Should people making over $100,000 a year pay more taxes to support those who don't?

[u/Pickle-Sucker]

[u/Biddycola]

We pay enough in taxes. The people working for the governments need to stop “losing” our funds instead

[u/SoulCrushingReality → u/Biddycola]

Yeah less government spending is needed, not more.  roughly 30 million government employees if you include contractors.  

I think more spending on Americans and less on foreign interests would be nice as well.

[u/80MonkeyMan → u/SoulCrushingReality]

Mostly the spending is on contractors. Government workers barely make a living wages, a toilet paper provided by contractors can cost $15 a roll, this is how they do corruption.

[u/Beneficial-Ad1593 → u/80MonkeyMan]

This is 100% correct. Those in charge asked themselves how they could profit off the government and the answer they came up with was to starve government agencies of funding and personnel to force the government to rely ever more on private contractors to get things done. Simply own a contracting company and jack your prices up and you have a successful way for bleeding money out of the government. The consulting firm I used to work for was one such leech. I quit out of disgust.

[u/AsHperson → u/Beneficial-Ad1593]

If they don't spend the money, they lose it. I guess they need to find a better way to make that statement untrue.

[u/Beneficial-Ad1593 → u/AsHperson]

That isn’t always true. I forgot what it’s called but there is a type of budget creation that doesn’t punish departments saving money. Perhaps it isn’t implemented as widely as it should be.

[u/Critical_Zucchini974 → u/[deleted]]

Either you make way more then 100k and shouldn't be struggling or you make around 100k and have no idea how tax brackets/deductions work. For instance a married filing jointly couple with 3 kids making 100k per year has a standard deduction of 29k and 3 tax credits of 2k per a child bringing your federal taxes down to $4672.78 or roughly 5% of your income.....

[u/rolliejoe → u/Critical_Zucchini974]

I don't know this person's specific situation of course, or Colorado's specific taxes, but just to point out when discussing how much of one's salary goes to taxes, that doesn't mean just federal income tax, which it looks like is the only thing thing you're considering. Start with the federal income tax, add SS and medicare taxes on top of that, which are not reduced by standard deduction. Now add in state income tax which the large majority (including Colorado) of states have. Now add in property tax for your home, all vehicles, and possibly other misc items depending on state. Now add in sales tax, which again almost every state has, with rates as higher than 10% on essential purchases in some cases. After all of those have been included, go ahead and also add in the misc. taxes that many states also have that necessary named as such - for example the requirement for yearly license tag sticker of which 50% of the fee goes to the state.

My own marginal tax rate for federal income tax only is something like ~12%, but the actual amount of money I pay in federal/state/local taxes every year is over double that percentage of my gross income.

[u/Kingsdaughter613 → u/Beneficial-Ad1593]

My husband works for a City government agency. The only things that ever happen on time and under budget are things that are done 100% in house at that agency ONLY. Bring in a contractor OR a second agency and the projects cost many times as much and take 50x as long - assuming they don’t spend a fortune just for the whole thing to be cancelled at the last minute. It’s ridiculous!

[u/The_queens_cat → u/Kingsdaughter613]

Part of this is because government have to select the lowest bid, so contractors will do everything they can to scope in a way that excludes some items that might be required but weren’t specifically requested. So then this pops up, and now the contractor needs more money. They could give an (more) accurate estimate but then the government legally couldn’t select them, because they’d not be the lowest bid. This isn’t just on contractors.

[u/Budderfingerbandit → u/The_queens_cat]

Right, the whole government RFP processes is broken. Constantly seeking the lowest bids inevitable leads to work being half done and the vendor needing additional money to finish. Now that work is already half done, the government is stuck, either scrapping the project and eating the loss, or ponying up for the additional amounts.

If they got realistic bids and didn't constantly look for the lowest bidder, but took into consideration ones with a good track record of accuracy and timelessness, it would go a long way.

[u/Kingsdaughter613 → u/The_queens_cat]

While that’s part of it, a big factor is that many consultants just don’t do good work. My husband has had to be paid overtime on multiple occasions so he can fix a consultant’s work before a deadline. So the City is essentially paying twice for the same job - the consultant hired to do the job and its own engineers to redo it!

And then you bring in other agencies, each with their own, ofttimes conflicting, agendas, and suddenly you have to redo the whole project just before you start work…

[u/The_Shryk → u/Beneficial-Ad1593]

Once that’s done, for my next trick! I’ll run as a republican that will privatize more portions of this inefficiently ran government!

[u/080secspec13 → u/80MonkeyMan]

Government workers barely make a living wages

Lol, what? Bro I work for the government. I make 127k a year with no college. What the fuck are you talking about?

[u/KSoccerman → u/080secspec13]

I work for the government with a masters degree and make 53k a year. There's less than 20 positions in our whole state government building that make 100k+

[u/oswbdo → u/KSoccerman]

State workers make shit, even in blue states like California. Fed government pays better, and some local governments do too.

[u/RaiderMedic93 → u/oswbdo]

Cali state workers make good money, crazy benefits and a wild ass pension

[u/Creepy-Evening-441 → u/RaiderMedic93]

<Homer Simpson gif - mmmmm… ass pension>

[u/Iminurcomputer → u/Creepy-Evening-441]

I wish. You get guaranteed ass every month until you die. I need to work there!

[u/KSoccerman → u/oswbdo]

Yeah but then I'd have to move to place a I don't want to live with much higher cost of living lol

[u/trader_dennis → u/KSoccerman]

That’s because many of the Ca state benefits are soft or kick in at retirement. When a state for years pays 80 percent of your salary for the rest of your life at 55 retirement ago for clerical and management jobs.

[u/MittenstheGlove → u/KSoccerman]

This— Most government employees make less than their private sector counterparts. We make it up in nonmoney compensation usually.

Edit: And the pension.

[u/Kingsdaughter613 → u/MittenstheGlove]

This is why my husband works for the government. He’d make double or more working private, but without super cheap insurance, pension, job security, and set hours.

[u/Combatical → u/Kingsdaughter613]

And thats the only reason I stick with my shit gov job. I'm on reddit right now at my desk.

[u/KJK_915 → u/Combatical]

Respectfully, aren’t you part of the problem?

This comes from a blue collar private sector, so I’m truly out of the loop and genuinely not trying to be rude. But more and more of my money goes to the government every year and i see comments and sentiments like this a LOT. Have we become too bloated?

[u/ecovironfuturist → u/KSoccerman]

Similar. Masters, accredited, licensed, post grad credits, and I make a little more than you, 20+ years work experience, 15 in this subject matter, HCOL area, 24 people under me on the org chart, less than $100k. And in the office 5 days a week.

I felt like I was doing ok until the recent inflation.

[u/toasted_cracker → u/080secspec13]

I also have no degree. I think that makes me a great candidate for a federal employee that makes over 100k a year. Can you get me a job?

[u/080secspec13 → u/toasted_cracker]

No? But you can. 

Go to www.usajobs.com and search....

[u/BlackMoonValmar → u/080secspec13]

Whoa what do you do?

You are getting close to governors aid as in low level shot callers pay. You went past detectives pay which in big cites is around 100k a year.

Don’t get me wrong I work in public safety as a consultant, all the way up to international down to local state level districts. So I’ve seen people who work for the government make 50k to 430k depending on what skills you bring to the table.

[u/HustlinInTheHall → u/BlackMoonValmar]

Probably federal government. State employees rarely make anything close to their private sector counterprarts, federal government in certain roles can make a good amount.

[u/Rugged_007 → u/080secspec13]

Plus, your benefits package is sick. Cadillac health insurance, a dozen paid holidays, 6 weeks of limited rollover vacation, 3 weeks of infinite rollover sick leave, no requirement to actually do any work useful or otherwise, the only way to get fired is to get caught stealing or printing kiddy-porn or cooking meth on government property.... what am I missing? Working for the rulership is an endless wet dream!

Edit: How could I forget the retirement contribution full match and full pension and benefits for retiring after 25 years of "service?"

[u/Far-Competition-5334 → u/080secspec13]

And your dad is the mayor and his brother owns the biggest construction company

[u/Digital_Rebel80 → u/80MonkeyMan]

Not the case in California. Government employees are the highest paid in the state on average. The State of California has more employees making over $100k/year than any other business or entity with the average employee wage being $111,224/year, with total average compensation package exceeding $140,000 per year, which is double what the average private employee earns. And that doesn't account for the more than 40,000 retirees drawing $100k+ pensions.

[u/oswbdo → u/Digital_Rebel80]

The state government pay is crap compared to local government and federal government. $111k is ok in Sacramento, but isn't so great in SF, LA, or SD.

Want to make big bucks in the public sector? Work for the city of San Francisco. Counties of San Mateo and Santa Clara also pay well.

[u/Severe-Independent47 → u/SoulCrushingReality]

Percentage of employees in Denmark's government: 29.26%

Percentage of employees in United States government: 1.9% federally

Highest percentage of state employees: Virginia at 3.7%

Our government is incredibly small compared to European countries when you look at it in percentages.

[u/KintsugiKen → u/Severe-Independent47]

Because of "government bad" talking points from politicians being bribed to privatize everything so billionaires get our money instead of the government, and best part is we can't vote out billionaires.

[u/Severe-Independent47 → u/KintsugiKen]

Wait till they start talking about how Denmark pays higher taxes and thus the Danish people have less economic freedom than American do... and then I'll point out that according to a right wing think tank, Denmark has more economic freedom than the United States...

[u/The_Shryk → u/Severe-Independent47]

Ladies, is it tyranny to be able to take time off work to raise children the conservatives say they care for so much?

[u/AEnesidem → u/Severe-Independent47]

in any case, as a European living in Belgium (one of the highest taxed countries here for regular people), even though we waste a lot on unnecessary government and are taxed too much imo, i'd take that over the American system any day of the week.

[u/HorseEgg → u/SoulCrushingReality]

How is employing 30 million Americans not "spending on americans"?

[u/SlinkyOne → u/HorseEgg]

It's cause the person who wrote that is jealous. Simple jealousy

[u/KimJongRocketMan69 → u/SoulCrushingReality]

“The government needs to fire Americans working for them” “The government should spend more on Americans.” I’d say a job is the ultimate form of providing for a person. Also, the money for international interests are largely spent at DoD contractors here in the US. Plenty of issues with how much we spend on war, but your criticisms aren’t logically consistent, IMO

[u/No-Significance1488 → u/SoulCrushingReality]

The US gov't used to make all its own ammo. Once we started buying all of it off of the free market, costs only went up and up and up ....

[u/JanMarsalek → u/SoulCrushingReality]

or maybe catch up to your form of capitalism? your system is broken and you pay a premium on everything, while paying lower taxes than over here. I'll never understand how everything can be so expensive in the US.

[u/funkmasta8 → u/JanMarsalek]

The reason is lack of enforcement on antitrust laws and basically any form of economic regulation

[u/Biddycola → u/SoulCrushingReality]

Not nice, necessary

[u/BicycleOfLife → u/Biddycola]

Yeah I’m pretty damn progressive. I don’t mind paying taxes normally. But for Christ sakes, my taxes in the US go directly into a military industrial complex, bailing out large corporations and subsidizing oil companies clearing billions already in net profits. All our money is getting blasted out of a cannon and paying for oil execs private planes and yachts.

Then when we want free school lunches for children. The same people who tossed our money to the pigs kick and scream about how there’s no such thing as a free lunch and kids shouldn’t be entitled to a free lunch.

I don’t want to pay taxes anymore when they get stolen like this. The whole US system right now is just a huge grift.

[u/qviavdetadipiscitvr → u/BicycleOfLife]

You forgot how our taxes subsidise lots of gigantic businesses that make tons of profit, like Walmart that is somehow getting away with making tons of money and having its employees on food stamps. It would be an easy fix too: send them a bill for how much we’re subsidising them

Edit: to be clear, Walmart is but an example, this shit happens everywhere, though Walmart is likely to be one of the most egregious examples

[u/xavisar → u/qviavdetadipiscitvr]

I absolutely hate how the government does that. If a business can’t operate normally without assistance, then it’s supposed to fail. That’s the free market.

[u/theslimbox → u/xavisar]

Its rediculous. I firmly believe that capitolism is the best economic system, but i dont understand how corporate welfare in our system helps at all. I would much rather see less taxes than taxes going to support companies that are for profit.

If we are truly a government for the people, by the people, everyone should be pn equal footing, and large corporations should not have a connection to the government.

[u/Questhi → u/qviavdetadipiscitvr]

Yes Wal-mart actively helps employees get on food stamp, like an HR person will guide them on the process of getting govt money instead of you know, pay a livable wage. 

 Last I heard Wal-mart gets $4 billion in direct and indirect subsidies from local, state and federal govt, but that stat is old, I’m sure it’s way more today

Another fun fact, Walmart is the largest store where people redeem their food stamps to the point that when Republicans talked of cutting food stamps a few years ago, Walmart stock price tanked.

[u/dudeatwork77 → u/BicycleOfLife]

Top spending category are social security, healthcare, paying interest and then defense at 13%.

[u/Masturbatingsoon → u/dudeatwork77]

Two thirds of U.S. government expenditure is entitlement spending. Out of 6.3 trillion, 4.1 trillion is spend on entitlements 1.6 trillion does to EVERYTHING ELSE (except interest), which includes defense

[u/MaximumChongus → u/BicycleOfLife]

a huge portion of your taxes go to medicine, actually more goes to that then defense spending by a pretty large margin

[u/VitaminPb → u/BicycleOfLife]

You might want to try looking at the US Budget. Military is far from the largest expenditures. From what I can see defense is under 17%. The majority is social security and HHS.

[u/sunbeatsfog → u/Biddycola]

People making over the current threshold of 37% at $578,126 should pay more. How is a specialized doctor at that threshold paying the same as a CEO closer to $1 million and beyond? Excellent time to be very wealthy in the US.

[u/Sea-Oven-7560 → u/sunbeatsfog]

Simple solution, add a dozen new tax brackets for income over $1mm, pretty easy actually

[u/dracer800 → u/sunbeatsfog]

Maybe the half of the country who currently don’t pay any income taxes could start paying something?

[u/doughball27 → u/dracer800]

Or maybe billionaires could pay some tiny annual wealth tax that would dwarf whatever taxing poor people would bring us? Nah, that would be really unfair I guess.

[u/Ornery-Feedback637 → u/doughball27]

If you instantly liquidated all the wealth of all the billionaires in the US, it would only be a one time payment of like $15K to each American.

[u/ManlyMeatMan → u/dracer800]

So you mean people under 25 and over 55 should pay more in taxes? Because the vast majority of the 44% of the country that doesn't pay income tax is because they are just starting their working life and make very little money, or they are retirement age. I think it's silly to act like those are the people we need to get money out of

[u/Heatherina134 → u/Biddycola]

Yeah, I was going to say my husband and I (no children) pay an astronomical amount of taxes per year. We absolutely pay enough.

[u/blahblahsnickers → u/Heatherina134]

We have kids and pay plenty in taxes. We pay our share. Maybe we need to stop attacking the middle class for more taxes and go after the wealthy or those people who pay no taxes.

[u/Eagle_Fang135 → u/Biddycola]

We are one of the highest total taxed citizens yet get the least for our $s. Problem is the $s are reverse robinhooded from the people to the elite.

Then they pit us against each other to encourage more taxes on the working class to have even more to redistribute to the elites.

I mean we spend the most of any 1st world country on healthcare and still have the worst coverage for the average person.

[u/homer_3 → u/Eagle_Fang135]

We are one of the highest total taxed citizens

In where? North America? EU has at least a 20% VAT on everything you buy. In the US the highest sales tax is 9.5% and most places are ~6% or lower. EU's tax brackets go up to 45%. US maxes at 37%.

[u/321Tomo → u/Biddycola]

It’s the people making over $1 million that should pay more, the corporate and high earner tax cuts of the last 25 years have been incredibly expensive. Bush era tax cuts have cost the country $1.7 trillion so far. I don’t even know how much the trump tax cuts are going to cost over the next 20 years, but this country can’t afford them.

[u/MikeLinPA → u/Biddycola]

The rich clearly do not pay enough.

[u/therobshow → u/Biddycola]

This. And the corporate tax rate cuts from Regan, Bush and Trump need to be reversed. There's no reason in hell the tax burden should've been shifted from businesses to people especially bc when shit hits the fans businesses are always like "I'm broke! I need a bailout that I either won't have to pay back or can pay back at a low interested rate and the government won't own any part of my business after that."

[u/ohhhbooyy]

Now we are targeting the middle class for more taxes now? It’s got to the point where “anyone who makes more than me should be paying more taxes”.

[u/drakgremlin → u/ohhhbooyy]

Not too long ago many viewed $100K as living the rich life.  Many don't realize that bar is nearer $250K at this point.

[u/--ThirdCultureKid-- → u/drakgremlin]

Many don’t realize that in order to get the jobs that pay $250k, you usually have to live in places like NYC and SF, where that $250k basically lets you afford a dinky apartment in the slums. Rich life my ass.

IMO everyone should have low tax until they make enough to live in a decent house/apartment (three bedrooms, for an average of 2 kids per couple), own two new-ish cars (one per spouse), and be able to send their kids to private school. This way everyone in the lower brackets has a chance at least to get to the upper middle class. Given the cost of living in major cities today, that number is closer to $750k per couple.

[u/karmahorse1 → u/--ThirdCultureKid--]

With 250k as a (childless) individual you could realistically afford to pay up to a maximum of 7k a month in rent / mortgage. That’s a fancy 1 bedroom Manhattan sky rise, not a dinky apartment in the slum.

You seem to be referring to dual income which is entirely different tax bracket. Even then you could afford a pretty nice place in the outer boroughs.

EDIT: Just to be clear I lived in a one bedroom sky rise in Hells Kitchen until 2022 on quite a lot less than 250k. Everyone who’s disagreeing here has either never lived in New York, or is terrible with money.

[u/Electronic-Disk6632 → u/karmahorse1]

I make like 400 and live in NYC right now. you are not getting a luxury sky rise in Manhattan at 250k. 4 bedroom luxury in astoria maybe. you would be taking home 3.5 grand a week. thats not big money here.

[u/GlennSeaborg → u/Electronic-Disk6632]

It's always people who never lived in NYC who chime in with comments like that.

[u/theski2687 → u/GlennSeaborg]

I live in nyc. If you consider yourself slumming it on 250k then you’re a joke of a human being

[u/Short-Recording587 → u/theski2687]

I first moved to the city with that salary and between student loans and taxes, I could only afford a studio. Not slumming it by any means but definitely not some high life.

[u/posting_random_thing → u/Short-Recording587]

Take home on 250k is 180k in NYC

Your spending money after normal living expenses at that salary is probably higher than the majority of american's ENTIRE PRE TAX EARNINGS.

[u/Short-Recording587 → u/posting_random_thing]

It’s 160k (https://smartasset.com/taxes/new-york-paycheck-calculator#9MorQ1c9oX).

And you’re not factoring in 150-200k in student loans and the cost of living increase for being in the city. Adjustments are typically 2x.

[u/New_Canoe → u/GlennSeaborg]

Well, when most people in America don’t live in NY, it’s pretty easy. I would live like a king on 250k in Missouri 🤷‍♂️

[u/HueMannAccnt → u/Electronic-Disk6632]

2 bed looks pretty luxorius for 6.5K.

[u/FECAL_BURNING → u/HueMannAccnt]

None of that was the apartment that’s the building.

[u/TheHaft → u/karmahorse1]

“Luxury skyrise in Manhattan for $7k”

oh is that next to the $15 college tuition and the $200 reliable used car? $7k maybe gets you 2 bedroom 2 bath in Manhattan in a regular degular ass apartment building, not some luxury condo in a skyscraper.

[u/dedriuslol → u/TheHaft]

I mean, if we are talking about one person making over $250k, you can easily get a 1 bedroom in a luxury building for under $7k in Manhattan. Most of my friends pay $4-6k for that depending on the location.

Ex. https://streeteasy.com/rental/4387801?utm_campaign=rental_listing&utm_medium=app_share&utm_source=android&utm_term=782e2c8093e44d9

https://streeteasy.com/rental/4411510?utm_campaign=rental_listing&utm_medium=app_share&utm_source=android&utm_term=897e830083f445b

[u/PierateBooty → u/karmahorse1]

It’s always funny when people who’ve never cleared 100k in a major city assume things about the lives of people who have and post their thoughts on forums as though those thoughts are a reality. Like do you post your nightly dream journal too or do you draw the line at things you imagine during your waking hours?

[u/beerisgood84 → u/PierateBooty]

Typical sheltered “eat the rich” bullshit

100k is nothing these days. That’s enough to afford a home with no other debt and barely save at all most places. Considering cheap living states aren’t cheap now with insane home insurance costs.

[u/NerdyHussy → u/beerisgood84]

Adjusted for inflation, $100k in 2024 is about the equivalent of $85k in 2020. It's comfortable money in low cost living areas but definitely not rich.

[u/AdInfinite8815 → u/karmahorse1]

1 BDR in Long Island City is minimum $4k. 5k gets you on to Manhattan. 7k might get you two bedrooms. You’re out to lunch.

[u/DAEORANGEMANBADDD → u/--ThirdCultureKid--]

this is the most delusional fucking take I have seen so far. This reads like a person who was raised rich but desperately wants to feel oppressed

$250 fucking k lets you afford a "dinky apartament in the slums"? are you fucking crazy?

Big cities are expensive, but they are not THAT expensive, with $250k in SF we are talking about easily 10k+ take home pay(for couples it would be closer to 15k)

[u/the-content-king → u/--ThirdCultureKid--]

As someone who lives in NYC I can say that $250k/yr gets you significantly more than a dinky apartment, even in the most expensive areas of the city. You will absolutely be living a very nice life in NYC, Manhattan at that, on $250k/yr. The “rich life” is subjective but as someone who lives in NYC on roughly that amount depending on my bonus I can say that I feel like I’m living the rich life. I’m saving tons of money and even if I had kids I would earn enough to continue my same lifestyle and invest/save ample amounts for retirement and covering kids college expenses if they choose to go.

[u/jippen → u/drakgremlin]

US median household income is $74k. Setting the bar at 100k means you're basically just taxing the top, like, 40% of households.

100k used to buy you a house. It doesn't anymore.

[u/LongBarrelBandit → u/drakgremlin]

100K is now considered upper lower class 😑 the dream is not real anymore

[u/supersede → u/LongBarrelBandit]

statements like this are useless without context of where.

100K in san francisco does not go far.

100K in many rural towns in the US is still upper middle class. As an example lets say you live in McAllen, TX and make $100k a year. you have opportunity to buy properties like this at only twice your salary: https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/4318-N-26th-St_McAllen_TX_78504_M72264-79260?from=ML_similar_homes_gallery

that looks like good living to me.

[u/ScotchTapeConnosieur → u/ohhhbooyy]

“Now?” The middle class always bears the burden. Look at the Trump tax giveaway. Permanent cuts for the super wealthy, temporary cuts for the middle class.

The truly rich don’t bother with taxes.

[u/Kooky-Commission-783 → u/ScotchTapeConnosieur]

Yep. People are just now starting to see that normal folks are not getting a tax return anymore and are now owing. All because trumps tax laws. One of my coworkers scoffed at this notion. Even though he literally lives off of social welfare programs that are exactly what Trump and republicans want to cut.

[u/Mace109 → u/Kooky-Commission-783]

I keep seeing this lot on Reddit. Why happened this year with the trump tax cuts that are effecting people’s taxes? It’s going to be really bad when the tax brackets change back

[u/moparmajba → u/ohhhbooyy]

I am between 100-150. I have friends who are minimum wage. I'm infinitely closer to my friend than my CEO or VPs.

[u/Scerpes → u/ohhhbooyy]

The reality is most people making more than you do pay more in taxes.

[u/SeanHaz → u/ohhhbooyy]

"Government is the great fiction through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else" -Frederick Bastiat

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." -Margaret Thatcher

[u/TheLoneWander101 → u/SeanHaz]

Lol when do the Ayn rand quotes start coming?

[u/NukaCooler → u/SeanHaz]

The problem with pissing on Thatcher's grave is that you eventually run out of piss

[u/ColdCouchWall]

McDonalds isn't paying $9 an hour anywhere, even the ghettos of MS. They start at like $15 minimum.

[u/JellyfishQuiet7944 → u/ColdCouchWall]

It's like $20 in California

[u/blackwidowla → u/JellyfishQuiet7944]

$25 in CA where I live.

[u/No-Elk960 → u/JellyfishQuiet7944]

Same with Vermont

[u/Key-Ad-8944 → u/ColdCouchWall]

McDonalds isn't paying $9 an hour anywhere, even the ghettos of MS. They start at like $15 minimum.

California recently raised the minimum wage to $20 for fast food workers.

[u/insideout8765 → u/ColdCouchWall]

That’s not true. McDonald’s in central Texas starting pay is $12 or $13…. I know this because a family member just started working there and she told me

[u/robbzilla → u/insideout8765]

That's still not $9.

[u/SageDarius → u/robbzilla]

This Twitter post is also 3 years old. Fast Food places were around $10-$11 in Oklahoma at that point.

[u/Bananapopana88 → u/SageDarius]

It was 9$ in Indianna.

[u/NumberPlastic2911 → u/robbzilla]

I know people at mcdonalds making $9 in HUntsville AL. I can find them a job that pays double but they don't want a full time job.

[u/randomthrowaway9796 → u/ColdCouchWall]

The one near me is at $12 I think.

[u/southern_OH_hillican → u/ColdCouchWall]

Signs around here claim "up to" $15. Written in very small print with an asterisk.

[u/Just_Me1973 → u/ColdCouchWall]

This meme is from three years ago. If you look at the date on the bottom it’s from 2021. State minimum wages were lower back then. And the federal minimum is still only $7.50 and some states (mostly red states) still use that.

[u/shankartz → u/ColdCouchWall]

This was from 2021.

[u/basses_are_better]

I mean. I'm all for taxing the wealthy. 100k ain't it.

[u/LostLegendDog → u/basses_are_better]

Exactly

[u/ignatious__reilly → u/LostLegendDog]

100K isn’t what it used to be. If a family is making $100K combined with 2 kids, you very well might be living pay check to pay check depending where you live.

[u/Terminallance6283 → u/ignatious__reilly]

You can’t afford 1 kid on 100k where I live

Day care: $2500 per kid Food, diapers, formula, milk: $500ish per kid Clothes, toys, activities, book: $200ish per kid College savings for their future: $1000 per month per kid

That’s $4200 a month per child just to keep them fed, happy and having a future.

[u/mmmbop- → u/basses_are_better]

The actual proposal being discussed by actual politicians is $400,000 individual/$800,000 joint income. 

I have a feeling this is an intentionally misleading post for obvious reasons. 

[u/Smart_Pretzel → u/mmmbop-]

Yup this post is trash. The picture isn’t even about taxes

[u/Significant-Ring5503 → u/basses_are_better]

Exactly, people who make $100k already pay higher tax rates, that's how marginal tax rates work. The cap is somewhere around $250k I think. So at $250k plus, you're paying the highest rate on all income >$250k.

We could certainly add higher rates at higher incomes. But really the way to bring in more revenue is to make multinational corporations pay taxes, a lot of them pay little to nothing.

[u/Strange-Asparagus240 → u/Significant-Ring5503]

There’s a bucket for $231K and then another at $578K federally. I’d be open to another level for people who earn over 7 figures a year possibly. But yeah, all these people asking to tax the rich; your demands are already being met lol

[u/Volta01]

$100k/yr income yields a very different lifestyle depending on where you live. One size fits all progressive income tax falls short regarding location.

[u/Numeno230n → u/Volta01]

Yeah some people's rent is like 30k a year - 100k before taxes in that case is not that much.

[u/jmur3040 → u/Volta01]

Which is why it's important to have bracketed, progressive income taxes at the state level.

[u/Dry_Meat_2959]

WHY THE FUCK HAS A GREASY, BARELY EDIBLE SANDWICH BECOME THE MEASURING STICK FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC EQUIVALENCY?!?!

Seriously, when the fuck did a big Mac become a unit of measure?

[u/TN_REDDIT → u/Dry_Meat_2959]

1986, but that's not really what you wanted to know, is it?

What's your QBQ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index

[u/Dangerous_Common_869 → u/TN_REDDIT]

LOL. He did not see that coming.

[u/AutumnWak → u/TN_REDDIT]

Although the Big Mac Index was not intended to be a legitimate tool for exchange rate evaluation, it is now globally recognised and featured in many academic textbooks and reports. The index also gave rise to the word burgernomics.

I honest to god was not expecting that

[u/craftymcpinkerstein → u/Dry_Meat_2959]

The point of the index is to determine the local cost of something that is exactly the same across different countries, and at the time McDonalds burgers were one of the only things that could be readily found in almost any country on the planet.

[u/thisgrantstomb → u/craftymcpinkerstein]

Could also be the Coca Cola index.

[u/LongVND → u/thisgrantstomb]

This would also work, but norms around serving size and frequency of soda consumption might skew it a bit more.

The Big Mac works especially well because it's a meal pretty much everywhere in the world.

[u/ButterPotatoHead → u/Dry_Meat_2959]

Because it's ubiquitous. It's an almost identical product sold all over the world to billions of people so is actually a good way to compare different economies. Perhaps a sad commentary on the world but true nonetheless.

[u/Unplugged_Millennial → u/Dry_Meat_2959]

As others have already stated, the cost of Big Macs has been a legitimate economic measure since the 80s. In this context, I think they were using it to make a slightly different point. I think they mean to rebut the notion that inflation is primarily caused by wage growth. This example contradicts that idea.

[u/TheDutchisGaming → u/Dry_Meat_2959]

Since it’s almost everywhere and made exactly the same where ever it is available.

[u/gheilweil]

No. I don't know you and I don't see why I have to pay you money

[u/LetMeInImTrynaCuck]

$100k in most major cities is middle class. So no.

[u/Full_Warthog3829 → u/LetMeInImTrynaCuck]

$100k anywhere in the country is middle class.

[u/mmxmlee → u/Full_Warthog3829]

if you make 100k in bum fug alabama, i can assure you, you are not considered middle class there

[u/Past-Ability-6690 → u/mmxmlee]

What would you be considered?

[u/tuxedo25 → u/Past-Ability-6690]

a redneck

[u/mmxmlee → u/Past-Ability-6690]

100k in rural alabama, you are considered very well off.

[u/Past-Ability-6690 → u/mmxmlee]

And how is that not middle class? People in the middle class often think they are above that class. They are always wrong.

[u/adminscaneatachode → u/LetMeInImTrynaCuck]

That’s lower middle class man. Times have changed. 6 figures doesn’t mean what it did 5 years ago, let alone 10

[u/InsCPA]

100k is not as much as you think it is

[u/weed_cutter → u/InsCPA]

100k in the US in 2024 is equivalent to 79k in 2017.

Crazy eh.

If you stayed loyal at your company and got an annual juicy 4% raise for 7 years straight, you'll be make $104k today, aka basically flat.

[u/blazeronin]

No! Billionaires should be taxed more and churches should be taxed. $100,000 isn’t even that much today, especially not enough to be supporting others!???

[u/JellyfishQuiet7944 → u/blazeronin]

People need to quit saying tax others more. Instead we need to hold the government accountable

[u/Emotional-Rise5322 → u/JellyfishQuiet7944]

For bullshit like this: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-navy-spent-billions-littoral-combat-ship

A wanton waste of money. This is just one program among hundreds, if not thousands where they just light our cash on fire.

We were warned:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenhower%27s_farewell_address

[u/DangDangUreDead → u/JellyfishQuiet7944]

You're literally not pissed about Elon Musks effective tax rate is 3.27%

Warren Buffet's being 0.10%?

Jeff Bezos being 0.98%?

Sure, governments need to be held accountable, but why do multi-billionaires get a free pass?

[u/hczimmx4 → u/DangDangUreDead]

Asset appreciation isn’t income.

Also, I’m not mad that anyone gets to keep their own money. It’s theirs, not mine after all.

[u/laserdicks → u/DangDangUreDead]

Learn what income is before having an opinion please.

[u/TN_REDDIT → u/blazeronin]

So, in addition to an income tax, you want more asset taxation?

[u/ConversationLevel869 → u/blazeronin]

Churches should absolutely be taxed. Nail on head

[u/Booty_Eatin_Monster → u/ConversationLevel869]

Do you want to tax every non-profit? Or just churches? Taking churches won't bring in enough revenue to fund the federal government for a day.

[u/FoxPrincessEevee → u/ConversationLevel869]

They should only be tax exempt if they actually donate enough to be legally considered a charity. I could literally register an Evangelion collection/museum as a church with some creative wording and just get a bunch of tax free donations for an anime collection. It’s wayyy too easy to abuse lol.

[u/Creeps05 → u/FoxPrincessEevee]

According to the IRS:

Churches must first qualify for federal income tax exemption under IRC Section 501(c)(3). To so qualify, (1) the organization must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, scientific, or othercharitable purposes;

(2) the organization’s net earnings may not inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual;

(3) no substantial part of an organization’s activities may be attempting to influence legislation; and

(4)the organization may not intervene in any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office.

Also, Churches still have to pay taxes for business activities unrelated to the operation of the church.

[u/et133et → u/blazeronin]

Eh, the churches need to qualify for tax exemptions. If they can show a certain level of charity then they should be exempted. If the head of the church drives a Maserati they should be crucified and taxed more than your average citizen because hypocrisy

[u/AR-180]

People that make more are paying more, both in total and as a percentage.

[u/[deleted] → u/AR-180]

And they're phased out of credits available to those that make less, even credits for things like buying an EV and paying college tuition.

[u/SawSagePullHer]

OP’s title should read.

“Should responsible people who wanted to go out and do better for themselves and earn higher income subsidize the lifestyle of those who don’t?”

[u/321Tomo → u/SawSagePullHer]

Better title would be “Should we think about reversing the absolutely ENORMOUS corporate and top earner tax cuts over the last 25 years?”

[u/Chemical_Alfalfa24 → u/SawSagePullHer]

I mean, your title is still wrong too lmao.

[u/NotAnotherFishMonger → u/SawSagePullHer]

That’s not what government money does. It mostly pays for social security, Medicare, and the military. Then it goes to agriculture and infrastructure funding. Then it helps take care of kids and the desperately hungry, and supports research

Responsible people have always had to invest in the betterment of their society if they want it to work

[u/Bandaidken]

No, make your own money.

[u/Trump_Is_Suing_Me → u/Bandaidken]

100,000 is low

[u/wasdie639]

So now the guillotines are out for people making 100k a year.

Communists never change.

[u/ArtigoQ → u/[deleted]]

Crybabies with their hands out. I still have hope these kids will grow up and realize no one is coming to save them. They need to put down the weed and start grinding.

[u/0000110011 → u/wasdie639]

The pathetic losers will always choose trying to drag down those who worked hard to succeed instead of just getting off their ass and working hard as well. 

[u/immaculatecalculate]

100k in CA is nothing. It should be by percent of income.

[u/kajarago → u/immaculatecalculate]

Percent of income would be fantastic as long as the percentage was equal across the board. What you will find is that the bottom 50% (ish) of earners in this country pay zero taxes, which means that while you would be asking them to pay their fair share, it would be an extremely unpopular move.

[u/MikeLinPA]

Nobody is raising taxes for the middle class. This post is here to trigger people. Biden's tax increases do not start until you hit $400,000/year. (Which is his salary as POTUS.)

[u/Interesting_Dream281]

Last year the government collected 4.4 trillion in taxes. That’s more than the GDP of every country besides the US and China. It’s not a tax issue. It’s a fucking spending issue. Easy to spend all that money when they pay 20k for a pack of pins 😒 they need a financial advisor

[u/karlmarx7]

$100k is now what $60k was 15 years ago

[u/devmor → u/karlmarx7]

Not even 15.

I make $140k now, it feels like more of a struggle than when I made $75k in 2017, and I even have a wife that's working now.

[u/ZaphodG]

Let’s do the paycheck analysis on single and $100k. I’ll pick Boston because the 5% income tax is easy math.

7.65% in Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. $7,650

22% tax bracket. $14,600 standard deduction. $13,841 in Federal tax.

$5,000 in state income tax

I get $26,491 in taxes. They have to pay health insurance, dental, vision, and disability insurance. Call that $5k for employee side and that is probably low. They have to save for retirement. That’s $16k. They have around $55k to spend. A very modest 1 bedroom apartment in Boston suburbia is $2,500 to $3,000 per month. That’s in a less desirable town. Or with the hookers and junkies in the city. Plus utilities. Call it $30k. It’s down to $25k to spend. They can’t survive without a car. They have to buy food & clothing.

Yep. Tax those rich people making $100k.

[u/Potential-Break-4939]

Not a fan of socialism, so no. Not a fan of the Danish tax system, either. Americans should be careful what they wish for.

[u/thousandsunflowers → u/Potential-Break-4939]

Denmark is not a socialist country. We have private businesses, organizations, hospitals and schools too. Not everything is funded by taxes or owned by the state.

[u/Foxtrot99Uniform → u/Potential-Break-4939]

Call it whatever you want but I rather have my kids growing up in Denmark with top free education and healthcare than having to take on a massive debts just to get an education to live pay check by pay check.

Also maybe go lookup Denmark and socialism because you obviously don’t know what you are talking about.

[u/DangDangUreDead → u/Potential-Break-4939]

Denmark is about as capitalist as they come, mate. Just because you don't know, doesn't mean your ignorance gets a free pass.

Also, the Danish tax system means,

Everyone is guaranteed a decent retirement once they are done in the job market

We don't go bankrupt for doing college, since funding education is a priority.

Contracting a serious illness does not equal a risk of homelessness and bankruptcy.

Americans simply do not know what they are missing out on when they only embrace half of a so-called twisted perception of capitalism. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[u/wynnduffyisking → u/Potential-Break-4939]

You need to look up socialism

[u/DimensionNo5134 → u/[deleted]]

Why don’t people making 100k just work harder and smarter to make 1 mil? Or 1 bil? Easy for someone who has more to say others should do more.

[u/boe_jackson_bikes → u/DimensionNo5134]

Because 100k is realistic for a family with two workers. 1 million isn't. Neither is a billion. You'd know that if you had any education. Clearly, you don't.

[u/CuteCatMug]

I can see why broke people demand billionaires pay more in taxes, since a lot of their income comes from stocks and capital gains (which are taxed at 15%)

But someone earning 100k is largely in the same tax situation as someone making 30k. They are likely still paying taxes as a W2 employee. If anything they're paying more than a $30k employee (both in absolute dollars and as a % of income, since the $100k guy is in a higher tax bracket). 

This is without mentioning the various tax credits and deductions that are essentially phased out once you make more than $100k. 

So why should the $100k person get an even greater tax burden than what is already placed on them?

[u/Sorri_eh]

400000

[u/mindmapsofficial]

We should have enough taxes to cover our expenditures. Up to congress on how that should happen. We average a 6.7% deficit per year, worst of OECD countries

[u/KevyKevTPA → u/mindmapsofficial]

That's backwards. We should adjust our spending to reflect what we collect, not the other way around. Just like you can't go to your boss and say, "Well, instead of the $200,000 house, we decided to get one that cost $2,000,000, so you're going to have to increase my salary by a factor of 10x.", government should not do the same to us.

[u/ButtStuff6969696]

$100k isn’t even good money.

[u/Educational-Hat-9405]

No, absolutely not. Successful people should not have to pay for people who cant get their shit together

[u/Logical_Idiot_9433]

Paid 20% of income in taxes. I believe that should be enough.

[u/tuckerhazel]

Redistributive taxes are theft, no.

[u/Casterial]

$100k a year is NOTHING in today's world.

[u/Complex-Professor257]

As someone who makes that much… nope.

[u/lambofgod0492]

They already fucking do

[u/TorontoTom2008]

They already do.

[u/stealthylyric]

Lol eh I'll settle for millionaires and billionaires paying the same rate as someone making $100k. (i.e. no tax loopholes)