The french rich ask for a tax on...themselves

[Faith No More]

Let the news trickle into Fox. I'll take bets on reactions.

Something like this..."See America? It's such a stupid idea the French are doing it."

[thesummerqueen]

Let the news trickle into Fox. I'll take bets on reactions.

Something about SOCIALISTS, I imagine!

French socialists, to boot. This Fox News report almost writes itself.

If you see a news report about a girl in NC being hauled away in cuffs after throwing gym equipment at a ceiling mounted television, you'll know what kind of story Fox ran.

[The Grand Nudger]

96% of "the poor" rent refridgerators from their landlords. Try taking it with you when you go.

[Tiberius]

So why are my taxes a greater ratio of my income than his?

In most countries the taxes:income ratio for the right is much greater than that of the poor. I believe the same is true for the USA, so I'm not sure I get where you are coming from.

In other words.."we should not EXPECT the rich to pay their fair share. We should allow people who want to be greedy and anti-social to continue their rape of our society...because one day I may become ultra rich and powerful, and by God I would be a greedy asshole in that situation."

Not at all. We should expect the rich to pay their fair share, and that fair share should be determined by a flat rate of tax across the board; that is the only fair way of doing it. The rich pay more; the poor pay less.

Not all rich people are greedy and anti-social and want to "rape" our society. It is unfair to label all rich people that way, just as it is unfair to do the opposite and say that all welfare workers are simply gaming the system for free money. This entire thread is about rich people who do exactly the opposite of what you've claimed; they want to be taxed more; they want to help society!

I find it insulting that you'd think I'm trying to put a personal aspect on this. If you'd actually bothered to read my previous political musings, you'd know that I'm as big a fan of private charity as I am of small government / flat rate taxes. In an ideal Libertarian system, the government would take as much as they needed through taxes, and the rich (or anyone else) could contribute to society through other means; such as private charity. If I ever became "ultra rich" I would pay my taxes, and I would give to charity as much as I could afford whilst keeping my own interests in the picture.

History has shown time and time again that when you lower the taxes on the rich, then all of societies quality of life drops as well. But, then again, trying to explain that to a libertarian is like trying to explain "burdon of proof" to a creationist.

Lowering taxes on the rich will decrease quality of life in society; I agree. However, this will only happen if you lower the taxes and then leave it at that. Spending cuts would do the opposite; they would increase the quality of life as money wasted in areas of bureaucracy would be diverted to areas that need them more. Smaller governments would force legislation to be more efficient, especially if you don't make being a government minister and actual "job", but rather a public service which operates with minimal income.

Just watched a bit on fox news were they were trying to define "poor" out of existence by suggesting that Refridgerators is something that poor people should not be able to afford. And since their poll said that 96% of "the poor" (which was in parenthesis on the program) own refridgerators, they should not be called "the poor".

Yeah, I saw that too. I don't agree with it; what is your point?

I say tax the FUCK out of the rich. But, then again, I actually care about society as a whole, as opposed to only giving a fuck about myself.

I care about society as a whole; and that society includes the rich, who contribute more than you like admitting to. Punishing people for having a successful business isn't going to encourage people to go and start businesses is it? If you can earn more doing low skilled work, why would anyone bother creating businesses in the first place?

[The Grand Nudger]

Business owner, not well placed enough for subsidies, but too well placed within the fiscal strata for a ton of tax breaks. My gripes revolve around how taxable income is defined.
(I work in the ag sector but don't own a factory farm, so it's a bit of a different situation for me I suppose)

[downbeatplumb]

City fat cats paying a lower tax rate than their cleaners.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...aners.html

Rich people also hire accountants especially so they can avoid paying their fair share.

[thesummerqueen]

Someone please explain how a "flat tax" is somehow fair?

[downbeatplumb]

I believe the thinking is that everyone pays the same proportion of their income.

Sounds reasonable until you look at the reality.
this means that someone who might not have enough to feed their family pays the same proportion in taxes as a man who can wipe his arse with 100 dollar bills.

People who have dispropotionaly more should contribute disproportionally more.

Trickle down economics is a myth.

[The Grand Nudger]

You must have missed this news story btw Rs

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/t...996735.ece

[THWOTH]

Actually, the French monied classes are only proposing a one-off levy, not a tax hike for the uber-rich. Slight whiff of "We're all in this together" PR-splurge about this one I think.