Quote:
|
Originally Posted by KMA-628
From Roger Miller, economist
granted, this definition refers to a Flat Tax, not an NST. However, if we read further down:
The social security tax is an example of a regressive tax, because it is capped at, I believe, somewhere around $80,000 of income. After earning $80,000-something, you pay no more. That is a regressive tax, this one isn't. A consumption tax doesn't neatly fit into either category, but it most closely resembles a progressive tax as there is no cap, and the more you earn, the more you pay.
|
Keep in mind that it isn't the "more you earn, the more you pay," but rather the "more you
spend the more you pay."
My main point about the poverty "fix" is that the current threshhold is artificially low. I don't like the plan you are outlining, but if it were to work in any way, the poverty threshhold would have to be reevaluated.
Diana Pearce is a sociologist on the faculty of the School of Social Work at the University of Washington. She created the Self-Sufficiency Standard when she was Director of the Women and Poverty Project at Wider Opportunities for Women in Washington DC. If you google her name and "self sufficiency standard" you'll get a lot more info on this aspect, which I hope you'll find interesting and illuminating.