Cross posted at Working Man Radio. If you like this diary, recommend it, like the video and then share it.
It's one of those perennial questions raised by rightwing ideologues. "Why should the rich pay higher marginal taxes?" Flat taxes are said to be "fair," as opposed to "redistribution" which is "stealing."
For today's podcast, we offer the simple obvious argument for the simple justice of progressive taxation, especially with respect to the estate tax. We start with the question of what exactly the Walton sisters, as an example, did to earn their fortune?
Is it really harder to push your way out of a rich woman's vagina?
As for why the Walton should pay more, that's simple. They use more government services.
Local police protects Walmart's goods from thieves.
Walmart uses interstate highways to transfer tons of goods to their stores.
Walmart tracks it's inventory, and moves money around using satellites and communication infrastructure built at taxpayer expense.
Last but not least, the United States Navy protects the sea lanes between China and the Walmart store near you.
The argument is simple . . . and you need to use it everytime you hear your favorite conservative complaining about how "unfair" taxes are to millionaires.
As usual, the video is much more entertaining than the dry write-up. Enjoy.
And make your morning drive faster with our daily audio podcast available at Working Man Radio. Available on iTunes.