We need to just tax the wealthiest people in the country. It is crazy to me how much they fight having to pitch in.
I've made barely enough to live on and more than I can live on. In the years where I was making more than I could live on, the taxes didn't even matter. Like, it doesn't matter when you have enough to live comfortably and put money into savings. It is rewarding to say that you are pitching in to support the country.
And, the math for those who are very comfortable makes taxes even less relevant.
Let's say a single person in California makes 230K per year.
Taxes:
- 72K for federal and state taxes and social Security and such
Pre-Tax Costs:
- 1500 for medical (they have a good job and good insurance)
Pre-Tax Investments
-20K in 401K
Post-Tax/Post-Pre-Tax investments: Take Home Income
-130K take home
Their take home is 10,800 a month. If we assume they are spending 7.8K for a very comfortable ass life, they have another 3K to invest each month. Their yearly invest is 46K and even if they don't decrease their tax burden by doing a backdoor Roth IRA or maxing out an FSA. Their "tax burden" will have erased from their investments in 13.9 years if we assume a favorable 7% growth.
And, this is the low-end of upper-middle class. If someone is making millions or billions each year. There is no reason this shit shouldn't be taxed to the moon. Those who run fastest or got luckiest deserve a bit more of a reward than the rest of us, but at this level of wealth it isn't material goods, it is power. It fucks up democracy.