I think the rich should pay next to nothing provided they are allowed to spend it on luxury goods...I also think older people are a drain on the system, they use more facilities like hospitals, doctors and so should pay more, much more.
I'm sure when doug sits and reflects on this he will agree.
Yep, I agree...fortunately, at 62 I am in excellent health, take no prescription drugs, haven't even seen a doctor for many years except for the bi-annual cleaning of teeth and the annual "bend over" exam. Haven't needed treatment for either of those conditions for 10 years, thank goodness!!
However, if it were determined that older people needed to pay more for medical insurance (as they do for life insurance, based on actuarial tables developed over the past two centuries), I would be glad to contribute my share if it were for the general good of our society, even though I don't really need those medical services...yes, IMHO the good of the society outweighs the greed of the few.
Here it is
Let's see if Doug will see it !
I see it, Keith :idea: ! I frequently say "Sarcasm is only one of the fine services I offer", glad to see you do, too!
I still believe the fairest is a transaction tax on EVERYTHING that goes through the bank. Each time you deposit between 2 and 5% is deducted as your tax.
Ian, here in the USA there is a HUGE population who do not have bank accounts. Try to write a check in an Asian restaurant, you can't they don't believe in banks. The
vast majority of "undocumented immigrants" (understatment is yet another of my many fine services) take their paychecks to a check-cashing store, where they do pay a small percentage of the proceeds in order to get cash, and their cash never seen the inside of a bank teller's drawer....however, a LOT of it does get turned into money orders and sent back to Mexico.
I, for one, would like to function on more of a cash basis than I do, but unfortunately the financial institutions have really made cash unnecessary with the prevalence of debit cards. There are very FEW panhandlers in downtown Houston these days, most of the citizens they target say the same thing I do...."Sorry, I don't carry cash anymore, I use a debit card."
I guess my point here is that there will ALWAYS be those who want to circumvent the procedures in place that are meant to ensure that they pay their FAIR share of the cost of running our country. The wealthy circumvent it by hiding their assets and hiring attorneys, accountants, and legislators to make sure their "visible" income is only a small percentage of their gross income. The undocumented immigrant population, which is HUGE here in the Houston area, willingly gives up 2 or 3% of their paycheck to the check cashing stores in order to avoid having to use the services of a bank. Bartering is coming back as a way of life in the midwest, where a rancher can trade a yearling calf for a whole bunch of dental work, a farmer can trade a truckload of wheat for repairs to his car, a carpenter can trade his labor for an old pickup that the farmer/rancher no longer needs. These transactions would avoid your taxation method, and they are becoming more and more prevalent than you would realize.
Regardless of the taxation method, it is still MHO that the wealthy and large corporations, who can well afford it, should gladly pay what they feel is a disproportionate share in exchange for the protections that America offers....where else in the world can they find a nation whose legislators protect their profits, ensure their profits (insurance companies are granted rates that ENSURE their profits), and where there is even a prominent and powerful political party that believes these protections and assurances need to be increased, and holds the entire country hostage in the process of negotiating for increases for those very protections and assurances.
Gotta love America, the land of opportunity.....I'm just sayin', ya gotta pay for the benefits (and the wealthy benefit disproportionately more than the poor) that opportunity provides--where else are you going to find what I've described?
Cheers from Doug!!