You are right there are many injustices in our current tax system, seeing that 47% of people DO NOT PAY TAXES----but they certainly take in entitlement programs! Tax code should be revised to have EVERYONE pay 15% of their income. We also should review medicaid eligibility, payments to unwed mothers should cease, and union benefits and pensions need to be revised and do away with. It is the ENTITLEMENT programs and unions that have gotten us here---not the Iraqi war. It is Obama, C Dodd,B Franks, and many others who forced banks to give loans to people who could not afford them in the so called--"fair housing loans" or as I call it FARCE housing loans. This administration hinders the private sector and fosters class war fare and mediocrity,not to mention lazy undeserving people expecting others to pay for their blunders and lack of responsibilities.
Wow, you are easy; where should I begin picking you apart:
1- 47% of people pay no taxes. Lets do the math, according to the US census 13.2% of americans are below the poverty line, that means that at 35% of those that pay no taxes are AT LEAST middle class. The threshold for the poverty line is $22,300, so many will not qualify for cash benefits from the government. Oh, by the way, I assure you that many of your neighbors, and your colleagues pay ZERO federal taxes, maybe even you. In fact, according to the IRS, in 2009 there were 1470 MILLIONAIRES and BILLIONAIRES who paid ZERO federal taxes.
2-The middle class drives entitlement programs, only 13% of the federal budget goes toward "welfare" programs, including family and children (food stamps etc), workers comp, housing, and unemployment which is the greatest share; medicaid accounts for 7.2% of the federal budget; So programs for the POOR represents 20% of the federal budget. Lets contrast this to 26% going to defense, Social security = 16%, medicare = 13%, only 5% for federal pensions, for a total of 60%. As you can see, only 20% of the federal budget goes toward supporting the poor. Remember, "poor" does not mean "lazy", the days of career welfare recipients ended under bill clinton. Most poor people are actually hard working people, for example the maids that clean your room when you attend your goofy "sales" meetings. A huge portion of medicaid spending goes towards nursing homes, etc for the elderly.
3- Reasonable people can disagree on your flat tax proposal, since it is not fact based, but opinion based. I would certainly consider a derivative that maintains the fair and progressive nature of our tax code. We first start by eliminated ALL deductions and credits, and that means all. No more subsidizing, through the tax code, your home, or your contributions. What is on your W2 is your income, period. Then we could have different levels of income, and your rate depends on your income bracket(five brackets tops), with the lowest bracket paying Zero, and the top bracket paying maybe 25%. Corporations would pay 20% federal on everything made in the US, no deductions period. This or similar proposal is progressive, flat, and has much lower brackets than we have now.
In summary, your rant about the "lazy poor unwed mothers" destroying the federal budget has been proven wrong. Here is a link to the federal budget (
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com...10010131614170102&expandC=551&units=b&fy=fy12 ). In fact, it is proven that entitlement programs mainly support the poor and middle class. If your mom and dad are on social security and medicare, they cost us way more than a typical single mom on govt assistance, even accounting for the fact that they paid into the system. You say that the administration fosters "class warfare" but did not provide any objective proof, in fact the comment is nothing more than a republican talking point.
I would agree that in most states, government pensions (especially police and fire), medicaid (including elderly nursing homes, etc), and education account for the overwhelming majority of the budget. I also agree that even where striking is illegal cops, fireman, and teachers have held up many states for overly generous pensions and benefits, for which they pay little for. Cops and firemen in NYC. for example, can retire, with full pension, as young as 42 years old. In fact there are loopholes that allow them to load up on overtime during their last year, thus hiking up the income baseline. It is not unsual for a cop or fireman to have a pension check approaching six figures, and paying nothing for medical benfits.
The issues that you raise are state level issues, and I whole heartedly agree at that level. However, they have nothing to do wit the Federal government, and nothing to do with president obama. Lastly, most people who pay Zero federal taxes are middle class neighbors of yours and mine with tons of deductions and loopholes, and not poor lazy people or single unwed mothers. In fact isnt it unconscionable that 60% of corporations, including GE and Exxon mobile, pay the same federal taxes as the poorest 13% (the poor) of our citizens? Yet, your outrage is on the poor. Shame on you!
