Sometimes, the inspiration doesn't come until a bit late

[jducoeur]

So this weekend's music was mostly off of Kate's father's playlist, and it happened that Janis Joplin came up a couple of times. That seems to have percolated in the back of my brain, because this came out in the middle of the night:

Lord, won't you buy me the Pre-si-den-cy.
I think I deserve it, since I'm a Romney.
And it will ensure that I remain tax-free.
Oh, lord, won't you buy me the Pre-si-den-cy.

Lord, won't you buy me a house painted white.
I know that it's small, but I'll try to pack light.
To earn it, I've made sure my wings are quite Right.
Oh, lord, won't you buy me a house painted white.

Comments

[marphod.livejournal.com]

That's a 'flat tax', and it is a regressive tax system. You are requiring the bottom end of the scale to pay a higher percentage of their discretionary income than a person at the higher end of the scale.

Hence the have graduated tax rates, which is supposed to be 'more fair'.

On top of that (sticking to income and payroll taxes as this example) the system is used to incentivise certain types of spending (house purchases, retirement investments, electric vehicles, purchasing health care, charitable donations). The tax system needs a severe re-write and simplification -- for instance, possibly eliminating the asymmetric taxation rates based on the source of income -- but there is no truly simple solution that maintains the same structural designs and flexibility.

(and this blissfully ignores the 'poverty line' which has more to do with politics than actual spending power, state/local level taxation, tax-free income, etc. Not to mention the issues with corporate taxes).

[herooftheage.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know the arguments. And I also know the counterarguments, which you've neglected to mention, past putting more fair in quotes. Really, I was just demoing a system that is simple enough that gaming it would not be an issue. Feel free to pick any graduated tax rate you like, and the example is still basically the same.