The problem we've had the last 4 or so years is that instead of people spending what they were getting in tax breaks, they were saving or otherwise hoarding their money. This is made even worse when the wealthy often have their money sent to off-shore bank account, so that they aren't even taxed at the full amount. Then there's those wealthy that don't even pay their taxes (and get away with it).

This is why a flat tax is such a better idea. Basically, you consolidate all of the taxes into sales tax. So, instead of having taxes taken out of your paycheck and paying 6%-10% sales tax, you keep your entire earning and pay 25%-28% sales tax. This is a far better solution, in my opinion. Not only do you remove the political selling point, but it forces people to contribute without being able to really get around it (significantly).

Most people's first reaction to a flat tax is shocked because of the higher percentage sales tax, but it really balances back out. For instance, if you make $52,000 a year, instead of only bringing home $875 a week (after taxes) you'd bring home the full $1,000 a week.

Thats not a bad idea there, but the problem, you can't have a 28% tax on a coca cola, and at the same time on a car. Taxes would have to be proportional, in order to make cars and more expensive products far more available to the general public.

you don't know how taxes work huh...

All I know is that paying 28% more on everything, no matter what they are, is going to make some serious price increases on things that are already expensive.

What part of % do you not understand? It is, by definition, proportional. Yes, a car would be several thousand dollars more expensive, but you would be making several thousand dollars more a year.

This kind of tax proposal would definitely be the most effective, in my opinion. No one would be able to get around it. Plus then we can get more taxes out of tourists.

Although I'm not sure what kind of effect that might have on the dollar...

Pull yourself up by the bootstraps and drive on socialist roads with your socialist street lights and your socialist electricity and your socialist clean water and all the other socialist things you'll benefit from as your grow old, but god dammit: You should be able to spontaneously heal yourself.

Arguing that the failures of certain programs are associated to future failures is unfair, and completely illogical. Yes, we should expect better from our government, but assuming that no group of intelligent people can functionally develop healthcare that can prevent disease and improve overall health is detrimental.

Have you seen any other country outside of America? I wonder how many other 1st world countries have no national health care? I know what most countries without healthcare look like.

We are wealthy when it comes to our warheads and empty trucks in Iraq, but suddenly we cannot fund our own health? Mind you, we have some of the greatest doctors in the world in our country.

I see other problems with this plan though. Americans are entitled to their fast food diets, consumerism, and the corporations holding the leashes of the politicians are obsessed with making the money of Americans. It's a great relationship, and the politicians are not willing to fight the corporate ownership of Washington. That doesn't make this bill wrong and useless, it just makes me skeptical of the people supporting it, and their ties to particular industries.

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/58129-buffett-to-meet-with-senate-dems



(FYI, Warren Buffett is possibly the richest person in the world - or at least he was in 2008.)

(Edit: Actually he's the second richest now, because he lost more money than Bill Gates in this recession.)

I pay 20% income tax, and 15% VAT. Feels about right.

That's the problem with INCOME taxes. The richest people don't have income, they have expense accounts. Consumption taxes are more appropriate. (The solution to Warren Buffett is not raising Warren Buffett's taxes, it's lowering ours.)

I've never head of rich people here having expense accounts to avoid tax; I think that's tax-dodging here. You have to declare ALL your income, no matter where you get it from.

Which is why England's über-rich live in tax havens...

Sick people shouldn't be given government handouts anyway. Have you ever seen an end stage cancer patient? All they do is lie around hopped up on legal heroin (big pharma amirite). They don't hold jobs, yet they expect reasonably priced care? Not in my America, they're not. They're probably gay AIDS ******s anyway. It's their fault.

Also, ******s blacks mexican spics and halfbreed ******spics are poor because they're lazy. Ron Paul 2012

die in a fire

no u you socialist commie

Yeah, then darkjedibob can pay for the treatment with his taxes, even though you're going to die anyway

COOL, i see your logic their, just because someone is a member of a certain race, that means that certain attributes automatically apply to them, and how could we be silly not to think that all gay people have AIDS.

In fact, i would probably imagine that more straight people than gay contract AIDS overall, please, share more of your wisdom

I'm glad we have cool kids here that feel the need to act like thugs over the internet but one day will probably be laying in a hospital bed begging and screaming for their life and mother, ****ing loser

couchman wins the internet

I give pretty much half of my salary to the state every month. Hungary has ridiculously high tax rates. In fact, there was a proposition some time ago to introduce a tax on wearing ties. From last I've heard it didn't go through, but seriously, WTF?

look at africa theyre almost all black and really poor...coincidence?



Gay people created AIDS in the 80s...coincidence?




perhaps one day you will see the detrimental influence of the gay black mexicans on the world.

Kroko took the words right out of my mouth. Amen, brother.

Wait, why are you trying to get universal health care in the U.S.?

Except, of course...

Who the hell wants Americans to live ANYWAY!!!?

Actually, companies admit that there is already an approximately 10%-15% mark-up on products due to manufacturing taxes that they pass along to the consumers (which would go away). Also, many companies have said that they would either move back to the US or move to the US from another country if the US were to adopt the Flat Tax.

Disclaimer:
Sorry, I don't have any references to back this stuff out but heard it from a pretty reliable source. Anyone is welcome to correct me. There's a lot of information out there and what I posted may be a combination of several different versions of the flat tax, I don't know, I didn't bother to look it up. Hey, at least I'm honest.

IT'S JUST THE BLACK MAN TRYING TO KEEP THE WHITE MAN DOWN

We should abandon health care and allow natural selection to make us all fit and supreme beings.

says the tiny bald man