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So, you agree that lower and middle income earners should pay higher total tax rates than high income earners?
Exactly. But make sure you understand that the way they accomplish that is by charging lower and middle income earners higher total tax rates than the high income earners pay.
The question we should be asking is... are lower and middle income earners in the U.S. willing to disproportionately pay the costs of the social benefits they want?
IF,IF,IF America had decent,honest leaders who would handle it the way those countries do,then yes,to have their economies,and the health care,education,and other benefits that they do.
Not the dumb_____ ,simplistic and asinine way you describe, hell no!
Your description of a regressive tax system is total BS!
No, it isn't.
For example, let's look at the U.K's (national health care and all those other European social welfare goodies) tax data. The total effective tax rate in the U.K. is represented by the blue line. Look at which income group is paying the highesttotal effective tax rate. It ISN'T the rich:
"The message from this data is unambiguous: the poorest 20% of households in the UK have both the highest overall tax burden of any quintileand the highest VAT burden."
For example, let's look at the U.K's (national health care and all those other European social welfare goodies) tax data. The total effective tax rate in the U.K. is represented by the blue line. Look at which income group is paying the highesttotal effective tax rate. It ISN'T the rich:
I never quite understand how this works. Much of the economic prosperity there is from off-shore oil drilling. Those here who seem to argue for a similar system for the U.S. will tell us how evil something like off-shore oil drilling is.
How does this work?
In Europe, the only country that is happy on that list and has significant offshore drilling is Norway. The rest either have minuscule, or non-existent, drilling of any kind. The only other country in Europe that has significant oil reserves is the UK. So much for your theory that, "it must be the oil"!
UC Davis's Peter Lindert has argued in his book "Growing Public" that European social democracies were only able to develop the programs they did because they used efficient consumption taxes that didn't lower growth as much as progressive income taxes, particularly those on capital income. European countries needed tax systems that could raise a lot of money without hurting growth, and only regressive consumption taxes fit the bill.
...Prasad and Deng found that the progressivity of countries' tax codes is negatively correlated with the amount of redistribution they do. In English: The less progressive the code, the more progressive the system.
Which means the more REGRESSIVE the tax code, the more progressive the social benefits and redistributionist system.
We would have to completely reverse the U.S.'s over-dependence on high income earners for the bulk of tax revenue to pay for a similar social benefits and redistributionist system here. Lower and middle income earners would have to pay higher total tax rates than do high income earners.
Which means the more REGRESSIVE the tax code, the more progressive the social benefits and redistributionist system.
We would have to completely reverse the U.S.'s over-dependence on high income earners for the bulk of tax revenue to pay for a similar social benefits and redistributionist system here. Lower and middle income earners would have to pay higher total tax rates than do high income earners.
WhatEVER,as the saying goes "the proof is in the pudding",their economies show what a failure Capitalism is,and their people are consistently happier,plus you don't see them hated around the world like America is.
No, it could never happen here,with this gigantic government and all the corruption and people who have sold their souls to corporations.
You can put your 'spin' on the Washington Post article all you want,thanks for including it BTW,because anyone who looks at the chart and actually READS the article will see how much better those countrie's regressive tax system is.... and no wonder the people are happier since it is more evenly distributed and spent to help the citizens!
"Everyone knows that Europe's welfare states are much more progressive than the United States', in that they reduce inequality by a much greater percent. Among OECD members, only Iceland, Turkey, South Korea, Chile and Mexico have less progressive overall systems:
The United States has by far the most progressive income, payroll, wealth and property taxes of any developed country. Scandinavian social democracies like Denmark, Sweden and Norway have quite regressive direct taxes, as do the Netherlands and Switzerland. Foreign British territories are more progressive, but neither Australia nor Canada is nearly as progressive as the United States.
Basically, all of the progressivity of our fellow developed nations' welfare states comes on the spending side. They spend a whole lot more on transfer programs, education and health services, and other initiatives that are redistributive in impact. We, by contrast, tax progressively, and then spread the money around in a less progressive fashion."
Well if your point is the US government stinks at investing its revenues properly you are 10000% right.
If you are advocating getting rid of Democrats and Republicans and replacing them with people who will do what is best for the country you are right.
In Europe, the only country that is happy on that list and has significant offshore drilling is Norway. The rest either have minuscule, or non-existent, drilling of any kind. The only other country in Europe that has significant oil reserves is the UK. So much for your theory that, "it must be the oil"!
I didn't say it was the "oil". Are you saying that Norway doesn't do this or that none of the other countries mentioned are not willing to use their natural resources?
Is it your position that Norway give up on offshore drilling and go back to being a poor country? Or can it be a good idea to use our natural resources?
WhatEVER,as the saying goes "the proof is in the pudding",their economies show what a failure Capitalism is,and their people are consistently happier,plus you don't see them hated around the world like America is.
Oh i see you fail to understand economic systems-Capitalism is not a failure. Those countries are still based on capitialist principals. They are not socialist countries like Venezuela which is a complete disaster.
Please educate yourself on economic systems before you post complete inaccuracies.
A new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) shows that happiness levels are highest in northern European countries. Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands rated at the top of the list, ranking first, second and third, respectively.
Why did the northern European countries come out looking so good? Overall economic health played a powerful role, says Simon Chapple, senior economist from the Social Policy Division of the OECD, which put together the report.
These nations rate the highest in 11 factors that contribute to a high quality of life, including income, education, housing, health, safety and life satisfaction.
Unfortunately they don't let everyone who wants to,to just enter there.
Ah, yes, 'happy' , 'rich', 'millionaire', 'wealthy', 'poor', 'racist' all qualitative, nebulous words used emperically in an emotional argument in an attempt to assign effect to cause.
This is the stuff of abstract art with each viewer creating a different interpretation.
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