At a time when taxes are obscenely high - at least in the US - the discussion should be of massive cuts, not new taxes. Alas, I am not optimistic. People have s

At a time when taxes are obscenely high - at least in the US - the discussion should be of massive cuts, not new taxes. Alas, I am not optimistic. People have suffered for generations under horrific conditions. No reason it can't happen here. Or to be more precise: No reason it can't happen here again. Don't forget slavery and Native Americans. EDIT: Moved this from a sub post to here: A lot of people are evidently misinformed about the state of US taxation. Since several have responded to my previous post with similar statements, I'll just take the top post and address the whole issue in one go. 1. The US has low tax rates relative to the rest of the world For low earners, yes. For high earners no. Re low earners: Federal income tax is low, SS contributions are moderate, but - and this is key - sales taxes (VAT) are extremely low, excise taxes on fuel are extremely low, and import duties are generally extremely low. Car registration, government fees, etc are all generally moderate to extremely low. Re high earners: a) Income taxes are extremely high. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates , sort by "Individual (max)", and note that only France, Belgium, Sweden, and Aruba are higher. b) Corporate tax is extremely high. Note that many will correctly state that some corporations are able to avoid some of the corporate tax. This is true, though overstated if you only follow what the NYT reports. For domestic US corporations doing business only in the US, their effective corporate rate will range between 35% and 45%, depending on their state. e) Estate taxes. We pay 50% of our net worth upon death on all assets transferred to our descendants. A truly morally repugnant tax, this one. Passing on our advantages and earnings to our children is a great joy to many people. d) Tax enforcement is insanely strict. Prison sentences and hefty fines await those who transgress. e) We can't leave: American citizens pay tax to the US government even if they reside elsewhere. If we give up our citizenship, we must pay the US government between 30 and 40% of our net worth. The US is the only OECD nation to do this. 2. US taxes are lowest they've been since XX!" This is true for low and middle earners, whose current tax rates are very low. Not true for high earners. The US tax code is the most progressive in the OECD. The last tax reform was under Reagan. He traded high tax rates with lots of loopholes for moderate tax rates with few loopholes. Since then, the few loopholes have largely been closed (with exceptions, such as the popular middle class* home interest deduction) whilst rates have risen substantially. See the wiki link above: top US income tax rates are the fifth highest in the world. 3. Overall US taxation is low! As detailed above, the US taxation regime is the most progressive in the OECD. But taxation is still not low. At 34% of GDP[1], it's higher than Canada and only 5 points lower than the UK. 11 points less than France. [1] http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/total http://www.usgovernmentrevenue.com/total