Who should bear the burden of the taxes?

Great! Everyone! So I will pay the same tax rates, and the same taxes as the rich which means I literally have no income to live on! Sounds like a good deal, right? Or how about the rich pay virtually nothing and I still get a majority taken out from my payment. Sounds even better, yah? :)

Everyone Should Pay Taxes But Those Making The Top Income Bracket Seem To Find Ways To Get Around Paying Their Fair Share

It might seem that having everyone pay exactly the same rate might be fair, but in reality it is not. The rich have all the power and influence and access to government, so they should pay more. We should also go back to collecting tariffs on imported goods. That used to be the major source of income for the government. Once Reagan began eliminating import taxes, there was no incentive for corporations to keep manufacturing jobs in the US. They could move their operations overseas with much cheaper labor, and they would not have to pay anything to import the goods back to the US. This is the major cause of job loss and wage decline in the US.

Perhaps the top 10% of taxpayers pay 2/3 of the income tax. Consider that the wealthiest 10% of Americans also have 83% of all the wealth. The US already effectively has a flat tax. When you look at all the different ways government collects revenue most are regressive; the progressive income about cancels the inherently regressive nature of most other taxes. When you look at all the ways our government collects revenus all levels pay about the same percentage of their income to the government. The super wealthy make much of their money through inheritance and capital gains that are already taxed lower than income. When you hear people trying to justify a flat income tax, eliminating taxes on capital gains and inheritance what they are really trying to do is shift more of the tax burden away from the wealthy and to the mid and lower socioeconomic classes.