What’s a “Fair Share”?
With all the hoo-haw about the “Richest Americans paying their fair share”, it has occurred to me that the “Poorest Americans”, i.e. the 47% who pay no taxes, are surely not paying their “Fair Share” – or any “share” at all, for that matter.
That same 47% is consuming a pretty fair chunk of the taxes collected by the Feds. Meanwhile, the top 40% (which includes my family) pays 84% of all Federal income tax.
Now, do I have any concrete proposals? I do not. But I do have one suggestion:
First, we have to define “income”. “Income” shall be defined as money coming in, from whatever source, whether it’s pay from a job, welfare, gifts, trust fund, buried treasure, inheritance, whatever – it’s “Income”.
Any family with a gross income above the Federal Poverty Line pays a flat minimum of one percent of that gross income. Non-negotiable, non-adjusted, non-deductible, absolute, it has to be paid.
That way, the “Poorest Americans” have a fiscal stake in making sure the spend-a-holics in Washington spend our money wisely.
Fair disclosure: I am 63 years old, gainfully employed, AND I also draw Social Security. And yes, I pay income tax to the Feds and my State government.