On Sep 22, 3:13*pm, Hawke wrote:


.. So even if Froomkin is a communist that doesn't
mean what he says about taxes is not right.

You are absolutely correct.



But he's not alone in saying proportional taxes are regressive. One
argument against proportional taxes is that it can act similar to a
regressive tax.

Note the strange logic here. If proportional taxes can act similar to
a regressive tax............. That sentence pretty much says "
proportional taxes are not regressive taxes, but ................" So
now you have admitted that a proportional tax is not a regressive
tax.




The fact that everyone pays the same amount of sales
tax on a purchase is indeed true; *however, a $50 sales tax bill would
be a higher percentage of income from someone *making $30,000 annually
as opposed to someone making $100,000 annually. So if you take a higher
percentage of income from the poor than the rich that is a regressive tax..


This paragraph makes no sense. Indeed $50 is a higher percentage of
$30,000 than it is of $100,000. But what does that have to do with
anything.



Sales taxes are regressive. The sales tax is also proportional. Everyone
pays the same rate. So proportional taxes are regressive.

But sales taxes are not proportional to income. They are proportional
to spending. So you need a lot more words in here to make the case
that sales taxes are regressive. The case can be made that sales
taxes are regressive, but what you have said so far does not make that
case. If you put a little effort into your argument, you can make
that case. But so far you have not made a good argument.

They aren't fair either. The Treasury Department has stated as far back
as 1984 that *it opposes a flat income tax because such a high amount of
the tax *burden would be moved from high-income earners to low-income
earners. *Gee, higher income earners tax burden is lower than the tax
burden of low income earners, that sounds exactly like the definition of
regressive taxes, now doesn't it?

No. It does not. Currently we have a progressive income tax. We
could make the income tax less progressive and the tax burden would be
moved from the high income earners to the low income earners. But the
tax would still be progressive, not regressive. Making the tax less
progressive is not the same as making it regressive.

I would like a cite for the Treasury Department saying it opposes a
flat tax. I seriously doubt they said that. Their job is not to
lobby for types of taxes. There job is to collect taxes in accordance
with the tax laws Congress passes.


Dan



Hawke