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points by vincnetas 1 day ago | 0 comments

Id say you CAN tax the poor (by wealth), and apparently they are contributing almost same absolute amount like the top rich :

Rough estimates for federal taxes

Top 0.1% Share of federal taxes ~10–12% Approx ~$550–650B

Bottom 50% Share of federal taxes ~10–13% Approx ~$520–680B

source : quick claude query

[–] simonsarris 1 day ago

That seems wildly incorrect. In the US the bottom 50% are closer to ~3% of federal taxes.

The top 1% pay about 38%. The top 0.1% is simply not a lot of people and not helpful for thinking about how much you can juice them in absolute dollar amounts.

[–] gampleman 1 day ago

Doesn't this just prove the OP's point? The government gets as much money from the top 0.1% as it does from the bottom 50% means that it is getting a lot of their money from the wealthy.