edit 2: to pwaring, I wrote this in the believe you're american, I just noticed you're not so it might be a bit ****ed up read now
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Well of course most people are going to be between socialist and liberal if you definition of liberalism is actually conservatism (the only other options would be extreme left or right). However, you actually said "but still they're all socialist..." which is not the same as being between socialist and liberal (at least not the way you define it).
liberals over here are not the same as conservatives over there... In fact it's more like the other way arround, your liberals are our conservatives. Besides that I always learned them politics aren't just one line from left to right, but it's more like a triangle, or even better: a cross. You have left and right (progressive/conservative) and up and down (liberal free market/society religious stuff). Liberals are neither left nor right, they're at center and then some bit up along the cross. Of people I talked about, many vote for the SP (social party), then most vote for the PvdA (labour party, wich is left wing in the netherlands) and one or two vote for the VVD (dutch equivalent of liberals wich is on the left side of US liberals).
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I don't know what the situtation is in the US, but over here you pay a progressive rate of tax. Your first £4000 or so doesn't incur any tax, then the next £18000 or so is taxed at 10% and this keeps going up in stages until you hit around £30000 where you pay 40% on everything above that amount. If you're earning so little you will probably not lose out from a tax rise and the money raised from everyone else will probably be going to something such as increasing your social security benefits.
Here's a progressive tax system too, I don't know the exact numbers, but there is a bottom ammount also where you don't pay tax over. As an extra we also have a bottom ammount you will earn whatever work you do, so you don't have to live with a doubt you can't pay your food or the need to have two jobs.
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You pay a greater proportion of your income in tax anyway (assuming a progressive rate of income tax) when you earn more, but would you be happy if you were earning $80000/year and the government said "we're increasing taxes by 10% on high earners". I doubt it very much.
If I earn really much, I probably would give a part to whatever group of poor people, be it third world people or poor people in my own country. If the government makes good use of the money, I won't wine. After all it's that money they build roads with and also pay me IF I ever get disabled or very ill. I don't need 10 square meters more house if I can have all the other ****. What I would like to see more, instead of raising general tax, is they raise the taxes on very specific thing. For example transportation/fuel prices/car buying. Then you're directing the taxes to the people who should pay them (in the example of road use).
But honestly, if I earn so much I'm part of the high-earners, I wouldn't mind giving up a part for I know how it feels to live without money. There is a border though, because specialised people should imo earn more then people without education, because otherwise noone would go to an expensive school anymore. Maybe if someone eventually finds a working way of changing to communism/marxism that will change, but in the current society that's a no-go.
edit: damn I just saw the length of my post, thanks for investing time in reading it all
