Quote Originally Posted by sparks19
then I must be misinterpreting the posts saying that rich people should pay more in taxes then the little people. I was just using those numbers as an example. Just saying that if I am taxed 40% (not saying that I AM just using the number as an example) I don't think it is fair that the next higher up bracket should pay 50% or the next highest should pay 60%. Again these numbers are only for examples. Again, if we are going to make people who are better off pay the highest percentage then why don't we just send them our medical bills. Everyone should pay the same percentage. If you make 10,000 your percentage will equal out to a small fraction. if you make 1,000,000 your percentage will equal out to a lot more money going into taxes. they already pay more then the lower class. why should they pay even MORE than that. LOL what if those people in the higher tax bracket have 12 kids to support? should they pay less tax then?

this is the impression I have gotten from previous posts. that those who make more money should pay a higher percentage of tax. I disagree.

Ceph, it really is. I keep seeing people say that they ONLY make 20,000 and it's almost impossible to get by. How is that possible? In all my life I don't think I have ever had a job that I made more than 25,000 per year. I am able to survive just fine on that. You just have to live a more moderate exsistence. YOu don't go out and buy the most expensive care... or the biggest house. Live by your means and 20,000 provides a fine living.

My mother (a single mother) never made much money yet I always had a nice house to live in, clean clothes on my back and good food on the table. What more do you need?
Well, the rich DON'T pay a higher percentage of their income in most taxes, that is the point. For example, SS taxes are only taken out of the first $90,000 or so of your income. I'm not sure exactly what the figures are, but I think they take roughly 10% for SS. That means, if I make $25,000/year I pay on 100% of my income, etc, but if I make $250,000 a year, I pay SS tax on roughly 36% of my income. Is that "fair?" No.

And most rich people have such good tax lawyers, etc, I'm sure that very few pay "fairly." Also, most truly needy people probably don't pay many income taxes, if any at all. It's the middle class that carries the burden- is that "fair?"

Also, I'm not going to make judgments on how much money per year is "enough," but keep in mind, $20,000 in Pennsylvania goes a lot further than $20,000 in California.