re: #141 lostlakehiker

Just something to keep in mind when you talk about how high the tax burden on the rich is. The top 10% of the population pay 70 percent of the taxes, and control about 70% of the wealth. The top 1% of the population pays 38% of the taxes and control 42% of the wealth.

So when you talk about the rich having a high tax burden, please keep in mind that what they are paying isn’t out of line with what they own. The fact that taxes seem to be this skewed is caused by the fact that the distribution of wealth in this country is skewed. Altering the tax structure to alleviate the burden on the wealthy is fine, so long as the wealth is redistributed as well.

If the top 10% of the country controlled 20% of the wealth, I would be fine taxing them at a much lower rate.