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Id say you CAN tax the poor (by wealth), and apparently they are contributing almost same absolute amount like the top rich :

Rough estimates for federal taxes

Top 0.1% Share of federal taxes ~10–12% Approx ~$550–650B

Bottom 50% Share of federal taxes ~10–13% Approx ~$520–680B

source : quick claude query

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That seems wildly incorrect. In the US the bottom 50% are closer to ~3% of federal taxes.

The top 1% pay about 38%. The top 0.1% is simply not a lot of people and not helpful for thinking about how much you can juice them in absolute dollar amounts.

Doesn't this just prove the OP's point? The government gets as much money from the top 0.1% as it does from the bottom 50% means that it is getting a lot of their money from the wealthy.

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