"Why do you have the right to take people's money?!"

[white_wolf]

That is an argument you hear a lot from the Right, well here is where we get that right. Article 1 section 8 of the Constitution says this: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States" It never says at what right, the Congress could tax people at 99% and legally it constitutional.

[zeemike]

1. I had the discussion recently with a winger.

I asked him if the plumber fixed his toilet and presented him with a bill if that was confiscating his money too.
The government provides a service and the tax we pay is the bill for that service....you can argue that you are being overcharged for that service but not that you don't ow it.

[Arkana]

2. Ask them if they enjoy living in a civilized society.

If they say yes, tell them to shut the fuck up.

[Terra Alta]

3. Paying taxes is useful.

Our government wouldn't be able to function without taxes. I would ask the Repukes, where would the funding come from for their two wars if not from taxes?

I don't mind paying taxes.. I just wish the wealthy would pay their fair share, and that my tax dollars would not go to the above mentioned wars and go towards helping the poor and mentally ill instead.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. My argument is something like this:

If you want to play golf at the country club you have to pay dues and green fees. You can't just show up whenever you feel like it and play 18 holes. And if you want to use the amenities provided by the federal, state and local governments, like national defense, roads, airports, schools, fire and police protection, a court system, parks, safe products, clean air and water, all those other goodies, you should pay for them. They aren't free. You have to pay dues to use those things, just like you have to pay to use the golf course and the locker room at the country club. If you don't want to pay dues, you can live in a place that doesn't charge any - like Somalia, that Libertarian paradise with no government and lots of guns.

[theophilus]

5. If you want to be a member of a great club with plenty of benefits then you

have to pay your dues. IMO taxes are "dues" to participate in the wonderful possibility that is America. If you don't want to pay the dues then you should be booted out of the club. (It's an analogy.)

[originalpckelly]

6. Turn the question around on them...

and ask them why they support taking the money of workers. :P

It's a powerful argument.

Then proceed to answer why you do it with government.

[KG]

7. 'freedom' ain't free, silly 'baggers...

[Wabbajack_]

8. They don't mean "what right?" under the Constitution

since they don't care about that document.

They mean what "what right?" under their 19th century "go fuck yourself" morality.

[white_wolf]

9. Don't you just love

Objectiveism :sarcasm:

[bluestateguy]

10. I ask that question about the bank bailout every day

And the airline bailout in 2001 that nobody ever talks about anymore.

[DefenseLawyer]

11. For generations the right has presented people with a false choice:

If you have $20 bucks in your hand, would you rather keep the $20 bucks or wad it up and flush it down the toilet? There is this constant drumbeat that "the government" is evil and all they do with the money they forcefully take from you is squander it. As a result there is a huge disconnect for most of these people about the taxes they pay and the services they get. Their tax money all goes to welfare and foreign aid and the National Endowment for the Arts, while the things they "like" just exist because they always have.

[athenasatanjesus]

12. For the same reason people have the right to own private property.

Since every ounce of wealth anybody ever obtains comes from god or nature created land the people that make the most from it owe the most to the people who inhabit the land.

[Courtesy Flush]

13. Because freedom isn't free. Pay up, bitch. nt

[Courtesy Flush]

14. Ask him why he doesn't support the troops.

Why doesn't he want them to be paid? Why doesn't he want them to be properly supplied? Why would he deny funds for our brave men and women? Why does he hate America?

Communist bastard!

[Shagbark Hickory]

15. They're like bratty teenagers. Gimme gimme gimme gimme.

[bluerum]

16. Maintaining huge standing armies, air forces and navies takes scratch baby.

So pay up.

By the way, are you gonna eat that?

[Dawson Leery]

17. Article 1 Section 8 indeed. One of the few teabaggers around here

(Connecticut) argued that the government has no right to implement taxes.

[damntexdem]

18. They're not worth arguing with.

If they don't pay their taxes, turn them into the IRS. If they do, laugh in their faces about how their money IS being taken.

[ashling]

19. your last sentence is a little confusing

It never says at what right, the Congress could tax people at 99% and legally it constitutional.
:shrug:

[white_wolf]

20. Damn it. I meant at what rate. Sorry, my bad.

[DefenseLawyer]

21. My translation

"It says nothing about the tax rate, the Congress could tax people at a 99% rate and it would pass constitutional muster".

[white_wolf]

22. Thank God someone can interpret my screw ups.

[SoCalDem]

23. We can lay this one at the feet of education, to some large degree

Schools focus on the dates, places, generals, battles & the folklore, but do a lousy job at explaining about "the commons" and why people form communities/governments/countries to start with.

There are things that people need that can ONLY be gotten by pooling resources and sharing the results, even if all did not "participate" equally. Does the grandma who babysits kids while families work the fields deserve an "equal share" even though she did not rake & hoe & plant & harvest?

Does the blind person who only folds the laundry deserve to share since they did not gather the clothing & stand in a creek pounding it on rocks?

Do the people who clean up deserve to share the wealth? How about children who "leech" on society for so many years as they learn? They may do chores, but surely they do not do that great of a job, and the work has to often be re-done..

Elementary schools stress "share your toys", but that's often as far as it goes, and it usually comes with a "speech" about sharing with your "lessers"...and can let the student feel as if he/she is doing a big favor, rather than just sharing a resource with others, no matter their "worthiness".

What we have right now is a classic sharer v hoarder situation, and unfortunately the hoarders are in charge of deciding who is worthy of a little gratuity every so often..

[notesdev]

24. A question

the Congress could tax people at 99% and legally it constitutional

Would you want to live in such a country?

[white_wolf]

25. No, not at 99%

but that was just illustrate the fact that Congress does have that right. I do think the top tax rate should be around 90%.

[Norrin Radd]

26. They'd prefer to live under Medieval fiefdoms where the only service

one pays taxes toward is protection money to one's local warlord and his hired cutthroat mercenaries. Because that is the ultimate outcome of Libertarianism.

[Yavin4]

27. Ask Your Right WInger Friend, "Why Does He Confiscate His Employer's Wealth When He Gets Paid?"

If he doesn't take any compensation, his employer would be free to hire additional workers and increase company profits exponentially. The fact that his employer has to pay him for his work is nothing more than stealing from his employer.

[Incitatus]

28. So they want the government to throw pot smokers in jail and keep gays from getting marrred

but they don't want to pay taxes.

:crazy:

[RegieRocker]

29. Nice. thanks for reminding me!

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

30. They've been brainwashed by our

corporate masters who want us to believe government is bad. How many times do we hear about 'government regulations are killing us" from the corporate world? The Repubs shill for the Multi-nationals, hence Ronald Reagan's quote 'government is the problem'..............

[Prophet 451]

31. Because it's either me asking nicely...

...or Madam Guillotine asking forcefully.