If you believe theologically, ideologically, or otherwise that "all men (and women!) are created equal" then it follows they should pay equally. I would argue equally means normalizing their income against their position on the income scale so the taxes "hurt" them the same as it they "hurt" everyone else.
It is well known that 10% of the income of someone below the poverty line is a serious hardship, but 10% in the top 1% of earners is not (although it still hurts). If you normalize the taxes based on the income distribution you can cause the amount of economic "hurt" to be equalized across society. This means that the top %1 will pay much more in taxes than perhaps the bottom 90% or even 95%. However, the "hurt" they endure will be equal.
No, you misunderstand the 'created equally' argument. It doesn't mean everybody should get the same, it means that no legislation should discriminate between people. More technically, the 'created equally' refers to negative liberties and negative rights, not to somebody else's obligation to do something to create an artificial equality.
(note that this is not a matter of argument - this is quite clearly settled. Of course you could question if it should be like this, and if we shouldn't change the meaning of 'equal' into more positive rights ('affirmative action' etc); I'm not so much interested in debating that. I'm just pointing out that for broadly-accepted definitions of the terms you use, your argument is flawed).
First, I'm doubtful that a family at the poverty line ($22K for a family of 4) pays 10% in income tax. I could be wrong, however.
>> If you believe theologically, ideologically, or otherwise that "all men (and women!) are created equal" then it follows they should pay equally.
On this, I'm not sure how you can come to that conclusion. I'm assuming (possibly wrongly) that you're referring to the DOI, which states:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
This seems to refer to equal starting points, equal liberties, and equal opportunities–not equal amounts of wealth or income throughout life. I think "pursuit" is a key word here. We should all be free to pursue what makes us happy, but there are no rights or guarantees that we will get it.
If you believe theologically, ideologically, or otherwise that "all men (and women!) are created equal" then it follows they should pay equally. I would argue equally means normalizing their income against their position on the income scale so the taxes "hurt" them the same as it they "hurt" everyone else.
It is well known that 10% of the income of someone below the poverty line is a serious hardship, but 10% in the top 1% of earners is not (although it still hurts). If you normalize the taxes based on the income distribution you can cause the amount of economic "hurt" to be equalized across society. This means that the top %1 will pay much more in taxes than perhaps the bottom 90% or even 95%. However, the "hurt" they endure will be equal.