Personally, I think this is all simple. Keep tax rates for the middle class where they are. Maybe raise them slightly on those making over $1M, not this $250,000 is now stinking rich BS. And, we need to raise taxes on the poor. I'm sure no politician would have the balls to do it, but it needs to be done. What I would do is take the bottom 50% that don't pay any federal income taxes and split them into two groups. The bottom half would only pay $1 a week, while the top half would pay $2 a week. Nothing that would crush them financially, but it would definitely give you more revenue. Of course, if I truly had my way I would do away with this ridiculous tax system and pass either a flat tax or national sales tax, preferably the latter. That means no loopholes or deductions, and you pay tax on everything you buy. That would even get any illegals that don't pay income taxes. But, still, the biggest problem is spending.
We need to stop the automatic yearly hikes in a department's budget. In fact, have an independent probe go through each one and weed out any expenses that are not needed. That includes unneeded personnel. We definitely need to have a probe for the Defense Department, too, but I would save that one for last, since its so important. Another thing we need to do is actually get rid of all these BS committees and agencies that don't do jack shit but get paid. Here's a list to show just how big and useless some of our government is.
Also, quit demonizing the rich. Here's a nice parable:
'Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this…
- The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing
- The fifth would pay $1
- The sixth would pay $3
- The seventh would pay $7
- The eighth would pay $12
- The ninth would pay $18
- The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59
So, that’s what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball.
“Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20″. Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?
The bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
- And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving).
- The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving).
- The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving).
- The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving).
- The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving).
- The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,”but he got $10!”
“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!”
“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!”
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.'
