Our national government needs money. Money for national security, infrastructure, social services, and about a million other things. A convenient way to get that cash is by taxing its people. Nothing new here - it's been going on for millennia.
The simplest way to collect those funds is to impose an old fashioned poll tax. This is not a tax for voting, but simply a flat per-person tax. Who qualifies as a taxable "person" can be worked out, but simply, every qualified individual pays the same fee. This sort of tax is based on the idea that all individuals benefit from the government equally, and all should contribute equally to it. Sounds fair to me!
Another way to collect funds is through a flat percentage tax based on income. This takes into account the fact that individuals making more money can afford to pay more. So, at a 20% tax rate, a person making $100,000 would pay $20,000 and a person making $50,000 will pay $10,000. I can live with that!
A third scheme, one which the United States has employed for decades, is to tax different levels of incomes at different percentages. This is based on the theory that not only can "rich" people afford to pay more, but that they can also afford to pay a higher percentage of their income. After all, 20% is a lot more dear to a person making $50,000 than it is to a person making $500,000 - so maybe the person making $500,000 needs to pay 40%. Okay.....
These first three plans all make sense on some level.
What doesn't make sense is President Obama's budget plan that would result in 50% of working Americans paying ZERO income tax.
In my view, every working person has to pay something - I don't care if it's one percent, or one half of one percent! Doesn't he see what a disincentive it will be - to the half that will still be paying - to be as productive as they have been, once they realize they are paying for services enjoyed by the half who pay nothing?
If this keeps up, we are likely to chase our most productive citizens, and their tax dollars, right to oblivion.
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