people who say the rich pay the vast majority of taxes and therefore are paying plenty. You know what, the rich also have the vast majority of disposable income.

Pretax disposable income (i.e., what's left over after one has covered some reasonable living expenses) is a more reasonable benchmark when looking at share of tax burden. The rich have a very high share of the disposable income and people at the bottom have very little. So the rich should pay much more and it's ok for a large number of people at the bottom to pay little or nothing if that reflects their disposable income.

And btw, I'm speaking as someone who has benefited from lower tax rates and from a lower rate on dividends. So I'm speaking not in self-interest, but in the interest of designing something that is both fair and gives people at the top end of the scale an incentive to remain productive.

You also reference a "canard" and say you hate when people pretend that is not the case that the rich don't pay most of the taxes. Show me where I said they don't. My point is they can afford to -- and can afford to pay more (whereas poor people cannot). So I am tired of the canard that rich people are somehow being victimized when higher taxes are proposed. The percentage of wealth owned by the top 1% and top 10% in this country has grown for decades and shows no sign of stopping. The rich are not facing hard times.
[Post edited by TomGlansAski at 10/21/2021 12:04PM]