Some Poor Realities

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/10/02/business/how-health-care-affects-income.html

The income estimates do not include unreported income, prevalent at the low and high ends of the scale. It also skips the value of services provided to our 2 million prisoners. By the way, the CBO is now basing its income estimates on the methodology exemplified in the graph. But, by including Medicare and Medicaid benefits as income, it completely alters the picture of inequality--and pushes the real working class to the bottom of the income pyramid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/11/opinion/americas-ineffective-antipoverty-effort.html

A Republican doing what Republicans do not like to do: thinking seriously about reform of the welfare state, rather than wallowing in the idealistic rhetoric of abolition. The crux of his argument: "We can start by measuring outcomes (results) rather than inputs (how much money can we throw at the problem). Our effectiveness should be assessed, in part, by the per-person cost of moving individuals from dependency to self-sufficiency."

A Documentary on Taxation

It might be useful to literalize the notion that we pay a third of our income to the government. In this vein, a film depicting people working directly for all the government departments instead of paying taxes (indirect work) could also be amusing. Four months total for the government, eight months for one's family. That would be 3-4 weeks under a drill sergeant or commanding officer, another 4 weeks under orders from the local nursing home or retirement resort, 2-3 weeks attempting to impart knowledge and values to the new and rising generation, a delighful 2-3 weeks supporting the duskier races in their slums and ghettoes and prisons, and on and on and on... Being assailed by the hundreds of federal agencies one after another, then by hundreds of state and local agencies could create a memorable image.   

Compassion for the Superrich

This gives an idea of the reality of the estate tax: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/18/your-money/taxes/18wealth.html And remember, people at this level of wealth generally do not pay much tax while alive: the capital gains rate is only 15%. Given that a certain amount of taxation is necessary for even the basic functions of government, I favor a higher estate tax and a broader one. Why should the children of the wealthy pay less tax on their inheritance, money they did nothing to earn, than professionals pay on income received for productive work? This is unjust on its face. Additionally, while one could make a pragmatic case for low income/capital gains taxes on self-made financial successes, based on the assumption that they will use their money to generate high returns on capital and thereby accelerate economic growth--one cannot make a similar case for their progeny. Any estate over a million ought to be taxed at 40% for each dollar over a million and at 50% for each marginal dollar over 10 million and at 70% for any amount over 100 million. And loopholes ought to be closed. Ultimately, this may enable reduced taxes on economically productive activity. In any case, the decent billionaires give it away before or when they die, like Carnegie, Gates, Buffet, and a number of other, mostly American, serious power players.