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Seriously though the rich need to pay more for what they spend on luxury items and all there toys.
Why should the rich pay more than anyone else? Just because they can? So, some guy or gal goes out and works his or her tail off to earn a lot of money so they can afford to buy the things they want, the house they want, whatever they want, and you think they should pay more for it just because they have the money?
Sorry, but that's bull. If a guy making 10K a year wants to save up to buy a Hummer (probably not going to happen, but I've seen stupider things) and another guy making 100K a year wants to buy the same Hummer, it should cost the same amount. The guy making 100K shouldn't have to pay more for it just because he can.
You mention "all there toys" (it's their by the way). They only have those "toys" because they worked hard enough to earn the money to buy them (yes, I know that there are rich people who haven't worked for it...inherited, lottery winners, etc, but they are a small percentage of the rich). The not-so-rich don't have all those toys because they are still taking care of needs, not wants.
You imply that you "only drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee". Assuming it's less than 20 years old, a JGC is a pretty nice vehicle. Assuming you've had it longer than you've had kids, it was way more vehicle than you needed then, so why did you have it? If you got it after having kids, then it's far newer than 20 years old, and it's a very nice vehicle. Even with 2 kids, it's still way more vehicle than you need, so why do you have it? Maybe because you wanted it? Exactly.
What it boils down to is that everyone should pay their fair share. It will never be equal dollars for dollar, but it should be the same percentage across the board, whether you make $100 or $100K.
Honestly, there should be no income tax (it was supposed to be temporary anyway), no social security, none of that. Sales tax should be higher, and then if need be, there should be a "Luxury tax" on items that cost more than $100K. Actually, that number should be higher so that more not-so-rich people could buy a house without getting hit with a luxury tax.
Oh, on the topic of houses, the foreclosure rate you mention is so high because lenders keep letting people who can't afford it to borrow too much money. We have too many feel-good people in the world that say you can't deny someone a loan because it will make them feel bad about themselves, so give it to them even if they can't afford it. Similar issue....when I was working at the Lexus dealer, the finance guy told me that 51% of the people buying the cars couldn't afford them, but the lenders kept approving them for loans. You know what, when someone tells you that you are approved for a loan, that leads you to believe that you can afford it. While a lot of that blame falls on the lenders, some of it still falls on the people themselves for not taking the time and responsibility to figure it out on their own.
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