You're presenting a political view. That's not just "advice".
> Do you actually have any direct experience in living at or below the poverty line in the US? Recent experience is important, as the situation has been changing. Or are you observations made from a position of privilege? If the latter, you might want better data.
I grew up in a post-communist Eastern European country, and have a lot of experience with that (my parents were on the poor side). I'm currently a middle-class programmer, so I wouldn't say I'm privileged (although you might disagree).
I believe I have plenty of data and experience with poverty. I'm also very skeptical of redistribution, after seeing what communism actually did to my own country.
> I don't. Everything has unintended consequences and no plan is perfect. We will always have to manage problems as they arise.
But you do, if you (or the GP) want people to support your taxation plan and go along with it. Otherwise, it will get rejected. You need to prove that your plan is effective.
> How do you propose to keep people from burning your house down because they are hungry, angry, and see no alternative?
That's not really happening even in countries much poorer than the US. Those people are much more likely to steal my stuff than burn it down.
I think you're trying to sell a "tiger-repelling rock".
> Take more from the rich and give more to the poor.
What are you going to do when the rich dedicate their resources to avoiding that taking (which they already do for the current taxation policies)? I don't think you have a reasonable solution for that.
For real-world examples of that, look at FBAR and FATCA and related legislation. They were meant to help the IRS tax rich people, but they had some insane side effects.
For one, all US citizens and permanent residents have to file a tax return every year, even if they haven't lived in the US for years and don't owe anything to the IRS. This is a significant hassle for many people. Because of FATCA, anyone who qualifies as a "US resident for tax purposes" also has to report foreign assets and income over a certain value ($50000 if I'm not mistaken).
Another "fun" effect (of FBAR this time) is that foreign banks now have to report accounts of US citizens to the IRS, which has made many foreign banks refuse to deal with US citizens or permanent residents. I would not want to be an American expat if I had to deal with that.
Idealistic plans like "let's tax the rich and give all that money to the poor" have, in practice, significant negative consequences on people they never intended to harm (such as the middle class). How do you propose to eliminate or mitigate such unintended consequences?
You're presenting a political view. That's not just "advice".
> Do you actually have any direct experience in living at or below the poverty line in the US? Recent experience is important, as the situation has been changing. Or are you observations made from a position of privilege? If the latter, you might want better data.
I grew up in a post-communist Eastern European country, and have a lot of experience with that (my parents were on the poor side). I'm currently a middle-class programmer, so I wouldn't say I'm privileged (although you might disagree).
I believe I have plenty of data and experience with poverty. I'm also very skeptical of redistribution, after seeing what communism actually did to my own country.