Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by logicchains 2137 days ago
>Not the only reason at all. So many people are concerned with inequality beyond its connection the USA’s inability to fund public goods.

"Being concerned with inequality" doesn't give people the right to go and arbitrarily expropriate other people's assets.

1 comments

> The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States

We absolutely do have that right in the US.

No, the federal government does not have that power; Art. I, Sec. 2, Cl. 3: “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union, according to their respective numbers”. A wealth tax (or other real or personal property tax) is a direct taxes not apportioned as Constitutionally required.

State governments may or may not have that power, according to their own Constitutions (most, I would imagine, do.)