1. I do not really care about any historical precedent, they take 40% of my money and there is clearly a ton of waste, if not grift.
2. All of those things can be done more efficiently. Drug prices, crappy mega defense contractors, welfare work traps, etc.
3. People eat themselves to death. RFK is going after this problem.
4. I'm in favor of simplifying the tax code and charging a flat tax to corporations, ending tax havens. We should end the tyranny of the shareholder and start rebuilding the American worker.
The point after the first one (number 2) has some examples. The USAID money going into NGO admin salaries is another. Cost plus defense contracting. Medicare overpaying for drugs. Farm subsidies.
> I do not really care about any historical precedent, they take 40% of my money and there is clearly a ton of waste, if not grift.
Er what? The top marginal tax bracket is only 37%, and no one will pay that percentage on all their income. Perhaps you misunderstand how marginal tax rates/brackets work?
I was very tax-inefficent a few years ago, and my effective tax rate was still under 25%. Usually it's under 20%, even though my income does sometimes put me in into the tax brackets that are in the 30s.
If you're paying 40% of your income in taxes, you're either a) doing something exceptionally wrong, or b) one of a very small, sub-1% group of people who need to do super tax-inefficient things on a regular basis for some reason.
> All of those things can be done more efficiently. Drug prices, crappy mega defense contractors, welfare work traps, etc.
How? That's the meat of the question and problem here. It's easy to say "government is inefficient". It's a lot harder to identify what those inefficiencies actually are, and come up with a plan to reduce or eliminate them. Simply saying that certain things in government are inefficient is not useful.
You are falling into the trap of thinking that federal income tax levels are all that matters. When you account for
* Federal AND state income taxes
* Payroll taxes (SS & Medicare/Medicaid)
* Property taxes
* Sales taxes
* Car registration taxes
You realize that depending on income level, the level of taxation in the US is much higher than the typical numbers thrown about. I have seen estimates but couldn’t find them as almost every search ends up taking me to stories and research doing the exact same thing you mention: federal income tax rates only.
>Er what? The top marginal tax bracket is only 37%, and no one will pay that percentage on all their income. Perhaps you misunderstand how marginal tax rates/brackets work?
Perhaps you forget that state taxes exist. Add in sales tax after that. Then, perhaps, recall that property taxes exist.
2. All of those things can be done more efficiently. Drug prices, crappy mega defense contractors, welfare work traps, etc.
3. People eat themselves to death. RFK is going after this problem.
4. I'm in favor of simplifying the tax code and charging a flat tax to corporations, ending tax havens. We should end the tyranny of the shareholder and start rebuilding the American worker.