Anti-poverty drug testing vs "high" tax deduction testing

[kladner]

Milwaukee Congresswoman proposes requiring a clean drug test for those filing for more than $150,000 in deductions.

Milwaukee congresswoman Gwen Moore, though, is “sick and tired, and sick and tired of being sick and tired, of the criminalization of poverty” she said in an interview on Wednesday. And, she added: “We’re not going to get rid of the federal deficit by cutting poor people off Snap. But if we are going to drug-test people to reduce the deficit, let’s start on the other end of the income spectrum.”
Moore plans to introduce a bill on Thursday that she thinks will even the playing field or, at least, “engage the wealthy in a conversation about what fair tax policy looks like”.

The bill, called the Top 1% Accountability Act, would force taxpayers with itemized deductions of more than $150,000 – which, according to 2011 tax data compiled by the IRS, would only be households with a yearly federal adjusted gross income of more than $1m – to submit to the IRS a clear drug test from a sample no more than three months old, or take the much lower standard deduction when filing their taxes. (In 2016, for comparison, the standard deduction for single people or married people filing separately is $6,300.)

[CRGreathouse]

It's just silly grandstanding.

There are plenty of reasons to oppose drug testing for welfare (we've tried it, it doesn't work) but this doesn't move the conversation forward.

[kladner]

I think making the comparison between rich and poor is the real aim.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by kladner

I think making the comparison between rich and poor is the real aim.

Chuck Thacker once said something to me which made a big impression.

He said that he was rich because he could buy stuff he wanted without having to worry too much. By that standard I am also rich, though I am certain that in USD terms I am not worth as much as he; likewise he didn't have anywhere near as many megabucks as other members of our then employers, MSFT.