The Return of the Inflation Tax

Rewriting history again, UG?

Progressive income taxes, included the so-called inflation tax, are as old and as non-partisan as the income tax itself in the US.

Every president since the inception of the income tax has supported a system of progressive taxation.

And, in fact, support for progressive taxation goes back to the "father of capitalism" and the libertarians' favorite iconic "laissez fair - free market" economist - Adam Smith.

Some economists trace the origin of modern progressive taxation to Adam Smith, who wrote in The Wealth of Nations:

The necessaries of life occasion the great expense of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the greater part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expense of the rich, and a magnificent house embellishes and sets off to the best advantage all the other luxuries and vanities which they possess. A tax upon house-rents, therefore, would in general fall heaviest upon the rich; and in this sort of inequality there would not, perhaps, be anything very unreasonable. It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion.

Your class warfare argument, much like your incessant whining about the socalist agenda, feeds the frenzy among the self-proclaimed true patriots and freedom fighters like yourself, but cant stand up the facts.

SO my suggestion, tell it to Adam Smith, Teddy Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Reagan...all proponents of that "class warfare".

OR circle the wagons at the Tea Parties and keep shouting out together:

"...on the tree of liberty must spill the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... "

It makes for great wing nut theater!

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

More Democratic BS talking points. People do not buy this pile of bull shit.

Fail.

[TheMercenary]

The founding fathers never saw taxation as a method to direct social behavior or enforce equality. Equality to them was equality under the law, not equality of outcome, or income. It was not the founding fathers' job to manage the economy, or make American businesses competitive. That was up to the free market and American businesses. The founders sought to provide only protection of property and civil liberties such that job creation could happen naturally and peacefully in a stable, prosperous environment. They never sought to take from the rich to give to the poor, or rob Peter to pay Paul. But today, the top 5% of earners in this country pay over half of all income taxes collected, but only bring in a third of the income. One third of Americans pay nothing or receive subsidies from government.

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst110407.htm

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” – Thomas Jefferson

"Taxes on consumption, like those on capital or income, to be
just, must be uniform." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1823.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2007/tst110407.htm

“The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.” – Thomas Jefferson

"Taxes on consumption, like those on capital or income, to be
just, must be uniform." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Smith, 1823.

The founding fathers never saw taxation as a method to direct social behavior or enforce equality. Equality to them was equality under the law, not equality of outcome, or income. It was not the founding fathers' job to manage the economy, or make American businesses competitive. That was up to the free market and American businesses. The founders sought to provide only protection of property and civil liberties such that job creation could happen naturally and peacefully in a stable, prosperous environment. They never sought to take from the rich to give to the poor, or rob Peter to pay Paul. But today, the top 5% of earners in this country pay over half of all income taxes collected, but only bring in a third of the income. One third of Americans pay nothing or receive subsidies from government.

So Ron Paul KNOWS what the founders were thinking? Bah!

"slavery isn't so bad" - Founding Fathers.

"Women should never have the right to vote" - Founding Fathers.

[Shawnee123]

Hahahahhaah...how dare you cast aspersions at the Founding Fathers. They had to be right about everything. I mean, they were Fathers, and were Founding.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

So Ron Paul KNOWS what the founders were thinking? Bah!

"slavery isn't so bad" - Founding Fathers.

"Women should never have the right to vote" - Founding Fathers.

So I guess everything they said about progressive taxation should be taken in the same light. You're right it is pure bullshit! Well done

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

So I guess everything they said about progressive taxation should be taken in the same light. You're right it is pure bullshit! Well done

What did the founding fathers say about progressive taxation?

[TheMercenary]

Look it up.

[Shawnee123]

[TheMercenary]

[TheMercenary]

[sarc]Ok, here is a better plan. Let's do like the Romans and have proscriptions against a couple thousand really rich people, like Bill Gates rich including Bill Gates, the Kennedy family, Bush family, the Clinton's and all the really fat cats and then just have the state take their money to pay for all these fun things! That's the ticket![/sarc]

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

So Ron Paul KNOWS what the founders were thinking?

Nope - Only Radar knows - just ask him

I recommend Founding Mothers:The Women Who Raised Our Nation

Nothing about taxes, but a good read!

And far more interesting than Ron "Dr NO" Paul and his relentless insistence that only he know what the framers were thinking.

[TheMercenary]

The Dead Zone: The Implicit Marginal Tax Rate
Mises Daily: Monday, November 09, 2009 by Clifford F. Thies

To say that antipoverty programs in the United States are perverted may be an understatement. When you take into account the loss of means-tested benefits (e.g., cash assistance, food stamps, housing subsidies, and health insurance), and the taxes that people pay on earned income, the return to working is essentially zero for those in the lower two quintiles of the income distribution.

For many of the working poor, the implicit marginal tax rate is greater than 100 percent. The long-run consequence of undermining the positive incentive to work is, of course, the creation of an underclass acclimated to not working; the supplement of cash and noncash benefits with income from crime and the underground economy; and the government resorting to negative incentives such as mandatory work programs.

Below, I show the relationship between earned income and after-tax income plus subsidies for a hypothetical Virginia family of three, consisting of one adult and two minor children. As you can see, the relationship is essentially flat from $0 to about $40,000 in earned income.

see charts

http://mises.org/daily/3822

[TheMercenary]

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