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> people who paid for it the most If we are talking about equal sacrifice, they did not pay the most, they paid as much as anyone else. > hen someone pays a l

> people who paid for it the most If we are talking about equal sacrifice, they did not pay the most, they paid as much as anyone else. > hen someone pays a lot of money into federal treasury - nil Why should they get any praise for doing their share? Or everyone should get praise (which I support). The premise that someone is somehow superior for doing their fair share is fallacious. They are not aristocrats condescending to help the poor; they are merely pulling their weight. > are being called thieves and abusers of the system and that they should give more. This is a strawman often used by advocates of low tax on the wealthy to, in a standard rhetorical technique, somehow portray themselves as victims - which is quite an incredible, cynical, and frankly embarrassing stretch. In fact, consensus has supported decreasing taxes for the wealthy, which is what has happened. Also, even those who oppose it, calling names is rare, IME. I'm sure there are some out there, but given that it's just a portion of one side of the debate, it's not many. If anyone on HN is using those words, I don't recall it. > While praise (if any) goes towards that ambiguous system. I'm not sure what's ambiguous about it at all.

hippich 8y ago
> If we are talking about equal sacrifice, they did not pay the most, they paid as much as anyone else. I am talking in absolute numbers. There is plenty of research on who is paying the most taxes. A just random result from google - http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/06/a-closer-look-at-who-does-and-doesnt-pay-u-s-income-tax/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/06/a-closer-loo... " A Pew Research Center analysis of IRS data from 2015, the most recent available, shows that taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more paid well over half (58.8%) of federal income taxes, though they accounted for only 4.5% of all returns filed (6.8% of all taxable returns)."
- noobermin 8y ago
  That's income taxes, the poor pay other taxes too. Also, the poor comprise the people who cut your hair, clean your yards, make your food, essentially provide for those making over 200K. Just because we don't provide the means to live to them like we do for other people doesn't mean they aren't important and don't equally sacrifice.
  - hippich 8y ago
    I am genuinely interested in seeing something about "total taxes paid" (including sales tax, which hits the hardest low-income folks) but I could not find such research. And I am certainly not saying hair cutting is not important. For once, without proper haircut CEO of the company will not be able to raise money to do a new project which potentially can employ a lot of people and pay a lot of taxes.
- notahacker 8y ago
  They also benefit the most from government in absolute terms, since the extent of their wealth in the absence of government would be limited to the tiny fraction of their assets that would still meaningfully exist and could reliably be defended with their personal militia.

hippich 8y ago

> If we are talking about equal sacrifice, they did not pay the most, they paid as much as anyone else. I am talking in absolute numbers. There is plenty of research on who is paying the most taxes. A just random result from google - http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/06/a-closer-look-at-who-does-and-doesnt-pay-u-s-income-tax/ http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/10/06/a-closer-loo... " A Pew Research Center analysis of IRS data from 2015, the most recent available, shows that taxpayers with incomes of $200,000 or more paid well over half (58.8%) of federal income taxes, though they accounted for only 4.5% of all returns filed (6.8% of all taxable returns)."

noobermin 8y ago
That's income taxes, the poor pay other taxes too. Also, the poor comprise the people who cut your hair, clean your yards, make your food, essentially provide for those making over 200K. Just because we don't provide the means to live to them like we do for other people doesn't mean they aren't important and don't equally sacrifice.
- hippich 8y ago
  I am genuinely interested in seeing something about "total taxes paid" (including sales tax, which hits the hardest low-income folks) but I could not find such research. And I am certainly not saying hair cutting is not important. For once, without proper haircut CEO of the company will not be able to raise money to do a new project which potentially can employ a lot of people and pay a lot of taxes.
notahacker 8y ago
They also benefit the most from government in absolute terms, since the extent of their wealth in the absence of government would be limited to the tiny fraction of their assets that would still meaningfully exist and could reliably be defended with their personal militia.