Want better income equality? Raise taxes.

I flipped through the slideshow on Huffington Post today that ranked the nations with the worst income equality. New Zealand, Italy, the U.K. ... not the countries that first spring to mind. But then I got to the top. The worst countries for income equality: 4. The United States, 3. Turkey, 2. Mexico, 1. Chile.

That stopped me. The U.S., Mexico and Chile. Where had I seen those three countries ranked together recently? I knew it was around my desk or on my PC somewhere, among all the reports, propaganda, white papers, yellowed papers and myriad other political pieces that make up my daily reading, God help me.

Ah, yes! There it was. Mentioned as an aside at the end of this article by Stephen Foster at Thepragmaticprogressive.org.

"The fact is, we pay for the lifestyle we expect. Without taxes, our lifestyles would be totally different and much harder. America would be a third world country. The less we pay, the less we get in return. Americans pay less taxes today since 1958 and is ranked 32nd out of 34 of the top tax paying countries. Chile and Mexico are 33rd and 34th. The Republicans are lying when they say that we pay the highest taxes in the world and are only attacking taxes to reward corporations and the wealthy and to weaken our infrastructure and way of life. So next time you object to paying taxes or fight to abolish taxes for corporations and the wealthy, keep this quote in mind...

"I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes"

The rest of the article is a summation of various things our taxes pay for, and that therefore the anti-tax crowd should not use -- things like 911 and national parks. But it was that casual aside at the end of the article that stuck with me as I read through the HuffPost slideshow. To connect the dots, then, among developing and developed nations, the countries with the worst income equality are the ones with the lowest tax burden.

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What little we do for the poor in this country should be the last thing we look at in solving our nation's fiscal crisis. It's what we do for those who need none of our aid that should receive the first -- and the hardest -- look. End subsidies for profitable industries like oil. Raise taxes on the top 1 percent (who, by the way, own 60.6 percent of all financial securities, including 38.3 percent of all stocks and mutual funds) by 10 percent. End the truly bloated military-industrial complex that now ships our people to about 150 countries, including more than 30 in Europe, and demands ever-increasing high-end defense budgets as though we were still fighting the Cold War.

And then, maybe, we can talk about Medicare.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-sweeney/want-better-income-equali_b_866330.html

Everyone needs to pay more taxes. There just aren't enough "wealthy" to get us in the black. I'd look at a national sales tax or maybe a VAT tax.

The second lie is that keeping Medicare and our health care system as is is feasible. It isn't. It is a path towards insolvency.

Until the left can see these realities, their solutions are just as unworkable as the right. That is the sad reality for me. Neither side has plausible solutions.

is a recognition that taxing the rich "can pay for everything we want". A national sales tax or a VAT are not even progressive in nature and are only a viable progressive alternative if, as in Europe, they fund progressive programs that do benefit the middle and working classes.

instead of taxing the earnings of a tiny slice of individuals... we need to get a little piece of action for every new XBOX360 game system, for every new BBQ grill from Home Depot.

So you know how much $$ would flood the Treasury with a ONE HALF of ONE PERCENT national sales tax on all non-Food, non-Fuel, non-Residential purchases??

Budget solved.

Prove it.

Here's a good plan that balances the budget in 2 years and yields a surplus within a decade, without fucking over the middle class and grandma.

-Hoot

Yeah if employers are forced to pay more SS... people will LOSE jobs... if u pound the corporations with NEW taxes and punitive FEES they raise the price of the goods. That budget is a fuckin' disaster.

Just grab a HALF a freekin PENNY on everything from a 6-pack of Bud to a LCD TV and the problem is solved.

First I contend they are not new, but let's go with new for now...

They will invest in R&D, creating jobs. The pattern is well established. Oh, and surpluses in 2022 is a disaster? :rofl:

What are you saying about raising SS?



Oh, looks like the companies will have to pay more for people earning what? $110K+ (a guess on my part, but it's in the ballpark) AND the low wage earners get a 10% break on paying into SS for a change.

Why would you advocate a regressive tax on goods? No one has talked about say half a cent or even a cent on stock trades which wouldn't be noticed when compared to broker's fees.

-Hoot

It seems like everyone who runs our economic institutions or is in a position to do things about inflation, for example, or influence policy relating to taxation, subscribes to the ideological right-wing theory that tax cuts are always the best way to stimulate the economy.

Given that these are the same people who personally benefit from lowering taxes on the wealthy (since most all of them earn high incomes), it doesn't seem like anyone on the left is going to be successful at seeking to make income taxation more progressive.

It's not even on the horizon. Instead they focus on government assistance.

talk is cheap.

Your chart shows exactly what rich people do when taxes are high. Look at the incomes when the marginal rates were high, income was low which equals low tax receipts. Today reported incomes are much higher because the rate is low. Receipts are higher due to higher reporting.

Here's my point, rich people usually don't *have* to take income, when rates are high they go into assets that appreciate but don't produce income. You will *never* solve this problem with income taxation, you will have to find a way to tax WEALTH!

They want more money? They have to give the workers more money. That's a solution that also raises the wages of workers.