We can eliminate poverty in the USA

Yep,a new tax of 15% of income could be used to pay every household in the US $20,000. That money would go equally to households that have 0 income as well as billionaires. A 15% tax can elliminate poverty in the US. The only reason that people suffer the horrors of poverty in the US is because billionaires think it's a good incentive to work harder.

Here' another way of looking at it. With a new 15% tax,a household that makes $100,000 will pay a new tax of $15,000,but they will get a check for $20,000. They will be $5,000 to the good! Only at a higher income will people start losing money. A household that makes $2000,000 will pay a new tax of $30,000,but they will get a check for $20,000 so they lose $10,000. For that small sacrifice they will eliminate all the suffering of poverty in the US.

The only reason we don't do this is because the mega-rich think that the pain that poor people suffer is a good incentive to work harder. 

Your kids can go hungry. It's good for you! Your mother can't afford her medicine this month. It's good for you!.Your house get's forclosed on. It's very good for you! Trust me,it's not because I'm a selfish greedy bastard. I just want you to be motivated!

Yep,this isn't some crazy Star Trek notion. Eliminating poverty is something the US can afford to do today! The rich have a powerful lobby. They've been calling all the shots for the last 5,000 years,but humanity can evolve culturally. They said:"You can't outlaw slavery;that's nuts!" They said: "Are you crazy! Let women vote!!". Now we can say: "Poverty is a violation,of your human rights!",and some countries can eliminate it.

love the idea & principle. The resources are already there. It is back to the distribution of wealth. And how do you challenge that? 

The rich folks will have it all back in a couple of months anyway.

It just takes a desire to do it,and they will be paying 15% on that new income,next year.

If it cannot be done in the richest country in the world - where can it be done?

If you make any headway, let me know, we can go global then. 

Nah, it'll be capital gains rather than income.

Sorry no fudging on this one. 

Hi:

That is all fine and good. The way I see it the most important thing we could do is to eliminate, somehow, all the crooked, thieving, useless politicians and unethical and immoral large company CEOs who are lining their own pockets we could give fami9lies a whole lot more than $20,000.

To the OP. Read some of Henry George. A great American who once ran for president. His main work was "Progress and Poverty". He advocated a Land Value Tax. Once you realise the essential justice of this there's no turning back. (The other economic reform would be to genuinely remove the creation of debt money from the central banking system and replace it with a monetary system that is there for the people and not just for those are "paid" off by it. I believe I'm correct in saying that every American president assassinated was associated with trying to reform the banking system.Someone tried to kill Andrew Jackson - a great leader IMO -Ironically he features on Federal Reserve notes. Something is wrong in a system when the most powerful country on earth is "lead" by muppets like Clinton,Bush and Obama.)

Another point. I have no love for the mega rich. The Rothschilds and so on. The problem is , society is pyramidal. There are many levels of rich/intermediate wealth that play "beggar my neighbour" with the level below. Humans can be selfish, cowardly and stupid. It's true the mega rich know how to throw a harness around that rest of society , but they have their accomplices - the gatekeepers: pill pushing doctors, politically correct educationalists, politicians who won't question big question like 9/11 because they won't get up the greasy pole, family bread winners who won't make principled decision because they are concerned about the consequences etc etc etc

The mega rich are utter utter frigging bar stewards, BUT to focus on them is remove liability and responsibility from the rest of us. They exist and maintain the status quo because of the decisions and actions of the rest of  the pyramid below them.

Ziggy brought an interesting point about the Debt driven monetary system. No matter what you do there, it's riddled with weaknesses that will gradually put pressure on the whole system, driving it to a collapse.

In a real World, however, the concept of taxing the rich to help the poor is not a great idea in that it encourages the poor to stay poor while discourages others from becoming rich. For example, even in today's World, I think the taxes are too high. I'd rather waste my time playing and learning chess (even if that turns out to be a useless endeavor) than to create wealth and see an increasing portion of it taken away by the Government. If I have more money, I will share - voluntarily. But, if I see more money taken away from me by force, I'll cling on to it hard as I can and won't share any of it. And, in case you're wondering, I'm not a millionaire; I'm not even making six figures. Heck, I'm barely gettin' by. Never been the materialistic type. If I put my mind to it, I could and would make a lot of money. Just don't feel like feeding parasites. :)

Isn't it as simple as cutting "defense" spending by at least 50% and closing 50% of military bases around the world? Maybe that's just too simple...  

One of the problems i see with this is a case like this. I know a girl that milked the Company i work for for about $80,000 with fake illnesses and everyone knows she is fine. Finally fired her and now she is suing the same company for more money. Her only problem is she is too lazy to work and feels  that she is entitled.Under this system you mean she gets another $20,000 i think she has screwed the system long enough

Censored, I agree that there's a lot of parasitism going on with the rich too. Yes, one can become a finance guy, or a lawyer. Most of these guys can become very rich, doing little good or useful. And the fact that they pay a lot of taxes doesn't bother me much. But there are those who work hard, create legitimate wealth and are still forced to share. Thanks but no thanks.

As an example is the new system: Obamacare. It requires everybody to have an insurance or pay penalty. What kind of b/s is that?!

Absolutely yes we can. Teach people (Suzy Orman ?) to be hellatight and save & save & save some more.

Oh....and work 8 hrs/day & live well below your means along the way.

Just do those (3) things every day for 20 years and you'll be so happy you did........

I would do that. I would also like the govt. to get out of the tax deduction loophole business. Your tax liability would be that. Incentives could be done by government grants. This would be more flexible. They could start when they say start,end when they say end. When one region of the country has responded well enough,we can say no more grants for that program,in that region.People would also be more accountable since each one would have to apply for the grants supplying the neccesary documentation. That should save a nice chunk of change to be applied to defecit reduction. The debt doesn't worry me too much at it's current level,just a touch over GDP. People routinely manage debt several times their annual income,to buy a house for example. The total public debt looks worse,but thats a management problem more than an ingrained legislative one. Of course, responsible management is key,but simplifieing the governments income process can help there,and the people do get to hand out performance reviews at the polls.

It's a sucker's game.  Nobody ever got rich from working.

yes 

in a static point of view, create a tax, give to the poorest.

So what he does with ? eat better, buy things, etc ... and found a family. he creates a dyamic of ...wealth or poverty ? that is THE question. Be honest, answer.

For technical reasons, background, ignorance of rate of growth, mathematics, etc ... 99% of people will stay step one.

STEP TWO good example, Marinadela SPAIN.  

In a dynamic point of view, for 1% of readers with some furniture in brain,  example : awful ex-colonialists and villains from western give more and more each year to poorest in other countries. they generally do camping in desert, and make eight children per wife, wife starting at thirteen. On an average. 

So what about poverty ? it explodes, but it is not Rotshchild, nor Bill Gates, nor Warren Buffett,who all the day are f..k..ng in Darfour, Niger, Indonesia, and.. my favourite, Bangla Desh. Friends there.

If you start a big program of welfare, what we have of humanity and compassion will say "bravo". what we have of pure rationalism, observing DYNAMIC of poverty will say : go back in Biafra 1965, thousands of people suffering hunger, and back in Biafra 2015 : millions of people suffering hunger. Alas !

Preparing middle class to new taxes is the best way to rank as F, UK etc ... and slowly but surely disappear by implosion.

closing US bases ? it is not an option, Bernie himself don't talk about that.  Could be funny, China? ukrainia ? middle East ? La Rota, Spain ?  GUANTANAMO ???????? how Cuba could pay the bills?