Rand Paul's report on $1 Trillion in guvment waste in 2024

Way too much math for that guy.

 

That's nice in theory, but not so nice in practice, when those making minimum wage are not able to afford the essentials in life. Retirees get a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for Social Security almost every year, but the working poor get nothing.

 

The bottom 50% of the wage earners make 2.5% of the income in the U.S. There is a pretty clear case for a progressive tax structure.

Distribution of household income U.S. 2023 | Statista

 

Credible link or tik tok? Every chart I look at disagrees with your claim. Can you please provide link?

 

More on this issue (WARNING: Math ahead!). For the sake of argument, I will refer to proponents of a 15% flat tax as "Mr. Scrooge".

If you tax the bottom 50% of the wage earners at 15%, you will increase tax revenue by (2.5% x 0.15 =) 0.375%, or $8.6 billion (personal income was $23 trillion in 2022). It will probably be less than that as poor people die off due to being unable to afford food or winter heat (you may want to dream about that, Mr. Scrooge).

If you reduce the tax rate on the top 1% from 37% to 15% (a 22% reduction), how much tax revenue will you lose? The top 1% of wage earners pays 45% of federal taxes, or $981 billion (the total amount of income tax collected in 2022 was $2.18 trillion). The tax revenue will be reduced by (45% x 0.22 =) 9.9%, in theory, or $97 billion. There will be additional (smaller) reductions from other income brackets. This plan will reduce federal income by more than $88 billion. We would probably have to eliminate Social Security or Medicare. Is that Mr. Scrooge's plan? Or is Mr. Scrooge not smart enough to know that he is cutting off his nose to spite his face?

Caveat: I'm sure the math isn't perfect on this (I'm not a tax accountant), but directionally, I believe it is right.

 

One more detail about taxing the poor. It would almost cost more to process all of the tax returns and tiny checks than you would gain from the additional tax income. That's why the government does things like tell you not to worry about reporting bank interest if it is less than $10 a year.

 

So you disagreed with Trump’s idea of no tax on tips for your Firehouse Sub workers?

edit: I assumed Firehouse Subs workers got tips. Maybe they don’t.

 

And without the tax cuts or with smaller tax cuts there almost certainly would have a greater increase in revenue and a smaller increase in the size of the national debt.

 

In ever tipped at subway so probably wouldn’t have at firehouse

 

You get your sandwich faster if you give them a tip, in my experience, and when you use a credit card, they provide multiple options for tipping.

I was in a Subway on I-10 last month, and my wife insisted that we use a coupon, so I did, but forgot to show the lady my coupon when I placed the order. When I showed her the coupon, she said my sandwich wasn't covered by the coupon, and (after I apologized) she then decided to allow the coupon anyway. I felt kinda bad about not following the procedure, and it being Thanksgiving weekend, so after I got our food, I decided to sneak up to the tip jar and drop a $10 bill in there. I didn't think she noticed, but she did (she apparently watches the tip jar like a hawk to make sure tips don't leave the jar), and next thing I know is that she is offering my daughter three cookies ($4.50 value). Sometimes a nice tip can make someone's day.