[lbo-talk] The flat tax and income inequality

Bill Bartlett billbartlett at aapt.net.au
Sat Nov 17 13:24:07 PST 2007


Robert Wrubel wrote:


>--- ken hanly <northsunm at yahoo.com> wrote:
>"How on earth is the flat tax supposed to help reduce
>income inequality? It does the opposite by doing away
>with a progressive tax system"
>
>As I understand it, we already have a regressive tax
>system (you and I paying 35% while capital gains are
>only taxed at 15%.)

Who actually pays the tax on your income though, you or your employer?

Wojtek wrote:


>I'd say that, given the current status of the US empire, the good, old
>conservative tax avoidance seems more progressive than your progressive tax
>mantra. After all, tax avoidance denies material assistance to US war
>mongering - unlike tax hikes that increase the amounts siphoned to the war
>chest, no?

This is closer to the truth, its more important is how its spent. What proportion is redistributed, as opposed to spent on projects of benefit only to the elite. Rather than which capitalists pay what proportion of tax.

Unless you are a capitalist yourself, the fact that some capitalists are paying more than their fair share is only of academic interest. The biggest problem is really that so many otherwise intelligent people have fallen hook line and sinker for the bullshit that the working class pay tax. And are consequently getting their knickers in a knot about how it is collected and from who, rather than the important questions of how it is spent.

Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas



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