle priced car.

Ask the upper class to pay more they won't be able to afford their third mansion in Beverly Hills, oh dear!

Cut taxes to the middle class and they will be able to put more into the economy and eventually get to a higher tax bracket where they will be able to pay more taxes hence the government will get more tax money in the long run. If you cut taxes to the rich and raise taxes for the poor the classes become even more separated and the economy suffers.

Answer 2

Simple Logic, if they got more money, they have more to spare.

Answer 3

it is called 'confiscatory taxes'.  bad.

the exact reason the American colonies broke away from England.

why don't you support a flat tax then? no loopholes, no irs, smaller government.

Answer 4

Frankly, it's immoral. To say to someone, "hey we're going to let you work hard for years, donate a significant portion of your life to a job or career, spend less time with your family because you're working; and then we're going to steal money from your paycheck before you even get it" violates all codes of ethics, all codes of humanity.

I'm not rich, but I'd like to be someday. And I plan to be. If I work hard, do a good job, and am an honest guy, then no one has a right to a significant portion of my wealth. obviously, roads and schools need to be built. So some income tax is probably necessary, although I do like the FAIR Tax idea. But for the government to come in and steal my wealth--that I work hard for--is just absolutely wrong.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what governments do: They regulate and destroy free enterprise, but not before--like the mob--they get their cut. And that cut comes straight from our wallets.

Keep the government out of free enterprise as much as possible. Keep them out of corporations like Fannie May and Freddie Mack. But most of all, Keep them the h**l away from our wallets!

Answer 5

Because the  rich as you so aptly put it put their money back into the economy by creating jobs.  You take their money away to support an incompetent government and you won't have those jobs.   Think an issue through.  

Answer 6

Why is the government entitled to so much of their money?

Answer 7

because it's not your money ?

Why do you liberals hate successful people who are capable of making and saving money?

As it stands right now, the top 10% of earners in the country pay over 60% of the taxes.  

The lowest 40% pay ZERO in federal income tax.

talk about communism...

Answer 8

They already pay the bulk of taxes in this country. Why not a fair flat tax percentage that is an equal  perecentage regardless of your income and eliminate all loopholes?  

Answer 9

They should. But I don't really agree with Rich people payign a different percentage than poor. I think everyone should pay the same percentage. NO DEDUCTIONS. That way weather you know how to 'work the system' or not you will pay them same percentage as everyone else. Right now rich people do pay a larger percentage but they also have the advantage of being able to hire others that know how to work the system in their advantage. In the end, after credits and deductions, rich people may pay a smaller percentage than others. It depends on the person. Tax rate should be flat across the board with NO DEDUCTIONS! that's the only 'fair' way to do it.

Answer 10

Because they worked hard for it...and so did everyone else. There is no good reason for why they shouldn't pay higher taxes.  

Answer 11

This has been argued and proven over and over. The rich pay the majority of income taxes, where those that are below a certain income level pay none and get an earned income "refund". In Ca. the Democrats have set the thresh hold at $44,000 a year. At $44,001 your income tax rate will go to nine percent, over two hundred thousand a year and your at 12 percent. With Federal and State your close to a 50 percent rate. In Ca. the Democrats refuse to stop spending what they don't have. They have 44 billion more a year in revenue than they did five years ago and they spent it. They want to raise taxes again, sales, which we are the highest in the country, gas taxes, which we are the highest in the country. If you own a vacation home they want to double the property taxes, they want to triple the car taxes, but they do not want to stop wasteful spending. The Republicans are holding the lines on raising taxes and insisting they stop spending.

Answer 12

I have to agree with the Memo Guy. Punishing the most productive members is not the answer. So I say Tax the rich until they pay off some of that federal deficit. That's right. Do you realize that corps. that outsourced jobs overseas are still getting tax breaks? Come on now.

Just keep away from Paris Hilton. I mean, when grand dad kicks the bucket she'll only walk away with a measly 5 mil.. Seems to me she's earned every penny of that. Wouldn't you say.

Answer 13

They should.  The individuals with the highest incomes own most of the wealth in this country. If they pay higher taxes, they'll still be very, very rich.  

Edit:  The Jefferson quote above explains the concept very well.

Answer 14

I have spoken to people during trade shows that have had to move their business & manufacturing out of the U.S. because they say taxes, (especially payroll taxes), regulations, unions and/or high labor costs & benefits, along with lawsuits and fraudulent employee workers compensation. - Those things unable them to compete in the U.S.

Answer 15

The Constitution is why nobody should be made to pay more than anyone else. Are we not equal citizens? Should there still be equal protection under the law? Do you know why this country was founded? Do stamps, tea and taxes ring a bell? Where in the Constitution does Congress have the power to punish/reward one American over another?

As far as trust fund babies, they do not pay ANY income taxes, they are protected in trust funds and are not considered income. That is how politicians protect their wealth. They tell you that the "rich" should bare all the burden, then they pay nothing. Did you realize that when Congress instituted the income tax they also created trust funds?

The rich are paying almost all of the taxes now, how much more can you ask of them before they stop investing in this country? Why do you think there is so much outsourcing? Because we have the highest corporate taxes and the most regulations on businesses.

As far as being invaded, we all have the same amount at risk. I do not fear losing my wealth, that can be regained in a free society. I fear losing my liberty more than anything because most Americans take it for granted.

2005 Tax Season

The top  1% pay 39% of all income taxes.

The top  5% pay 60% of all income taxes.

The top 25% pay 86% of all income taxes.

The top 50% pay 97% of all income taxes.

The bottom 50% pay 3% of all income taxes.

Almost half the workforce pays zero income taxes already. Do you understand that you can tax 100% and it still would not get rid of our deficit? We need to make real cuts in programs and spending and get rid of the Federal Reserve.

Once you make over a certain amount, you also lose your tax deductions like mortgage interest. So when you where a kid did your parents teach you that it was alright to take stuff from kids that had more than you because after all they had more. I didn't think so, so why do you think it's OK if the government does for you as an adult?

We do not need more government or more regulations. The government will not and should not "take care" of it's citizens. Its function is to protect our liberty from all threats abroad or at home.

Liberty is what it is all about, you should have learned that in the military. Thank you for your service!

Please go back and read about the founding of this nation, not the c**p they gave you in school or college.

"The spirit of 1776 is not dead. It has only been slumbering. The body of the American people is substantially republican. But their virtuous feelings have been played on by some fact with more fiction; they have been the dupes of artful maneuvers, and made for a moment to be willing instruments in forging chains for themselves. But times and truth dissipated the delusion, and opened their eyes." --Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Lomax, 1799. ME 10:123  

Answer 16

they should....

"The property of this country is absolutely concentred in a very few hands, having revenues of from half a million of guineas a year downwards... I am conscious that an equal division of property is impracticable. But the consequences of this enormous inequality producing so much misery to the bulk of mankind, legislators cannot invent too many devices for subdividing property, only taking care to let their subdivisions go hand in hand with the natural affections of the human mind. Another means of silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise. Whenever there is in any country, uncultivated lands and unemployed poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so far extended as to violate natural right. The earth is given as a common stock for man to labor and live on."

--Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, October 28,1785. ME 19:17, Papers 8:682

Answer 17

Oh Jesus.  Take an Econ 101 class and find out the answer.  If you're on day 3 or 4 and haven't figured it out yet, give up and take a blue collar job.

OK, I'll give you the answer now:  Punishing your most productive citizens will reduce their incentive to produce more.   Read:  Slow growth or recession.  Fewer jobs.

Are you on board or will you be looking for the best blue collar job you can find so you can join the union and whine about how much "the man" is torturing you for your lack of marketable skills?

Answer 18

If you tax the rich, it always comes back on the poor. The less monney t rich have, the less they invest. That is, invest in homes, boats, new businesses, employees, etc.

If they buy a home, it employs construction workers, the people who make the tools, the people who make the cement, the siding, the windows. All of those people have jobs because the rich spend their money. Same with boats, and anything else they buy. The less they spend, the less demand there is for certain items, and the more jobs that are lost.

If their taxes are higher, they are less likely to open new businesses, and hire new employees. That means unemployment goes up. It's all basic economics.

Not to mention this. Go read a little book by Karl Marx. It's really cool, it talks about taxing the rich and giving it to the poor. I think he was writing about something called communism. But maybe Obama didn't read that book. Oh wait, of course he did, and so did his father, which was a practicing communist and advised kenya to do the exact same policies Obama wants to emply. hmmmm...

Answer 19

Somebody has to pay for Bush/McCain wars. You can take it from poor and break them down or you can take it from rich and make them 1% less rich.

Answer 20

the question is why shouldn't they? i mean the middle class and lower class people pay high taxes and the upper class people don't pay as much as we do. its like saying the president doesn't pay any taxes.

Answer 21

Because if you push it too far people would prefer to do business in other countries or flat out move all their assets offshore, which is already happening in some cases.

Answer 22

Because asking somebody with 200 million dollars in the bank to pay an extra 1/2 a million per year in taxes is "punishing them for being rich" in the eyes of the kooks.  

Answer 23

We are the ones making them rich 95% of the country.  Then we have to foot the bill.  To add insult to injury we have to pay them in taxes for all the bail outs.  Which is called Corporate Welfare.  Then the Republicans cry foul when democrats have to raise taxes to get the budget balanced.  They say they are for small government, balanced budget and traditional values.  They are the total opposites, so when they speak to you, you better listen and turn everything around because they are just the mis-speaks, doctored jargon that has ruined our country.

Don't you just love it when they say take a class that LIBERALS are dumb to economics.  We have all been schooled by this administration and if the conservatives can't see the danger our country is in.  They are a danger to our country.

Answer 24

First of all as you know they already do pay more taxes than you do. Way way way more taxes.

Why do you think someone who works hard invests in our economy and creates the things that make each of our lives better should have their money confiscated from them and given to someone else who more than likely did not do any of that?

Oh yea by the way not that it should matter but of the ultra rich in this country less than 10% inherited the money . Look it up.

Answer 25

Well looks like you've already made up your answer haven't you?  The rich are already in a higher tax bracket than the rest of the country.  In most cases when taxes are raised, it means the government is going to spend more money on useless programs that don't deliever what they're supposed to.

Answer 26

Why do the little people over look the 3rd rail of politics and realize they pay 17% of their weekly pay into SS and Medicaid?

What would you be able to do for your own security if you got a 17% raise?

Us vrs Them works

Don't mess up the system

Answer 27

They do pay more.

Answer 28

because it's not your money. Now get to work and make something of yourself rather than complaining about others success.

Seems to me alot of people enjoy the taste of sour grapes.