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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Peter Dierks who wrote (703119)	9/23/2005 12:22:06 PM
From: DuckTapeSunroof	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

"A flat tax system would be a good idea." Finally... we agree on something. "One of the depravities of our current system is that only half of Americans pay taxes." True... when considering either an individual's (or a corporation's, for that matter, since the statistics are strikingly similar) income and contrasting it with the percentage effective income tax load borne by that individual... we see a bell curve --- with falling net rates at the lower and the highest income stratas. (Since 'wealth' is a slippery concept, income is most often used as a proxy for it.) If one adds all other significant taxes --- most prominent among them sales and other consumption taxes --- then the 'bell' in the curve shifts a bit farther to the left (since poorer people expend a higher percentage of their income in consumption, have less savings, investments, etc.) both BOTH the richest AND the poorest carry lower net effective tax loads then the middle income earners do. In America, under our current system, the Middle Classes are the BEASTS OF BURDEN in our economy. "They other half think government largesse is free. They want more." People will ALWAYS want a free lunch, it's a natural part of human psychology, so the desire and inclination to accept 'something for nothing', if it's offered, is unlikely to change. I wouldn't spend any time trying to change basic human psychology --- which is unlikely to change --- rather, you should concentrate on forcing changes to our corrupted system, IMO. With flat rate tax systems beginning to sweep the world, we will be at a competitive disadvantage as long as we continue to operate our antiquated mess.