62 Percent of Americans Say They Favor a Flat Tax

[AynMisesLibertarian]

62 Percent of Americans Say They Favor a Flat Tax - Reason.com

[mickthinks]

62% of Americans are dumber than the smartest 38% ...

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by AynMisesLibertarian

62 Percent of Americans Say They Favor a Flat Tax - Reason.com

Why stop there? It's pretty safe to say that 100% of Americans would prefer there to be no tax at all.

[lisarea]

Originally Posted by Hermit

Why stop there? It's pretty safe to say that 100% of Americans would prefer there to be no tax at all.

Only if 100% of Americans who owe taxes were ignorant, short-sighted sociopaths, and 100% of Americans who don't owe taxes were ignorant, short-sighted altruists.

[ImGod]

I'd love a flat tax too. Not a flat percentage because really that's not flat just linear instead of stepped linear.

We could have the military collect a yearly US cover charge and give people a stamp to prove they didn't sneak in or skip payment. I'd set the cover at our current expenditures and divide it by all people in the US that are currently breathing. So if you have 22 kids and counting you pay for 22 kids getting in. If it's just you, well goody you're not dragging along dead weight, it would be just you.

That would probably work out to around $20-25,000 per person for federal, state, and local taxes.

We could have a no cover Mexican night every once and a while to make sure the lawns stay mowed and the fruits and vegetables picked.

[lisarea]

Back when he was young and more nomadic, my brother designed these bookshelves that you could make out of IIRC two standard sized cuts of wood (I forget the specifics because it was a while ago) that could be easily assembled and disassembled for maximum portability.

I was inspired by that and made a few templates myself, but I didn't have a jigsaw and I tend to injure myself a lot, so most of mine stayed just on paper. I think I did do some shelves, but that's about it.

So yeah, I also like flat packs, and I am surprised that more Americans aren't for them. They're fun and practical.

[Ari]

Ayn, did you even read the article?
"Americans who favor these tax increases to explain in their own words why they wanted the wealthy to pay more."

In other words, Americans believe the rich don't pay enough taxes and given the option between the current system or one which they perceive raises taxes on the rich, they would choose raising taxes on the rich.

Of course it's easy to make americans say almost anything when all your questions are based around dichotomies.

[Ensign Steve]

Originally Posted by Ari

Of course it's easy to make americans say almost anything when all your questions are based around dichotomies.

I bet a lot more than 62 percent of Americans would prefer a Flat Tax over getting punched repeatedly in the face.

[Watser?]

But maybe if they had more information on flat tax they wouldn't.

[Sauron]

Originally Posted by AynWhinyBasementarian

62 Percent of Americans Responding to Slanted Questions in Lolbertarian Polling Give EXACT Answers That the Poll was Designed to Elucidate - Lolbertarians Celebrate Victory of Their Own Bias - Reason.com

[ceptimus]

Why not a flattening tax? Plot everyone's wealth on a histogram and then draw a horizontal line so that the area of the bars above the line equals the total amount of tax the country needs. Then collect the money above the line from those individuals affected.

This would mean that the vast majority of people would pay no tax at all.

All those who did pay any tax would all be exactly equally wealthy with each other after paying their tax. This would stimulate them to compete with each other to see who could win the race to accumulate the most wealth before next year's tax round - it would be similar to competitive sports leagues where every team starts a new season equal with all the other teams, regardless of which team won in the previous season.

[Kael]

Add in some deadly obstacles and a no-rules arena; Reverse Hunger Games, I like it!

[Sauron]

Why not a flattery tax?

We could tax sycophants and bullshitters.

FOR A FLATTERY TAX IN 2016, VOTE AML!

[Dingfod]

We could balance the budget if there were a narcissism tax.

[chunksmediocrites]

Ah, "neutral" polling questions that couch the subject in veiled "fairness":

Q16 Would you favor or oppose changing the federal tax system to a flat tax, where everyone pays the same percentage of his or her income?

Everyone pays the same? Well that sounds fair, doesn't it? And it is a true description! Let's play the phrasing game the other way:

Would you favor or oppose changing the federal tax system to a flat tax, whereby the poor and middle class would see a tax increase, and the rich would see their taxes decrease?

Wow, I bet I get a very different answer to this "neutral" polling question. Only the truth is told in this question!

Phrasing is fun. Polling is only as good as the sample size, and the quality of the questions. Confirmation bias is also fun.

[mickthinks]

Leading Questions - Yes Prime Minister - YouTube

[Kyuss Apollo]

Originally Posted by AynMisesLibertarian

62 Percent of Americans Say They Favor a Flat Tax - Reason.com

Your face is a flat tax. And you owe us €200.

[godfry n. glad]

62 percent, huh?

Yeah, that's about the right percentage of USers who are entirely ignorant about economic matters. Maybe a bit low, even.

[Jerome]

Hey Ari, most people also think anyone making more than them is rich.

Would you like a free pony paid for by that rich person?

[Stormlight]

Originally Posted by Jerome

Hey Ari, most people also think anyone making more than them is rich.

Would you like a free pony paid for by that rich person?

I'm not Ari, but I'll answer anyway: "No, I don't."

Now what?

[Ari]

Originally Posted by Jerome

Would you like a free pony paid for by that rich person?

[Adam]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. ()

Is this rich person going to provide food and board for this so-called "free" pony, or am I going to get stuck picking up the tab for that? I am, aren't I? Man, the rich are always looking for new ways to fuck the little guy.

[Dingfod]

You do get stuck with at least part of that, because you know good and well that they will deduct it as a charitable gift on their income tax. Plus, in my horsey experience, that thing will cost you about $100-150 per month just to have it, not including stable fees or if the damned thing gets sick.