Post #13348 by mungofitch on the Berkshire Hathaway board

Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) ❤

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Turkeys don't like voting for Thanksgiving, and many voters are hesitant to back a new tax. But consider: would you like to have no income tax?
...
The issue is that 40% of the population in the US already pays zero federal income tax; so you will be "raising taxes" on that very large group. Agree the current tax structure is a mess... but the pollical friction to fix it is extreme.

Well, yes, people dislike taxes. But my back-of-the-envelope suggestion would actually be a net after-tax benefit for 1/5 of households, so at least that section probably wouldn't complain too much! And for the next quintile up, it wouldn't be very material. There is an old American saying that has guided tax policy for perhaps a bit too long: Don't tax you, Don't tax me, we'll tax that fellow behind the tree...

Though perhaps a European saying of more recent vintage is more appropriate: we all know what to do, we just don't know how to get re-elected afterwards.
Not enough elected representatives around the world remember that it's their job to actually govern, not to run for election.

Jim

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