I'm conservative but I am coming around to the liberal idea of taxing the higher incomes more heavily?

It is great that you are awake and ready to come into the light from the dark side. Make the leap and you will be welcome.

Think of it this way. Those with higher incomes tend to be able to move their money around. Specifically to countries that are very accepting of foreign money and will give generous tax benefits. If you squeeze the rich too much, they will just pack their money and investments up and leave the country, leaving the middle and lower classes with a larger tax burden. Those that believe you should tax the rich more heavily tend to not have money. The rich already pay more in taxes. I know one thing, if I get taxed too much more I am moving my money out of the country. Specifically China, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic. Tax me more heavily and see what I and others like me will do with our money.

Try this:

Tax Cuts - A Simple Lesson In Economics

This is how the cookie crumbles. Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100.

If they paid their bill THE WAY WE PAY OUR TAXES, it would go something like this:

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh $7.

The eighth $12.

The ninth $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, the ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20."

So, now dinner for the ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes.

So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. What about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share'?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being 'PAID' to eat their meal.

So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay. And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The ones who get the most money back from a reduction are those who paid in the most. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore. There are lots of good restaurants in Europe and the Caribbean.

I'm a liberal and I think everyone should be taxed equally. What I'm most concerned about is how our money is being spent hand over fist to the point that we are becoming the biggest debtor nation in history. And in the last 6 years this has been done by a supposedly conservative government.

Then you are not a conservative at all. The flat tax should be implemented across the board so everyone pays the same percentage. I got news for you - taxing the rich never works. That is what offshore accounts and accountants are paid for - to pay as little as possible.

Yes. The problem is not tax rates it is subsidies given to big businesses. It seems ok to give High subsidies to Exxon and BP but if a farmer wants a hand out it is somehow wrong. My problem is too many conservatives confuse big business with small business so doling out money that is supposed to help a mom and pop store to a corparate multi national is what is wrong not the taxes on the rich.

Yes! How is taxing someone that has more education and is more driven to succeed fair and equal? Liberals penalize hard work, striving for higher education and benefiting the economy; all the while rewarding people that are uneducated, unmotivated and are a burden upon society and the economy! People need to take more responsibility and accountability for the choices they make, not pinning it on the government to take it out on successful people. If johnny q wants to drop out of school and work at a minimum wage job, and has 5 kids because he hates to use condoms why should I have to pay for his mistakes?

Liberals take individual responsibilities and freedoms and puts it in the hands of big government. Making more people dependent upon the government, thus granting them more power and control of our lives! Once they get that power, they do not want to relinquish it once people wake up and realize what they did wrong.

To bitternomore below me, the rich already pay almost all taxes idiot! Read this link and look at the statistics if you aren't afraid of the truth!

http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/richpay.html

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/menu/top_50__of_w...

Why should they be??

What if everyone paid the same %?

That would seem fair. So if I made 100X what you did, I would pay 100X more taxes.

You could even have a 30 or 40K allowance, so the lower earning pay little or no taxes!

No you are not wrong. The rich should be putting more of their income into the countries economy so the middle and lower class don't foot the entire bill.

How about we abolish the IRS and take away the power to print money away from the Federal Reserve Bank? The effects would be positive and immediate.

No, you are not wrong at all. It is only fair that the wealthy pay the same percentage of taxes that the lower classes pay.

Every two weeks I loose a fifth of my paycheck to taxes, and it really pisses me off. Because, I know that my boss only looses 12% of his salary to taxes.

How is that fair?