Why a $154B CEO just endorsed stripping most Americans of voting rights

Post by Ekaros » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 2:47 PM UTC

corps_and_code wrote: post #135

Ekaros wrote: post #68

I am not against idea of only net tax payers getting single vote. Say if you use government services or receive money such as grant that is counted against your total. If you own part of corporation that gets such support that is counted again. If you or your corporation gets tax deductions or relief those are counted as double. Total everything up and if you are net payer you get to vote. If not no vote for you.

We tried this already in America and have decided that disallowing entire groups of people from voting is bad for democracy. What happens when the federal government passes new tax laws that prevent certain genders, racial groups, etc from having to pay income tax? Are they permanently disenfranchised? This would be a system that I think would rapidly move social progress backwards and concentrate power in the hands…

Post by kraquepype » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 2:47 PM UTC

FLeXMurphy wrote: post #57

robinhood wrote: post #4

Fascinating to see how many tech people, as soon as they get rich, turn to extreme. Name them all - they mostly all are very active on X, and each new tweet pushes the limits of what was previously deemed unacceptable. I'm rich, so my opinion must be more important, right?

Who is going to say what is and isn't acceptable? You?

Post by bryanlarsen » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 2:48 PM UTC

SolarNet wrote: post #56

Tax the rich. And by that I mean people who "earn" their wealth through mechanisms that aren't direct income. Heck, give an exception to the tax on the first million of non-income based wealth. But something has to change because their money is their power and they deserve less of it.

Post by kennywinker » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 2:48 PM UTC

chriscrisby wrote: post #72

50% of Americans think taxes are too high, the other 50% think taxes need to be higher so they’ll get a larger refund. It’s not a sustainable system. A better solution would be to change tax law so a “payer” can’t receive a larger refund than what they paid. No more credits, only deductions.

Post by lemonlimesoda » Tue, Jul 28, 2026, 2:49 PM UTC

trollbridge wrote: post #128

andsoitis wrote: post #29

> one that would strip voting rights from anyone who pays no income tax It could be an interesting thought experiment to consider the second and third order consequences, even if, from first principles this is a non-starter in a democratic society. First off all, what percent of people do not pay any taxes on income? What portion of them are poor vs. hedge fund managers or other super wealthy people who have structur…

In the U.S., it's about 28% of the populace which pays no taxes (or ends up netting to zero or negative taxation; for example, working families with children are often in a situation where they might owe $2,000 in taxes but also get a credit of $5,000, for a net refund of $3,000.) My 28% figure includes property, sales taxes, etc. but does not include taxes that employers, landlords, and so on pay. This is all very b…