Income Tax - How Much?

2-19-2025

During the 2016 President Election, Dr. Ben Carson attracted my attention and gained my high respect. Dr. Carson was black. He was born in a poor home to a single mother. Both he and his mother worked hard. He had a great achievement. According to Wiki, Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in 1984 at age 33 (Johns Hopkins is among the top five Medical Universities in the US). He was then the youngest chief of pediatric neurosurgery in the United States. He became a cabinet minister in Trump 1.0 Adm. He is also a strong Christian. I watched him a few times on TV. he always demonstrated knowledge and wisdom he learned from the Bible. 

His tax proposal was bold. He said that the Bible teaches (the Old Testament) each Israelite should pay one tenth of their income (tithe). The US income tax should also be flat 10% of one’s income. Since then, I have done some research on this topic. Two Stanford economists, Hall and Rabushka, proposed a flat 19% income tax for everyone. Since then, there have been a few updates. You may Google to find their proposals. 

I have studied and worked out philosophical and theological theories that support flat tax proposals. It is quite involved and I have yet to write papers on this subject. This note is written to provide one view on the recent DOGE related debate. 

References:

1. US Government Debt and Deficit

2. Potential Financial Crisis? 

3. Inflation, Tariffs, and Bitcoin  

4. USAID and DOGE

5. Bill on the Truth Behind Wasteful Spending & Trump-Musk Cost-Cutting Plans | 2-17, 2025 

6. Bill Sets the Record Straight on DOGE | February 18, 2025 (2-19)