[tomcam]

Thanks for a well-reasoned response (whose conclusions I view as disastrously bad). I genuinely appreciate your thought process.

I do agree completely agree with the final paragraph.

I’d prefer a simple 20% federal consumption tax on everything we buy, period, and no corporate welfare of any kind.

[AnimalMuppet]

I second the "disastrously bad". "Let's all vote on how much money you're allowed to have" is not going to end well.

But a 20% consumption tax isn't the answer. The problem the GP is trying to address is how much the rich have, not how much they spend. The rich spend less of what they have - that's how they stay rich. A spending tax won't touch them.

I agree that corporate welfare needs to go.

[tomcam]

> The problem the GP is trying to address is how much the rich have, not how much they spend.

I agree. Perhaps we differ on this: How rich someone else is has no bearing on me. In fact, I love it when people get rich.

I'm sure you'll agree that you are wealthy beyond measure to hundreds of millions, maybe billions, of people in the world. They could well be stunned and angry at the way you spend money.

> The rich spend less of what they have - that's how they stay rich.

Not sure I agree. Many people appear to be rich but are actually in over their heads. Look at many, many pro athletes five years out of their careers.