[hexeater]

The conversations around taxation and gov finance in the USA are absolutely delulu. I'm in California. Not including sales and property taxes, high earners are paying over 50% in taxes. Whereas the overall expenditures are unsustainable and in many cases just not working anyway. Notable examples are that we are paying more in Interest than for military at the federal level, and we are burning cash on failed homeless policies without any hope of actual change. Any rational conversation has to cut spending.

[reppap]

> Notable examples are that we are paying more in Interest than for military at the federal level,

It is interesting to me that the party that runs on fiscal responsibility is the one that runs the highest deficits despite having a lower amount of GDP growth.

[Workaccount2]

People aren't versed, and think the problem in their life is that they don't make enough money.

The actual problem (overwhelmingly) is that they spend to much on housing.

If we can just build more housing to bring down prices, 80% of reactionary "just seize their assets in anyway" rhetoric will go away.

Of course, this also means the middle class needs to take a 20%+ hair cut on their net worth. Deeply unpalatable, and doesn't fit the "1% will pay for everything" zeitgeist.

[mimir]

100%, This is the uncomfortable fact of taxes in the US right now. If you are a high earning W2 worker, you are likely paying close to if not above 50% income tax rate. Pretty much on par with all the "high tax" European socialist countries you always hear people complaining about. There is basically no good way to lower this w2 tax burden.

I'm generally a "liberal" and support fair taxation and goverment spending, but the current level, based on the worldwide tax rates I've found, doesn't have much room to grow, especially when it does seem like goverment services are actually supbpar for many, and these taxes don't support some sort of universal health care/cheap university like they do in many European countries. I truly believe that goverment can and should be a force for good in people's lives, but I don't think that means we should give it a blank check. It does feel delulu that so many democrats seems to blindly support raising taxes on the "rich". I do think a wealth tax is very much the wrong approach.

It's pretty frustrating to when folks talk about taxing the rich, since it seems like the policies that get passed often just add even more burden onto the "working" rich vs the capital based rich. Even the long terms capital gains rate is close to 30+% in high tax states + top bracket, but there is way more room for deductions.

[tacitusarc]

I think the line from Abundance is apt- something like, “We’re paying Equinox prices but getting Planet Fitness”

[skybrian]

Looks like it's over 50% for regular income, but for long-term capital gains the top rate seems to be about 37%:

  20% federal
  3.8% net investment income tax
  13.3% California

I do what I can to lower my tax bill, but in the end I take a philosophical attitude: if I'm paying more taxes, that's a sign I'm making more money.

[adastra22]

From a California perspective, there is no discount for capital gains. It is all taxed as income.

[skybrian]

Yep. But they had to include federal to get above 50%, so that's clearly not the calculation they were doing. For federal + California, it does matter.

[monero-xmr]

If I’m paying more taxes, it’s a sign the state is spending beyond its means

[skybrian]

I don't see the connection.

[NewJazz]

And revenue, right?