"They" have been at this for as long as I have been paying taxes. It's a punitive system that also fosters division. I can't remember the source of this but way back in the NYT, a Republican talking about taxes referred to people who didn't make enough to pay income tax as "lucky duckys". I knew right then who the enemy was. That was about fifty years ago. My mother was infuriated about it and had brought it to my attention. We were a middle class, single income family. Good luck with that nowadays.
I highly recommend a recent interview by Heather Cox Richardson of Vanessa Williamson (The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History). Professor Williamson explains that taxation promotes and support democracy, and that anti-taxation movements are anti-democratic movements.
Interesting thought project, I guess I'd feel better about paying the IRS if I knew most everyone else was paying their fair share. I appreciated the link to the article featuring Aaron and I am now a paid subscriber 😉. Your work is incredibly valuable and your long hours in keeping us informed are important!!
I think that we should also consider saying public money instead of taxpayer money. We need to tax the wealthy to help protect democracy. Unfortunately, we’re learning that the wealthy don’t really want democracy, so they have figured out how to corrupt the system for their advantage. All of our US dollars are actually public money because every penny, nickel, dime, dollar bills, etc has been minted by our US Government. All money spent by our US government comes from appropriations by Congress. It seems like Don the Con is bypassing this, but the private money he says he’s collecting originated from our US Government treasury (with the exception of the bitcoin stuff that seems to just be made up out of imagination and corruption). But our US money should all be considered public money. Unfortunately, we currently have a system that allows most of our public money to be hoovered up by the wealthiest citizens who seem to have a lot of connections in the “Epstein class”. Our major concerns need to be for democracy and holding corruption accountable.
I do consider paying taxes to be a patriotic duty.
One way to look at raising taxes on corporations (aka employers) is to remind voters that if they were paid a fair wage for their efforts (i.e., a share of the corporate profits their efforts promote), they wouldn't need to pay higher taxes because they could afford to pay for things like child care and healthcare and education out of household income.
But, as economist Dean Baker reminded us in his free-to-download book RIGGED, our economy focuses on the income of capitalists (business owners and investors who do not depend on paychecks to survive and who are rich enough to buy legislators with deductible contributions to their election campaigns. So while Americans who work for a living get deductions like mortgage interest, a spouse, and offspring, most businesses can deduct the cost of almost everything. Recall Trump's paying only $750 to IRS in 2016 & 2017?
Republicans have brainwashed voters into equating progressive socialist programs with evil communism that threatens the very capitalism that our democracy depends on. Things like free healthcare and education would somehow eliminate our civil rights to life, liberty, and justice for all - not to mention the American Dream of being buried in mortgage and car payments. How do Democrats deprogram that worldview?
I think we have always known who the enemy of taxes were. Who are the first ones to claim foul when they get hit with a large tax bill or being put into an upper tax bracket.
I have always felt there has to be an easier way to organize the system.
Paying taxes is how we pay for public services. It makes me crazy when Democrats sink to the level of duplicitous Republicans. I say, if you don't pay taxes, you don't deserve a fire department, a police department or get to drive on public roads. Talking about taxes just proves how clueless our politicians are. $100,000 is NOT a lot of money!!! The problem is that the uber wealthy DO NOT PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE. Start from that assumption and work down. There is so much low hanging fruit. Start taxing carried interest. Make people actually pay the Estate taxes. Get out of the DC bubble and learn a thing or three!
"They" have been at this for as long as I have been paying taxes. It's a punitive system that also fosters division. I can't remember the source of this but way back in the NYT, a Republican talking about taxes referred to people who didn't make enough to pay income tax as "lucky duckys". I knew right then who the enemy was. That was about fifty years ago. My mother was infuriated about it and had brought it to my attention. We were a middle class, single income family. Good luck with that nowadays.
I highly recommend a recent interview by Heather Cox Richardson of Vanessa Williamson (The Price of Democracy: The Revolutionary Power of Taxation in American History). Professor Williamson explains that taxation promotes and support democracy, and that anti-taxation movements are anti-democratic movements.
Interesting thought project, I guess I'd feel better about paying the IRS if I knew most everyone else was paying their fair share. I appreciated the link to the article featuring Aaron and I am now a paid subscriber 😉. Your work is incredibly valuable and your long hours in keeping us informed are important!!
Thanks Sue! I really appreciate your support.
So happy to see the article about you, Aaron. Keep up the amazing work! Thank you for all you do!
Thanks Kristi!
I think that we should also consider saying public money instead of taxpayer money. We need to tax the wealthy to help protect democracy. Unfortunately, we’re learning that the wealthy don’t really want democracy, so they have figured out how to corrupt the system for their advantage. All of our US dollars are actually public money because every penny, nickel, dime, dollar bills, etc has been minted by our US Government. All money spent by our US government comes from appropriations by Congress. It seems like Don the Con is bypassing this, but the private money he says he’s collecting originated from our US Government treasury (with the exception of the bitcoin stuff that seems to just be made up out of imagination and corruption). But our US money should all be considered public money. Unfortunately, we currently have a system that allows most of our public money to be hoovered up by the wealthiest citizens who seem to have a lot of connections in the “Epstein class”. Our major concerns need to be for democracy and holding corruption accountable.
I do consider paying taxes to be a patriotic duty.
Tax fairly. Spend wisely.
Thank you, Mr. Rupar.
Thomas Paine wrote a nice piece ridiculing the tax-as-oppression view. I believe it was called 0n the Necessity of Taxes🧐. Nothing has changed.
One way to look at raising taxes on corporations (aka employers) is to remind voters that if they were paid a fair wage for their efforts (i.e., a share of the corporate profits their efforts promote), they wouldn't need to pay higher taxes because they could afford to pay for things like child care and healthcare and education out of household income.
But, as economist Dean Baker reminded us in his free-to-download book RIGGED, our economy focuses on the income of capitalists (business owners and investors who do not depend on paychecks to survive and who are rich enough to buy legislators with deductible contributions to their election campaigns. So while Americans who work for a living get deductions like mortgage interest, a spouse, and offspring, most businesses can deduct the cost of almost everything. Recall Trump's paying only $750 to IRS in 2016 & 2017?
Republicans have brainwashed voters into equating progressive socialist programs with evil communism that threatens the very capitalism that our democracy depends on. Things like free healthcare and education would somehow eliminate our civil rights to life, liberty, and justice for all - not to mention the American Dream of being buried in mortgage and car payments. How do Democrats deprogram that worldview?
nice job Paul
I think we have always known who the enemy of taxes were. Who are the first ones to claim foul when they get hit with a large tax bill or being put into an upper tax bracket.
I have always felt there has to be an easier way to organize the system.
Paying taxes is how we pay for public services. It makes me crazy when Democrats sink to the level of duplicitous Republicans. I say, if you don't pay taxes, you don't deserve a fire department, a police department or get to drive on public roads. Talking about taxes just proves how clueless our politicians are. $100,000 is NOT a lot of money!!! The problem is that the uber wealthy DO NOT PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE. Start from that assumption and work down. There is so much low hanging fruit. Start taxing carried interest. Make people actually pay the Estate taxes. Get out of the DC bubble and learn a thing or three!