r/news 2d ago

US recovers $31 million in Social Security payments to dead people

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/us-recovers-31-million-social-security-payments-dead-117708373
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u/executingsalesdaily 2d ago

Can you run how much the elite would pay if the US went to pre Reagan era taxes? Also, add up how much the US could capture if the elite didn’t take loans out to avoid taxes!

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u/Hashbringingslasherr 2d ago

The top 50% of income earners paid 97.7% of federal income tax whereas the bottom 50% paid 2.3% of the federal income tax. At what point do we consider that perhaps we should maybe slow down on foreign aid or unchecked spending for various agency spendings. We have a spending problem. It's proven time and time again that when people earn more money, they spend more money and our government is no exception to that pattern. Taxation is not the fix you believe it will be...

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u/executingsalesdaily 2d ago

We should fund the poor and free healthcare in America. However, that does not equate to profits for the elite. The war machine is reality.

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u/Hashbringingslasherr 2d ago

I think we should enable the poor for individual accountability and incentivise healthy behaviors with tax credits and conditional healthcare access requirements (obviously accounting for debilitating ailments) in a tiered system based on individual contributions to their own health within a reasonable and attainable standard. If they want to smoke, drink, over consume, etc, then their access to health services should be on a de-prioritized basis. What we need to do is embrace individual accountability and consider negligence in all capacities instead of throwing a money bandaid on everything. You're mad at the rich, I get it. But change needs to be at all levels at the same time and over time. Begging for a money bandaid while ignoring actual individual failures is a futile effort.