U.S. Government shuts down.

[kandrathe]

The estimated net wealth of the US is about $57 trillion.

That seems to be households. Let's try it another way...

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z...ent/z1.pdf

For 2012 chart Z.1 (billions), Households = 59305, Non-financial business = 19314, skip governments, Domestic NFS and FS = 82775 + 73952, Held outside the US = 20490 for a total of about $173 trillion.

Compared to 2012 (F.7) National Income, where about $8,611 billion was paid as wages, with 514 billion taken off the top for SSI. Corporate taxes, after loopholes and special interest tax dodges amounted to $435 billion. Total estimated national income was about $14 trillion. The federal spending is about 4 trillion, and we borrow the bulk of that (2012 revenue was 2.3 trillion CBO $1132 (billion) ind. income taxes, $845 ssi, $150 other taxes, $324 corporate tax & other revenue).

The question here is; who should pay taxes? Employee wages (paying 56% of tax revenue), or corporations (paying 13% of tax revenue)? Or, should we balance it more with consumption (now only 6% of tax revenue)? Effectively the Federal government took 13% of employee wages, plus 9.8% for SSI (corporations pay half the SSI). We are probably in agreement that under the current system, even based upon income, corporations and investors pay less than their fair share. Capital gains is 15%, and the effective corporate rate is less than 13%. Whereas, the (average) middle quintile of tax payers pay more than 12%, scaled to the highest 1% of income earners where the total payroll tax rate is 22.3%.

So, you're taxing GE for its total worth, and its stockholders and bondholders again for their ownership of that same worth? Or what?

Stock/Bond asset holdings for investors, and then also (stock or non-stock) corporate assets for the corporation itself.