re: #334 HappyWarrior

To me, a higher sales tax is bad for several reasons. One, it directly hurts the poor and middle class. Secondly, it discourages people from buying consumer goods. Example as a gamer, I’m much more willing to pay for a game that’s 50 bucks versus one that is 70. The very wealthy aren’t going to be bothered by a high sales tax. It may be a bothersome inconvincence but at the end of the day, they’ll be able to afford what they want but the same cannot be said about the poor and middle class. I don’t think high tax brackets is the solution but a progressive income tax is the right idea and in times like this, the very rich can afford to pay a litlte bit more. Warren Buffet agrees with that.

But I note that he arranges his affairs to keep his and his shareholders tax liability to an absolute minimum - as he should too.
If assets (i.e. existing wealth, in whatever from) were taxed rather than the process of acquiring those assets, then you really would be getting “the rich” to pay their share.
A bit less consumer spending would be better for long term prosperity, don’t you think ? It’s one of the reasons so many people are broke these days.