The stock market began gangbusters this morning.
Professional Wall Street reporters attribute the large gains to Pfizer’s positive Covid vaccine announcement. They also believe a republican U.S. Senate majority will disallow a democratic led White House from raising taxes. Kind of an upbeat double whammy to begin the week.
Pfizer touts 90% effectiveness for their Covid vaccine. That’s impressive, especially after Fauci previously stated 50%-60% would be acceptable. Seasonal influenza vaccines only reduce the chance of catching the virus by 40%-60%. Academically speaking, if we scored that low on a non-curved exam, we’d fail. However, a ninety percent is an A! That places Pfizer and their vaccine on the public health honor roll.
But the U.S. Senate will remain undetermined until Georgia releases results from their run-off elections in early January. So tax hikes are, technically, still on the table. This is significant because the Biden tax plan will raise taxes by 3.3 trillion dollars over the next 10 years. Check it out – https://taxfoundation.org/joe-biden-tax-plan-2020/. That’s a lot of bread.
So if the vaccine can help flatten the curve, why can’t we flatten the tax?
People gripe incessantly about the rich not paying their fair share. Donald Trump said he paid little to no taxes because he’s smart. Bernie Sanders rails against the wealthiest families in the U.S., who he claims pay little to no taxes.
The current tax code is progressive, meaning the more you make, the more taxes you pay. Theoretically.
Seven tax brackets exist. They range from 10% to 37%. In 2020, those earning over $518,400 as a single filer or $622,050 as a married filer will allegedly pay 37% of their gross income in taxes because they’re in the highest tax bracket.
If a single or married filer earned one million dollars annually, in theory they would owe the U.S. government $370,000 in federal taxes. That’s a lot of lettuce. If a 20% (easier calculations for me) flat tax existed, that same wealthy individual or family would only pay $200,000 in federal taxes. That’s 46% less!
So, naturally, the wealthy are screaming for a flat tax.
Hello? Anyone? That’s weird. I’m not hearing anything from the obscenely rich. It doesn’t make sense. Are these men and women willingly to pay more in taxes without raising a single voice of dissent? Don’t they want to shave off 46% from their tax bill?
We’ll assume from their collective silence that the answer is no.
You bet they don’t want a flat tax. These wealthy individuals and families never come close to paying 37% of their gross income in taxes. At least not the smart ones, according to Donald Trump. Crazy Bernie says they virtually pay nothing at all.
The tax code is so complicated and convoluted, even the sharpest accountant works long, diligent hours to find the legal loopholes and shelters to provided their wealthy clientele with the smallest tax payout possible. Their Enron-esque balance sheets may look like they’re paying their progressive tax plan share, but I doubt it. The rich just get richer, baby.
These financially elite support congressional and senatorial races. They fund presidential candidates, regardless of party affiliation. With their monetary influence on political campaigns and election outcomes, they would have pushed for tax reform years ago. But it’s exactly these representatives, senators, and presidents that refuse to push the issue.
Why? Because they’re part of the wealthy and have equally as much to lose in yearly tax payouts. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are millionaires, along with many other democratic and republican politicians. And we wonder why they don’t enact tax reform that would hurt their personal bank accounts?
I don’t care if you’re democrat or republican. I really want to know if I’m off base with the flat tax, because I don’t see how everybody paying the same percentage is not fair. You make $500K, you pay $100K. You make $20K, you pay $4K. And we actually get to collect from the rich. We’re talking about a lot of cheddar. What an idea!
If we sandwich all that bread, lettuce, and cheddar together, I believe we’ve got an easy to collect tax revenue base that we can sink our teeth into. What do you think?