You can try to avoid the argument. You said anybody that is protected by the military should pay taxes. I simply disagree. When I'm poor and starting out I don't give a shit what the military does. If this country is ever attacked my state alone can put together a militia that no foreign invader would ever want to fight.
Your insulting reply seemed to me like you were implying that the only reason I thought people should pay taxes was to support the military. Now shut up and put me on ignore. Thanks.
well, that was your first condition for paying a tax. Why don't we just agree that all people rich and poor believe that a military to protect us is a legitimate use of government and it needs to be paid for somehow?
Whats with the needless semantics? A flat tax means everyone pays the SAME RATE on all income. The Founders intended an identical tax ON EVERYONE. This whole system is a piece of shit. Surprised to see many of you defending it.
Jem, though many scholars regard Wilson as one of our best Presidents, being a libertarian, or an old school liberal --as you once correctly categorized me, the only one on ET to get that right, for which I thank you -- I have always regarded Wilson as one of our worst presidents. Not only did Wilson's administration draft the language of the Espionage Act of 1917, but Wilson, himself, wanted censorship of the press. Wilson wanted to make expression of opinion counter to the governments opinion, his opinion, a crime! This was kept out of the Act by one vote! The next year, however, the Act was amended with even stronger censorship provisions. The Amendment became known as the Sedition Act. Thankfully the Sedition Act was later repealed.. but not before Wilson had used it to put one of his political enemies, along with quite a few others, in prison. This is why I find it ironic that the Woodrow Wilson who said: " ... [our government is] no longer a government of free opinion..." was the same Woodrow Wilson who said, in 1917, "Authority to exercise censorship over the press....is absolutely necessary to the public safety". (See "Woodrow Wilson" in Wiki) _________________ N.B. Wilson's Espionage Act is the Act under which both Daniel Ellsberg and Edward Snowden were charged, two people I regard as American Heroes. The Act is still very much with us. The problem with it is that fear of prosecution under the Act quashes exposure of government wrong doing and law breaking. Moynihan thought the law enabled the government to keep far more of its questionable activities a secret then it should be been able to, and thus helped perpetuate bad government behavior.. With careful redrafting the Act could be amended to accomplish what it needs to; yet not be usable as an aid to the covering-up of government errors, wrong doing, and law breaking .
Here I thought hedgies had been getting a good deal by turning ordinary income into a 15% cap gains tax rate all those years via carried interest, but it turns out some of them weren't paying any taxes at all. For decades. I'm talking George Soros. Very enlightening article: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-30/george-soros-s-tax-bill
how would life be any different with a flat tax? We would still have an IRS, we would still pay income taxes. The only thing different would be the different rate. Some peoples rates would go up, some would go down. But we'd be right back where we are now.
you have already made it complex with #2. steve forbes' suggestion was simplest. $10,000 exemption for every member of a family.