Fair Share
Here we go again…the desire to raise taxes by saying it’s time to make the rich pay their fair share. Note that the phrase “the rich” works nicely for demonizing a group, because no one really thinks they are rich. Same with “fair share”…sounds great as an applause line or a Twitter post, but completely devoid of meaning.
But let’s play that game. I agree, the rich are not paying their “fair share”…they’re actually paying too much.
Understand that this whole system is premised on having inequity…treating those with more income worse than those with less income. The percentage of income paid in taxes goes up the more money you make. So the so-called rich already pay more…not just in dollars, but in percentage.
Is it fair to have one group of people pay a percentage that is twice as large as another group? Is it fair to charge one person twice as much for a movie ticket as the person next to them? Or to charge one person twice as much for dinner as the person at the next table who ordered the same meal? Would we accept an income-based pricing for consumer goods like that? I doubt it. But we have no problem with our income tax system.
There are reasons for this stepping up of percentage that has to do with purchase power and the like, and that’s been the justification for what really is an unequal system. In light of all the studies showing that soaking the highest income earners has an adverse effect on business and job development, which hurts lower income folks…it becomes clear that all this is nothing more than political point scoring.
