Tax the Richiest of Us! Not me!

Current opinion: The rich should not be taxed at a higher rate than the middle class

First, let's put aside the fact that higher income individuals and couples usually have more ways of avoiding paying all of their taxes. That's a subject for another blog. Assuming that rich and middle class have the same tax advantages, I don't see why the rich must be given a higher tax bracket.

Second, the poor are a different matter all-together. Those below the poverty line should pay none or very little in taxes. And where that line should be drawn can be the subject for yet another blog.

I don't have any 'hard facts' on why the rich should be in the same tax bracket as the middle-class. I just see people earning money (however they make it) and should be taxed at the same rate. If I earn $50,000 per year, you make $75,000 per year, and someone else makes $350,000 per year, we should all be taxed at the same rate. If I am taxed at 15%, you should be taxed at 15%, and the rich should be taxed at 15%. Just because the rich make more, even a lot more, than others, it makes no sense to tax them more. It doesn't matter whether they earn their money as CEO of a top-20 company or by royalties from a patent their grandfather received; they earn their money and we earn our money. We should all pay the same tax rate.

Opposing view: Taxing the (Very) Rich (NY Times)

New opinion: (no change) The rich should not be taxed at a higher rate than the middle class