(January 21, 2013 at 11:11 pm)jonb Wrote: Actually, it did shake me, I am aware of great wealth, but that it would only take a 25% tax on 100 people to end extreme poverty. We are not even talking about the 1% just 100 individuals.That's simply not true at all. Firstly, because when has any tax ever all gone towards helping the poor? Never. An extra 25% tax on anyone would mostly go towards what the government sees as the most important priorities; namely, the military and themselves.
I cannot avoid the thought, if they don't sort this out themselves, it is time to make them pay.
Secondly, it would be massively unfair to tax anyone just because they have the money to do something. If we allow that, why stop there? Why not continue to tax them to get rid of the deficit, or tax them to bail out "too big to fail" companies? Where does it stop? Clue: it doesn't. Give a government that precedent, and it will only end in abuse.
Thirdly, those people have already paid tax on what they earned. If you want the rich to pay more tax, start by closing tax loopholes, because whilst they are open, anyone (and I mean rich or poor) will try to avoid paying tax. Or how about this for an idea: encourage the wealthy to be philanthropic with their money. The top 100 wealthiest people presumably includes Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, who have both contributed vast amounts of wealth back into society to try and help the less fortunate. Taking an extra 25% in tax from them is pointless when they have more evidence of their philanthropy than the government could ever hope to achieve.