re: #226 Obdicut

Supply and demand will determine the prices, but when you have higher costs, the supply side (total costs of the input - cost of goods sold, taxes, etc.) will determine the price by the seller, and where the buyer sees the prices too high, they will either cut back - and reduce demand. That means that the company will again have to either increase or absorb the costs - losing money in the process. That’s how companies go out of business when they can’t recoup their costs. Successful businesses manage to pass the costs on to the consumers. Unsuccessful ones don’t.

You are right that those people pay other taxes - income tax is the tax we’re talking about so it was implied, but there are other taxes all people pay - regressive taxes like sales tax, along with property taxes for homeowners, taxes and fees on vehicles and motor fuels, sin taxes, etc.

Even there, the governments often offset those taxes and fees for the low income tax brackets in calculating their tax obligations.

re: #227 Obdicut
When you say that there’s waste in national defense, I’m curious to hear what you consider waste? That’s often an argument made from the left, and yet when it comes to spending, they just look to chop spending overall, without regard to the necessity down the road for unforeseen events.