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Rath on 05 October 2010
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mrstickball said:
Rath said:

I'm not saying the systems in America work very well or are efficient. I'm saying your assertion that cutting everybodies taxes equally and then cutting government funding for these systems will somehow help the poor is just plain wrong.

Cutting taxes across the board helps the rich the most while cutting welfare systems hurts the poor the most. Your suggestion that cutting the taxes and cutting the welfare is going to help the poor just doesn't

Where did I advocate cutting all welfare programs? I mentioned only entitlement programs that rip off the taxpayer, namely Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security as being the top entitlement culprits.

Poor people pay taxes. When I was making $10,000 a year as a park caretaker, I paid taxes. When I made $30,000 a year, I paid taxes. Yes, I got most or all of my FICA taxes back, but I still had to pay payroll taxes! I still paid 8.5% to social security! I still paid 3.0% to medicare/medicaid!

I believe we need to cut payroll taxes, which hurt the poor and middle class the most. Social security and medicare are capped for those that earn more than $100,000 which makes the argument that it benefits the rich the most, a false argument. If these mandatory taxes can be cut or removed, it would free up a lot of money (about 11.5%) for those in poverty to invest and get better health care.

Those entitlement programs are the welfare programs that help the poor the most. They do cost the middle class and the rich money, there is no denying that. You can't help the poor without somebody losing out somewhere along the line.

Let me ask you, for a person on an extremely low income - would the amount they pay in taxes cover their medical bills? I'm fairly certain the answer is no. They get a net benefit from these social security systems, far more than the amount that they pay in taxes.

If you want to cut the payroll taxes and replace them with taxes on higher incomes or luxury goods so welfare can still help the poor, then I would agree with you.