Taxes

Fair Share Income Tax

We need to go back to the tax policies of presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin Roosevelt.  They asked the wealthy in this country to pay their fair share and provide enough capital to make the United States into what it is today.  I would like to see something like the following for new tax brackets:

As is always the case with Federal income tax rates, the rate would apply to the income over the bracket, not all of the income.

Capital Gains Tax

There is no good reason to give special tax breaks to capital gains; however, it is also unfair to tax people on inflation.  I believe all capital gains should be taxed as ordinary income, but the basis should be adjusted for inflation (using the CPI). 

We need to encourage more investment in our economy.  I am in favor of retaining a low capital gains tax, but only on purchases of IPO (Initial Public Offering) stock in American companies or for American manufacturing facilities.  I'm thinking something like half of the tax one would pay on normal income.  I am also in favor of using even lower capital gains taxes to encourage investment in strategic technologies (like the Green New Deal).

The mechanism for the tax break would be to create a new class of stock that can be sold with reduced tax before the company goes public (for newly formed companies) and can be bought in the initial public offering.  The purchaser of that stock would pay reduced capital gains tax when they sell the stock.  When sold after the IPO, the stock would become ordinary common stock (after the sale).  IPO stock would include stock purchased directly from companies in lieu of dividends. If technically feasible, I would also be in favor of classes of stock that retained the tax advantage for some small number of generations after the initial IPO sale.

Corporate Taxes

For starters, corporations are not people and should not be taxed that way.  Congress should make it clear that corporations are not people and that they have a different relationship with government.  That relationship should include a relatively low flat tax rate with few deductions.  Another possibility is to use the same tax brackets that are used for human beings, but pro-rate the brackets based on the number of full and part time employees the corporation employs.

Internet Sales Tax

I believe that all Internet commerce is interstate and can be regulated by Congress.  I am opposed to any Internet taxes.  That includes establishing an Internet sales tax.  Actually, I am opposed to all sales taxes because they are regressive, but that isn't something the Federal government can regulate.

Wealth Tax

I support the wealth tax proposed by Elizabeth Warren, too.