# Rasmussen: Americans favor tax that is flat and progressive **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 17, 2012, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041 "2012-03-17T12:09:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/21 "2012-03-26T21:27:54Z")
> [@gatorslap](#): > > A flat tax on land value would be progressive in effect. There’s already a (local) flat tax on land value, everywhere, isn’t there? Is it progressive in effect? Or is it regressive in effect (since if you pay rent part of it goes to your landlord’s property tax, if you buy something in a store part of the price goes to pay the store’s landlord’s property tax, etc.)? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/22 "2012-03-26T23:22:11Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > I like how when we talk about taxes, the Republicans are all uber-rich socialites but when we talk about social issues, the Republicans are all Bible-thumping hicks. I wish you people would get your story straight. Who mentioned Republicans? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/23 "2012-03-26T23:32:11Z")
Since no one responded to my deduction point. Doing away with deductions would result in major disruptions to the economy. If you dumped the mortgage deduction, you’d have a lot of people paying more taxes. It’s fine to say it is revenue neutral,. but that doesn’t mean revenue neutral for each person. There are clearly going to be losers and winners, and I have a sneaking suspicion of who the winners are going to be. Not just that, but municipal bonds are now tax free. is that going to stay? If not, you’ve just increased the borrowing costs of states and municipalities around the country, and their bad situation is going to get worse. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/24 "2012-03-27T06:25:46Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > There’s already a (local) flat tax on land value, everywhere, isn’t there? Is it progressive in effect? Or is it regressive in effect (since if you pay rent part of it goes to your landlord’s property tax, if you buy something in a store part of the price goes to pay the store’s landlord’s property tax, etc.)? I don’t know how property tax works elsewhere, but in California it is anything but flat or progressive. Instead of actual value, you are taxed based on the value of the property when it was purchased (or re-assessed for major improvements), then adjusted by 2% annually. And that’s two percent of the tax, not two percentage points. So two people who own identical homes on identical lots on the same street can be paying hugely different tax amounts. On top of that, most localities have parcel taxes, which are flat taxes on real estate regardless of value, basically $X per deed. Parcel taxes can be enacted on the city, county, or school district level (school districts don’t conform to other boundaries). ---
**Author:** ![DirtyBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@DirtyBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirtyBird)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/25 "2012-03-27T11:10:47Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > if you’re making $30,000 a year and your family barely scrapes by, imagine having to do it (assuming a 9% flat tax) on $27,300" Probably shouldn’t be having kids if you’re only making $30,000 annually. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/26 "2012-03-27T13:26:18Z")
> [@DirtyBird](#): > > Probably shouldn’t be having kids if you’re only making $30,000 annually. That excludes quite a lot of people, since the US median household income is about [$31,000 per annum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income#International_statistics). ---
**Author:** ![DirtyBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@DirtyBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirtyBird)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/27 "2012-03-27T13:41:38Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That excludes quite a lot of people, since the US median household income is about [$31,000 per annum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income#International_statistics). Oh I’m not saying it should be against the law or anything. I just don’t think it’s very financially responsible considering DoA estimates put costs of raising a child between $11-13,000 annually. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/28 "2012-03-27T17:15:31Z")
> [@DirtyBird](#): > > Oh I’m not saying it should be against the law or anything. I just don’t think it’s very financially responsible considering DoA estimates put costs of raising a child between $11-13,000 annually. And of course if you get laid off, injured, or have your hours cuts the responsible thing is to kill your children. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/29 "2012-03-27T17:34:36Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > And of course if you get laid off, injured, or have your hours cuts the responsible thing is to kill your children. [Or sell them to the wealthy to eat.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_modest_proposal) ---
**Author:** ![DirtyBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@DirtyBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirtyBird)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/30 "2012-03-27T18:20:42Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > And of course if you get laid off, injured, or have your hours cuts the responsible thing is to kill your children. Notice that I said, “having kids”. As in, you shouldn’t be actively building a family if your income is in or around $30,000. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/31 "2012-03-27T18:21:43Z")
Somebody needs to read the Road to Wigan Pier. Or possibly G. K. Chesterton’s take on the feeble minded bill. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/32 "2012-03-28T03:15:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > That excludes quite a lot of people, since the US median household income is about [$31,000 per annum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median_household_income#International_statistics). That cite gives a way lower than any number I’ve seen before. Rather than Wikipedia, let’s look at what the [US Census Bureau](http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-02.pdf) has to say: > [@](#): > > Real median household income in the United States fell between the 2009 ACS and the 2010 ACS, decreasing by 2.2 percent from $51,190 to $50,046 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041/33 "2012-03-28T09:19:33Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > That cite gives a way lower than any number I’ve seen before. Rather than Wikipedia, let’s look at what the [US Census Bureau](http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-02.pdf) has to say: The Wikipedia cite comes from the OECD, and refers to equivalized income. That seems to mean that additional household members who don’t work (such as children) are counted, but at a reduced rate. This would then be offset by the household members who do work counting more, since their money does not have to factor in the cost of shelter or other household expenses (as this is already done for the primary house owner). I’m guessing the U.S. census information just counts people who are working. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rasmussen-americans-favor-tax-that-is-flat-and-progressive/616041.md?page=1)