Taxes Are Way Too Flat Already

When Reichwingnuts push for a "flat tax," what they are really pushing for is one that takes even more from the working poor and middle class to enrich even more than ever before the already obscenely rich. Why? Because the grossly unequal system we have now - redistributing from the poor to the rich - is as flat as flat can be.

Kevin Drum:

Did you know that the richest 1% of Americans pay 21% of all taxes? That's a lot! But do you know why they pay 21% of all taxes? It's because they make 21% of all the income.

Suddenly that doesn't seem all that unfair, does it? In fact, the rich are doing mighty well for themselves if we basically have a flat tax in America. And as it turns out, they are, and we do: the federal tax system is modestly progressive, but state and local taxes are modestly regressive. Add 'em all up and you end up with a pretty flat tax system. Here are the numbers for 2011 from Citizens for Tax Justice:

Here's the thing: the richer you are, the more you benefit from government (tax dollar) investments in social goods like highways, airports, law enforcement/prisons, drinking water treatment, etc. When your share of national taxes equals your share of national income, that means the working poor and middle class are subsidizing social goods for the rich.

That's why the rich should pay proportionally more of their income in taxes than the poor and middle-class: because they get more service bang for their tax buck.