54Mbps should be enough for anybody.

I was referring specifically to his claim that he shouldn't have to pay so much of his hard-earned money. My response was that it's not all that much, especially since most people pay a similar amount, and what he gets in return probably warrants the payment.

Here's a shocker: whether you tax income or consumption, you're taking the same amount of money out of the economy. The only difference is who you're taking it from. So you should do whichever one is easier and that has the degree of progressivity or regressivity that you want (if you're concerned with that at all). And keep in mind that taxes are made to be spent, so what comes out of the economy as taxes goes right back in again and ends up as somebody's income (maybe even yours!). Society is no poorer, it's just that someone different holds the loot.

The average total effective tax rate (federal income, payroll, state and local taxes property sales etc.) for billionaires is around 31%. Are you telling me you get taxed more than Bill Gates?

But OK, I'll indulge. Let's abolish taxes. No more army. No more navy. No more state or local police. Or justice system. Now try holding onto all your hard-earned cash. Do you prefer paying 30% of your income to your federal, state and local governments or to a private security firm that may or may not just take your money and run (then you'll have to hire another firm to go track them down!).

See? The social contract isn't such a bad deal after all.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/just-how-progressive-is-the-tax-system/

Total taxes paid (federal, state and local including payroll, sales, property, etc.) for bottom quintile: 18.7% of income.

18.7% of income is not no taxes.

The average for the highest incomes is around 31% of income. That includes the top 1% of earners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homomorphic_encryption:

Homomorphic encryption schemes are malleable by design and are thus unsuited for secure data transmission.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleability_(cryptography):

security against adaptive chosen ciphertext attacks (CCA2) is equivalent to non-malleability