2 great EITLRS about the flat tax... You can call it 'fair' when...

[GSanon]

EITLRS about the flat tax...

1. You can call it 'fair' when that extremely lucky ("just comfortable") couple raking in the 250k income is forced to pay 95% of that income for effing RENT. Anyone who complains about those with incomes below the poverty level not paying income tax is ignoring the fact that they are already taxed at a rate very close to 100% by... you guessed it. Some of that is actually taxes, btw. I work in RE.

2. Candidates who want to tax the poor should be asked to say the literal words "TAX THE POOR" or be found guilty of false modesty. False modesty is usually obvious. e.g. "But don't you think everyone should pay at least something?" If you hear false modesty techniques being used to make an idea sound good, it is almost always an evil idea. Now you have every right to run for office on a platform of taxing the poor, but please say the words "TAX THE POOR" if that is what you really want to do! Then, good luck getting elected;)

Irony: a flat income tax based on what you have left over after rent and utilities (or whole mortgage, insurance, etc. not just the interest) might be more progressive than the system we have now! It would also be a good way to solve that 6-figure-not-rich-in-NYC problem they talk about.

Obama is probably hoping Cain wins the R nomination. Easy opponent in debate!

[Scuba]

1. Welcome, and thanks for this. Recently a friend, a smart, hardworking guy....

...told me he supported a flat tax. After I explained to him how that would work he was immediately against it.


Why was he for it in the first place? Because it required little thought from him to understand that it meant everyone would pay the same percentage. That's fair, right?

It only took a little more thought for him to understand the inherent unfairness of a flat tax. But you can't make that case fit on a bumper sticker.

The "dumbing down" of Americans is working.


"Our team wants someone authentic, creative, fresh, bold and likeable. And we don't have much tolerance for too many facts or too much information. In politics, a bumper sticker always beats an essay."

-- Republican strategist Ed Rogers, writing in the Washington Post, on the psychology of GOP activists.

[GSanon]

5. "But you can't make that case fit on a bumper sticker." Yes we can!

I just did it:

"
You can call the flat tax fair
When millionaires are forced to pay
99% of their income for RENT!
"

"
Hey Flattaxer!
If you really want to tax the poor
Please SAY THE WORDS 'TAX THE POOR'
"

I think these would be great stickers.
(all rights committed to the public domain.)

[HughBeaumont]

2. Beware the "Fair Tax" also . . .

. . . Scratch a lie, find a thief . . .

[GSanon]

3. Always 'correct' the pronounciation! Say "Fah-eiir tax" :) nt

[Fumesucker]

4. A candidate who came out and said "TAX THE POOR" would win in a landslide..

Keep in mind that America is a nation made up of temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

[GSanon]

6. hahaha More like that candidate would drown in a landslide! nt

[Fumesucker]

7. How many Americans are wiling to admit, even to themselves, that they are poor?

How many of those Americans that are honest enough to admit they're poor actually vote?

[GSanon]

8. Good point. The debt-based "fake middle class" (that I never fell for) needs to be woken up. nt

[GSanon]

9. In other words, they'll admit they are poor when...

1. The repo-man tows away the negative-equity SUV
2. The bank forecloses on the negative-equity McMansion,
3. They get sued for a "deficiency judgment" on both of the above
4. They get fired for bad credit.

[Fumesucker]

10. Heh, and they'll blame libruls for all of it..