Mav, not taking anything away from your answer, it's a good one. But we all know that if a friend or even just a long time acquaintance is up against it we try to pick up the odd tab or send over a drink. I realize that I am speaking of voluntary behavior here and that is worlds apart from the tax man putting his hand in our pockets making the question you pose more relevant than my example but when I hear about companies with openings posting that they will only interview those that are currently employed it makes me cringe. It is truly amazing that the Western world has let things go this far. We have mismanaged and over spent ourselves into a truly perverse place. BTW, I recall your participation in a Tape Reading thread here on ET some years back. You filled in some blanks that I had been curious about for years ... thanks!
Richest guy pays 75% of the bill Next richest guy pays 25%. The other 2 eat for free. That's how we do it in America. And things won't be fixed until "the rich pay their fair share".
A lot of the rich live in security gated communities well away from the poor. They don't invite the poor out to dinner unless they have something big to offer, which is rare indeed. The poor always seem to have a "you owe me" attitude while the rich have a " don't sponge off me" attitude. A lot of the poor have drink problems, drugs problems, mental problems, crime problems etc. which prevents them getting anywhere. They should learn self-discipline !!
No need. The government FORCES the rich to "take to poor out to dinner"... EVERY DAY... in a manner of speaking. America thrived while we were "the land of opportunity". We're going into the shitter now that we are "the land of entitlement"...
On the flip side, there are plenty of job vacancies in certain industries and regions. Many are still holding out for a better job that isn't "beneath" them, especially if they can get unemployment, food stamps, SSI, etc. Not sure what happened to the "I'll take a job digging ditches or delivering pizzas if I have to feed my family" mentality.
While I don't care, since I can adjust given enough time, I do wonder why you refer to wealthy which is based on net worth or assets and talk about an income tax. Aren't income and wealth different things?
I like the idea of a 10% tax on everyone on anything you make (no tax loopholes for this) which goes to providing for the common good (roads, schools, military, ect) then another non-mandatory 10% to go to charity(welfare, food stamps, social security, medicare, ect) The non-mandatory 10% you only dont have to pay if you write a letter once per year explaining why you dont want to pay that 10% of which that letter will be public record that anyone can see it if they want. Otherwise it will be automatically deducted.
"Should be identical to the tax rate on everyone else." the graduated income tax does exactly this. everyone pays the same tax at the bracket. a person making a million pays the same rate on the first 25k as a person making 50k.