I'm for raising taxes on the affluent. Am I a hypocrite?

post by Bill Gardner

I support an increase in the taxes paid by the wealthiest and highest income Americans. I want this to happen to reduce the deficit and to fund some essential services to benefit the poor. This is not retribution. I don't think incomes are or could be based on what people 'deserve.' Finally, I am not motivated by envy, because I am in the group that should be taxed.

At this point, you may respond, "If you believe in increased taxes on persons like yourself, take the option to give the government more." And if I do not take that option -- which I do not -- I am a hypocrite.

So, there is no question that I am not nearly as generous or charitable a person as I should be. But that is a separate issue. I want the US to be a society where every child gets essential health care and education. Charities have never achieved these goals. Governments funded by progressive taxation get closer, in many developed societies. 

Comments

[Brendan Saloner]

I've been thinking about this point a bit lately. Actually here in Massachusetts there is an option on the state tax return to give at a marginally higher tax rate (I can't remember the difference, but it's less than 1 percentage point). I take that option, but some liberal friends balk when I suggest they do the same. I'm not holding myself up as a paragon of virtue, in any case the difference is very little on a grad student income. But it is a strange quandary -- why not "be the change that you want to see in the world"?

[burberry replica handbags]

Saw this article after really benefit a lot.