Total Personal Income U.S. and All States
Total personal income for 2010 was 12.53 trillion.
2010 United States federal budget - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Total Federal Government expenditures for 2010 was $3.55 trillion.

Assuming that only income was taxed (no federal taxes on business, inheritance, etc, just on personal income) and assuming that there were no exemptions or write-offs for anything or anybody and assuming that everybody paid the exact same tax rate, we could balance the budget by using a 28.3% tax rate applied equally to all personal income. This would include social security and medicare/medicaid.

If the government wants to get serious about balancing the budget, the poor need to start paying their fair share. Why are 50% of income earners paying zero in federal income tax?
I have a suspicion that if the poor were paying a 28% federal tax rate, they would start screaming about the federal waste just as much as you and I.

I am against tax increases, I also think that if everybody paid the exact same tax rate the tax rate would drop substantially because when every body has "skin in the game", they tend to pay more attention to what is being taken from them.

Everybody should pay the exact same tax on every dollar they make. If someone makes 100 times what I make they should pay 100 times as much tax. If someone makes 10 times less than me, they should pay 10 times less tax. That's the only fair way to divide up the burden.

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When you think of it, it doesn't take a lot of brains to be a socialist. All it requires is the desire to have something that doesn't belong to you and the absence of character to justify the use of force to get it on your behalf. -- Lawrence W. Reed

I agree......

When almost 40% don't pay any income taxes, the rest of us have to pull their slack.....

I agree...not enough people have skin in the game. I still support a flat or fair tax for all..

Fair Tax empowers the people instead of government.

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"No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem."
-Booker T Washington

"“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves...and include all men capable of bearing arms.”-- Richard Henry Lee

I still contend that the fairest way to fund the federal government is to divide up the cost, and then present each state with a tax bill for their share, apportioned by population. Each state then pays its fair share, and it could be considered the membership fees for belonging to the union.

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When you think of it, it doesn't take a lot of brains to be a socialist. All it requires is the desire to have something that doesn't belong to you and the absence of character to justify the use of force to get it on your behalf. -- Lawrence W. Reed

Taxes have zilch to do with anything except the lowering of them meant less revenue.

As long as you believe this myth, the argument will continue...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Maybe you can explain this. Look at the tax rates around the world. If you think that rates are what make the difference then why isn't Uzbekistan leading the world in manufacturing?

Tax rates around the world - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What if everybody paid the exact same tax rate?

it would be fair & we'll have none of that

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"Free people are not equal & equal people are not free." --- Mackinac Center for Public Policy