Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130B in Tariffs

Re:Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130... by hypeatei on Thursday March 05, 2026 @10:08AM (#47262427)

Rich people consume a lot more, so a consumption tax would be ideal if you eased other tax categories like income tax and/or capital gains. It's easy to administer and would boost investment across the economy IMO.

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Re:Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130... by AdamN on Thursday March 05, 2026 @10:15AM (#47262515)

I wouldn't ease any taxes - we simply can't afford lower taxes. Debt is nearly $40T (125% of GDP)!

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Re:Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130... by hypeatei on Thursday March 05, 2026 @10:22AM (#47262634)

Well, government spending could go down along with that too. Obviously, that ain't happening with Republicans (see: the OBBB and failed DOGE project) but in theory you could do major reform and craft coherent policy while not triple dipping tax-wise. I think you could implement quite a high consumption tax model and be okay -- you'd have the added benefit of very simple collection and enforcement since it's all at the tail end.

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Re:Judge Orders Government to Begin Refunding More Than $130... by JKCalhoun on Thursday March 05, 2026 @01:18PM (#47265177)

"Rich people consume a lot more…"

Working class often live paycheck to paycheck. Unless rich are also living paycheck to paycheck I'm not sure I the two really compare.

That's of course the idea behind a progressive tax: it scales to what an individual "can afford".

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